1. Where did you grow and which type of education did you received?

I was born in Milan, one among the most vital and vanguard Europe towns. Here are concentrated finance, fashion, communication, old economy and new economy, probably a newyorker citizen could feel stressed living the obsessives and neverending rythms of this metropolis. It should be said also that Milan does homologates, does not welcome at all and its citizens are known for their coldness, sometimes icyness, and it's hard to get friendship relations or to have many friends ready to pure entertainment. But, as in a strong natural selection, you could meet those you can really consider "real friends", so: few people, but good. My education comes from this environment, I cannot prescind from humanistic and artistic italian tradition, as I cannot prescind from being a Lombard.

2. When did you begin to be interested in art?

In my chldhood I've ever showed a natural instinct for visual art, and for narration, too. As all the children, I grew up feeded by massive doses of comics, from american super-heroes to italian and french classics, luckily I've lost the manga era since the beginning, as I despise mangas, to be politically uncorrect. Well, I'm not a fundamentalist who hates culture that are different from his own one, indeed, contamination is the foundation of mankind, but I can't see how a western man could accept the "cosmic nothing" without breathing a word. Why do younger authors draw and tell stories as they were japanese? No one casually ever told them that their own greek-roman matrix (until Mondrian and Pollok) is much more rich, wide and interesting both to be understood and to be regenerated?

3. Do you remember your first atrwork (drawing/painting)?

No, I can't trace such a precise line, also if when I was 11th or 12ve, my parents gave me my first and only easel furnished with a palette, oil colours and painting. When I was sixteen or eighteen I threw it all away, paintings included. I don't know if anyone of my relatives still keeps any of them, escaped to my fury: I only remember that in winter - just to avoid colour smell home-invasion - I used to paint dressing my overcoat and scarf on the balcony, instead of doing my school-homeworks.

4. Do you ever use your imagination to create palces where you could refuge or have relations with people living exclusively in your imagination?

Imagination is our only refuge, but the place where we meet other people, too; outside there's only the world we don't know anything about but we're obliged to accept to survive, then the fact that every artist emphatizes his fantasy for his own pleasure as for those who are lacking in fantasy, it's a little bit, you know, expected to me. We all do this everyday, otherwise if we all were more practical, we should think to something else.

5. Whom or what have you been influenced by, from an artistic point of view?

Personally, by many italian authors: first of all Magnus who, creating Alan Ford, kept me company since childhood; then, growing up, I began to discover Pratt, Crepax, Toppi, Battaglia, Milazzo, Manara, Pazienza and above all Moebius. This regarding comics. For the rest, in cinema I love the mythological power of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone and with no doubt the dreams of Federico Fellini. In literature, two names I've been in love with amongst all, Miguel Cervantes and Louis Stevenson, but I could quote many more for each category.

6. Which are your actual influences?

Well I'm trying to have no influences, how could I otherwise become a "classic"? Just joking, but it has been really hard to find my own style, what next to be influenced by others? I prefer the contrary, indeed.

7. Have you ever dreamed to be in the art career or did you dream of being something else?

I do not conceive life without art or, to be true, I'm so selfish that I would like to take care exclusively of myself and so... drawing just to draw. Sincerely, I can't understand how couldn't the majority of people sift world throught fantasy and pick it up. It seems that possess or respect are only given by material things.

8. Is that cute big boobed baby called AlulA based upon any living person?

Not at the start. She came out from a hasty scribble ten years ago and amongst all the charachters I showed to editors going round and round in the very first times, well she was the only one they watched with attention, saying "hey, she's beautiful". Then, with a professional mood they used to suggest me to leave it all: she was not made for success, no one could ever like her... What could I do? Well, I accepted the challenge and I destroyed every little piece of paper but the AlulA works and I decided to draw only her and to tell only her tales. After the very first tale, someone make me notice that she resembled an american pornostar. I verified this similarity, too. And in the third tale, the resemblance became closer and closer until SaRenna Lee herself made me greetings for the AlulA charachter, which she says to consider as her doublet in fantasy.

9. Could you say tha AlulA reflects your feminine ideal?

AlulA is the stereotype of the impudent blonde, who's deep in the never-told dreams of each male, a sort of Marylin but much more exaggerated, careless and tender. Well, saying that she reflects my feminine ideal is uncorrect: she is great for many forbidden moments.

10. Are tits your favourite female body part?

No doubt. A great breast suddenly attracts my glances, but as far as I know, no man could resist to beautiful tits moving up and down. It's an irresistible show, a natural authomatism. But of course woman is not sectionable between breast and butt, the right proprortion waist-hips and the distribution of "curves" is important, we males are lacking in instincts and, compared to women, primitives. This is a good excuse to continue in our non-understanding their mind and to love them for what they "carry" on their body.

11. Wich is the most sexy dressing you've ever drawed for AlulA?

It depends by personal tastes: many peole like her with lace and corset, others prefer to see her with top-boots and a riding-whip. Personally I simply like AlulA completely naked apart the shoes with stiletto-heels that left her feets uncovered. I must say that I prefer this spartan "dressing" on every woman, not only on AlulA.

12. Briefly describe what does AlulA means to you...

AlulA represents the doublet, the duality, reality and fantasy. The rebel explosion of nature in summer, that crushes with all its promises of prosperity the sick and complexed world of winter. But also the lower instincts of our society, born under the french enlightements, but fully codified only by DeSade. This is well explained by phylosopher Adorno, who compares the idea of modern sport teams - characterized by precise rules and roles - with the "Juliette' sexual teams" idea developed by DeSade, where every moment is used, every hole of the body is exploited, all the people know what to do and how to coldly hit, for the only taste of totalitarian domination, a moral directly pointed on overwhelming and everything's exponential growing. The moral, wich does not exist in nature as people is forced to believe. But I represent all this in a funny way and with humor, as backgorund theme of my tales.

13. AlulA possess a retrò taste... why?

Past or Future? What do you prefer? AlulA is retrò because she is not thought as an aggressive charachter, indeed she is very reassuring and we're usually reassured by things already seen and known: that's the reason why she's so soft, languishing as an ancient painting. It's the only explanation, I do not make difference between past and future but I try to create a fantastic world where you can dream with no time and no place.

14. How much importance do you give to your dreams?

Oh, very much - psychoanalisys couldn't exist, otherwise... But it's difficult for me to remember my dreams (at conscious level, I mean).

15. Have you ever exploited elements of your dreams for your drawings?

Yes, I believe many things derives from dreams - but I couldn't tell what. I certainly know that dreams move mountains.

16. The most sexy situation You've ever dreamt about...

To live the part of Marcello Mastroianni at the begining of the movie by Federico Fellini entitled "The City of Women".

17. Tell us something about your art activities, apart Alula's drawings...

I display my works during Humor Exhibitions with many others italian artists, and my job is to make various types of illusrations for advertising and promotional publishing trade.

18. What is exactly driving you to draw? The "demon" of passion - if I can say so. If I didn't draw I would live in discomfort: drawing is for me a way to destroy time, focusing on a point where the space may be seen. As I said before, it's a very selfish thing, 'cause this excludes all what's outside.

19. What about your interests outside the artistic sphere?

Journeys and books, things I rarely have the time to dedicate to, because of the fact that I work in an advertising agency, founded by crazy people, with crazy rythms in a crazy market, in a world that pretends that all is "normal"...

20. Describe yourself and your artistical form of expression...

It's a too difficult question, I don't know myself so well, and the things I do, too, so I'm not able to describe them. I believe that the ones who can do this, are simply deceived.

21. How would you like to be remembered by descendants?

As a free man. Also if freedom did cost a very high price to me until now; but... without freedom, I would have never done anything. Anyway, I think this question is exaggerated if related with the slim trace that my works could eventually leave.

Billy Chainsaw