Leo Moracchioli

Leo Moracchioli is a Norwegian metal musician and producer based in Oltedal. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his metal covers of popular songs, which have gained him over 4.5 million followers and over a billion views on YouTube as Frog Leap Studios.[1][2]

Leo Moracchioli
Hannah Boulton and Leo Moracchioli at Saarbrücken (Germany) in 2022.
Background information
Born (1978-10-10) 10 October 1978
Ålgård
OriginNorway
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • Guitar
  • Drums
  • Bass guitar
Websitewww.frogleapstudios.com

Career

Moracchioli has recorded over 400 covers, at a rate of approximately one per week, including covers of "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits, "Hello" by Adele, "Sail" by AWOLNATION, "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga, "Feel Good Inc." by Gorillaz, "Chandelier" by Sia, "Africa" by Toto, "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X, and many others.[3][4] His cover of "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi peaked at number 35 on the Hungarian Single Top 40 chart on 10 August 2017.[5] Moracchioli states that although he is playing covers, it is enough of a creative outlet for him to put his own spin on the songs.[6] In addition to his metal covers, he also made an "acoustic" cover of "Duality" by metal band Slipknot, using slide whistles, timpani and tuba.[7]

For each video, Moracchioli creates the arrangements, and plays all the instruments, except for a small number of songs in which he has collaborated with other instrumentalists; they often require at least 50 tracks.[1] Although most of the videos feature only himself, and sometimes his family or a musical guest—sometimes a fellow YouTube artist participating remotely—for his video cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" he was joined by Drowning Pool guitarist C. J Pierce. The video was filmed in a nightclub and included hired backup dancers.[8]

He sometimes tours internationally with his band Frog Leap (studios).[8][9] On 3 August 2019, he was at the 30th Anniversary of Wacken Open Air with the band.[10]

The Frog Leap band members are Leo Moracchioli (vocals and guitar), Hannah Boulton (female vocals), Erik Torp (bass), Rabea Massaad (guitar), Truls Haugen (vocals and drums).

He is endorsed by TC Electronic.[11] He was previously endorsed by Chapman Guitars.[12]

Personal life

Moracchioli was born to an Italian father and Norwegian mother.[13]

He is divorced[14] and had a daughter in 2011.

References
  1. Kornelis, Chris (30 October 2018). "Who's That Covering Coldplay? It's Loud, Raucous and Involves Headbanging". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  2. "Frog Leap Studios". YouTube.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  3. Willis, Daniel J. (19 May 2019). "REWIND: Take a trip to Scandinavia for some hard rock and metal". Riff Magazine. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  4. Barnes, Becky (26 July 2017). "Despacito – This Heavy Metal Cover By Leo Moracchioli On YouTube Is Going Viral". HuffPost. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  5. "Single Top 40 slágerlista – 2017. 32. hét" [Single Top 40 Chart - Week 32 of 2017] (in Hungarian). Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  6. "Meet the Norwegian remixing your favorite pop songs into amazing metal covers". WGN Morning News. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  7. Teitelman, Brad (27 April 2017). "This is the weirdest Slipknot cover you'll hear". Metal Insider. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  8. Sonder, Thomas (12 February 2019). "Norweger vermetalt Michael Jackson und Queen in Wacken" [Norwegians metalize Michael Jackson and Queen in Wacken]. Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  9. de Roode, Robin (21 January 2019). "YouTuber Leo Moracchioli brengt band Frog Leap naar Patronaat" [YouTuber Leo Moracchioli brings band Frog Leap to Patronaat]. Artiestennieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  10. "Frog Leap kommt aufs Wacken 2019" [Frog Leap is coming to Wacken 2019]. Solar Penguin. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  11. "Leo Moracchioli - Frog Leap Studios". TC Electronic. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  12. "Artist Leo Moracchioli". Chapman Guitars. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  13. "Leo Moracchioli". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  14. "Life Updates". YouTube. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
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