Linus, guest of Alessandro Cattelan on Hot Ones
Linus is the guest of Alessandro Cattelan in the latest episode of Hot Ones Italia, the program brought to Italy by the Radio Deejay host and speaker. The original concept, created by Sean Evans and Chris Schonberger as a YouTube format, has become a global success, leading to remakes in various countries, including Italy.
The concept of the interview show is simple yet brilliant: a 30-minute interview where the host and guest eat ten chicken wings – also available in vegan/vegetarian options – seasoned with increasingly spicy sauces. And it's the growing intensity of the spicy sauce that becomes the key to the show, pushing the guests to unpredictable and often hilarious reactions, breaking down every filter and diffidence.
The sauces used to season the chicken wings are chosen according to the Scoville scale, the unit of measurement that quantifies the spiciness of foods. The first few wings have a relatively low Scoville rating – considering that they are still spicy – but then increase gradually to become even difficult to tolerate.
Alessandro Cattelan had already experimented with a non-official version of the program during the interview with Fedez on Tonight with Cattelan. Now the format is complete, and in the episode available from February 7th, Linus is put to the test as well.
In the interview on Hot Ones, Linus revisits his radio career and shares some entertaining anecdotes. For example, the first song played on Radio Deejay:
Speaking of songs, Linus explains how intuition helps understand if a song can become a hit, and how his intuition contributed to the success of Gasolina in Italy:
“Fundamentally, if a song has something magical that stays with you. I remember when a few years ago I made a commercial for a car and we went to Cuba to film the spot. I arrived with a series of songs to choose from because local guys were expected to dance.
But they didn't care about the music I had chosen. So, during a break, a guy there put on other records and one of them was Gasolina, which didn't exist in our country and was expected to be released a year later. I got excited because I saw how the guys reacted. I felt that the song was very strong, and that's why Gasolina was a success in Italy – it's also my fault.”
Linus on starting to do radio today
Staying in the radio world, Alessandro Cattelan asks Linus if it's more difficult to start in the radio world today compared to, for example, podcasting. Linus' response is:
“I started at 19 and I think it's legit to start a podcast. Nowadays, what's missing in the radio is the possibility we had, that is, starting at the same level as others. When I started, we were all starting and if we were bad or not, we didn't even notice. Now it's hard to start in radio. You can't present yourself and say you've never done it because they immediately say hello.
Instead, podcasting is already like a radio, you start to get used to the effect of your voice in your ear, to use your voice, to use the microphone and whoever is listening can understand if you have the fluidity to do radio… Certainly, we are in an era where there are many podcasts and they should be thinned out a bit, but the new generations listen to them very much, my kids listen to podcasts and not to me!”
Linus talks about how he chooses speakers and what he looks for in people who want to do radio, making a humorous example with Alessandro Cattelan, who hosts Cattelan on Radio Deejay:
“When I choose a speaker, I want them to stand out. They must have something to say. Once, the priority was technical skill, voice, musical knowledge, the ability to move from one song to another. Nowadays, it's more important what they say. I wouldn't have taken you, Alessandro, 20 years ago!”
Linus talks about the origins of the 883
Linus also recalls the early days of the 883 after the TV series Hanno ucciso l'uomo ragno, which tells the story of the birth and history of the duo formed by Max Pezzali and Mauro Repetto. On Mauro Repetto, Linus shares an anecdote from the early days:
“I never had much to do with them, although I frequent the same places at the same time, even if I claim to be the father of everything. It's something Mauro also talks about in his book. The 883 wouldn't have existed without Mauro, as Max says.
Before there were the 883, I was making a lot of parties in discoteques, had a party at the famous Celebrità in the center of Pavia, and think about how much I must have irritated – and I don't even remember how – Mauro Repetto, who was 18/19 years old at the time, for convincing me to go to dinner with him, which I didn't know. And I went. I don't know how he convinced me, because I'm also a bit reserved. But I went to dinner with him, he found the magic number to call to get access to the radio and from there everything started to take off.”
In the article, Linus shares his experience as a guest on Hot Ones Italia, revisiting his radio career and sharing entertaining anecdotes about his early days in the radio world.