While Robbie Mangiardi’s new single, ‘Wayward Wind’ has its origins back in 2017, it’s just as relevant today – if not even more so.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Robbie Mangiardi’s song, ‘Wayward Wind’ documents pretty much everything that was going on at the time in the US – and sadly, it’s still going on. A wayward wind of destruction was wending its way across the USA, and hasn’t got any better. The mood of the country started to register with him, and although he wasn’t able to pinpoint at that time exactly what he was feeling, it nonetheless stayed with him. Over the past year or so, however, his focus has become laser clear.
Produced alongside seasoned musicians, percussionist Martin Flores, bassist Rene Camacho, pedal steel player Bob Bernstein, and keyboardist Neil Rosengarden, Mangiardi says that ‘Wayward Wind’ “the track brings together musicians with long histories behind them, each leaving space where it matters. “…is an appeal to our better selves…to get a grip to a higher calling”.
Robbie Mangiardi grew up in New York surrounded by music, but it was when he went to Woodstock, at the age of 18, that he realised this was what he wanted to do. He started writing music, and never really stopped. Sure, some of those songs didn’t progress much further than the page they were written on, but they stayed in the background, despite life getting in the way. Juggling a career as an actor and a musician, he faced several setbacks, including drug and alcohol addiction, and an eighteen month stay in jail in the 1970s. But he’s been clean for nearly 25 years, and all these experiences have made him stronger, and formed his understanding of people and consequences.
Mangiardi’s first formal release, ‘The People You Love’, dropped in 2021. It was produced by Herb Pedersen of the Desert Rose Band, and made it to the top ten of the American Roots Americana chart. Three singles landed there as well, proving that he had something people wanted to hear. He’s since played selective shows around Los Angeles, and continues to write steadily, at his own pace.
Robbie Mangiardi doesn’t stick to one lane when it comes to music. He writes and arranges his song, but then he attends to what he describes as vibration and frequency, how the track pulls the listener, both physically and emotionally. He’s also applied this to the music video for ‘Wayward Wind’, which he also directed, having first built it from his own storyboard. From there he handed the visual execution over to Thai artist JAY JAY Kerospath. The scenes are somewhat unsettling as they slip one into another, circling around ideas of division and distance, while never outright naming what they are. The clip for ‘Wayward Wind’ fully manages to capture the vibes of the song, as well as the zeitgeist, and us to realise that we’re not alone in how we feel.
Watch the music video for ‘Wayward Wind’ below, and find out more about Robbie Mangiardi and his music online on his official website, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
