Melbourne-based musician Sergio Ercole has spent more than four decades building a life around the guitar, moving between classical and Latin music, performance, composition and education across Italy, the USA and Australia. A guitarist, songwriter, composer and educator, his career has taken him through an array of musical worlds but his latest project, Serge & The Currents, marks the beginning of a thrilling new chapter. Bringing together family and long-time musician friends, the guitar-driven pop project draws on Sergio’s accomplished background while looking towards a new creative direction that connects the familiar warmth of classic songwriting with the wide appeal of modern pop.
After more than two decades as Head of Guitar and having developed a global audience through his Latin Guitar Mastery channel, Sergio is now stepping forward as a singer-songwriter. It’s a shift that allows him to put his own stories at the centre of the music, drawing on a lifetime of experiences and the sounds that have accompanied them. Having lived through the musical landscapes of the 70s and 80s, he brings his decorated experience to the endeavour, balancing the melodic energy of an earlier era with a modern pop rock sound.
Taking cues from the likes of Crowded House and Tom Petty, Serge & The Currents draws from the accumulated perspective of a musician who’s spent decades exploring different forms of guitar music, while the presence of his cherry red Gibson 335 gives the project a distinctive sonic centre. The instrument feels closely connected to the stories he wants to tell, carrying the expressive character of the guitar into songs built around personal experience. In August, Serge & The Currents’ debut single, “This Too Shall Pass,” brought early media support from Scenestr, AAA Backstage, Aus Music Scene, Australian Musician Magazine and Country Down Under.
The project has also received radio airplay across ABC Victoria, Southern FM, 4ZZZ and Amazing Radio in the UK and USA, alongside numerous community radio stations throughout Australia. Now, their latest release comes with their sophomore single titled “Finished From The Start,” a track which finds Serge & The Currents exploring the difficult moment when a relationship reaches its natural end. By not focusing on the initial excitement of romance or the drama of a sudden break, the song deals with the gradual realisation that one person’s efforts to maintain a connection are no longer being returned.
There’s still a desire to make things work but the other person remains emotionally distant, leaving the narrator to recognise that the relationship was never going to move forward. It’s a familiar emotional crossroads but the track views it with an unexpectedly buoyant musical character; electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards and lively drums create a bright indie pop rock arrangement, setting an energetic backdrop against lyrics shaped by frustration and disappointment. Wrapped up with instantly catchy hooks and colourful instrumentation, it’s a charming jam that puts the band’s songwriting talent and performance panache on full display.
As the song develops, its perspective moves beyond the immediate disappointment of an unbalanced relationship, with Sergio closing on a more philosophical reflection, turning the experience into a lesson in self-preservation. With “Finished From The Start,” Sergio Ercole continues to map out the sound and perspective of this new creative chapter, presenting a single which finds Serge & The Currents turning the disappointments of love into something that finds its brightness even when the story begins at an ending.
On the release, Sergio Ercole comments, “This song is about reaching that point in a relationship where you realise it was never going to work. You’ve put so much effort into making a connection, inspired by the other person and wanting something meaningful, only to be met with apathy and a lack of reciprocation. Ultimately, it’s about accepting that reality and learning when to walk away.”
Listen to Finished From The Start below
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