I was born in London to an Italian father and first generation English mother of German and Polish descent. I grew up between London and Switzerland and have moved around a lot in between. Since beginning my career as a singer songwriter at the age of 18, I could argue that I have also spent the majority of my adult years living out of a suitcase in a confusing array of hotel rooms that pepper a world map, from LA to Australia... So whenever people ask me where I am from or where home is, my answer is very different to the norm.
While I hold a British passport, more often than not I find myself saying I am Italian. I obviously have a strong connection to my fatherland but this can also be an easy way to shorten a long story. Flying into London or into a Swiss airport feels like coming home, regardless of the months or years since I have departed. When I am on tour, the tour bus becomes home. While it seems like just a form of transport to the outsider, it becomes my shelter and refuge while out on the road. When you change city every day (or even twice a day) for weeks at a time, having that constant gives you some semblance of stability. My children were born into our old house in London yet we moved to Oxfordshire early this year: There is no question to them that home is there and London is nothing but a long lost memory now.
As I grow older and travel more I find myself feeling at home in many different places, but also in many different situations. In recent years I have spent more and more time in Spain and from the first day on every visit I immediately feel at home, be it in Madrid, Barcelona or Formentera. A warm plate of schnitzel and potato salad is enough to give me respite from the endless succession of nameless towns and cities during a German tour. Speaking to my kids via FaceTime from my soulless hotel room allows a few fleeting moments of that feeling. Performing on stage, no matter where we are, also gives that familiarity of being somewhere I am comfortable with.
My notion of home is not necessarily linked to a physical place or a nation to which I feel patriotic. If anything it has completely removed itself from the physical and now become nothing more and nothing less than a feeling. Having a beer and talking about anything and everything with my Danish drummer feels more familiar than a conversation with some of the people I grew up with. Equally, watching my kids play whilst on holiday in an all you can eat resort under some foreign sun feels more like home on most days than walking down a busy street in central London where I have spent most of my adult life.
Jack Savoretti headlines the Summer Series at Somerset House on 15 July and plays London's Eventim Apollo on 9 November. His new single Home, taken from the Top 10 album Written In Scars, is out now. For more information and live dates, please go to www.jacksavoretti.com