“Greaseball” by Gianfranco Malorgio examines the subject of human migration through a composition that takes into account the difficulties which cause people to leave their countries. Set against a background of war, personal difficulties and various crises, it goes beyond the Italian situation to include migrants from all over the world. Instead of viewing migration as merely a shift from one place to another, the work links it with issues of identity, displacement and the experiences of those who have to leave their homes.
The historical background makes “Greaseball” more significant since the name is a derogatory expression which has in the past been aimed at Italian immigrants and their descendants, illustrating the prejudice that existed during the major periods of migration from the late nineteenth to the twentieth century. By referring to this difficult aspect of that history, the work connects the way Italian communities were treated with the broader experiences of people who have come up against hostility in foreign countries and thus has a direct link to the social conditions underlying migration.
Written with a film adaptation in mind, “Greaseball” is part of a trilogy which looks at the subject from various perspectives. It comes after “WOP”, which came out in 2023, and “An Immigrant’s Story”, which was released in October 2026. The three works together make up a broader project focused on migration and its human effects. The extent of Italian emigration serves as a significant historical background, since over 30 million Italians have emigrated since 1861 and there is a global diaspora of people of Italian descent.
Malorgio is in charge of composing and playing the synthesizer, whereas Moreno Viglione provides the guitar and also shares the duties of production, mixing and mastering with Malorgio. The way they work together combines the features of music intended for possible use in films and documentaries. The piece “Greaseball” forms part of a larger compositional project whose aim is to focus on migration, historical memory and the way immigrant communities are treated. The subject of the work goes beyond a single nationality and looks at the long-term human effects of leaving one’s home.
