Early projects From 2001 to 2002, Cortini acted as touring guitarist for
The Mayfield Four in support of their album
Second Skin. In fall 2006, Cortini contributed to the Musicians Institute's Recording Artist Program by acting as advisor for one-on-one training with students. He was also a founding member of
Modwheelmood, an
electronic/
alternative band from
Los Angeles, with former Abandoned Pools guitarist
Pelle Hillström. Together they have released two
EPs,
? (2003) and
Enemies & Immigrants (2006). In 2007, they released
Things Will Change, the companion
remix disc for
Enemies & Immigrants, and they released the first part of their new album
Pearls to Pigs, Vol. 1 on 25 December 2007 exclusively as a digital release.
Nine Inch Nails While briefly teaching at the Musicians Institute, he saw an ad for open auditions for Nine Inch Nails.
Trent Reznor stated that Alessandro Cortini "fit in immediately." Reznor also stated that: in 2007 Cortini toured with Nine Inch Nails from 2005 to 2008, during the band's "Live: With Teeth", "Performance 2007" and "Lights in the Sky over North/South America" tours. His primary role was that of touring keyboard player, although he also played guitar and bass guitar on some songs. Besides touring with the band, Cortini also contributed to the instrumental album
Ghosts I–IV (receiving co-writing credits on a number of tracks) and the 2008 album
The Slip. A Modwheelmood remix of "The Great Destroyer" was also released on the
Year Zero remix album
Year Zero Remixed, and Cortini features in the live DVD
Beside You in Time, as well as the music videos for
The Hand That Feeds and
Survivalism. He left the band at the end of 2008, citing a desire to pursue other projects. In March 2017, Nine Inch Nails' official Twitter account announced Cortini would be part of the 2017 summer performance lineup, during which his primary instrument was bass. Cortini became the first Italian inducted into
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Nine Inch Nails in 2020.
How to Destroy Angels Cortini joined
How To Destroy Angels, a project consisting of Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Rob Sheridan and Mariqueen Maandig, as a touring member. He performs multiple instruments onstage and in addition remixed under his SONOIO moniker their single "The Spaces In-Between", which was used as the show finale for the majority of the tour. In 2013, Cortini returned to Nine Inch Nails as their touring member, and co-wrote the opening track of
Hesitation Marks with Trent Reznor.
Solo works In 2009, he completed a small Canadian tour under a solo project moniker, named
blindoldfreak. Cortini is also the frontman for the Los Angeles–based
electronic-
alternative band
SONOIO, formed in summer 2010. The band name SONOIO comes from the Italian phrase "sono io", which means "it's me", as it is a solo project consisting solely of Alessandro Cortini. In July 2010 SONOIO released the album
SONOIO Blue which was followed up by a remix album in December 2010,
NON SONOIO. In June 2011, SONOIO released the album,
SONOIO Red. Cortini has released albums through
Mute Records,
Volume Massimo in 2019,
Scuro Chiaro in 2021, and
NATI INFINITI in 2024.
Collaborations with other artists Alessandro Cortini worked with
Ladytron in the production of two of their albums,
Velocifero (2008) and
Gravity the Seducer (2011). He also co-produced the second track, "We Are the Sea", from the debut album
Crystal World (2013) of Ladytron's main singer,
Marnie. In 2009, he filled in for
Morgan Nicholls (touring member of
Muse) while Nicholls took a leave of absence to be with his newborn son. In 2010, he contributed electronic production to a song called "Birds of Prey" by pop artist
Christina Aguilera, produced by
Ladytron. The song is featured on the deluxe edition of her fourth studio album
Bionic. Cortini released a collaborative album called "Illusion of Time" with
Daniel Avery in March 2020.
Instruments In 2021, Cortini released a patchable analog synth called Strega, Italian for “witch,” an instrument he created in collaboration with Make Noise. ==Discography==