From childhood, living in his native Palermo, Antonio Badagliacca loved singing. Tinkering away at the piano, he soon started to create complex tunes with beautiful lyrics of his own spontaneous invention. His family was not musical at all, but his mother would pause to listen to the tunes he played and tell him, "Antonio it sounds lovely, but what are you saying?" Music is an international language, but, surprisingly for a Sicilian boy, he insisted on singing all his songs in English.

Today, Antonio, stage name Antoba, still sings exclusively in English and lives in Malta. He has happily found his niche here, both personally and professionally on varied counts. "I landed in Malta in 2015 and found myself immediately at ease in a country which has English for a second language. My parents saw how besotted I was with the English language, from a very young age. I would listen to English songs, to the extent that they realised I could transform this love of English into a career. So they sent me to a language school in Italy and later I moved to Ireland to refine my skills. In the meantime, I also undertook pianoforte and singing studies."

Now, shortly after the release of this singer's second album, Man on Earth, Antoba, is keen to make an impact on local audiences. "My first album was called Glimpses of Heaven, a collection of 13 of my earlier songs which I recorded in a small studio in Sicily. The new album was recorded recently in Athens. It holds nine songs, ballads of the soft rock genre."

Over the past years living in Malta, Antoba has sung in many Maltese and Gozitan stage productions namely at Manoel Theatre, Teatru Astra and Malta Conference Centre. "One of my favourite appearances was in Orfeo and Majnun at the MCC during Valletta 2018. My appearance in Jesus Christ Superstar at Teatru Astra was another amazing experience."

He also performed under his stage name in varied Italian cities, such as Torino and Milan as well as in Cracow, London and Paris. These short public appearances thwarted the typical discouragement of a new artist in a big way. "I had this collection of lyrics and ballads which I had penned when I was in my early 20s. One of these has a special story. I was 22 and I remember something, which had happened at University, had angered me to the point that, upon reaching home, I sat down and wrote this impromptu song in under five minutes. It was such a spontaneous outpouring that I knew instinctively what it should sound like and how I wanted it to be. The name of this song is Castles on Air, a key song from Man on Earth. This is something which does not happen often. It is not always easy to be a singer and songwriter able to complete lyrics and music all at once. So, when it happens without any hitches, it is priceless. I had shelved the song, stowed it away in a drawer with many others. But this year, I retrieved Castles on Air and felt the moment was ripe to make it happen. It was ready to go public and it is one of the songs which resonate best with who I am."

Inspired by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Keane, Coldplay and U2, Antoba says: "I especially love Joni Mitchell's rich language from her older music produced during the 1960s and 1970s. I truly relate to her style."

Launching a new album does involve some travel for Antoba and his new album Man on Earth premiered in Lisbon in April. Late in November he shall be performing in London and hoping for a handful of guest appearances to follow. "I am planning a series of local appearances as well and I hope to give the Maltese audience the same musical thrill I have managed to gift to others who have listened to it."