About Sergio
Sergio Sueri
I'm Sergio Sueri, founder and curator of Groov-illa.
I live in northern Italy. Away from here I've spent years in enterprise software, working on alliances and partnerships between the Italian and Iberian markets — a job made of negotiations and structures, a long way from records.
Music, for me, began on vinyl, and for years that was enough. British rock, punk, prog, jazz: I devoured them through every music magazine of the day, learning the discographies of the bands I loved by heart, record by record. Then life took other roads. Now that I'm in my sixties, I wanted to come back to all of it — and bring along the tools that didn't exist back then, to share what I know. That's where Groov-illa comes from.
How I listen
The system I own today didn't start out like this. It's where years of changes have led, one after another, each one a way of understanding better what I was really after.
I started with a Sony turntable and a pair of RCF BR40s — the pairing I wore out my first records on, the ones that got me hooked. Then came an Audio Analogue chain, by then playing CDs, with B&W 805 Nautilus speakers: the first real step up, the first time I understood what a serious loudspeaker is.
Today I listen on a Rega P7 turntable with a Rega Exacta cartridge and a Rega phono stage, ProAc speakers, and a Klimo Merlino valve preamp and power amp. It's the chain I check everything I write here against.
Languages
I read and write Italian, English and Spanish — handy, because Groov-illa lives in two languages and I don't trust machine translation with the pieces that matter.
How I work
I use AI tools when I write, and I have no intention of hiding it. They help mostly with form — finding the right word, giving a sentence its rhythm, not repeating myself. Not with substance: what to tell, which record is worth your time, what I actually care about — that I always decide myself, before a single line gets written. I'm not afraid of these tools: used well, they grow knowledge — mine while I write, and yours while you read.
The old bylines
Articles published before October 2026 also carry the bylines of Mike G., John and Emma, who wrote under pen names. When one of those pieces is substantially rewritten, the byline passes to me.
My books
Groov-illa isn't the only place where I've put down in writing what I know.
- The Grail Hunt: Europe is a travel guide for collectors, city by city: where to look, what to look for, and how to tell what you're really holding once you find it. Available in English and Italian, in print and as an ebook.
- Spiritual Jazz — La fede dei suoni neri traces the history of African-American spiritual jazz from 1965 to today, through faith, music and collecting. Italian only, ebook only.
- The Beautiful Fake — A History of Italo Disco tells the story of Italo Disco from 1977 to today, always with an eye on what to look for if you collect. Available in Italian and English, in print and as an ebook.