Free Arlo: A Star Emerges From L.A.

By Gabby Alfveby

Musicians are everywhere but aren’t always discovered. Free Arlo is a musician from San Pedro, California near LA. 

Free Arlo is a stage name used by musician Chance Famighetti. Famighetti didn’t always enjoy music.

“I was forced to read music and I hated it because it’s kind of like math. And then when I was 10, I switched teachers to someone who taught me how to play by ear. And it kind of just switched up everything for me and made music more of a creative thing because I could play whatever I wanted if I heard it,” Famighetti said.

Famighetti wants to make his audience feel emotions and be able to relate while listening to his music.

“I just hope that my songs make people feel something. Whether…they laugh because it’s funny or they get sad cause it makes it makes them relate to their own life in a breakup or whatever…I just want them to relate to it and have some sort of feeling that they get from it because if they don’t then I feel like it’s just kind of a whatever. Like you listen to a song that doesn’t strike any feelings in you. Even if you’re like, yeah that’s kind of cool. You’re not gonna remember it,” Famighetti said.

Famighetti also hopes to headline his own tour one day and have a song go viral.

“Yeah, I mean I really need, I really would like, a song to really just take off. And like I also would really love to do a tour whether I’m headlining or I’m just going along supporting, like opening for a bigger act. I’m actually a drummer for this other guy who has a big famous song. And I get to go on tour with him as his drummer. And so like I kinda of just really hope eventually that happens for me as Free Arlo so that would be cool,” Famighetti said.

Famighetti is inspired by other artists that has helped him shape his musical style.

“My favorite artist is probably John Mayer just because all of his songs have gotten me through like every sad moment I’ve ever had. And then sonically I’m super into Dominic Fike just because I think he’s really creative with his sounds,” Famighetti said.

Famighetti’s stage name was difficult to pick. He first started with picking what names he couldn’t use.

“So my real name is actually Chance. but Chance the Rapper exists so I could not take that. I had a little keychain, like an astronaut keychain. That was hanging from my rear view mirror on my car and the keychain’s name was Arlo, and this was like in 2018 or 19, and it was like tied by a string on the mirror and it fell down one time and my buddy was in the car. He was like “Hey, you freed Arlo”. I was gonna go with Rhett Arlo and I was telling my dad, ‘I like that but it sounds a little country,’ Famighetti said.

Famighetti explored options but some sounded too country and trapped him to one genre while others were already taken.

He was sold by his stage name “Free Arlo” after checking and finding out that the name wasn’t being used on any other platforms already.

“It’s funny because when I got down to it like the final choice, my other option was gonna be Jack Neptune, which I think is really funny because it’s low-key kind of corny but I feel like names are only cool,” Famighetti said.

Famighetti hopes to be able to build relationships with his fans as he continued to grow throughout his career.

“But if they have a song that like you really connect with I think that creates longevity and true fans. I wanted to just create a feel and instill a feeling in someone, you know,” Famighetti said.