How the Toronto-native recording artist and singer-songwriter Armando Scarlato Jr. propelled himself onto the international music scene.

When I first met Armando Scarlato Jr. at Carolina Restaurant in Toronto, the first word that came to mind was “genuine.” As he walked in the door sporting his custom Meshika hat and dark shades, his style is palpable. But there is also a deep sense of sincerity and authenticity in the way he carries himself and speaks.

“Marc, let me get you an espresso and pastry!” he says enthusiastically as we begin to bond over our similar southern-Italo-Canadian upbringing. “I have nothing but beautiful memories of growing up in North York,” he adds. “Even when times were tough, my parents raised us right.”

Scarlato Jr. was named after his father, Armando Sr., a hardworking carpenter who was eager to put his son on skates as soon as possible. Scarlato Jr. can recall taking to the ice at the age of 4. But his mother, Pina, the family storyteller, would always remind him how much he loved making music by playing with the pots and pans and that his first introduction to music was Jon Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

Even though his passion for music developed at a young age, sparked by his fascination with the piano, guitar and his participation in the school choir, hockey always took precedence.

After playing hockey at Toronto’s Chaminade College School and eventually ascending to the Triple-A league, he received a partial scholarship to Niagara University.

“From there, I was always doing music when I wasn’t playing hockey,” he says, laughing. “The guys would make fun of me, but they know some of my songs.”

Scarlato Jr. would eventually go on to play in the International Hockey League (IHL) for the Bloomington Prairie Thunder and Flint Generals. Soon after, he played in Belgium, Holland and France. Of course, life can throw you a curveball or set you on a path you never would have predicted, one filled with opportunities. It was during his time in France at 26 years old that he fell in love with the music scene.

“IT’S 15 YEARS IN THE MAKING WHAT PEOPLE ARE SEEING TODAY WITH ME. IT DIDN’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.”

“There was a big music scene, and these DJs were performing at these beautiful clubs. One had an instrumental and I wrote a top line, the words and the melody. It ended up going [to] No. 5 in Spain. That’s really when I caught the music bug,” Scarlato Jr. says.

At 29, he decided to pursue music full time because the butterflies of excitement he’d once felt on the ice had begun to fade; now he only felt them on stage and in the studio.

“It’s 15 years in the making what people are seeing today with me. It didn’t happen overnight,” Scarlato Jr. says emphatically.

Since then, he has opened for such acts as Offset (of Migos), Loud Luxury and DJ Pauly D (from Jersey Shore). He has also performed at Nikki Beach Monte Carlo in Monaco during the F1 as well as at New York Fashion Week. His music has been featured on labels including Sony Music, Armada Music and Kontor Records, reflecting his growing popularity. In 2018, Scarlato Jr. co-wrote and was featured on DJ Antoine’s El Paradiso. He was flown to the St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps to shoot the music video, which was sponsored by Hublot. The track has garnered over 5.3 million views on YouTube and more than 8.9 million streams on Spotify, becoming an instant hit in Italy.

Soon after, he co-wrote the official FIFA World Cup song for the Swiss national soccer team, “Ole Ole” by DJ Antoine, featuring Karl Wolf and Fito Blanko. The song was selected as one of the top 20 official World Cup anthems at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He later co-wrote and provided vocals for DJ Antoine’s “Symphony,” which reached #3 on MTV Italia and was ranked #32 on radio station Z103.5’s top songs of 2019. His recent singles have earned both local and international recognition, positioning this Canadian rising star to become a major force in the dance/pop/ electronic dance music scene, not only in Canada but worldwide.

“I HAVE NOTHING BUT BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES OF GROWING UP IN NORTH YORK.”

Then in June of 2023 everything changed for Scarlato Jr. While walking his large Cane Corso Doberman dog, Athena, in the park, she ran into him accidentally and collided with his knee at full speed, which caused his ankle to break in three places and become dislocated.

Three weeks after major surgery that entailed inserting 15 bolts into the joint, he found out that he had developed a life-threatening gut infection that required life-saving surgery, and the doctors gave him only a 50/50 chance of survival. Months into his recovery, the family was heartbroken by yet another blow when Scarlato Jr.’s mother, Pina, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

Scarlato Jr. credits his mother for not only giving him the gift of life but also his passion for music. His singles “Love Again” and “Away from Me” honour his love for her and her memory: Pina passed away in June 2024 after succumbing to her disease. Each day, he lives by the inspiring message she left with him, “The world needs to hear your songs.”
www.armandomusic.com
@armandoscarlatojr