Matteo Mancuso doesn’t like to think too much—not when he has a guitar in his hands, which seems to be most of the time. “The less I think, the better,” he says. “I like to be instinctive, especially when I improvise. Most of my music is centered around improvisation, so I need to feel very free. Otherwise, I’ll be second-guessing each move I make and I’ll be judging myself.”

He cites one of his favorite quotes, this one from drummer Vinnie Colaiuta: “Thought is the enemy of flow.” “I agree with that 100 percent,” he says. Which isn’t to suggest that Mancuso can blank his mind entirely. There are times when he’ll stop and listen to where his nimble bandmates—bassist Riccardo Oliva and drummer Gianluca Pellerito—are going, and if they’re headed in a cool direction, he’ll take right off with them. “That’s the beauty of playing with some very creative musicians,” he says. “They’ll usually present you with some good ideas if you just give yourself a moment to listen.”