TRAKS MAGAZINE #8

No. 8 - march 2017
heidi for
president
our sound
lawn
freaky mermaids
mudimbi
viridanse
girless
REVIEWS INTERVIEWS NEWS
www.musictraks.com

contents
4
8
12
14
16
18
20
22
26
26
Interview
heidi for
president
interview
freaky
mermaids
Interview
girless
interview
rasman
interview
mudimbi
live dates
review
santacroce
reviews
interview
viridanse
Videos
TRAKS MAGAZINE
www.musictraks.com
Editor in Chief:
Fabio Alcini
info@musictraks.com

interview
heidi for president:
sound lawn, flannel
shirts and fake deer
antlers
Nostrils, the debut album of Heidi For President
will be released on April 21. On the lp,
Taranto band collects songs that start from
folk to achieve results quite unique and differentiated.
We put a few questions to them.
What’s the story of Heidi for President?
Heidi for president was born in a cellar, an
evening meeting after days of work/study.
Improvising, we directed more and more
towards a common sound that eventually
became characteristic and on which we have
worked to define it better. And then the idea
of ​“sound lawn”, lyrics in English, the first
flannel shirts and fake deer antlers. As the
project took shape the band was shaped, with
4 5
components that have contributed their influences,
until today, when the assets we were
in 3 elements with very clear stylistic ideas.
Love is the central concept of the lp. Which
were the basic ideas of your album?

interview
We are romantics and our ideal days are those
spent around pine forests, beaches, ravines,
so pretty much tell what we are and what
surrounds us. With our music we hope to
convey those are the moments of great inspiration
that pervade us during these outings.
Often, however, with universal love and the
natural landscapes we also like to tell of our
lives, masked in this size.
The songs seem to have very homogeneous
inspiration...
We have gone through many phases and each
song was the result of a study that lasted over
time. While the band was consolidated the
tracks were arranged each time in a different
way and the lyrics are often lost or changed
many times. But the base remains the nature,
which has always accompanied us on this
journey, allowing us to maintain a dominant
concept.
Although yours is a debut, you could count
on important collaborators at La Rivolta
Records. Can you tell how
you collaborated with musicians
of the lp, particularly
with Del Vitto who is also
the producer?
La Rivolta Records is a big
family and this has allowed
us to count on the collaboration
of great musicians who
have immediately taken the
project to heart. We had the
pleasure and honor to record
with Roberto Mangialardo,
guitarist of La Municipàl and
Sofia Brunetta, with Dario
Ancona, guitarist of I Misteri
del Sonno, but basically one
of Puglia’s best bassists and
Paolo del Vitto, Playontape
drummer and producer. This
is our debut album so many
artistic details were discovered
little by little and day by
day, especially the importance
of the producer, Paolo Del
Vitto, who did a very professional
job, but also “beautiful”
in which he experiented also.
How is it born “Nostrils”?
“Nostrils” is the title of the album but especially
the title of our favorite song. The album,
half experimental and half-Brit-folk, contains
both rhythmic 70/80 that the orchestral
reflections. The eight songs in an album are
the result of a carefully selection occurred
with Paolo Del Vitto. The album evokes the
beauty of a sunrise, the love of nature, of the
legends tells about the life, death and the very
nature, of the wandering souls of the artists
who blend with the landscape.
Who are the Italian independent artists that
you value most in this moment and why?
Since this question has put us in crisis, we
choose three “major” artists and three independent
artists closer to us. Among the major
we include:
- Management del Dolore post-operatorio for
the wealth of lyrics and for no “disturbing”
rock.
- Verdena and Iosonouncane for their musical
experimentation and research of sounds
Among independent artists closer to us we
have no doubt, Sofia Brunetta for its ability
to innovate, with voice and sounds, basically
tested genres, La Municipàl for the construction
of the lyrics and the rhythmic nonclassical
despite a debut album, and finally
Il Terzo Piano, for their atmospheric music
and their ability to enchant the audience.
But by continuing to do things our own way
we would like to mention the bands that we
value and love. These are Il Guaio, Inude,
Leland Did It, Matilde Davoli, Wrongonyou,
Carolina Bubbico, Beatrice Antolini, Senhal,
Electrojesuz, I Misteri Del Sonno, Andrea Nabel,
The Pier, Melga, Plof, Giovanni Truppi,
The People Speak, Motta, Moustache Prawn,
A Copy For Collapse, Gomma, A Morte L’amore.
It is very funny the invocation to “vote”
Heidi, you call the “only German heart of
gold... Now I have a few certainties in life,
but... Heidi is not Swiss?
Heidi could also be of Frosinone (a random
chosen town), for us she is a concept, a dispassionate
love for nature, innocence, barefoot,
walking. Germany, Naples, Milan, Switzerland,
the Alps, we do not mind the exact
location, we are shitty peasants, what did you
expect?
6
7

Freaky mermaids
a silent dialogue
New start for Freaky Mermaids, who welcomed
Giorgia Poli (ex Scisma) in its ranks. The
band released an album, Everything could
happen, in which they widened a bit their
horizons. We asked them a few questions.
The band exists since 2006, but this record
has the appearance of a “new beginning.”Can
you tell us how why?

interview
We arrived to this... sharing!
This record started
where the previous one
ended: during the first
phase of mixing of Moonshine
onces betrayed me
something was wrong ...
This was the moment when
entered in our scene Gabriele,
who finished our
mix making us happy of
what we had done. Giorgia
and Gabriele are lifemates
so the next step was
short: the experience and
the energy of Giorgia have
thrown forward causing
us to glimpse new possibilities. New relationships
and new plots, different experiences: all
this has changed us, our tools have changed,
our sound has changed, Laura has embraced
the guitar! Everything Could Happen is exactly
the picture of our relationship and musical
journey.
Do finding a new alchemy after joining forces
with Giorgia Poli was simple or complicated?
For our fortune, very simple: Giorgia was the
missing piece. The feeling was amazing right
from the first reharsal.
The disc carries an expansion of sounds and
perhaps even a broadening of horizons: Can
you tell us how you arrived?
As I said before, the new equipment has
enabled us to broaden our musical horizons:
the credit goes to Gabriele, who introduced
the older guitars and less celebrated there, the
tube quality amplifiers, the sound of certain
effects that he owns. Moreover, the nature of
the songs of this album was already in origin
other than the previous one, perhaps the
10
most personal and intimate because it was
conceived at a time of growth and change. We
have tried to respect this diversity as much as
possible and do not add anything more than
necessary.
How did is born “You’re gonna tell me”?
It happens every day, in every relationship,
at any age, to identify with what you read
with what you hear with what you decide
to be. This song is a song to the freedom of
self-expression in the most absolute simplicity.
Be yourself, with disheveled hair, without
having things too important to say but just
be present, living relationships without too
much mental constructs.
Can you tell the main instrument you used
to play on this record?
First of all we used the tools we use in live
concerts: acoustic and electric guitars, bass
and double bass, ukulele, harmonicas and
our three voices. Our intent was to start from
a sound as close as possible to the sound of
real concerts and to give the expansion of the
narrow confines of the songs from the point
of view of the instruments. Our achievement
has been to not be afraid to leave the remains
of tracks and add overdubs just to give depth
to the sound plane or to reinforce what was
already there. We were also helped by some
very delicate work of musicians who we hosted
in the recording studio. They have added
precious colors that we did not have, like the
harp of Chiara Dassenno, the piano / Rhodes
of Andrea Braga and the drums of Max Comincini
and Beppe Mondini. Gabriele says:
“I am dedicated to shooting techniques microphone
and tricks that allowed me to record
the performance
of
the girls while
they were
playing live
without metronome
and
without headphones.
The
core of this
disc is played
live 80%: I
am happy of
this result, it’s
what I really
wanted, and
it is the testimony
of the
very good attitude
of the
girls!”
Can you describe
your
concerts?
Our gigs take
place mainly
in small places,
and intimate
enough
11
to establish a silent dialogue with our audience.
Normally we do not have the drums and
we try to build the rhythmic patterns in alternative
ways. Sometimes the limits allow you
to use more imagination and creativity. But
we do not disdain the one-time contribution
of drummers...
Who are the Italian independent artists that
you value most in this moment and why?
We love Cesare Basile for his continuous musical
research and Paolo Benvegnù for the
poetry of his lyrics.

interview
girless
How do you start your own solo career with
an album dedicated to eight famous suicides?
If you are Tommaso/Girless, officially
“paused” by the experience of Girless & The
Orphan, you can. His album, I have a call, relates
with the last step of Hemingway, Primo
Levi, Mario Monicelli, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia
Plath, Vladimir Majakovsij, Luigi Tenco. And
to the one of a person that did not commit
suicide, like Giuseppe Pinelli. All with the
help of the Urali, who sings in two songs and
plays bass in one.
Can you explain how and why you’ve come
now to your first solo album?
The last record of Girless & The Orphan was
released in October 2014 and for a year we
carried it throughout Italy. In February 2016
we talked, and we decided to take a break to
focus on other things, personal or in music.
I had no intention at the time to do something
alone, I had some unfinished songs
that I had started to work and by the time I
became convinced that it was best to keep
them totally acoustic, just guitar and voice.
Hence it arose the need to record a solo lp.
Why an lp dedicated to suicide people?
I remember one morning I was wandering on
the internet without a definite purpose. You
know when you open a link from there, and
then you open another twenty, until you arrive
on a site or a page distant from that from
which you started? Here it is. I ended up on
this page that talked about celebrities who
had committed suicide. I began to read their
stories and to deepen my own. From there,
I selected eight characters and I thought it
would be challenging to try to tell their stories.
How did you choose the characters and, in
two words, what does each of them for you?
The selection process has been influenced by
various factors. In some cases, the personal
history of the deceased was too cool to be
told. In other cases it is started from an idea
to the text and I’ve adapted the music. Actually
the tracks and therefore the characters
were 12, but some were not too incisive in
terms of text, or do not fully convinced, so
I narrowed the selection to the 8 best in my
opinion. It was not easy because they are all
very different characters with each other, and
even what they represent can vary depending
on which side you look at them. It would be
long to explain everything that I learned from
these characters by reading their books, their
poetry or listening to their songs. Or more
simply trying to understand its history, when
it is told by a third party is always fallacious.
Why the choice of a “non-suicide”
like Italian anarchist Giuseppe
Pinelli?
Because we don’t talk about him
enough and it is a tremendously
contemporary event.
Can you describe your concerts?
What are the next dates that will
see you involved?
I speak a little too much between
one song and another. The only
date set so far will be the release
show at Magazzino Parallelo of
Cesena at the DIY Fest (which is
a super two-day festival between
Rimini and Cesena with many
good bands and you should think
to come).
Who is or who are the Italians
independent artists you respect
most in this moment and why?
This is a question very difficult, because you
always end up forgetting someone. So now I’ll
make a band list and artist friends that I appreciate
a lot, in a completely random order
and hope not to forget anyone important (something
that inevitably will happen): Urali,
Lantern, Caso, Lags, Fine Before You Came,
Riviera, Dags, Zachary, Die Abete, I Like Allie,
Tegu, VRCVS, Montana, Bennett, Marcovaldo,
New Adventures in Lo-fi, Marnero,
Labradors.
Can you name three songs that have influenced
you the most?
Songs in particular I could not, I say the authors:
for abroad I would say Billy Bragg, Leonard
Cohen and Rocky Votolato to Italy very
banal tell Fabrizio De André, Ivan Graziani
and Samuele Bersani. I wanted to put Piero
Ciampi, but I do not dare even given the
enormity of the character.
12
13

interview
rasman
Rasman are a trio of recent composition,
which released its debut, Stub. We put a few
questions to the band.
Can you summarize your story to date?
The Rasman trio formed in 2014 with Alessandro
on voice / guitar, Emilio on bass and
Riccardo on drums. The group comes from
the underground punk rock / grunge scene of
the province of Rimini and it was born with
original songs (No cover). After two rotations
on drums, the band, with Gabriele (Sanji) on
drums, entered the studio to record Stub. The
name of the group Rasman is inspired by a
case of Italian news, a case never solved injustice.
With what feelings was born “Stub”?
“Stub” is examining the forensic uses to determine
whether there are traces of gunpowder
on a suspect of murder, the sound of the record
is very strong, the guitars are rhythmic
and repetitive, like the lyrics of the songs. The
titles of the songs are an extract of modern
society, a Lawyer by Stalker and punishement
before the crime, genuine complaints of a
contemporary discomfort.
How is it born “Bathfoam”?
Bathfoam inspired by a true story: a girl, after
a disappointment in love, cut her wrists and
was left to die in a bathtub. The fact made me
think, to the point of writing a song.
Can you tell the main instrument you used
to play on this record?
The lp was recorded entirely in a mini-studio
by Luca Mascia (recording, mixing and mastering)
with Cubase.
Can you describe your concerts?
Our gigs are sincere, there are no pauses, there
is a strong influence of the Ramones show.
Who is or who are the Italians independent
artists that you value most in this moment
and why?
Francesco Motta and the SOVIET SOVIET
are currently indie artists that we like best, in
addition to our countrymen Honey.
The album is now out for some time: have
you already started working on new songs?
We are already working on new songs looking
to shave even more the sound that we would
get.
14 15

interview
mudimbi
An album, Michel, that he
defines “honest”. Mudimbi
brings provocation and irony
to the album. We have asked
him a few questions.
Can you tell your story?
It is very long, sure you want
it all? Let’s do the highlights.
I was born and still live in
a faraway place called San
Benedetto del Tronto. I have
always been lively on average
and average intelligent
(at least according to me).
During adolescence, while
looking for my place in the
world, I came across to rap
and, after the first years of
hate and love, I started to
take familiarity. I wrote and
sang a lot, like all those who
do rap, but I’ve written for
and sung in contexts completely
different from those
frequented by those who rap.
One day, a few years ago, I
embraced the idea of ​giving
up this hobby, it would never
become anything more, and
lead a “normal life.” While
I was thinking this, one of
my songs turns out on Radio
Deejay. That makes me prick
up their ears and think that
maybe I should try seriously.
A few years passed and here
we are.
You wanted a record, above all, honest. In
what is expressed honesty in the album?
The songs are there because I like them, not
because they have to be there. There is no
strategy behind any of my songs, nor behind
the album, nor behind Mudimbi. Honesty is
in this for me, I do what I really want to do in
the way that I feel I really want, at the risk, of
course, that things can go wrong. And with
the assurance that, eventually, I will be fine.
What were the biggest difficulties you encountered
in making the record, if there
were?
I am not one of those who writes from morning
to night, which is unleashed on the sheet.
I don’t have to vent about anything, my life
is going very well. So I did quite apnea when
instead I found myself having to put together
all these traces, to write them from scratch, to
squeeze your brains while I was still working
in the workshop, with little time and little
energy... well we can say that at that time my
life has not gone then so well hahaha
How is it born “Giostre”?
You should ask to “Giostre”. I was on the
sofa in my old apartment, exhausted, brain
dead, but suddenly something crosses my
head. I run into the other room, I take the
microphone and start recording. Probably it
had nothing to do with “Giostre” as we know
it today, but the backbone was the same, the
mood was the same, and for me this alone
was enough to understand that it was worth
continuing to work on it.
Who are the Italian independent artists you
respect the most in this moment and why?
I do not reckon anyone. But do not misunderstand,
is not conceit or arrogance, is that
(who knows me well knows) I do not look
around much. I’m focused on what I do and
want to do, and I keep my eyes, ears and well
centered head on this. Sometimes i feel surprised,
like when they compare me to someone
that I have not the faintest idea who he is,
and yet then I discover that, for the world of
the internet, he is more famous than Jesus of
Nazareth. But that’s okay, because the few times
I have estimated some of my “colleague”,
it was enough to deepen a bit more to change
on the subject immediately idea. I’m not
saying it’s the same for everybody, there are
exceptions, but in my head I always resonates
the phrase from an old movie: “To know in
person someone you like, it is the first step to
begin to estimate it no more”.
16 17

tour
ATLANTIC TIDES
12.04 COBBLESTONES – BRIDGWATER
(UK)
13.04 SUNBIRD RECORDS – DARWEN
(UK)
14.04 PERCY’S – WHITCHURCH (UK)
15.04 LOUNGE 41 – WORKINGTON (UK)
16.04 HOPE & ANCHOR – LONDON (UK)
VIKOWSKI
16/4 | BEOGRAD (SER) - ZAOKRET
17/4 | NIS (SER) - FEEDBACK
23/4 | GDANSK (PL) - OLD GDANSK BEER
PUB & CAFFE
29/4 | NAPOLI (ITA)- MMB - NAPOLI
30/4 | ROMA (ITA) - LE MURA
5/5 | PRAGUE (CZE) - VEČERNÍ KA-
VÁRNA SOUTERRAIN
6/6 | BRNO (CZE) - MUSIC LAB
12/5 | FAVARA (ITA)- OFFICINE MAC
13/5 | VITTORIA (ITA) - DEMODÈ
SUNSET RADIO
01.04 SAMARA(RUS)
02.04 BALAKOVO (RUS)
03.04 VOLGOGRAD (RUS)
21.04 TURBIGO (ITA)
22.04 VIGEVANO (ITA)
18

eview
santacroce
Alessio Santacroce publishes his new album,
Migras: the guitarist, author and writer, has
a twenty-year career with La Quarta Via, but
this is his first as solo artist. An album of solid
rock, attentive to social
issues, a natural attitude for
an author like Santacroce who
is also chairman for Italy of
O.N.G. Sawa Sawa, committed
to building family homes
in Kenya. Santacroce goes
on with his parallel musical
projects such as Cayenna,
Holy Hand Grenade and of
course, La Quarta Via. Album
starts with Il Gregge, a rock
song with traditional and rough
profile, with a guitar that
is the main actor. Even faster
is La notte della repubblica,
showing attention to reality
and sudden dark moments.
The Alessia Caracciolo voice
characterizes Clorofilla, soft
ballad with signs of nervousness.
Mercanti di Anime
begins to run and with high
beat, making clear reference
to smugglers and traffickers
of men from the two shores
of the Mediterranean. Different
shades and a nonlinear
structure distinguish instead
Normandie, which gives
more space to the lines drawn
by approaching instruments
to more contemporary genres such as indie
and post-rock. Bianco miope background is
rumbling and immerses the speech sounds
rather gloomy. L’ingiusta fine delle mezze
stagioni comes back to a context of more
flamboyant rock, while La fiaba dulcamara
returns in calmer moments, mostly vocals
and guitar, but with critical ideas towards
common life today. Lp closes with Migras,
the title track,
which opens
with a sweet
guitar riff and
that is revealed
little by
little in the
style of a hard
rock ballad
of 70s and
80s. Robust
and pleasant
album, which although take part in rock tradition
without major innovations, manages
to build a coherent path without compromise
and with something interesting.
20

colombre
“pulviscolo”
reviews
cs are hard as rocks. There is much originality
in the work of Colombre, putting to
good use the experience with a fast and
successful record. Important work, with
clear evidence of creativity.
the black veils
“dealing with demons”
Dealing with Demons is the new work of
the Bolognese trio The Black Veils. This
is a concept album on the need to face the
demons that lurk in the hearts and minds
of human beings and that often dangerously
take control. Produced by Gianluca Lo
Presti at Lotostudio of Ravenna, “Dealing
with Demons” is the first official release
signed Atmosphere Records , the Bologna-based
label that brings together some
of the most interesting contemporary Italian
reality of post-punk and darkwave
mold. The lp starts with The Persistence
of Memory, full of feedback. Then the music
starts for real and it falls in the middle
of dark wave, crushed between the ghosts
of Joy Division and
early Cure. Nothing is
Pure works on deep
resonances and puts
on the track an average
beat but with frequent
changes. More
ethereal and detached
is the entrance to The
Ghost Inside, which in reality does not reveal
itself at all detached. Reptile (Chant
Pulviscolo is the
new lp of songwriter
Colombre.
Giovanni Imparato
spent his last years
writing and arranging
his songs by
publishing with
Chewingum band.
Two albums, an ep,
and hundreds of concerts in Italy and Europe.
New album starts from Pulviscolo,
the title track, which introduces a soft and
songwriting horizons, with some cloud the
view, however, does not hurt. Fuoritempo,
on the contrary, decides to speed up, using
keyboards and vintage guitars flavor. Blatte
sees the collaboration with Iosonouncane,
apparently not very close to the sounds
of Colombre. But the combination, especially
on the vocal side, works well, even
following the apparent dissonance that introduce
small air pockets in the song. More
linear, despite the title, Tso, who also fits
extravagant variations on his soft tissue.
Most scintillating and with disco dance
music surround Dimmi tu, that relates to
Alan Sorrenti songs, even with some hint
of falsetto and a great funky guitar groove.
Sveglia is a pop-rock tune, happy to send
to fuck off more or less all the world (indeed,
the universe). Quieter moments the
ones of Bugiardo, but also softer the final
of Deserto. There is talk of “soft” referring
to the musical side, because often the lyrifor
Cold-Blooded Creatures) conjures
ghosts of new wave, but also of the tribe of
bands which refers to that time. Distinct
rhythms and a desire to assault is revealed
in True Beauty Attacks! Instead Prinsengracht
move on more indirect lines,
hidden in the mists of Dutch channels,
with the recovery of something that seems
melodic. Extremely accelerated movements,
and rather hysterical, those of The
Comforting Another Taste of Springtime
Torture. Freyja recovers a more “normal
pace”, but look for other deep resonances.
Dealing with Demons, the title track comes
to confirm the impressions already
accumulated in the course of the album.
Then we go towards the end with declamatory
and crooked The Wicker Man, before
the dances are closed seriously with The
Disintegration of the Persistence of the
Memory, descriptive, dramatic and lyrical
final part. Good second album for The
Black Veils, able to put various anxieties on
record, melting them with good execution
quality. Strongly recommended to dark
wave lovers.
A tree grows
“a tree grows”
After the first single, Wau Wau Water, A
Tree Grows present their self-titled debut
album, released by Rufftone Records,
accompanied by the video of the song Future
Calculations. By involving some of
the most talented musicians of the New
York scene, the band has managed to create
a Street Jazz disk, mixed with Afrobeat,
rock and experimental sounds. The album
opens with the title track, A Tree Grows,
a rich in sparkles where the sax phrase fits
smoothly with quite nervous percussions.
Softer are the movements of Millions of
Years, interesting excursus on soft tones.
There is something deeply vintage in the
development of Out and About, still led by
the sax but where the instruments blend
together effortlessly. The short Valentines
Day cloaks the path of sweetness, fishing
almost in the easy listening area. Unlike
2 years, 16 days and 24 minutes that
opens with sounds flirting with the noise,
developed under the track and with more
experimental ideas.
The first part of Wau
Wau Water goes in
areas bluntly jazz,
slipping on velvet.
Very animated is
Youngblood, where
the drumming becomes
particularly evident
and alive. We return to an experimental
nerve with Rashaan’s Life, short guitar
speech. A team talk much broader instead
comes with Tragic, with a construction
that begins with rhythmic foundation to
raise more important structures. After
another short excursions into jazz with
some dose of tradition, with Future Calculations,
here comes Ripple Edit and her
ethereal movements. The lp closes with
the second part of Wau Wau Water. Good
lp for the band, showcasing all his considerable
talent. In addition to the instrumental
capabilities, it is clear also the will to go
beyond standard.
22 23

eviews
voina “Alcol, schifo
e nostalgia”
An lp victim of
hangover: Voina
publish Alcool,
schifo e nostalgia,
the second lp, that
carries anxieties,
resentments and
many confused but
fast ideas. Voina
come from Lanciano (Chieti - Abruzzo) and
in the spring of 2013 they released their
first ep, entirely self-produced and artistically
directed by Manuele Fusaroli and
Marco Di Nardo (Management del Dolore
Post-Operatorio). On October 2015 they
released their first album Noi non siamo
infinito. There is a certain continuity
between Welfare, the opening track, and
Io non ho quel non so che: an electrical
and aggressive continuity in the fields of
indie rock and post punk, at high speeds.
The first song focuses mainly on labor issues,
while the second extends his gaze in
a way of being, or rather not to be, in tune
with the common experience of the year
2017.Bere proves itself equally effective,
transformed along the way in a sort of anthem
(sui generis), with the bad feelings
that expand and meet choral moments.
More dark and intimate Ossa, although the
propensity to (self) destruction then takes
the main street of a very suffered and bleeding
song. Morire 100 volte tries again
to hold back the anger, through good bass
lines and other electrical techniques, but it
fails and the explosion it comes, even with
a hint of hip hop. Gli anni 80 does not
skimp on aggression and regrets. Il futuro
alle spalle starts from the bass to tell stories
of hope denied. Non è la Rai tries to
explain in detail the possibility of different
life choices, which is a bit the leitmotif of
the disc. Along with the accumulation of
negative feelings vented through electric
guitars always drawn. Il Jazz does not really
expresses a great fascination for the
genre of Miles Davis, used as a symbol of
a life that you hate. La Provincia details
the sensation of hangover and the feelings
that transmits, closing the album. A
very strong effort, that of Voina, who make
steps forward compared to the previous album,
also in terms of nihilism. The feelings
expressed by the band are clearly sincere,
digging to the bone and sometimes hurting
even just listening to them from the outside.
wops
“il giorno onirico”
Ten years of playing music together, but
first official album:
Wops publish Il giorno
onirico, twelve
tracks where can
be traced signs of
psychedelia, rock, dream
pop. The influences
range from classic
psychedelia up to the
American indie and more recent generations.
The Wops are: Fabrizio Piergiovanni
(drums), Marco Amoroso (low) Alessandro
Caruso (guitars, keyboards and vocals) and
Francesco Rita (guitars, keyboards and
vocals). The band’s name is a derogatory
term against the Italian immigrant invented
by the Americans in the early twentieth
century. The first song Ora mi alzo,
a dawn acoustic/psychedelic for the lp,
distributed with pinkfloydian footprints.
Without stopping you move to the L’oro in
bocca, much more rhythmic and less dreamy,
even with a very concrete and aggressive
drumming. The drift dream it takes
only the final part of the song, in this case.
Cori and dissonance in Funesto, equally
assaulting and with a round of punchy guitar.
Pace does not go down, but surely the
tones lower, with Lady 88, still woven on
a very fast drumming and increasing volumes.
Influences psych-folk and vintage
characteristics for A me mi, while La ballata
delle mine adds some ideas in the pop
field. Tones suddenly low and soft those
of Lei mi dice, whispered with a development
once again of dream pop. Many denials
resonate in melancholic Vinavil. The
second part of the tune, however, reveals
an electronic soul and a dotted rhythm in
an almost entirely unexpected way. Ripresa
expands upon concepts and serves as
the first intermission of Il Lancio, a track
that builds a rhythmic climax with meditative
pauses. After the second part of Ora
mi alzo, still soft and acoustic, the album
closes with L’arte del sonno, with a phone
call, maybe taken from a movie gradually
drowned by rising sounds. Good personality
and good ideas for Wops, who manage
to blend ideas and influences in a creative
way, to get a team job and with good levels
of intensity.
usual
“just feel alright”
Usual is the project of four musicians who
publish Just Feel Alright, ep of four songs
full of rock and good feelings. The band
members are Mathias Drescig (vocals and
guitar), Filippo Tonelli (bass and vocals),
Michele Marocchi (guitar and vocals) and
Marco Ziliani (drums and vocals). Just Feel
Alright is their debut ep, released on March
15 via Primal Box, recorded and mixed by
Fabrizio San Pietro
and Jonathan Bonvini
the Chrono Sound
Factory in Vimodrone.
The work starts
from Just Feel Alright,
the title track
that exposes immediately
the band’s penchant for international
rock (not necessarily indie), with a
rhythm crescendo and a choral finale. Dog
fits rhythms and a more aggressive and
heavy sounds. With the passing of the song
traces of ‘70s rock with some blues influence
emerge. Any sign of vintage emerges
even from Blueberries and Wine,
tune of medium and resonant rhythm. It
closes with Down the Road of My Heart,
with good sensations transmitted by
the rhythm section, modulated with other
ideas about the past without exceeding in
nostalgia, and even a trumpet passage to
confer other colors. Good ep, that of Usual,
rich and distinctive characteristics of a rather
strong personality.
24
25

interview
viridanse
Born in 1983, they broke up in 1987. It could
be all here the history of Viridanse. But then
it comes an anthology in 2012, then a real
reunion in 2014 that has resurfaced with the
history of post punk band. Today the band
renews oldest sensation publishing Hansel,
Gretel e la strega cannibale, a virulent album
full of feelings. We put a few questions to Enrico
Ferraris and Flavio Gemma.
Many reunion of rock bands collide with
the reality of the past: you make a record,
then they all return to their own reality.
But you have proven to having set up a
project built to last. On what is build your
newfound solidity?
When in 2014 we decided to start making
music as Viridanse Flavio and I never
doubted the willingness to engage in a lasting
way. Restart was a way to evolve our music
in the most natural way possible and above
all to interpret it in a different era. So, having
established that we would have to re-invent
a new formation for three-fifths, we decided
to invest in a new repertoire, recovering
very little of the old pieces. This journey took
us no time to have eight new songs, albeit
from certain darker shades of the old sound,
expressed harsher sounds and in some sense
“free” from rigid patterns of much of the
music of the 80s. In some ways it was a risky
choice, but it certainly was the only one
we could do to express something new and
more mature. Obviously the meeting with
Gianluca, Giancarlo and Fabrizio gave a new
dimension to our music and it has allowed
us to realize Viridanse in 2015, an album that
has given us so much satisfaction especially as
critical acclaim and audience.
Can you tell guidelines and inspiration
behind your new album?
From the musical point of view it is a job that
has elements of a very 70s approach, for the
air we breathe, the most influential in the use
of voice and sound in general. Big thanks also
to the powerful battery Erik (Nalin) that,
after leaving the group of Fabrizio
(Calabrese) in June 2016
played superbly the new songs,
in a very short time, moreover.
The song that gives title to the
work, and in general the entire
album from allegory of the fable
to represent the grotesque and
devastating side of the society in
which we are immersed and of which
we are co-responsible for the decline.
It is not clear where it really is evil, that
childhood innocence, instinct engulfing the
cannibal witch, torn between the temptations
and snares of the company that “pretends”
or marzipan sweet temptations. Everything
is chaotic and elusive in an extremely precise
design of “power”
and submission to
our own needs, in
short, every actor in
this story embodies
itself good and evil,
as two sides of the
same coin.
The whole album
expresses the strong
message of trying to
understand, comprehend
and fight all
those aspects of life
that make us slaves,
is a visible power
and constituted, is
an invisible power and impalpable. A short
way to fight a logic that leads mankind to use
every resource that the world offers, chasing
illu-
sory and false things out of greed.
Always the theme of the systematic
control of the masses is at the
center of our interests and considerations
and in this record the
awareness of this message flows
between sentences and texts by
Gianluca and music by Flavio
and obviously affects our collective
way of playing and
interpret the music.
Why Lorenzo Stecconi as a producer
and why the recordings in the City Theater
of Alessandria?
Since the genesis of the pieces that went
playing, we felt the need to record them as
direct as possible, expressing their full potential
impact “live.” We immediately thought of
Lorenzo, for his experience in the production
26
27

interview
of Ufomammut album Zu and many others,
we knew we had the ability to interpret our
music, capturing the true essence. The atmosphere
that the songs had to express were of
immediacy and power, wickedness and cruelty
exactly like the concept required. Lorenzo
was the sixth member of the group, he has let
things be succeeded capturing them with great
artistic sensitivity and reproducing them
flawlessly. It came out an album that sounds
very live, a bit like those that were made in
the seventies, we have recorded virtually live,
playing together, in an absolutely amazing
atmosphere. The choice of the Municipal Theater
of Alessandria was born from the search
for a place to interpret our music exactly this
way. We used the areas of the big stage of the
theater, a huge place with high ceilings and
bare of all furniture in what area closed for
renovation. We worked for a week in this surreal
environments on the size and undeniable
charm. The filming of our first videos were
made there during the recording session. It
was an important experience and a big professional
challenge.
The songs of the album have wide literary
references to the universe of fantasy, fairy
tales Lovecraft (and Batman). Why those
sources of inspiration?
Because some fantastic literature proceeds in
the direction of human soundings of her in
ever universal key environment. The fantastic
is often the reality seen through a mirror free
from dogma, it is emotional adventure, it denounces
the rigid and misleading systems
Can you tell concept and video processing,
which extends the story told by the lp?
Even the making of the video was a precise
artistic choice, timing of our songs are high,
unsuitable for traditional video we chose to
make a real short film The video was made
by Alessandro Magagna (ANDO), artist and
photographer of great talent and sensitivity,
and our friend. He worked on our side interpreting
quite rightfully so the message of
the song. The intent was to create the hectic
suggestion and schizoid rhythmic frames
with images fast, a reality of images and subliminal
messages that are subject to the logic
of the advertising campaign, and the devouring
consumerism. In my opinion I testify to
the contrast
between
the frantic
rhythm of
our society
and the conscious
design
of those who
control the
system by defining
a clear
vision of how
it should be,
symbolized
by the “witch”
who paints.
By the way
it is essential
to remember
the pictorial artistic contributions of Antonio
De Nardis, author of the album cover
and other exceptional works that are part of
comprehensive artwork, and Aeno, which in
the video embodies the witch who paints, the
author of many works in china that make the
CD packaging something unique and unrepeatable.
What do you think of the renewed interest
of the independent band for the dark wave?
Probably because the scene wave and post
punk, gothic or dark has never exhausted
and always creates its own charm. Also see
how it has evolved in certain ambient music,
in metal or even in certain forms of musical
avant-garde. For us it is important to read
them in an increasingly new and always create
engaging musical languages ​and adapted to
the times we are living. The music is in compliance
with the origin and heart of the future,
it is undeniable.
28 29

videos
PsychoKiller
I dream it all
tonight
My Monthly
Date
One Day More
cult of aurora
white light
Pieralberto
Valli
Frontiera
colombre
pulviscolo
click and see
eNDRIGO
Straight outta
Villaggio
Sereno (BS)
the shoplifters
nothing in
common
thalos
storm
junk street
point of view
wops
la ballata
delle mine
Denis The
Night & The
Panic Party:
How Long will
be now
España Circo
Este
Dammi un
beso
Nadiè
La bionda
degli Abba
30
31

eviews
interviews
WWW.MUSICTRAKS.COM
streaming of full albums
videos
news
24