Italy 6

Italy 5

"It’s been more than a year since I wrote the first article on this blog, when I realized this I asked myself if anything has changed in the last 12 months.

First of all in my life the biggest change is a new band named Holy in which I sing, and also we share members with well known acts like Verme, Scena, and obviously Light Up! (where I play the bass). We play a mix of D-Beat, New School Hardcore and Powerviolence, we recorded 8 songs last summer, supposed to be just a demo they become a 12” thanx to the work and support of Hell Yes Records! We’re about to tour europe from April 28 to May 8.


Meanwhile I keep playing in Light Up!, we’re planning to release a 5 or 6 song tape (with songs all sung in italian) and also a LP, we hope that everything will be ready by the end of the year.

Here in the Milano area things have become very quiet, less shows, less bands playing, it’s a sort of paradox because the town has a new mayor, who is supposed to be “closer” to the left wing movement, and seems that the all cops/antisquat season has ended.

By the way with Light Up! We palyed a couple of shows in a new squat named Black Aut (in the east part of Milano). It was super fun to play there and lot of people came ( we luckily shared the stage with Loma Prieta, in one of those shows), I recently heard they had some issues with the neighbours due to some rave party (sic...), I hope they keep on promoting hc/punk shows. Even in Monza the folks from FOA Boccaccio ( a well known squat, which was active for several years around the mid 2000’s) squatted a new place, it’s smaller, Bokanovsky are going to play there by the end of March, and maybe Hammers around June.

Talkin' about bands , this time. I have to quote some bands from other cities, that, in my opinion, are the best acts around. It’s sad that in a big city like Milano, well known in the past for his glorious scene, no new bands are rising. I hope it’s just a momentary phase.

Crop Circles (Trento / Rovereto) play a mix of Fast Core and Old school hardcore, they toured europe with Left in Ruins (and they're about to hit the road again, I think their next tour will start around the 10th of May). It’s hard to find a band that good, checkin' the italian scene right now, fast/slow parts, cool riffs, extremely harsh vocals. They released a s/t 7 “ and a 7” split with Light Up! Check 'em out!


La Prospettiva (Cesena) are a 5 piece that play Old School hardcore in a very modern way, perfect drumming, fast parts, midtempos, really well done guitar parts and melodies. The lyrics are in italian. I must admit I’m not too much into this kind of hc, and at first I was a bit sceptical about their music, but we shared the stage 2 or 3 times and they've always been a fuckin' blast, and every time they’re gettin' better.


Left in Ruins (Trento) play powerviolence for fans of both Dropdead and modern acts like Trash Talk, sometimes you can also hear some rockish riffs. At first they we’re a 2 piece combo, with Olly singing and Piff (guitar in Crop Circles) playing all the instruments. They soon set up a full line-up, to play live shows, they also released a s/t LP around the end of 2011.

Whale's Island (Palermo) are very different from all the other bands I’ve quoted, Whale’s Island play melodic hardcore/pop punk, musically they remind me something like Polar Bear Club, the vocal style is very close to Death is Not Glamorous, cool melodies, very enjoyable.

That’s all for now...See ya!"

Tour - Beartrap - Switzerland & Italy

Day 18/show 13/Basel, Switzerland

We woke up today and walked back to the van. Then we hit horrible traffic going out of Marseille. The drive to Basel was 7 hours. When we crossed into Switzerland we got stopped at the border. They asked if we had anything to declare and we said no. They asked us if we “make music” . We said yes. Then they sent us to a line where they didn’t check the van or our passports, but they charged us 40 euro for a sticker so we could drive on their highways.

Here is where I will tell the truth about Europe and everyone calls me a complainer. If you are a small band like us you will be lucky to break even in Europe. A lot of people say “you’ll never want to tour anywhere else” and “bring lots of merch." So far, this is not true. I honestly don’t care about losing money or anything like that but the amount of tolls over here is insane and I don’t see breaking even being an option. Everyone also is not as merch crazy as people say. There have been good nights, but tonight we sold 1 record, that’s it. So don’t be fooled. Just because you are from the Unites States doesn’t mean you are automatically a hit in Europe (I always thought this was bullshit anyway). I’m gonna close this statement by saying I appreciate how nice everyone is. Every night we get fed, a place to sleep, and sometimes breakfast. It's also perplexing to me that anyone likes my band, at all, what so ever.

We got to the venue around 9 and dinner was waiting for us. Fresh fruit, nuts, salad, curry vegetables and spinach on a tortilla. It was awesome. Heiko booked the show for us and took care of everything, he is a great dude. This venue is one of those wonderful European venues that you eat, play, sleep, eat and shower at. The venue is called Hirscheneck. The first floor is a bar/restaurant. Bands play in the basement with a small bar. This show was a bar show. More so people hanging out and not really into the show. They watched us and everyone was nice but it was just the vibe I got. After the show I went upstairs to the awesome shower/internet combo. Tomorrow's drive is the shortest drive since the UK so I am amped on being able to walk around either city. The drive the day after today is 1 hour so that is even more exciting.

Day 19/show 14/Lugano,Switzerland

Woke up today and had breakfast. It was some tofu, bread, and a bunch of different spreads. Then everyone took forever to shower so I just hung out in the venue/apartment. It was some 4 floor, 700 year old building. It was such an awesome place. Then we drove to Lugano. The drive was only 3 hours and it was thru the Swiss Alps. The drive was soo beautiful. It reminded me of how beautiful Western Canada is. We got to the venue and got a tour. The venue is a squat called CSOA Molino. Its like a compound of 6 different buildings and it insane to me that this place exists. One building is a small room for bands to play. One is the big room for bands to play. Across from that is the café/library. Above that is the movie theater. Then people live in another building. There is graffiti everywhere and this place is crazy.


We skated to the skate park down the street, and that was equally as crazy. One side was this x-games street course. The other side was 6 bowls that were all intertwined. Between them was a building for people to hang out in. Pretty cool town we’ve got here.


Fabio booked the show and was a super nice dude. Tonight we had potato gnocci for dinner and it was awesome. This place is still mind blowing to me. The show started super late, like 11:30. The room we played in was one of the coldest rooms I’ve been in. I used to sell T-shirts outside sports events at night in the middle of winter and the cold of this room got to me. I played the whole show in my jacket and hoodie. The first band started and they were called gokurtrussel. They were a grindcore band and were pretty good. There were over 100 people at this place tonight and maybe 40 watched them. The kids that did threw ladders and shopping carts around the pit and went wild. The WitchTrap played. About 10 people watched both of us. Everyone here was here to get fucked up and fuck other people up. That’s cool it’s just not my thing. The saviors of this show were the gokurtrussel dudes and the potato gnocci. If you sound like Municipal Waste, come play here.

Day 20/show 15/Milan,Italy

Today we woke up in the squat in Lugano and then drove 1 hour to our next show in Milan, Italy. Short drives are always awesome. We got to the venue and then skated to the center of the city. The people who lived at the squat told us that we shouldn’t walk or skate there and we should take a train. Probably skated over 10 miles. Milan is a nice city. Back at the squat we drank a lot of tea and waited for dinner. Around 9 we had some pasta and bread with sauce on it. It was pretty good. The show started late, around 11. Earlier in the day one of the dudes who lives at the squat told us the show wasn’t gonna be that good because there was another all local show happening in another squat as an anniversary for the squat. He also told me that he tried to get the shows combined and the other squat said no, This has happened with a lot of places on this tour. I thought hardcore and punk rock were supposed to be about community and such, guess I was wrong.


This brings me to my next point. Europeans are brutally honest about the shows they book. If I were booking a band I would never tell them the show I was booking for them was gonna suck. This has also happened many times on this tour. People have said that “That town sucks for a show” or “Sorry, I think the show tonight isn’t gonna be good”. Most of the time they are wrong. Tonight they were wrong. The show was in the basement of Villa Vegan. It’s a small room so it's not hard to fill but tonight it was overfilled. The first band was named Holy and they also booked the show. They were sick. Then Witch Cult played and people enjoyed it. Beartrap played and it was pretty cool. 2 seconds ago a cat jumped on my head from 10 feet above me and now I want to go to sleep.

Day 21/show 16/Rome, Italy

Woke up early today to drive to Rome. The show was supposed to be a matinee. It did not start till about 7 or 8, not a matinee at all. The drive wasn’t that bad, but of course there was a 40 euro toll to ruin the day. Got to the show and sat around for awhile. Danillo booked this show and he is a nice dude. The show was in the Bencivenga squat. This show was kinda like the Lugano show, more people watched us both this time tho. They also made BearTrap replay half of our set because it was too short. I hate when bands play for too long so this always blows my mind. More of a party atmosphere than a show but that’s the way it is sometimes. Tomorrow is Padova, Italy. I think we are wakeing up early to go into the center of Rome.

Day 22/show 17/ Padova,Italy

Today we woke up early to drive to the center of Rome and see the Coliseum. The ruins around it are insane. I was standing outside a building where people used to get eaten by lions for other people's entertainment. I wish this still happened today. After that we drove to Padova, Italy. Playing 2 and a half sets last night must have caught up to me because I slept the latest today and slept on the floor of the van for most of the ride. We got to the show and it's in a venue called Seven Live. It's in the middle of nowhere. It’s 2 buildings. One is the venue/bar, the other is a practice space/studio. Pretty cool so far. The owner is nice and fed us some pasta and rice. We were also given the biggest loaf of bread we all have ever seen. The 2nd best part is the fruit and nuts. The best part of the meal is blood orange juice. Sica booked the show and is a very nice dude.


The show started around 9 and its on a Monday night so I was worried it wouldn’t do to well. This was one of the best shows so far. There were a lot of people, they all had a good time, they bought stuff, we got paid well and it was a Monday night. After the show we drove a few minutes to the city center and we are staying with some of Sica's friends. Tomorrow is Ljubljana, Slovenia. After this show we have to start crossing borders and worrying about being extorted by cops and having our merch seized. This is where the real struggle starts.

Italy 5

Italy 4

“Here are some of the best italian hc bands...

Attrito (Trento)


Sottopressione


Congegno


La Crisi (Milano)


Grandine


RFT (Milano)


La Piovra (Venezia)


Affluente (Ascoli)


Nettezza Umana (Brescia)


Bloody Riot


Nerorgasmo (Torino)


Straight Opposition (Pescara)


Raw Power (Reggio Emilia)



You Suck”

Italy - Milano 2

Italy - Milano 1

"This report, is not meant to be a complete catalogue of all the bands and all the venues here in Milan, maybe I forgot someone, maybe I just decided to not quote someone or something because it has already been quoted in the other posts on this blog, and maybe there was not enough space to speak about ALL the bands I know. It's only a personal point of view.

Milano has a well known history of having a great hardcore scene in last two decades. Maybe in the last few years, everything has become more difficult for everyone, probably due to fact that there are fewer places to play. Socially and politically speaking, the climate in town has become more and more suffocating, and it seems like everything that's not nailed to a business/profit logic is almost cut out. So, you understand, setting up a DIY show, became a tough job.
But even though we're not living a golden age, something survives, and someone carries on, trying to do good things.

DEAF KIDS CREW is newborn collective, they set up some shows in 2010, and are always working for new ones, they're involved in cox 18 , one of the oldest (and maybe one of the last...) squats in Milano, they really work hard, if you see one of their shows you'll probably see an art exhibition, or a movie, or you will eat some lovely (vegan) food. They also cooperate with some of the other aspects of the scene.


FREEGO! Collective is a long time active collective, they set up shows in the basement of cs Leoncavallo, a space named Dauntaun, with a small concert room, and a wonderful chillin area with couches and one of the most popular italian entertainments: biliardino!


In Dauntaun you can see, punk, hardcore, indie, and sometimes noise or experimental bands!


SGA is DIY a venue, managed by some kid from the scene, it's not in Milan, but just a few kilometers up north. Many great bands have played here (Verse, Set Your Goals, Ceremony, Cursed and many more...). Low prices for entrance and bar, a low stage. perfect for fun.


VILLA VEGAN is a squat, located in the northern suburbs of Milano, they're really focused on animal liberation struggles, and anarchist activities, and they also host animals in the park around the venue. It's a good place to see or organize a show, mainly the shows are in the small basement, but in summer they move outside in the yard and it's very comfortable. Any in June they organize a party to celebrate their “squatting birthday” and this is usually a 2 days fest, where many hardcore bands play.


Besides these, I also want to quote TELOS in Saronno


THE BOX is a new space located in cs eterotopia in S.Giuliano Milanese and I also know some guys are trying to organize some shows in a club near Monza named THE FLAG.

BANDS



A FADED GLORY

You can consider AFG a so-called “Modern old school” band, they finely mix melodic tunes with both fast parts and downtempos, they have played a lot of shows, and they are probably one of the most active and interesting bands that have come out in the last 3 years. They released only an EP, named “The Missing Beginning”, but on their myspace you can hear two new unreleased songs.


AGATHA

Agatha is a long time active, all-female band, since their guitarist left some time ago they decided to not replace her, and turn from the classic “bass+guitar+drums” trio in to a two-piece, with a super distorted bass instead of the guitar, evertything is very heavy, sludgy and noisy. They have a new record out that is available for free download, and maybe it will be press soon.


LIGHT UP!

Ok, it’s time for some silly self promotion, I’m the bass player for L/U! I think there’s not too much to say ‘bout us, we’re together since November 2009, we have many influences, from classic 80’s Hardcore, to powerviolence, to some more moshy stuff… basically we play a bunch of short songs, and we try to play them fast, and loud. All our releases are available for free download.



SCENA

To me Scena is an example of how “classic” hardcore punk has to sound in the 2ks (think also of bands like Vogue or Skitkids…)., rockfish riffing, up and midtempos, everything is super-“danceable” and super fun! They’re not playing so many live shows right now, probably because cause one of them has moved out of Italy.


TO THE EMBERS

Before saying anything about this band I have to be honest: the guys in To The Embers are some of my best friends (some of them also play in Light Up!), so I don’t know if I’m completely objective…
TTE plays a very emotional and dark hardcore, which blends some old school influences with more complicated song structures, melodic/posthardcore parts, and introspective lyrics. Besides this they’re still playing fast and heavy music, and, to me, this is primary for an hardcore band.


VERME

Verme is not strictly an hardcore band, to me they sound very 90’s emo. Super catchy melodies, with very original lyrics (in Italian!) perfect for singalong!"

Italy 4

Italy 3

I'm from Parma and the local scene has started to revive after being stopped for a long time with some bands that don't refer to the old school so obviously..

In my town there's a rather famous recording studio that ''promotes'' emerging bands but it has a horrible ambience..full of drugs and if you haven't got friends in the studio it's almost impossible to join in..as if it were only for the privileged..then again many prefer the way of DIY but it isn't easy.

So I think I remain among the few people here who still believe in the old principles..now it's more about money than passion..
The people who support the local scene are becoming less and for the bands it is difficult to escape from the niche..and this is a shame because there are bands that certainly deserve more..

November Third


We Sink


Photograhy: Davide Bona

Rise Above Dead


Artwork: Master Jack @ Eterno Riflesso

Set Me Free


The Secret


Smart Cops


La Crisi

Italy - North sXe

In the city I live in, Milano, the scene is rich of bands.
Among the most recent and most prolific projects in the city is Milano Hardcore Crew, a group of people who driven by a common passion for hardcore, have joined together with the objective and hope of helping the city’s scene to go back to its former glory which sadly in recent years has been gradually declining. Very often they organise shows or help in whatever way they can, giving the chance to both local and international bands to play in the city.



A lot of us are Straight Edge and have been for either a long time or only a few years, and it’s a positive thing as it’s a choice that we share and that brings us together, besides the fact that it makes for a better atmosphere at shows. Sadly, however, the number of Straight Edge bands which promote such a message have drastically declined: right now, in all of Northern Italy, there are only a handful of bands left among which newer bands such as,

Set Me Free (my band)



and Inner X Reason, from Vicenza.



However, we must not forget about other bands in which Straight Edge kids play who have recently released new records

Fumbles In Life - Everyday You Can Improve


True Spirit - True Spirit


Traces Of You - The Last Triumph


Breaking Apart

One of the most important labels, created with the objective of helping this scene that has existed for more than 10 years, is Youth Crew Records.


Indeed, one of the most recent releases is Fumbles In Lifes’s MCD, Milan’s own old glory Maze’s (who have been active since 1987) new album or Inner X Reason’s and Set Me Free’s new records, the latter of which has been produced by a collaboration between Youth Crew Records and Vraja Records together with Best Of Times Tattoo, a brand new shop owned by our drummer which specialises in traditional old school ink.