*12 POINTS*, part 6: ADAM ALIVE!

I am back with this *12 points* serie! this time it's up to Adam from It's Alive Records, my favourite label! YEAH!

1. When/why did you start? I got your first 7'' signed by Adam and Brett from the Copyrights, just the other night, and they were laughing about how young they look in those pictures.

It's Alive Records started in late 2004 with out first release, The Copyrights "Button Smasher" 7". At that time not many labels were releasing vinyl, especially 7" vinyl. Being that 7"s have always been a favorite format of music of mine, I wanted to try to release one myself. At first I didn't know if I was going to only do the one release, or maybe five, maybe ten or maybe 100!

2. IAR seems to get bigger and better every year. the quality of the records you release is always high. is this your "real" job or you also do something else? what did you do before starting the label?

There is definitely enough work to do running a label that it could be a full time job. Sometimes I put in that much time, but sometimes I do not. The label is not my primary source of income, At best it pays for itself, but nothing else. Nothing is profited personally from it. When I started the label I was working for a big printing company. After 80-something years of business, they went out of business. For the past 6 years I spend my days with my kids, screening shirts in the garage, and running the label.

3. is there any record that you are particulary proud to have released? any of them that took so long and/or were difficult? tell me some stories behind some stuffs that you released!

I am proud of every release, but it is really awesome when one of them does really well. The records I put out by The Copyrights, Teenage Bottlerocket, Dear Landlord, Chinese Telephones and The Dopamines have all been a lot of fun because they did really well and helped build an audience for those bands. Likewise those bands help build an audience for It's Alive Records! Ideally that is how it would always work - the band and label both help each other grow. The releases that took long or were difficult have always experienced delays on the part of the manufacturers. Those stories are boring because there isn't really much to tell. Just a lot of sitting around waiting for records to arrive. On the flipside some records came together really fast. The Dopamines "Vices" LP came together at lightning speed! From the time the band send me audio files and artwork to the time I had finished records in my hand was only 4 weeks! That is less than one month! That kind of turn around time never happens anymore with the pressing plants being as busy as they are.

4. If you have to choose to be member of a band (that you released).. what band would you say? Why?

Ahhhhhh, this is so hard to answer. I am great friends with many of the bands I've released records by. I could say Be My Doppelganger or The Dopamines because I love all those guys to death and toured with both bands for a short while back in 2009. But The Dopamines would probably kill me from too much drinking. Being in The Maxies is something I have actually considered doing on a really limited basis because they live close by and I could wear a sweet costume and hide behind all those fat dudes, who I also love to death.

5. Tell me at least 3 records of the past (or of these past years) that you would like to have released.

Plow United "Marching Band", Lipstick Homicide "Out Utero", The Copyrights "Report"... this list could go on forever!

6. Choose one:

 Huntingons or Lillingons? Lillingtons

Mr T Experience or Groovie Ghoulies? Groovie Ghoulies

Queers or Screeching Weasel? Screeching Weasel

Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen? Bob Dylan

Beatles or Rolling Stones? Beatles

Rocket to Russia or Leave Home? Leave Home

Sex on the couch or Sex on the bed? Sex on the couch

Train or Bus? Train

Dark beers or blonde beers? Neither! I don't drink any beer.

Favourite beer? None

Dopamines or Copyrights? Impossible question!

Zooey Deschanel or Katy Perry? Katy Perry

The Clash or Sex Pistols? The Clash

Red wine or White wine? Same answer as the beer question

Genoa or Sampdoria? Uhhhhh, Genoa I guess?

7. What was the first Cd/cassette/record that you ever bought? And the one that made you fall in love with punk rock?

Descendents "Somery" on cassette in 1990

8. What/where was the worst toilet that you have ever taken a shit? tell me the whole story.

Man, I'll shit anywhere anytime. When my daughter was barely two years old I was introducing to shitty toilets all over. Every time we were driving and she told me she had to go we would pull over to the nearest toilet. At only 2 years old she was shitty on some of the worst toilets there are. Gross gas stations and even portable toilets at construction sites. She's a true champion shitter already. She pooped in some bushes once and she thought it was the coolest thing ever.

9. Have you ever been in Italy? (we have the worst toilets!) What was your nicest vacation so far? recommend me some places to visit.

I have never been to Italy or even Europe. It is such a shame. I really wish I went ten years ago when I had a good paying job, no kids and Europeans scene surrounding Stardumb Records was in full force. I regret not having attended any of the Stardumb Rumbles so bad. I would love to visit the Manges up top, Retarded in the middle and The Popsters was down below. I would shit in the worst toilets and still be loving it. The nicest place I have ever been is Hawaii. If you ever get a chance to go, do it!

10. What are your favourite film genres? Mine are horror and porn, of course. Favourite movies? Recommend me 5!

Science Fiction, for sure. I am horrible at making top 5 lists, so I will stick with just sci fi movies.... Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, and Prometheus. Ha! I totally cheated.

11. What are the latest records that you got? Recommend me something! (not from IAR, because you know I already have everything...)

Just got Swingin' Utters "Fistful of Hollow" and it's awesome just like the rest of their catalog of the past 20 plus years. The new Rancid album "Honor Is All We Know" has, like, maybe 4 good jams on it, but I can never give up on that band! The newest album from The Phenomenauts titled "Escape Velocity" is a lot of fun. The Copyrights "Report" is probably the best album to come out this decade, but I am sure you already know about this one.

12. The last one. Plans for the future? new records? new kids? tell me something, what's on your mind and what bands are you working with.

New and returning bands that have records coming out next on It's Alive include Skinny Genes (Solo project of Ace from The Steinways and Houseboat), Oldfriends (local kids who I am loving so much on and off the stage), The Varsity Weirdos (long time friends of It's Alive), Pool Party (the hottest fools around!), The Young Rochelles (killer pop punk in that classic bubblegum style) and Gentlemen Prefer Blood (local homies doing it right). No new kids, unless the vasectomy I got a couple years ago somehow reverses itself. Next year we plan to release a new Dopamines album as well as a collection of singles and rarities. Also planning to do a 10 year anniversary special edition re-release of The Copyrights "Mutiny Pop". Also hoping to do something special for our 100th release. Got any good ideas for that one?!

*12 POINTS*, part 5: IPPO GOONIES!

Anni e anni fa vedevo un babbo girare per Genova con il chiodo e il berretto degli Ultras dalla Zampeduria e dicevo "ma chi è quello scemo??" Poi l'ho conosciuto e devo dire che tanto furbo non lo è mica. Però è un grande appassionato di musica, di punk rock, un'ottima persona e un ragazzo davvero per bene, la classica persona che fa piacere vedere sempre, al di là dei concertini. Quindi eccomi qui, a fare le mie 12 domande a Ippo (voce/basso) dei Goonies, Genova punk rock veteran.


　

　
1 - Innanzi tutto, da quant'è che ci rompi le palle con sti Goonies? Alcuni cambi di formazione, ma siete sempre a fare la-re-mi ignorante. Non ti vergogni?


I Goonies esistono dal lontano 2000 (forse era l'inizio del 2001 ma poco importa direi...)... e la formazione è cambiata più volte.

Senza ovviamente mai migliorare tecnicamente.

E' un po' una regola non scritta diciamo.

Ora sto addirittura suonando la chitarra... lasciamo stare va...


2 - Pure tu (come me e molti altri) hai millemila magliette di millemila bands. Qual è la tua preferita? E quella che metti più spesso?

Attualmente metto spesso quella dei Face to face... comprata quest' Estate a Vienna a un super concerto...

Ne ho davvero moltissime, saranno almeno 150 comprese quelle di metà anni novanta, ormai grigette...

tra quelle di allora "svettano" nofx (copertina di "the longest line") e rancid (copertina "and out came the wolves" ovviamente..)

la mia preferita di sempre comunque credo possa essere quella dei queers (the queers all stars insomma... con felix che assaggia, gradisce e si imbenzina...

  

3- Il peggior concerto che abbian mai suonato i Goonies? E il migliore? Quello con più gente? Quello con meno? Dacci un po' gli highlights!


Ah.. questa è difficile.

Peggiori ce ne sono molti... che mi ricordi chiaramente uno alla Buridda, credo con i Ratbones, sbagliammo tutto...eheheh

Poi ce la volta che alla Madlene non mi veniva il testo di Andre... alla fine dopo tre tentativi l'ho cantata a caso... ahahahahah

ma per il resto li abbiamo spaccato!

Migliori non ne ricordo, forse quello dove ho sentito un po' più calore dalla gente è stata una delle volte alla Madlene ... mi pare con i Radio Days... ma erano quasi tutti amici ovviamente..

ahahah!

tanta gente a un nostro concerto? Ahahahah.... MAI!



 4 - La tua canzone preferita dei Goonies qual è? Le scrivi solo tu? E dei Ramones la preferita? E degli Screeching Weasel? Dei Queers?


Le canzoni dei Goonies sono tutte mie, tranne un paio di cover con testo in italiano fatto da me (o in un caso da un'amica..)

Ovviamente poi tutte sono arrangiate e sistemate in sala insieme...

Ramones: moltissime, se devo dirne una vado controcorrente, parlo di anni novanta e dico "life's a gas"

Sceeching weasel: stessa storia per i dubbi... ma diciamo "hey suburbia" anche per un fatto affettivo...

Queers:... mah... una che mi piace da sempre moltissimo è "peppermint girl"... ma anche li ne metterei mille...



　

　5 - Abbiamo notato che ti sei tatuato. Alla tua età??? Un'incisione rupestre. Sappiamo a malapena cosa voglia dire incisione, figuriamoci rupestre. Che significato ha?


E' uno stregone inciso su una roccia nella valle delle meraviglie... in Francia, vicino a Limone per intenderci...

E' il ricordo di più visite insieme ad amici al museo dedicato ai graffiti... e quest'anno l'ho visto di persona: momento magico, posto splendido.

E tra l'altro ho impiegato talmente tanto a rispondere all'intervista che ora c'è anche la scritta RAMONES...ahahahah... sempre più giovine...




　
6 - Approssimativamente, pensi di aver speso, fino ad ora, più soldi in birrette o in dischi? La sbronza più bella a un concerto che ti ricordi? E la peggiore?

E' una bella lotta... ma penso in dischi. Per fortuna per il mio fegato.. ma i vinili non vincono di molto...

mmm... sbronze a concerti in realtà non ne ricordo molte...

è più facile che mi beva mille birre al pub o in giro ...

ma un concerto dove sono uscito sui gomiti è stato quello a Rapallo dei Locals...(dovresti ricordarlo giornalista..ahahah)... ma come ricorderanno i presenti di allora è stata colpa della "birra rossa avariata"...

(ps... era mica il concerto degli off with their heads invece?..boh...)



　
 7 - Oltre al punk rock ascolterai ben qualcos'altro... tipo cosa? I rage against the machine? Cosa ti piace?

Mi piacciono molto cantautori italiani vecchio stile. De Andrè su tutti, ma anche Guccini, De Gregori, Battiato.

Numeri uno anche Vasco ("vecchio" ovviamente) e Max Pezzali (vecchio anche lui...)

Nel "rock" diverso dal punk invece, odio quasi tutto...

non mi piace il pop, e men che meno tutte le contaminazioni del reggae, dello ska e della disco/elettronica/schifezze analoghe...

non amo nemmeno molto il rock and roll alla "Devil dogs" o "marked man" per intenderci... (anche se il primo dei due gruppi ha fatto qualche capolavoro...

nel punk mi piace principalmente la roba "ramones" in particolare... (Lillingtons, Hungtintons, teenage bottlerockets ecc...)





 8 - Hai mai fatto la cacca al Lucrezia Bar? Peggior posto dove tu l'abbia mai fatta?

Ovvio. Ho fatto la cacca ovunque.


 
9 - Quando sei a casa con la Madda che non sapete cosa fare la sera e allora vi guardate un film... che genere di film ti piace guardare? Pornazzi?


No. Non amo il porno, mi imbarazza.

E non amo nemmeno horror e triller e film con roba impressionante diciamo...

Se guardo qualcosa, mi piacciono gialli, film d'azione e commedie all'italiana (tipo pozzetto, verdone, banfi, villaggio (fantozzi sarà sempre da voto 10).

Comunque sono davvero ignorante di film, non mi appassionano.



 
10 - Qual è stata la miglior band con cui tu abbia mai diviso il palco (oltre ai Locals)? E quella che ti è piaciuta di più, in generale?


I più bravi di tutti che han suonato con noi, a memoria senza riflettere troppo, direi che sono stati i Teenage Bottlerocket nel 2007 mi pare...

Al milk, bravissimi. (e tra l'altro le volte che gli ho visti dopo mi sono piaciuti meno tecnicamente... più fracassoni ma anche più imprecisi...).

Uno dei concerti più belli di sempre? Beh, tra i mille forse voto Travoltas al banano tsunami. Posto orrendo, loro splendidi.



　11 - Qual è l'ultimo disco/cd/Lp/Ep7" che hai comprato? Cosa ti piace ascoltare ultimamente? Dacci qualche consiglio!


Gli ultimi che consiglierei sono "young rochelles" e "new rochelles"... due sette pollici splendidi e bella anche l'altra roba che ho trovato...

Ora è un mesetto che sono stato incasinato sul lavoro e sto sentendo poco... ma mi sono andato a risentire tutti i vecchi dischi degli Scared of chaka. Capolavori!



　

　12 - Ma perchè non avete mai fatto delle belin di magliette o vari gadgets dei Goonies? Il vostro banchetto è misero! Hai qualche canzone nuova/progetto sul futuro? Svelaci qualcosa + saluti.


Ho cinque o sei canzoni in preparazione. Ma la vecchiaia ci impedisce di essere rapidi a registrarle...

Un paio di mesi fa abbiamo registrato "slug" (cover ramones) per una compilation... spero esca presto perchè ci sono un sacco di amici che partecipano e mi piacciono queste cose..

Sul banchetto sottoscrivo, è la voglia che mi manca. Ma vedrò di rimediare va....



 
Grazie mille a Ippo dei Goonies per le stronzate che ha sparato. Ti vogliamo bene così come sei, ovvero inniorante.

Grazie a te, un abbraccio,

Ippo

(visto che alla fine ho risposto... quanto c'ho messo? Tre mesi? ahahhahahha)

*12 POINTS*, part 4: THE SENSIBLES

La serie delle mie interviste incredibilmente inutili e inconcludenti continua... questa volta coi Sensibles, e addirittura video-intervista!



La sera prima di questa intervista, ovvero sabato 23 novembre, i Sensibles han suonato al Lucrezia, e con loro i Bag End, che devono decisamente iniziare a fare pezzi loro, e poi i Maffingtons, che sono la cover band dei Courtelarys, ovvero io con una backband che spacchiamo il culo. Bellissima serata tra amici, bellissima serata.
Comunque i Sensibles han fatto anche il loro primo video-clip vero e proprio, stupendo e divertente, al quale avrei davvero ma davvero davvero voluto partecipare.

*12 POINTS*, part 3: Rookie Rochelle from the New Rochelles / the Young Rochelles

Ok, ho fatto la mia terza intervista della serie 12 POINTS. Lui c'ha messo pochissimo a rispondere (tipo un'ora dopo m'aveva già mandato tutto, non come Ippo che deve ancora mandarmi tutto l'ambaradamn dopo mille secoli!)... Comunque, New Rochelles e Young Rochelles, voto 10+++. video sotto l'intervista, bandcamps qui:

http://thenewrochelles1.bandcamp.com/
http://theyoungrochelles.bandcamp.com/

These guys are my biggest surprise in punk rock this year! I got their 7” from It's Alive Records distro, only after having their split-7'' with Dee Cracks, and what a surprise! First of all, the 7'' had a download code for the entire album (12 songs), and it is great! Cool songs, cool melodies, honest punk rock! So I'm happy to make my 12 points to the New Rochelles!

1. Soooo... just for starting: tell me, how/when/why did you start the New Rochelles? Were you friends in high school or at elementary school? Tell me about your punk rock career.

The New Rochelles started in 2001, but not much started happening until about 2011. We all grew up in the same town, and shared the same love of The Ramones so it all just made sense. We all have played in various bands over the years but the Rochelle name has always been a focus for us.

2. You are americans and you know, we love american music. We have grown up with american music, american tv shows, and a lot of other small and big stuffs that come from the US. What is the thing that you like the most about your Country? And the one that you hate the most?

The best things about America is the baseball, the pizza and Budweiser. I don’t have too many complaints about living here in the states. The bands are good and all the great European bands typically come over and play too.

3. The New Rochelles and the Young Rochelles are not the same band. I'm realizing it only right now. Tell me the story behind this.

Correct. The New Rochelles and The Young Rochelles are two very different bands but are all part of the same family. The New Rochelles are myself on bass, Ronnie Rochelle on vocals and guitar and Ricky Rochelle on drums and backing vocals. There was a time where the New Rochelles were unable to really play shows etc. so Ricky and I started the Young Rochelles with Ricky playing drums and singing, me on bass and Ray Jay Rochelle playing guitar and doing backing vocals. Now there is a lot of material coming out from each band in the upcoming months.

4. Besides of punk rock.. are there any genres or artists that you like? Would you like to recommend me anything?

No.

5. What is the best band that you ever shared the stage with? I mean, the one that you enjoyed the most.

Some of the best bands The New Rochelles have played with over the years have been Kepi Ghoulie, The Mean Jeans, The Kurt Baker Band and many others I can’t think of right now.

6. Do you like sports? What is your favourite sport and what is your favourite team? And the one that you hate the most? You should come to Italy and I would take you to the stadium to see some euro-football, the greatest sport!

We are all huge baseball fans. Ricky and Ronnie are huge New York Mets fans while I am a Philadelphia Phillies fan, which causes some interesting friction. I am also a big hockey guy. The New York Rangers are my team. The one sports team I hate the most are The Boston Red Sox. We don’t know much about your euro-football stuff.

7. Ok, let's pretend this. A girl fell in love with you after seeing you playing with the New Rochelles, and she's asking you a date. You say ok, but you have to decide where to take her. What will you decide? (no punk rock shows, please, pick something else!)

We don’t need to pretend. We’ll go grab a slice… or two.

8. What/where was the worst toilet where you ever took a shit on tour? And, if it wasn't during in tour... what was the worst place where you had to shit?

Worst tour shit I ever took happened last summer while I was playing guitar on tour for The Isotopes from Canada. We were about a week or two into tour when we got to Detroit. We hadn’t really been eating real food (typical tour diet) but on this night we decided to go all out and treat ourselves to some high-end barbeque. This did not sit well. Immediately after our set things needed to be done and there was no time to find a comfortable spot to take care of business so I had to resort to the bathroom in the punk bar. This bathroom was about the size of a litter box and probably hadn’t been cleaned in a month. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best. Luckily I always travel with baby wipes. I made three trips to that bathroom that night.

9. So far... do you think that you have spent more money in beers or in records? What is your favourite beer?

I’ve probably spent more money on records recently. Ricky and Ronnie on the other hand is all beer. Budweiser.

10. What are your favourite film genres? Mine are horror and porn, of course. Favourite movies? Recommend me 5!

I mostly watch horror or comedy movies. 5 of my favorite movies in no particular order are Rock N Roll High School, Dirty Work, Walk Hard, The Comedy and The Royal Tennenbaums.

11. What is the last album the you got? Recommend me 5 bands/records!

I recently got the new Murderburgers album on Asian Man Records which has been in heavy rotation ever since. A few other records I’ve gotten recently that I’ve really been digging are; School Damage “Get Weird”, CJ Ramone “Reconquista”, Dan Vapid & The Cheats “Two” & Lipstick Homicide “Out Utero”.

12. Do you have plans for the future? New songs, new records, european tour? I mean, what do you do for a living? Do you have time to spend playing around?

There have been some tour talks, including maybe sometime in Europe. The New Rochelles have two records out now; our debut 7inch “It’s New” and a split 7inch with DeeCracks from Austria called “Smile Of The Tiger”. We also have a split 7inch with Windowsill from The Netherlands and our complete discography coming out in the upcoming months.

The Young Rochelles have our debut 7inch “Cannibal Island” coming out next month. We’ve recently participated in a Methadones tribute comp that is out now and will have a song on the upcoming Parasites tribute album. The Young Rochelles are also currently in the studio completing our version of The Ramones’ “Animal Boy” which will be out sometime next year.

We all have real job type jobs and I also tour with The Isotopes, but we’ll see what else happens for The Rochelle family in the upcoming year, only good things to come so stay tuned.

Thanks a lot to the New Rochelles for this "super interesting" talk! ;)

Yeah! No problem, anytime.

*12 POINTS*, part 2: Angi+Mikey from the Spastic Hearts.

In attesa di essere di nuovo in ferie per finire il mio tour report... dopo un mese di attesa, ecco che mi sono arrivate indietro le mie domande per la serie *12 POINTS* a Angi e Mikey (moglie e marito, basso e chitarra) degli Spastic Hearts (power pop / pop punk da Youngstown, Ohio). Copio-incollo qui sotto.

I'm so happy to make my “12 points” to one of the pop punkest couples ever! Their band toured Europe with Teenage Bubblegums this spring, and here I am, writing my silly questions to Angi and Mikey from the Spastic Hearts.

1. When/Why/How/Where did you guys started to play? I know you were in some bands... did you already play together before? In that case, do you have any link where we can download some songs?

ANGI: Well, When Mikey and I first met, we had already played music, but not yet together. When we moved to Florida, we crashed a party that was going on in our apartment complex that we could see from our balcony. We headed on over to hang out, and one of the girls there was wearing a pin that was from a band that Mikey had played in before we met, and she was like, whoa, you must know my boyfriend Matty (Matty Rockville)! So Mikey, me, and Matty were like, hey lets start a band! So we called ourselves Creepshow (named after a creepy guy was walking around our hotel in Miami), and began playing shows in Orlando. Wed did a small tour where ever our little pontiac sunfire would make it to while meeting tons of friendly folk along the way. Matty ended up graduating pretty quickly, and moved back up to his home town in Baltimore. Mikey met Kristian at School where he and Matty went to, and shortly we began the Hi-Life. It was totally stellar! We went on tour with the Apers, and J3 in 2006, then just us and the Apers in 2007 to try and get our music out there. After that, Mikey and I finished school and headed to Ohio, then started the Spastic Hearts! We really enjoy playing together, and want to definitely continue to do so as long as we can. We currently have a full length out now with the Spastic Hearts, and are working toward releasing another full length in 2014 with also some other projects coming out too.

MIKEY: I first cut my teeth in the rock n roll world playing in a band called The Reynolds. That is where Mikey Reynolds was born. Life eventually brought Angi and I together and we made our way down South to sunny Florida and began an adventure. Our first band together started in our apartment writing music and getting yelled at for playing music too loud. Overall we had two separate line-ups of this group. The first line-up was me on drums, Angi on bass, and Matty Rockville on lead gtr/vox…we were known as Creepshow. The second line-up of this band was me on drums, Angi on bass and Kristian Panther-Camp on guitar…we were known as The Hi-Life. Many beers later (2010) Angi and I moved back to Ohio and began playing some tunes with Jay. After a while of just writing we began to seriously work on putting The Spastic Hearts together and brought Casey in to the mix.

2. You play with Jay and Casey (ex-Johnie 3) and they played two times in my city, years ago: did they tell you anything about Genova before the show? Did you enjoy the city? I'm home alone at the end of August, so if you want to come...


ANGI: Genova was so great!! I never had kabobs before, and I believe that night I may have had like three of them. The city is so beautiful in the architecture, the narrow walkways through the city, and culture surrounding it, that we will definitely want to visit again!


MIKEY: I heard we were going to have a great show, the city was bad ass, and great people were going to be at the show……this was almost entirely true, however our sound man at the club turned out to be an asshole, but our boy John set his ass straight!

3. Why did you decide to wear those “classy clothes” during the shows?


ANGI: Just trying something new, and dressing up seems to be appropriate.


MIKEY: Just giving the world what it needs!

4. What is the best band you ever shared the stage with? Tell me the one you enjoyed the most.


ANGI: In the Hi-Life we shared the stage with the Apers for an entire month, and that was amazing!! I can't get enough of their songs. Playing music with your friends, being creative, and keeping the magic happening is what its all about.


MIKEY: Theres too many to keep track of, but my top five would have to be The Huntingtons, The Apers, LARF, The Attack, and The Leftovers.

5. Tell me about your first date! Angi, where did Mikey take you to? To a baseball game?!?


ANGI: Baseball IS our favorite! You know us so well! We met when we both worked at the Outback Steakhouse, and just knew that we had a connection. The first date? Mikey says Denny's. I had moons over my hammy, and Mikey had buffalo chicken strips.


MIKEY: I think it was at Denny's, but if that didn't count yet then probably the Draught House (used to be a great Youngstown bar).

6. What was the worst show that you guys ever played? What happpened?


ANGI: Nothing is really sticking out as a bad show. Every show I think is great opportunity to rock for those who came out to see you!


MIKEY: Everyday is a rock n' roll day, just gotta roll with the punches!

7. What was the best place where you ever had a meal on tour (or just for a show)? What did you eat?


ANGI: The first day we landed in Italy. We met the Teenage Bubblegums, and their parents had cooked for us this amazing homemade ravioli, strawberry dessert, bread, cheese, and wine. It was so good, that I sometimes have dreams of it.


MIKEY: This is another toughie. The Bubblegum dinner was great…The kabab/pizza in Imperia was classic…Deep dish in Chicago is awesome too….but i think my top favorite has to go to this Deli in Philly, nothing special, but just right everytime!

8. What was the worst place where you had to shit on tour?


ANGI: lol. Oh goodness. Well maybe not on tour, but while in Florida I went to use a gas station bathroom, and was waiting forever in this line right. When the guy in there finally came out, he was dripping diarrhea out the door! It was pretty gross, and all of us in line looked a bit frightened and pale. One person went in the bathroom, then right back out. I took a peek inside, and by golly that guy must have really exploded! I didn't use it, but the hurricane weather outside really made me have to pee even worse. I made it home though.


MIKEY: The airport at Bologna! First off, the place is filled with Lambo's, but there was like only one toilette in the entire place. Once i found it, I almost wished i didn't find it!

9. When you guys are at home and you decide to stay home because it's cold outside and rainy and cold... and you want to see a movie, usually what genre do you prefer? Tell me some movies that you like. I like horror or thrilling stuffs!


ANGI: We like a lot of movies, mostly comedies, and thrillers. Event Horizon is a pretty scary one for me, its out in space, and that alone is pretty scary. Space. Its frightening! Zoolander is another one we can't get enough of. Cracks me up every time.


MIKEY: I am a comedy junkie! Fletch, Caddyshack, and Groundhog Day top my list…..but don't get me wrong, I love mostly all Stallone movies, Point Break, Top Gun and Days of Thunder as well. Now that Netflix exists, it's a miracle I ever get anything done!!!

10. What do you think about Ben Weasel? I mean, I don't know him, but I can comment his “character”, and I think he looks too arrogant, too much for me. What do you think?


ANGI: His music is great!! I remember one time I gave him a high five once at Insubordination Fest 2007, because we were both running up to Dario from the Retarded to say how great he played!


MIKEY: I think he's a marketing genius. Screeching Weasel sells out every show they play these days!!

11. Reccomend me 5 bands that you really like lately!


ANGI: hmmm. Well, lets see…. There is the Riff Randells I like a lot. I wish I could have seen them live, but never got to. Hoping for a tour one day. Crossing fingers! :) Huntingtons of course! The Teen Idols I can never get enough of. Ramones, Riverdales, and I LOVE listening to Mikey play tunes that he's written. He's just so dreamy!


MIKEY: Always at the top of my rotation is The Spazzy's, those aussies know how to rock! Lately the Riff Randells have been getting a lot of playing time as well. Rounding out the back end of my rotation would be a mix of The Windowsill, The Huntingtons, and The Biters. (This doesn't include the classics b/c that's too much to think of)

12. Do you guys have some plans for the future with the Spastic Hearts? Italy again soon?


ANGI: We would love to tour Italy again! We had such an amazing time, with Bubblegums, and everyone we met! So glad that we had the opportunity to do something that soon, in a new band. The future is looking bright, and we have a lot coming out in the next year. Possibly 3 splits with dope bands, AND a full length!


MIKEY: Plans definitely include recording more music and playing more shows! It would be great to come back through and play Italy!!! some of the best shows I've EVER played. I'd also like to play Japan, and Australia at sometime too.

Thanks a lot to Angi and Mikey from the Spastic Hearts for this silly interview. We all hope to see them again soon.

Hope to see you again soon too!! Cheers!! xoxoxo

12 POINTS (part 1: Kasper Keen)

Ok, ho pensato di iniziare ad aprire una nuova rubrica. Si chiama *12 POINTS* e si tratta di una serie di interviste che farò/sto facendo a una serie di personaggi che per un motivo o per l'altro sono inseriti all'interno del mondo della musica, e più nello specifico del punk rock. A dire il vero non sono vere e proprie interviste: è una chiacchierata di 12 punti, appunto, tra curiosità, gossip e belinate varie. Il primo che m'ha risposto è Kasper dei 20 Belows, e quindi copio/incollo qui sotto:

Music has made me meet a lot of cool people, nice bands and some great friends. I'm glad to write my first questions to one of my favourite persons on this planet. Here I am, writing my “12 points” to Kasper from the 20 Belows (pop punk from Denmark) and Panther Booking.

1. You lived in Denmark, Holland, France and now you moved to Innsbruck, Austria. Tell me, what was/is your favourite place where to stay? And how's the life there on the other side of the Alps?

Hey Simone.

Yes that is right, ive been super lucky to be able to move around like this the last couple of years, i profit a lot from learning stuff from different countries and cultures. So far i dont really have a favourite place to live, i really like Holland and France a lot, but so far Austria is up there as well, Innsbruck is a cool little city, with a great nature and good scene for music the possibilty to put on shows, so for now i am happy to live here, but dont know for how long i will stay;)

2. How many languages do you talk? In what language do you usually think by yourself? And in your dreams??

So far i speak Danish, English, Dutch, and learning German now. I like to be able to speak the language of the country i live in, all though i hate school very much, i kinda have to force myself to keep learning;)

Its a pretty good questions, and i am actually not totally sure about this, i think i mostley think in English/Danish, but sometimes i catch myself talking dutch to myself as well, so its more on big mess of what language i just used, haha!

3. What was the first Cd/cassette/record that you ever bought? And the one that made you fall in love with punk rock?

I had a lot of cassettes growing up, but actually never think i bought an original, first Punk Rock Cds i remember i bought, was Bad Religion : Against The Grain, No Control,Nofx : SM Airlines, Ribbed. I dont know if that really counts for Punk Rock Records, but before this i was very much into Beastie Boys, Nirvana, and the whole grunge scene.

4. About Panther Booking. When/how/why did you start? What is your goal? Do you find a way to raise any money or it's just for passion/fun? What bands are you currently working with?

Panther Booking by name is not that old, ive been booking under this name for around 4 years now, but started booking earlier than this, in the beginning it was only to get more contacts and better network for my own bands, so we could tour more, but after a while more bands kept asking if i could help them with shows, tours etc, and then it kinda took off from there.

I love touring and being on the road, i never really saw this is a real job, and its far from a real job still, since making enough to just live from it in the this scene of music is almost impossible.

Its definetley not for the money that i do the booking, i would make way more a month working part time or less at Mcdonalds, so its about the love for the music, and help promoting the bands that i care about, and wanna see get bigger and better.

Maybe one day when i get more time on my hands i will go for making Panther Booking my full time job, but that will also mean constant touring, and as much as i like touring, this is not really possible for me to do at this moment.

I am currentley putting last details on a tour for The Connection(USA) with start 30.08.2013, mainly Spain and France.

Also have Direct Hit(USA) touring all of europe with support from The Priceduifkes(BE) and Low Derive(IT) in October.

Parasites(USA) in October as well full europe tour.

And do a lot of one off shows in NL and DK, have 4 shows booked for Kepi Ghoulie and Forest Pooky in November, and also work with many other smaller US and Euro bands.

Lots of plans for next year with new bands on my Roster as : The Capitalist Kids(USA) Devon Kay And The Solutions(USA) The Fake Boys(USA) The Leeches(IT).

All dates and news can be found on www.pantherbooking.com in the near future.

5. About the Hitchcocks. You were good! Why did you quit? Did you write all the songs? What is your favourite?

Thanks Simone! I actually really liked to play in this band as well, even though the whole horror thing never really got that much into me, i think we had a good vibe/energy in the band and we could have pushed this further than we did.

To be honest, the line up in the band never really worked, we all come from different aspects in the punk scene, from pop punk/punk rock to 77 punk, Hardcore, Metal and even Rockabilly in the beginning.

Many people saw us the first years as rockabilly band, and this also stuck to us, even after we kicked the bass player out the band, dont really know why that was, most have been the whole horror singing about monster thing i guess.

And the line up was also the reason why we ended the band, and also the fact that i moved from Denmark to Holland, none of the other guys had the motivation to keep up the band going when i was not around, we tried in the first months, but i kinda came to the point where it was better to call it quits.

All though we never truly called it the quits, we just stopped playing, so who know maybe one day the band will rise from the dead, me and Mads Murder is still fully members of the band, and there are even songs that where never recorded, so lets see what time brings.

I wrote around 60 % of the songs myself, i also co wrote a lot with Mads Murder.

Thomas who was our drummer for the first era of the band, also wrote a handfull of songs.

My favorite Hitchcocks song is probably still Werewolf, its short easy to plan and have lot of power in it, this was also the first song i wrote for The Hitchcocks.

6. You like going to the gym, training and other healthy stuffs. Good job! Do you walk to take long walks on the mountains? Don't you prefer to lie down at the beach and try to get a tan??

Haha yeah, i do like going to the gym, and i am really interested in Nutrition as well, i now live 98 % Vegan, only animal product i still eat is Eggs. I started eating vegetarian 5 years ago, in the beginning mainly since i felt better with out eating meat, but over the years i goes more in the direction of the Animal reasons, i think meat and to much meat is the course of many bad and shitty things on this planet, and i dont feel like contributing to this anymore, and on the other side of this i never felt better, so this is at least the right way to go for me.

I do like to take long walk in the mountains, i dont have to much time to do this these days due to work and bookings, so i run instead;)

Its hard to say, because i really like working my tan as well, i never quite get that nice italian color though, my skin wont really work that way.

So i guess i take both, first i would run up and down the mountain and after that go lie on the beach and work my tan, or in this case a lake(since Innsbruck dont really have beaches in the near)

7. You always look very calm and patient. Do you ever get angry or mad at anyone? Has it ever happened on tour? I mean, you didn't even get mad at Ippo when Goonies stayed on stage more than the 20 Belows! (and that happened almost all the times you played here!!!)

Thanks, i take that as a compliment! Haha no i would never get mad at Ippo, Goonies can play for as long as they wont! And yes i do also get mad sometimes, but always good at preventing situations before it gets to the point where i would have to get mad at someone;)

8. What was the worst place where you had to shit on tour? Did you ever shit at Lucrezia Bar?

I guess somewhere in Italy, Lucrezia is not the place, from what i remember they even have a real toilet and a lock on the door!

9. You have a lot of tattooes. What is your favourite? And the most meaningful? Send me some pictures to show your female fans!

I have a lot of favorite tattoos, i like em all! Some have meaning and some dont, i am a big of old school tattoo arts, and it does not always have to have meaning for me, if i like the motive i just go for it, so far i dont really regret any of it, and guess it will stay that way!

10. What is your favourite place in Italy? And tell everyone, say it publicly, that I'm your favourite italian person!

From what i seen so far, i like Genova a lot, its a pretty city, and have a cool vibe to it, but there are many other places i like in Italy, so dont have specific city or area.

Simone Thellung is my favorite Italian person, together with Billy Bubblegum;)

11. What is the last album that you got? Reccomend me 5 bands that you really like lately!

The last album i got, is the new Murderburgers record, this is a great record, and people should check that one out as soon as its out!

Direct Hit(USA)

The Connection(USA)

Low Derive(IT) 

The Leeches(IT)

The Priceduifkes(BE)

11. The 20 Belows are one of my favourite euro-bands. Do you guys find a way to practice, sometimes? Any plans for the future? Tours?

Unfortunatley we have not been able to practice much with The 20Belows lately, and the last shows they played have also been with out me, since its super hard to plan everything.

But there are a lot of new songs in the works, and soon we will have a brand new 7 inch out out Screaming Records from Copenhagen, 4 songs in total i believe.

This year we only have 2 more shows planned, 1 in Klagenfurt in September for the DeeCracks anniversary party and at MZ mash in Innsbruck in December.

We are planning to tour again from start 2014, already got confirmed for Crossbone Fest in Belgium in March, and after that plans are to do 2 euro tour including Italy, and go back to the states later in 2014, + recording a new full lenght album.

Thanks a ton to Kasper from the 20 Belows / Panther Booking for replying these questions. Don't try to ask him to play some acostic versions of some Hitchocks songs, because he will say NO.