This time I am offering you a truly special interview.
I mean: it was supposed to be a special interview because (besides being a musician and a writer) the interviewee was supposed to be one of the most popular (?) among the members of the DeBaser community, namely our dear Falloppio aka Flavio Grosso. Or vice versa.
Flavio Grosso, known as "Falloppio," was the founder and true "soul" of the Trombe di Falloppio, a comedic rock/metal band formed in 1989 that for years stirred up the less conventional rock scene in Turin and our country.
An electrifying story that now seems (you never know) to have come to an end.
In the meantime, having also ventured into writing a novel ("Solo andata", 2006), it seems that Flavio has finally converted to blues music and founded a new band: Programma Protezione Testimoni.
As I mentioned in the introduction - however - this was supposed to be a truly special interview, but it became surreal when instead of Falloppio, I found myself conversing with his house elf.
Now we can't know if this house elf is yet another identity of Flavio Grosso: certainly their relationship appears marked by a certain dichotomy and a sign of possible imbalance.
On one hand, this elf (so it seems) shares every possible life experience (positive and/or negative) with our subject and even seems attached to him. On the other hand, however, he appears completely oppressed by him. To the point of requiring the intervention of his interviewer in order to finally be free.
Between an interview at a bar counter and a psychotherapy session, I can only wish you a good read.
To you and your house elves.
1. Hello Flavio. Thank you for this chat. Let's start by revealing something that not all DeBaser friends might know, that is, publicly unveiling your real identity: Flavio Grosso aka "Falloppio", founder of the legendary Trombe di Falloppio. We're talking about 1989. Can you tell us how it actually went? As far as I know, it all started almost as a joke, but over the years things became - let's say - more "serious". Can we say that from that moment on, this experience has accompanied you consistently over the years? Regardless of its "guiding principles", which I imagine were mostly lighthearted, what has music meant to you, being in a band all these years, and how has it possibly also shaped you as a man over time?
F. Falloppio isn't here. I am his house elf... You will have to speak with me because my master is resting.
I have always been around and I know the Trombe di Falloppio's history. What a band, what a band!!!
Imagine that the first song was written on the menu of a pub in Turin. They had quite a few problems; for a while, it was tough serving the pub during that period. They went around the suburbs of Turin wrapping cars in newspapers. A group of long-haired guys spending the evening playing pranks.
Do you know how many times we've run away? And then we spent all our free time together with the band. The week flew by with 3 concerts and 2 rehearsals in the basement and then out and about causing trouble.
2. As far as I know, the Trombe di Falloppio is not a project that's officially ended. Have you put it on indefinite standby, or could there be a return in the near future? Apart from that, I wanted to ask if it is true that you also have fans abroad. In this case, I'm curious to understand if they grasp the more playful aspects or if they are say, only interested in the sound. Does this particular fact make you regret not ever wanting to be "serious"? Who knows, maybe you could have received more feedback and attention in that case. Bands that have a distinctly ironic edge and then are considered by the big numbers are really very few. Off the top of my head (staying in Italy), I'd mention only Elio e le storie tese and the Skiantos. Is that fair or is it a kind of discrimination? Speaking of discrimination, tell us about this story involving Elio e le storie tese who distanced themselves from you "because you are metallers".
F. Excuse me, but when you say "abroad", what exactly are you referring to? San Marino? Well yes, there were many requests for Falloppio's first demo tape, even from San Marino.
Vatican City perhaps? Well, certainly not. Mean metalheads, long hair, earrings, strong words... Wow, how many bad words they used to say! Just thinking about it, I need to cover my ears – la la la la la la la la – don't make me think about it.
My master was inspired by none other than the Skiantos, especially Kinotto and Monotono; he made me listen to them all day: "I just want to pick my nose, pick my nose, pick my nose..."
He worked with Elio for a whole year.
He told me he treated him well, yes. I mean, he treated him like the "gay bear" from "Il vitello dai piedi di balsa".
At least that's what he used to say. I never quite understood what he meant by it, but I guess it was something beautiful.
Lucky him for having so much to do with Elio!
Imagine he was so lucky that, in the end, the most beautiful songs he wrote were eventually signed directly by Elio!
It must have been a real joy for him.
My master was happy to be the gay bear. Elio e le storie tese had promised to take the Trombe to Sanremo. But then they sent another singer instead, and my master was content because Elio said that Sanremo was just a national-populist right-wing festival, a horrible place.
3. Anyway, a certain garage-punk movement comes to mind that erupted in the early nineties with legendary bands like Paolino Paperino Band. We're always talking about minor realities developed during a time when there was no Internet: the world of alternative and underground music was different then in Italy as in the rest of the world. Did you ever feel like part of a movement or scene as Trombe di Falloppio? Even just in terms of the city of Turin. On this topic, how would you place your experience in the context of your city, do you find there was a connection, did playing give you a different perspective of the place where you lived and where I believe you still reside? Besides this, I've never been to Turin, but all this talk of "renaissance" starting from the Winter Olympics a few years ago, what exactly is that about? To me, as a Neapolitan, Turin still represents my father's and his peers' tales, people who moved en masse from the south to work at FIAT. They started with nothing, kept the bed warm by alternating sleeping in the same bed depending on the shifts in the factory. Told like this, it seems unimaginable to speak of a city today that is completely different... or is it?
F. Falloppio used to play almost every day. He missed out on a lot of good music and only knew the bands that played with the Trombe.
Thanks to him, I had the chance to meet quite a few characters: Ivan Graziani, who was nice; the Sepultura, who were ugly; then Finardi, Concato, Marcella, Massimino Riva, Capossela.
Turin was a beautiful, lively city. All the venues wanted the Trombe. My master knew all the beer taps in the province. I don't drink beer, bleah! It looks like pee. Do you drink it?
Then you must help me do something. Something for me, alright?
Oh, I got distracted. Turin today? Today it is a beautiful city. It has returned to being the first capital of Italy.
Come visit my master, so you can help me with that little thing...
4. In 2006, you wrote your first and only novel. It's called "Solo andata" and it tells, in parallel, the stories of a group of friends who are about twenty. It's summer, and we're in Turin. The main protagonist, Orazio, embarks on an adventurous journey to America, while the stories of a girl named Marta, who lives in solitude and dreams of finding true love, and those of Orazio's friends who end up in a bad drug story, are also narrated. In my opinion, you tell a more complicated story than it might seem and it clearly goes beyond what might appear to be a happy ending. What are you really telling us? Can Orazio's America be defined as the unconscious implementation of a plan to save his life? In the end, in the USA, he doesn't find the myth he was looking for and instead finds happiness upon his return to Turin, unaware of his friends' fate. Thus, this journey marks a clear boundary between Orazio before and after. In your opinion, if everything seems to drag on in the same way at some point, should one make a radical change? I mean, is it something that at a certain point, especially when you are young (but not only), you should do just to save your life (in every possible sense)? By the way, have you ever been to America yourself?
F. My master was so happy to participate in the book fair with his first novel.
Even the mayor of Turin came to congratulate him and took a complimentary book. But then the publisher printed the book losing the proof corrections, and many errors appeared.
I heard him utter a stream of words so "strong" that he received official rebukes directly from Vatican City.
Orazio is a friend of my master, and he was the one who narrated all those drug stories from the suburbs.
Maybe there's some truth in the story. Orazio had freed his house elf precisely in America.
I, on the other hand, had to travel across the United States with my master: California, New York, Texas, Seattle, Atlanta, Niagara Falls. My master went everywhere, and I had to walk with him and serve him every day.
Sorry, do you still have many questions? I must go prepare dinner before Falloppio wakes up from his afternoon nap.
5. I know, however, that you don't consider yourself very satisfied with the final result of this first novel. Can I ask if it was this that made you lose the desire to write others, or was it just a lack of time or something else? Last question, but what differences are there between Flavio Grosso and Falloppio? Assuming there are any, of course.
F. Well, after all those curse words, my master decided to write serious songs. He turned to Blues and transformed. He's no longer himself.
Now he plays with the Programma Protezione Testimoni and goes by the name Flavio Grosso.
But I think that must be a made-up name.
I believe like yours, Emiliano, surely an invented name.
Could you help me now? I would like to be freed from Falloppio, whom I no longer recognize.
I liked it when he wrote silly songs; it was a pleasure to serve someone who sang "Vomithunder”, "Rettilario" from "Sanitarium" by Metallica, "Io non corro se no poi sudo" to the notes of AC/DC, "Running Free" by Iron which was "Rane Fritte"...
Now it's just this darned blues.
He listens to all the same songs: Clapton, SRV, Popa Chubby, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson.
He tells me the titles, but to me, it's as if all the songs have one single title.
Can I say it? I'm not sure if I'm allowed; don't tell him though, alright? The title is "BLUESPALLOSO”.
If you lend me a hand and try to make my master gift me a handkerchief, a dish towel, a bidet towel, I can finally consider myself free. Free from him and "BLUESPALLOSO"...
I'll be waiting for you in Turin, but don't say anything to Falloppio. It will be our secret.
Unless you too have a house elf!!!
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