•
Rating: A name like Strana Officina is an authentic giant of Italian heavy metal. Active since the late seventies, the band laid the foundations of the tricolor metal in the eighties, thanks to EPs like "The Ritual" and the unforgettable LP "Rock 'n' Roll Prisoners". Active again since 2006, the four from Livorno have been very sparing in live performances, making each of their concerts an event.
On the occasion of their participation in the Festa Bikers in Cologno al Serio, in the province of Bergamo, a very available Rolando Cappanera tells us what's brewing in Livorno. Happy reading.
1. RR: In 2006, there was the reunion of Strana Officina: now, seven years later, what do you think? Could something have gone better? Are you still satisfied?
RC: We are satisfied. In 2006 we made this reunion, which came out of nowhere, with the request from the organizers of the Gods of Metal, which at the time was still the Live. We reunited after years of not seeing each other and from 2006 to today we have done quite a bit of beautiful things: great concerts, an album of new material, released a box set, then made "The Faith", with various successes re-recorded with the new line-up. In the end, we are satisfied, of course, there is no end to improvement, and it's also good to think about it that way, so you always try to improve yourself, but all in all, we are satisfied. You also have to consider that we are in Italy, and there are constraints imposed by the situation that exists here, so we can't do more than that, but fundamentally, we are satisfied. 2. RR: All of you, to a greater or lesser extent, are involved in other fronts beyond just Strana Officina. I was wondering what you think about the Italian situation regarding concerts. You don't play much, is it your choice, and therefore you prefer to play only in certain contexts, or are there also difficulties in finding situations that present the minimum professionalism required? RC: Let's say we play little by choice. Let's also say that we are a band that develops things slowly. In part because Strana Officina is tied to the past, so every new step must be in line with what has already been, trying to respect the roots, so we are a bit slow in doing things but we do them carefully. It's not even possible to plan tours, going back to the Italian condition as well. It would be nice to make an album and then say "okay, let's do a two-month tour concentrating all the dates," but then in the end, you clash with the number of venues that can host a date of Strana Officina, the economic conditions we require, and above all the technical conditions. There are many issues that do not depend on the venue managers, but the situation in Italy is difficult on many fronts. Paradoxically, in the past, it was better because there were fewer restrictions, fewer problems with permits, there wasn't the alcohol problem, which today means people drink much less, venues earn less, and therefore are forced to impose entrance tickets.. so having to play in venues that bring people, sell tickets... the situation is a bit difficult therefore. Currently, we play little because we choose the places where to play, we make selection, we do beautiful things, with adequate systems, with economic situations that meet what we require. For example, tonight we are in a nice situation... it benefits everything, a nice concert comes out of it, up to the name of Strana Officina, in front of a certain type of audience, and everyone is happy: the organizers, those who pay you, us playing on stage, and the people coming to see the concert. We seek such situations here: in Italy, they are not many, and we try to make a selection. Going to small venues where there's a 350 watt FBT with two small speakers, having to play straight with direct sound on a 30-centimeter stage... honestly, you did it twenty years ago, today for Strana Officina such a situation wouldn't be ideal.. 3. RR: "Rising to the Call", your latest album of unreleased tracks, came out three years ago, in 2010. After some time, what are your thoughts? RC: The album is nice. When as a musician, you make albums, sometimes it happens that you don't even listen to it for a period of time, you take so much time to make it that once it's published you don't feel like listening to it. But it also happens that after years you listen to it again, and amongst ourselves, we always said it's a nice album.. we often found ourselves saying "but re-listening to it, it's nice, we like it". We like the album. I believe it is an album that presents a streak of modernity in the end, there is that personality of mine and Dario's (Cappanera, guitar) which is still the "new", but there is also the respect of a bit of our background, which concerns the past, and also comes from what we learned from Strana Officina when there was still the original line-up with Fabio and Roberto... and so fundamentally, we are satisfied. 4. RR: You have been often asked whether you have a DVD in the works, maybe with a reissue of the VHS of the "Rock 'n' Roll Prisoners" tour.. have you ever thought of something like that? Maybe a box set with a DVD about the new course combined with another with old material from the eighties.. RC: We've thought about it, there are several ideas. With my sister, who works in cinema and photography, we started working, and it's still a "work in progress", it wasn't abandoned.. we were trying to make a sort of documentary, which initially was born to tell the story of the production of the Cappanera's album "Cuore Blues Rock 'n' Roll" which is the second album of unreleased tracks by Fabio and Roberto, released two years ago. But then, since the material wasn't enough, we thought of extending it to the whole story related to Fabio and Roberto, and also to Strana Officina with unreleased videos, with a bit of concerts, which lately we are reviewing to understand what material is available... the idea is there, I don't know then how it will end, we will probably complete this documentary thing. Regarding a live DVD of the current formation, we are a bit perfectionists.. we know that if we wanted to make a concert DVD, which would still be a nice thing for Strana Officina, it would take enough means, both economic and practical.. a mobile direction would be needed, and then how do you do it? Multitrack, direct sound? Cameras, stage, lights, suitable venue... In Italy, I don't know how much it's worth investing all this money to make a DVD, when then you should sell it at a price that I don't know how many would buy.. 5. RR: There are several of your tracks in Italian, from the seventies/eighties, that remain unreleased. I read some time ago, in one of your interviews, that in 1995 you thought of working on those tracks to publish them, but then the band split, and each of you went your own way. After years, have you ever thought of recovering at least part of that material to publish it officially? RC: Many of the tracks in Italian are now published because with the "La Storia" box, they have been released. Referring to those we recorded as a demo in '95 with the current line-up, several pieces were done, various songs, but consider that at the time, that line-up was very immature, I was young, very young, just like Dario, although Dario was already much more prepared than me.. I was a little lousy in '95, due to age.. I got by... they were then recorded with the means we had, Dario improvised as a producer, he was also quite good, but in short, listening to them again now, they are a bit weak to be published.. 6. RR: What do you think is the role of a record label in the life of an artist today? Many musicians, even significant ones, now prefer to self-produce rather than have to comply with the dictates of a record label.. RC: We as Strana Officina, with the name we carry, have had the fortune to work with record labels who, albeit independent metal labels in Italy, have given us the opportunity to make albums, produced by the label, giving us the possibility to go to the studio paid by the label with royalty advances or master purchase, different formulas, working well even as a press office.. as Strana Officina, we can't complain. Dario and I have other situations, like Bud (vocals) with the Bud Tribe, and often we found ourselves in self-production. Dario worked with some small independent labels, not being fully satisfied for various reasons. I preferred, without having received any offers, to work with self-productions with my band, the Tres, which is a peculiar band, based on improvisation, instrumental, so it also goes into a musical sector where it's hard to find someone to produce your album. Let's say the record label can be useful when it has people working well as a press office, independently of whether they give you an advance to record, however, a press office and a distribution can already offer you a stable setup on which to work when looking for gigs. When you do self-production, it's really you who organize your dates, sell your records at concerts.. I, for instance, made two albums as self-production with Tres and still sold them at concerts all those I printed, but they are two different paths. 7. RR: A month ago, there was an evening organized to remember Fabio and Roberto: your impressions? RC: It was a beautiful evening, nobody thought.. That it was the twentieth anniversary.. I had this thing in my head because I would have liked to do something for the anniversary, but I said "if I have to organize it, find the place, look for it, I honestly don't feel like it".. then it was a Tuesday night, the 23rd, who knows what you do on a Tuesday, mid-week, surely not a nice date.. then ten days before, a week before, a proposal came out for Strana Officina to perform, but the problem was that a week before having permits for public land, equipment, stage, and publicizing a date of Strana Officina with still very high costs became a problem.. then these guys who made the proposal had a venue in Livorno, near the sea, with a very interesting location, and then from there talking with Dario we thought of doing something very soft, using the venue's stage, with a small sound system we improvised this evening based on rock/blues, with a bit of rock/blues classics me, Dario on guitar, Simone Luti, the bassist, who is a bassist that I grew up with, who grew up with us, who Fabio and Roberto practically baptized into music, that I still play with in this band, Tres, which I told you I'm self-producing.. then was the bassist of Cappanera, the band that Dario and I had in '98, with which we made an album.. we did a lot of power blues, which in the end is linked to Fabio and Roberto's past because they were born playing blues classics by BB King, Robben Ford, and Rory Gallagher.. and practically there we tied the Tossic, guests, with three songs.. The Tossic are a band that many know, this very good Italian metal band with funny lyrics, who participated in the "Luna Nera" in '94, which was the first memorial to Fabio and Roberto, made moreover in the same place, in the same area, where we had this evening.. so in '94 we were fifty meters away in a straight line, at the Terrazza Mascagni in Livorno.. later we invited the first singer of Strana Officina (Johnny Salani) to do some blues with Dario and some guests, including a musician friend of Fabio and Roberto, and then we finished with three-four songs by Strana Officina with the Strana Officina line-up and there were a thousand people in a small venue, outdoors, with a small stage facing the sea, little artificial palm trees, an open bar... we really involved a lot of people, friends, relatives, Strana Officina fans, Tossic fans, curious.. it was really a nice evening. 8. RR: During your career, you have written songs both in Italian and English, according to you, considering your type of music, which of the two languages is more suitable? RC: I, as a fan of Strana, even before being a drummer, since once I was just a fan, honestly I have always preferred the Italian repertoire. The English repertoire obviously is more appealing abroad, but then, speaking of practical money, it's not like the turn to English has brought about any big leap. There was feedback from abroad, great reviews, Strana Officina in small circuits was known, but actually, I honestly preferred the Italian part. There was much more charm, the lyrics were very beautiful, interesting, you are also closer to the audience, and in any case, when we do concerts, people ask if we're doing songs in Italian. Today we arrived and the supporting band (for that evening they were the Ruler, ed.) immediately asked us "but do you do songs in Italian?".. this answers your question. 9. RR: In addition to Strana Officina, are you also involved in other musical projects: do you want to say a few words? RC: Besides Strana Officina, I have always played in many situations. Of course, you also have to consider that with Strana we reunited in 2006, so from '95 to 2006 I grew musically doing many things, I lived in Milan.. Dario also lived in Milan, we worked in the Milanese environment more related to Italian music, all experiences that helped us grow, regardless of the musical genre because we wanted to make a profession out of music, so we also looked for different channels. Currently, I have this band, the Tres, a trio, with Simone Luti, this guy I talked about earlier, and Roberto Luti, who is the brother. Actually, it's the band with which I started playing, it was my first band when I was twelve, we were doing blues. We were created, let's say, by Johnny Salani, the first singer of Strana Officina, who, knowing Roberto and Simone's dad, put us together because we were the only three adolescents playing in the city of Livorno, and it was said "why don't we put them together?". We went around playing until '90 before I started playing with Strana Officina, obviously after the accident (referring to the 1993 incident in which Fabio and Roberto Cappanera died, ed.), which changed things a bit for me, and so we had parted ways. We started again, made two albums, a beautiful band, based on improvisation, even live, blues, rock, metal, a bit of psychedelia, funky, whatever comes, comes. And then I play in Milan with a band called Octopus, it's a power funky, there are two guys: the bassist is the former of Vibrazioni, Garrincha, with another guitarist from Milan.. now they are coming out with a record, a video clip has been made. Currently, I am on tour with another guy because I also like to do things on call, let's say "tourism", even if sometimes it is more so and sometimes less so, which is Andrea Appino, the singer of Zen Circus, a group related a bit to the indie environment.. in some ways, it's an environment I appreciate really little because they have very different parameters for how we are used to living.. however, I go around, I play, Andrea Appino is very good, he is a singer-songwriter who though likes to do even very aggressive things and he called me to do the tour.. we did more than twenty dates this summer, from June to now, next week we have the last four dates, and we close in Pisa at Metarock, we also do Turin, at Teatro Colosseo.. we did beautiful festivals.. in that environment there are big festivals that once belonged to us (in the sense that they were typical of the hard/heavy environment, ed.), so I found myself playing on huge stages that used to happen with Strana Officina or with the Cappanera in the nineties, now you arrive and there are giant stages and a thousand people in front of the stage that remind me of the old times.
Loading comments slowly
