Interview with Talco

For more than 10 years on stages from all around the world. They distinguish themselves for sweat, jumps and powerful live-shows. They are one of the best-known Italian bands. Ska and Punk run through their veins. Their name is Talco and we had the great pleasure to interview them, to learn some of their history, secrets and what they are doing!

Line up:
Dema:Vocals, guitar
Jesus: Lead guitar, backgr.vocals
Ketto: Bass guitar, backgr.vocals
Nick: Drums
Rizia:Trumpet
Tuscia: Saxophone

-R: Radio Punk
-T: Talco

-R: Hi guys! After all these years, you’ve become one of the best-known bands in the punk and ska scene all over the world. You underwent a constant growth. Do you think that, with “Silent Town”, you’ve reached the acme of your career?
-T: We definitely think that Silent Town is our best-crafted album and, for now, it’s tough to foresee what the future holds for us. Many times we thought to have reached our acme, but it’s probably for this reason that we were given many unexpected satisfactions. In this case, we’ll try to become more popular in other countries, such as South America and the United States. We were also thinking about going back to Russia and Japan and to grow some more here in Europe, during the very rich festival season!

-R: I remember the first time I witnessed one of your concerts. It was back in 2008, in a small town near Verona. A friend of mine had told me: “Talco kicks ass” and I can assure you that it was totally true. The audience wasn’t nearly as big as the one you have today, but, for me, it was a memorable event. How does it feel to play in front of thousands of people?
-T: It’s a great feeling, but, spiritually, nothing really changed from that time: it’s still a challenge. There’s always someone better than you and, knowing this, prompts us to learn new things and improve ourselves. A live-show is one of these challenges and, the more you go on, the harder it becomes to amaze people and this matured us and made us follow more professional paths.

-R: In your opinion, why was it so difficult to be appreciated here in Italy unlike in other European countries, even though you were singing in Italian?
-T: We emerged in times of crisis for the punk genre, due to the opportunistic view of some older bands which were inexplicably jealous of what they had, even though they lived in an environment in which support should have been the basis to enjoy the independent scene. Furthermore, some ex-fans, that saw in the punk genre a gold mine, decided to start promoting only close friends and few others making the scene stale and lethal for the independent music in Italy. I’d like to be clear: it’s not a bad thing to find a job within what you love, but if what you love is called “punk” then you need to have some morality and support towards others, because the lack of these things would only bring frustration and, maybe, destroy something wonderful.
This was the situation in Italy. In other countries, we started from zero and, fortunately, we were appreciated. Year after year, we went on with our project and we got to where we are now. Italy is better now: we are able to perform 9-10 times in good venues and we were called to perform in 5-6 festivals and we are happy about it. With that in mind, until a couple of years ago, we couldn’t even play, we could say that some steps forward were made. I have to say that starting the tour in Italy exited us, mainly because it was a big surprise.
-R: What would you suggest a band that wants to make a name for themselves in Europe?
-T: They have to autonomously manage and promote themselves by playing without expecting anything in exchange. Speaking of punk: many older punk bands, famous in Italy, tried to leave, but didn’t achieve anything because they were expecting too much. Exporting one’s fame in this manner, from a nation that is mocked by other European countries, just confirms the preconceptions that others have towards us (mafia, pizza,…). First of all, you have to put yourself out there and fight for what you want. This is what a musician should do. Apart from Los Fastidios and Nh3 in Germany and Banda Bassotti in Spain, I can’t recall any other Italian band that was able to affirm itself in other European countries.
Knowing them personally, I can assure you that these bands’ mentality united us to change what others think about Italian people. Not everyone is pizza or mafia, instead we are normal people who work hard to do what we love! So, what I can suggest is to show your project around. The people will immediately judge it and, at first, you’ll have 100 people in front of you, then, if it’s appreciated, some independent labels might help you and make your project grow.

-R: How is the Silent Town tour going? Is it any different from your past tours?
-T: It’s going great, beyond expectations. This tour was different right from the start: we invested a lot and changed many things. With David HFMN as our manager and with the support from Kasba Music, Muttis and Destiny, we were able to play in venues way bigger than the usual ones and it was worth it. It always went well, the venues were always full. Right from the beginning, the audience knew the lyrics from Silent Town, unlike past tours, in which it could take a full year for the people to learn the lyrics from an album. It’s almost time for the summer festivals and we were called multiple times to play in venues always bigger and more professional. We feel very lucky to be the only Italian band taking part in festivals that host bands such as Nofx, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Mad Caddies, etc.
Putting ourselves out there and working hard to promote this album was the least we could do. I can say that we are satisfied from the outcome, that was the end result of many moral and economical expenses.

– R: How are you dealing with your personal relationships now that you’re away from home and is there any place, in which you have played, that you can call “home”?
-T: In the end, it’s not that bad: we have many dates, but most of them are during the weekends. If, at any moment, I feel frustrated from not being at home, I punch myself a couple of times, I pull myself together and I think that many people can only dream of doing what they love for three days a week and spending the rest of the time at home.
Compared with a more sedentary activity, you could say that we travel a lot, but you could also say that we have a lot of free time. Most of the times, we use it to recover, but it’s still free time!
As for the place I can call home, I speak only for myself. I really felt like I was in heaven when we went to Japan, two years ago. The places were wonderful and the people were respectful and polite, unlike here in the western countries. I also loved being in Catalonia and in the Basque Country, which are a lot different from Japan. To be honest, I feel more Catalan than Italian, even though I live in Marghera.

-R: Let’s go back a couple of years, how did your ties with St. Pauli came to be?
-T: It all started after a show in 2007, in a bar, after the game. We were struck by that experience and, in 2008, we decided to write a song for the fans about Mazel Tov and, the following year, we intensified our relationship by collaborating for single with Fanraume, to help raise funds to build a ramp for the disabled. I think that Hamburg is one of our most followed tour-dates.

-R: You were always very explicit about your ideas, even the political ones. Did you ever have any problems with this?
-T: Rarely and in meaningless occasions. Sometimes, in Italy, they ask us to not play Bella Ciao and, at that point, we just refuse to perform. In general, we never had problems. We are actually across-the-board, even though we are ideally liberal. We are across-the-board in a sense that we both criticize the tainted part of society (the mafia, the right wing, populism) and all the things that buried the left wing in Italy. So, we were talking about doing everything on our own and, by saying these things, even if we longed for help, we wouldn’t have received it from anybody!

-R: How do you transform an album, something recorded in a studio, into a great live-show that has you dancing, jumping and singing for one or two hours?
T: Our idea has always been to write a fast, intense and uninterrupted set-list which doesn’t strictly duplicate  the album. People are paying to see a show, not to watch you play an album as if you were in the studio. As a reference, we use a show by Mano Negra, obviously we try to give it more of a punk tone: a lot of music, brief breaks and a performance that binds us to our audience, without speeches as if they were made by a “smart alec” populist. The idea of talking about subjects that I’m not up to talk about is something I always tried to avoid with Talco, I’d rather play music.

-R: I want to thank you guys for the time spent with us! This is your moment to say whatever you like to us and to our readers. Bye! See you soon!
-T: Thank you for the interview! I’d like to thank all the Italians for this tour’s big surprise! See you this summer!

Interview by G.M.
Translated by J.L.