Dedicated to those who state that Italian HC has now come to an end...You probably missed “Walkin’ the line”, the last album by Set me free! This old-school HC Milan-based band was born in 2009 bringing together members of other hardcore bands such as No More Fear, Product, Half My Time, just to name some... ‘cause the list would be longer!!!
Inspired by the pure old school HC spirit of Youth of Today since their beginnings, SMF have recently released this new EP with 6 angry and furious tracks: fast paced, straightforward attitude, living matters, the whole firmly anchored to the best Youth Crew style. We emailed them a bunch of questions to discover something more about their line-up, the new records, gigs...and more! Read on what they told us!
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Set-Me-Free/227417224586
bandcamp: http://setmefreehc.bandcamp.com
blog: http://setmefreehc.blogspot.com
website: http://setmefreehc.altervista.org
video: Still Proud @ SGA 26/05/12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeZG56eh0y4&feature=youtu.be
video: Banks Unfair @ Rock Planet 01/10/11 http://youtu.be/rwsm1KmhP2Q
video: Walkin' The Line teaser http://youtu.be/7NPoT6YCOm4
Interview by Michela
GAN- I’m always curious about the birth of a band. Many punk-HC bands usually state that the members were friends before starting to play together, maybe schoolmates, sharing the same skate park.. or teenage neighbours with the common passion for punk..What about you? I mean, were you friends before starting the Set me Free project? If not, how did you start out?
Gianluca: I met Francesco (our first singer) in the summer of 2009, he was a drummer and after a few jams with me and Davide, the guitarist of my old band, we decided to start this new project called Set Me Free. We recorded a couple of songs, never released, and started looking for a new drummer. I already knew Stizzo ‘cause he saw my band live and we kept on touch, so I just asked him to play with us. After a few weeks Gabriele became our new guitarist: I met him about 2 years before Set Me Free and we used to meet and go to shows together sometimes. I remember he said me “I'm sure one day we'll play together” and so it was! When Francesco left the band, Stizzo asked Dan to play with us, they already know each other for a long time.
GAN- Can you please introduce the current Set me Free line-up to Got a Nerve Zine’s readers?
Gianluca: well, I'm Gianluca and I play the bass, Gabriele is our guitarist, Stizzo plays drums and Dan is our “new” (even if he's with us since January 2011) singer. This is the line up of our new cd called Walkin' The Line and the split 7” with Motivation.
Stizzo was the singer of We'll Face in late 90's, he played drums also in Half My Time, Fumbles in Life, The Miracle and True Spirit. Dan was the singer of Product and No More Fear. I'm also the bass player of Upward and Gabri plays in Point Break.
GAN- So, your last album “Walkin' The Line” is just out! What about this new work? What does its title mean to you?
Gianluca: Yep, a cool label called Open Up Records from Belgium released this new cd EP with 6 new tracks last April. We started working on this from the beginning of 2011, it took more time than I thought between recording, looking for a label and printing. I'm pretty satisfied with this album, if you are into the pure old school hardcore spirit of Youth of Today, Chain of Strength and Straight Ahead you'll like it! The title came from our “single” called The Line. I thought about Walkin' The Line as a tribute to “Bringin' It Back” LP by Judge, a band I really love. Even the style of the cover is similar (but really different) to it.
The other 4 tracks we recorded, went on the split 7” with our friends Motivation from Hungary.
Dan: The title comes from the song “The Line” that's about walking the path of our own life even if anything gets harder, without surrendering. Maybe we can accept or refuse other people's influences and helps, but in the end we must find the strength inside us and decide by ourselves what's good for us. This is the way to get our goals.
But this song is also about an old Italian cartoon character I always loved! (La Linea”, the line, is an Italian cartoon character created by Osvaldo Cavandoli in 1969)
GAN- There’s a lot of social protest, rage against the economic system and eco-awareness in your songs. Actually HC and social /political commitment in subverting the system is a traditional couple...
Dan: To be honest I don't like to write too much about explicit politics in my lyrics and I've never done with my previous bands. But when I entered SMF they already had the song “Only One Flag” that was about Italian politics too. Then, I think that today the national and international political situation sucks pretty well, absolutely more than in past few decades, so I just find natural to write about that shit.
But personally I still continue to think hardcore doesn't have to feel forced to talk about subverting the system: trying to make a sincere social scene in a small local reality is often better than a lot of sterile claiming.
GAN- I found very interesting the lyrics of “Your internet account”. Very up-to-date...
Dan: If we want to talk about the hardcore scene itself, but not only about it, we can't continue to have an old point of view. Times changed and so we have changed too. What surrounds us influences our personality and we can't forget internet is a part of our experience.
And internet is a place where good things have their births, but also where assholes can hide their own identity and start futile fights. It sucks, but it's a part of hardcore too.
GAN- You always choose English for your lyrics...why? Any reasons you would like to mention? Is that a matter of message? Have you ever thought about writing in Italian?
Dan: Actually many people from all the globe can understand English, so we can speak to most of them through our songs. But yes, I'd like to write at least one song in Italian, even if paradoxically I find very hard to do it, due to Italian phonetics and accents.
GAN- How do you write your songs? Usually that’s a singers’ job...what about Set Me Free?
Dan: About lyrics, it's singer's business too. Usually I have a topic in my mind and I ask or try to understand if the other SMF guys have a point of view close to mine. If they do, I write it.
I think a honest band should write lyrics shared by all its members.
GAN- I know that some of you are very committed in keeping the HC scene alive, organizing gigs in Milan suburbs. Is that easy today? Any places, bands or context you would like to mention?
Gianluca: not easy at all! You always have to face lot of problems especially when you're fixing a gig for foreign bands and you can't guarantee them a sleeping place, or a cachet but only a door deal. Anyway around Milan there are still some nice venues like Sga (Arese) and TNT Club. Other places are so bad managed that just deserve to be closed.
GAN- From your lyrics I perceive a strong sense of belonging to the Straight Edge movement...
Gianluca: Of course we're all edge, but anyone of us has his own way to live this. By the way, in the new albums our lyrics face lot of themes and issues, not only straight edge stuff.
GAN- Actually, which is the best term: SXE movement? Scene? Philosophy? Subculture? Subgenre?
Gianluca: I think it's a life style, but also a small movement inside a bigger movement that's Hardcore.
Dan: Mhm, if hypocrisy continues to be a part of hardcore attitude, it will always be just a “scene”.
GAN- There are lots of stereotypes and cliché around the theme..So, let’s take the chance to destroy them! What does being straight edge really mean? I’m sure there’s more than avoiding alcohol, smoking and living healthily.. The words “Respect” and “proud”, (the second meaning being proud of the SXE choice), seem to be frequent..
Gianluca: To me straight edge means living life to the best of yourself, with no abuses of drugs and alcohol.
GAN- And how are straight edge seen by non-straight edge kids? Respect? Discrimination? Tolerance? Criticism?
Gianluca: you should ask them. There's no reason to discriminate someone for being edge or for any other reason at all, that's just ridiculous. People who act like this are just childish twats. I'm open for any kind of criticism, but I still can't see anything wrong in don't smoking, drinking or do drugs.
GAN- Are you strict followers?
GAN- I’m always curious about the birth of a band. Many punk-HC bands usually state that the members were friends before starting to play together, maybe schoolmates, sharing the same skate park.. or teenage neighbours with the common passion for punk..What about you? I mean, were you friends before starting the Set me Free project? If not, how did you start out?
Gianluca: I met Francesco (our first singer) in the summer of 2009, he was a drummer and after a few jams with me and Davide, the guitarist of my old band, we decided to start this new project called Set Me Free. We recorded a couple of songs, never released, and started looking for a new drummer. I already knew Stizzo ‘cause he saw my band live and we kept on touch, so I just asked him to play with us. After a few weeks Gabriele became our new guitarist: I met him about 2 years before Set Me Free and we used to meet and go to shows together sometimes. I remember he said me “I'm sure one day we'll play together” and so it was! When Francesco left the band, Stizzo asked Dan to play with us, they already know each other for a long time.
GAN- Can you please introduce the current Set me Free line-up to Got a Nerve Zine’s readers?
Gianluca: well, I'm Gianluca and I play the bass, Gabriele is our guitarist, Stizzo plays drums and Dan is our “new” (even if he's with us since January 2011) singer. This is the line up of our new cd called Walkin' The Line and the split 7” with Motivation.
Stizzo was the singer of We'll Face in late 90's, he played drums also in Half My Time, Fumbles in Life, The Miracle and True Spirit. Dan was the singer of Product and No More Fear. I'm also the bass player of Upward and Gabri plays in Point Break.
GAN- So, your last album “Walkin' The Line” is just out! What about this new work? What does its title mean to you?
Gianluca: Yep, a cool label called Open Up Records from Belgium released this new cd EP with 6 new tracks last April. We started working on this from the beginning of 2011, it took more time than I thought between recording, looking for a label and printing. I'm pretty satisfied with this album, if you are into the pure old school hardcore spirit of Youth of Today, Chain of Strength and Straight Ahead you'll like it! The title came from our “single” called The Line. I thought about Walkin' The Line as a tribute to “Bringin' It Back” LP by Judge, a band I really love. Even the style of the cover is similar (but really different) to it.
The other 4 tracks we recorded, went on the split 7” with our friends Motivation from Hungary.
Dan: The title comes from the song “The Line” that's about walking the path of our own life even if anything gets harder, without surrendering. Maybe we can accept or refuse other people's influences and helps, but in the end we must find the strength inside us and decide by ourselves what's good for us. This is the way to get our goals.
But this song is also about an old Italian cartoon character I always loved! (La Linea”, the line, is an Italian cartoon character created by Osvaldo Cavandoli in 1969)
GAN- There’s a lot of social protest, rage against the economic system and eco-awareness in your songs. Actually HC and social /political commitment in subverting the system is a traditional couple...
Dan: To be honest I don't like to write too much about explicit politics in my lyrics and I've never done with my previous bands. But when I entered SMF they already had the song “Only One Flag” that was about Italian politics too. Then, I think that today the national and international political situation sucks pretty well, absolutely more than in past few decades, so I just find natural to write about that shit.
But personally I still continue to think hardcore doesn't have to feel forced to talk about subverting the system: trying to make a sincere social scene in a small local reality is often better than a lot of sterile claiming.
GAN- I found very interesting the lyrics of “Your internet account”. Very up-to-date...
Dan: If we want to talk about the hardcore scene itself, but not only about it, we can't continue to have an old point of view. Times changed and so we have changed too. What surrounds us influences our personality and we can't forget internet is a part of our experience.
And internet is a place where good things have their births, but also where assholes can hide their own identity and start futile fights. It sucks, but it's a part of hardcore too.
GAN- You always choose English for your lyrics...why? Any reasons you would like to mention? Is that a matter of message? Have you ever thought about writing in Italian?
Dan: Actually many people from all the globe can understand English, so we can speak to most of them through our songs. But yes, I'd like to write at least one song in Italian, even if paradoxically I find very hard to do it, due to Italian phonetics and accents.
GAN- How do you write your songs? Usually that’s a singers’ job...what about Set Me Free?
Dan: About lyrics, it's singer's business too. Usually I have a topic in my mind and I ask or try to understand if the other SMF guys have a point of view close to mine. If they do, I write it.
I think a honest band should write lyrics shared by all its members.
GAN- I know that some of you are very committed in keeping the HC scene alive, organizing gigs in Milan suburbs. Is that easy today? Any places, bands or context you would like to mention?
Gianluca: not easy at all! You always have to face lot of problems especially when you're fixing a gig for foreign bands and you can't guarantee them a sleeping place, or a cachet but only a door deal. Anyway around Milan there are still some nice venues like Sga (Arese) and TNT Club. Other places are so bad managed that just deserve to be closed.
GAN- From your lyrics I perceive a strong sense of belonging to the Straight Edge movement...
Gianluca: Of course we're all edge, but anyone of us has his own way to live this. By the way, in the new albums our lyrics face lot of themes and issues, not only straight edge stuff.
GAN- Actually, which is the best term: SXE movement? Scene? Philosophy? Subculture? Subgenre?
Gianluca: I think it's a life style, but also a small movement inside a bigger movement that's Hardcore.
Dan: Mhm, if hypocrisy continues to be a part of hardcore attitude, it will always be just a “scene”.
GAN- There are lots of stereotypes and cliché around the theme..So, let’s take the chance to destroy them! What does being straight edge really mean? I’m sure there’s more than avoiding alcohol, smoking and living healthily.. The words “Respect” and “proud”, (the second meaning being proud of the SXE choice), seem to be frequent..
Gianluca: To me straight edge means living life to the best of yourself, with no abuses of drugs and alcohol.
GAN- And how are straight edge seen by non-straight edge kids? Respect? Discrimination? Tolerance? Criticism?
Gianluca: you should ask them. There's no reason to discriminate someone for being edge or for any other reason at all, that's just ridiculous. People who act like this are just childish twats. I'm open for any kind of criticism, but I still can't see anything wrong in don't smoking, drinking or do drugs.
GAN- Are you strict followers?
Dan: Well... I'm clean, but not due to a table of rules.
Gianluca: Same. It's just me, not a rule I must follow.
GAN- And what about the crowds? I mean, for sure you often share the stage with non SXE bands.. If I think of an HC concert, I see people drinking, (me included) sometimes drunk or smoking..What do you think about that? Do you feel at ease? Any episode you wish to tell?
Gianluca: you know, none of us uses to be a “sxe preacher” during a show, the most of our friends play in non edge bands. We don't care about it, we just enjoy the show and the other bands.
GAN- Can we talk about an Italian SXE scene? I mean, does it exist? Any band worth mentioning? Does the scene have many followers in Italy?
Gianluca: I can say there's not even a sxe scene in Italy, and we're probably one of the few bands around. Not so many followers. I ship lots of SMF stuff around the world (specially to Germany and US).. more than what we usually sell during our shows. Another really cool band is We're Right, check them out!
GAN- And what about your gigs? Which is the best place where you have played up to now and where would you like to play?
Gianluca: One of the best places I remember is Surfer's Den, a small pub in Milano city. The venue was really small, but we had lot of fun with our friends Motivation and Traces of You. We also had fun at Rock Planet when we played with Gorilla Biscuits.
GAN- You are promoting your new album at the moment…what about next gigs, tours..? Any project?
Gianluca: Well, we're going to take a break for this summer, but I hope we'll start playing around from September or so … maybe also outside Italy, we just have to find a good period for anyone of us.
GAN- Well, that’s all for us! Thank you for your time and see you soon on stage!!
Gianluca: You're welcome, thanks for this opportunity and good luck with your zine. Remember to visit our bandcamp and our facebook to see what's going on!
Check:
Gianluca: Same. It's just me, not a rule I must follow.
GAN- And what about the crowds? I mean, for sure you often share the stage with non SXE bands.. If I think of an HC concert, I see people drinking, (me included) sometimes drunk or smoking..What do you think about that? Do you feel at ease? Any episode you wish to tell?
Gianluca: you know, none of us uses to be a “sxe preacher” during a show, the most of our friends play in non edge bands. We don't care about it, we just enjoy the show and the other bands.
GAN- Can we talk about an Italian SXE scene? I mean, does it exist? Any band worth mentioning? Does the scene have many followers in Italy?
Gianluca: I can say there's not even a sxe scene in Italy, and we're probably one of the few bands around. Not so many followers. I ship lots of SMF stuff around the world (specially to Germany and US).. more than what we usually sell during our shows. Another really cool band is We're Right, check them out!
GAN- And what about your gigs? Which is the best place where you have played up to now and where would you like to play?
Gianluca: One of the best places I remember is Surfer's Den, a small pub in Milano city. The venue was really small, but we had lot of fun with our friends Motivation and Traces of You. We also had fun at Rock Planet when we played with Gorilla Biscuits.
GAN- You are promoting your new album at the moment…what about next gigs, tours..? Any project?
Gianluca: Well, we're going to take a break for this summer, but I hope we'll start playing around from September or so … maybe also outside Italy, we just have to find a good period for anyone of us.
GAN- Well, that’s all for us! Thank you for your time and see you soon on stage!!
Gianluca: You're welcome, thanks for this opportunity and good luck with your zine. Remember to visit our bandcamp and our facebook to see what's going on!
Check:
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Set-Me-Free/227417224586
bandcamp: http://setmefreehc.bandcamp.com
blog: http://setmefreehc.blogspot.com
website: http://setmefreehc.altervista.org
video: Still Proud @ SGA 26/05/12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeZG56eh0y4&feature=youtu.be
video: Banks Unfair @ Rock Planet 01/10/11 http://youtu.be/rwsm1KmhP2Q
video: Walkin' The Line teaser http://youtu.be/7NPoT6YCOm4
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