A THEORY OF JUSTICE interview

by marcs77

I remember attending a local Spleen Flipper gig for the release of their latest work “The Will To Kill” and opening up that night was Lodi's quintet A Theory Of Justice. It was a while I didn't catch up with ATOJ and when they started playing I've immediately got the feel the band was heading towards changes in terms of sound, being what I was hearing something more like darker and tense than the new school hardcore meets metalcore stuff included in their very first outing titled “Athena”, and I knew them for.
A few years went by from that show and last December 2014 the guy released a new self-titled EP that only confirmed the sounds they had been shooting for were very different from Athena's.
Their new stuff is reminiscent to me of Trustkill's metalcore as well as the darker chaotic angular math-post-hardcore-metal of bands on Deathwish Inc. records.
I emailed the band a few questions to learn first hand as much as possible about this change in sound, ATOJ (the EP) and get information about The Creature Fest and Clam association, +AMICI -STORIE and more...

gan: Last year you made to it to follow up your debut record “Athena” (2011) with the self-titled “ATOJ”. Do you wanna share some background stories about the writing, recording and release of the new effort?

This EP is very different compared to “Athena”, we evolved and pushed our sound far letting influences from bands we currently listen to mixing with the old sounds; we tried our way taking the firm roots on our past. The album was recorded by Carlo and Mizkey at Obscure Country studio and mixed/mastered by Shirley Jack (Loma Prieta, Deaf Heaven and many more).

gan: I'm sure everybody, who knows you, got to see you on stage or simply gave a spin to “Athena”, will have surely noticed a change of direction in terms of sound, where, perhaps, only the vocals of Ciobe and some gang-style backups hold a hook to the old hardcore delivery. How did transition happen? Tired of that newschool HC meet metalcore sounds?

The change with this is very noticeable, we did what we like more and maybe we found out who we really are; as it happened in the past, we just wrote and played what we feel.

gan: Wanna talk about the lyrics of songs with a bunch of such unsual names?

We took also the song titles to the extreme. This to intrigue the listener, and because we liked them for this album. The songs are about and what we experienced in the past few years, from mentally fight the demons that every person creates to simple relationships and friendship to complex and hidden love.

gan: The production of “ATOJ” is a lot more organic, natural than for the previous outing and compared to many of today recordings which get that slick treatment the digital recording tools allow. Your tracks indeed bursts more of analogical feel to it. Was really this the sound you guys were shooting for in the first place?

As far as the mastering goes we worked with Jack Shirley because we liked all the albums that he worked on over the past years. We opted for a sound more dark and as dirty and natural as possible.

gan: I got to see you guys are getting lot of attention from press, be it from traditional paper magazines and web magazines. In your view, how's the overall reaction to the new record been thus far?

A big help in this regard has come from 5 Feet Under records and Memorial records that gave us a big hand in the aspect of communication and above all they believed in us now, we have gotten very positive feedbacks and many people are appreciating this EP and this fills us with joy and encourages us to do even more.

gan: And how the new stuff goes down live?

When playing this EP live we put everything out and we really love to play the new stuff.

gan: In a few of the interviews you did you guys got to reply to questions about the current opportunities to play live in Italy, and, especially when these questions come from realities more into the metal/rock scene the common tread is prompting bands to wine about how everything is really hard, that there aren't places where to play, that nobody cares and so and so on... But in Italy we have our own underground hardcore punk circuit where thanks to a few dedicated and passionate individuals anti commercial, uncool but solid bands get to play in places like squats, youth centres, cultural association houses and get their music around. What's your personal view about the situation for bands like yours?

We found that it's much more difficult to play in Italy than abroad although in Italy there are many people working to organize concerts. Unfortunately, there are few places that give you the opportunity to play and therefore it's difficult for the organizers to be able to put up their events.

gan: I know that none of you guys do volunteer any more at Clam but yet your still really close and somehow involved with this cool association based in you home town (and it is very easy to find you there attending various events). I learned the guys of Clam launched a crowd founding campaign to collect funds to be devolved to organize this year Creature Fest, which would make it to ninth edition. Wanna talk about this and what this fest stands for personally?

We have all been part of Clam for years and as of now a couple of us are part of a project. The project is named Creature Fest and it's a DIY festival created by the association. This year, unfortunately, we have faced some economic difficulties to organize it and we have created a crowdfunding where friends and supporters could donate some money to make the ninth edition happen (gan: the crowdfunding hit the goal and the festival has been a success as usual).

gan: What about your local scene and the bands you're involved with as side-projects? In Lodi and Lodi's area new bands to look out for have been coming out over the last few years...

There are many good new bands and many already were around. Gino plays also in Selvə, Paco in Dhole another great band, Edo is busy with his art project Tybet while Ciobe and Cicco are always engaged in doing much gym AHAHAHAH...

gan: Who's the author of the artwork of “ATOJ” and how much the visual part of your art is important for you?

The artwork was created by Edo (Tybet) and I think he grabbed the idea of what we wanted.

gan: I know it's more of a Clam thing but what stands behind the motto +AMICI -STORIE and who came up with that?

“+amici -storie” (more friends, less shit) is an idea that we should all have, a way of life not only in music but still, this is a concept that was born with the Clam but especially with Paco.

gan: So “ATOJ” is out, you are playing gig to support your fatigue. What's up next for A Theory Of Justice?

Considered the musical change we went through we opted to make an acronym of the name but the concept behind this band is still the same; there will be another darkly disc and live dates are always inspired and loads more!

gan: Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply our questions. Wanna add anything more?

Thanks to you Marco and gotanerve-zine for the opportunity you gave us!
Thanks go out to Memorial records and 5 Feet Under records for believing in this project and thanks to those who support us! Much love. ATOJ.

Listen to and download Atoj here

Check: www.facebook.com/atojband