Ministri

Over a career spanning more than twenty years, Ministri have earned a place of respect among the bands that most influenced the generation that followed, a status owed to songs that became a mirror of their era and to live shows of consistently great intensity.

Having met on the benches of Milan's Liceo Berchet, Federico Dragogna (guitars and main songwriter), Davide Autelitano (vocals and bass) and Michele Esposito (drums) started rehearsing in 2003 together with their keyboardist friend Emiliano Eva, who would soon leave the project. After briefly going by the cumbersome name Ministri del Tempo, they shortened it to Ministri and made their entrance onto the Italian music scene in the autumn of 2006. Their debut "I soldi sono finiti", released on the Otorecords and Maninalto! labels, immediately drew attention, not only for its musical content - perpetually caught between melody, screamo and walls of guitars - but also for a brilliant packaging idea: the ironic cover contained a real one-euro coin, a personal way of tackling the crisis afflicting the record industry. Inside the booklet came another provocation: an itemised account of the album's recording costs. Almost an anomaly in a national scene dominated by hip hop and electronic music, "I soldi sono finiti" quickly established Ministri as the year's biggest rock surprise, taking them on stage more than a hundred times in their first year.

Universal was the quickest label to sign them, and in spring 2008 released the EP "La piazza", inspired by the tragic events of the Genoa G8 and featuring "Diritto al tetto", born out of the story of a homeless man placed under house arrest on a park bench. The video for "Diritto al tetto", directed by Davide Fois, ended up in rotation on MTV and All Music, helping to boost the Milanese trio's popularity. In the summer of 2008, the video for the title track, "La piazza", was also released on the band's MySpace page, and it would remain one of their most intense and significant songs.

In January 2009 Ministri released their second album, "Tempi Bui", driven by the title track - a tribute to Brecht (the video was directed by Cosimo Alemà) - and by the single "Bevo". While the ideological and musical framework stayed the same, the field experience the Lombard band had accumulated allowed for a wider range of interpretative approaches and perspectives. The world Ministri inhabit is a dark one, as the title track suggests, born of existential despair and steeped in a punk spirit for which "the future is a trap". The horizon is low, pinned to the present, with no escape route upward: all that matters is the here and now, approached without excessive defeatism but with a will to get involved and change something, voicing social and political commitment even though they are the expression of a generation raised once ideologies were already buried. The weapon of choice for denouncing society's distortions is irony, as the irresistible "La faccia di Briatore" - one of the record's funniest moments - makes clear. The stylistic mix fuses singer-songwriter moments with hardcore sounds, splashes of hard rock and power-pop leanings, along with fragments of folk music that link the tracks together and, in some cases, effectively find their way into the songs themselves. Davide Autelitano's voice keeps improving in expressive range, managing to move from whispers to full-on screamo. It's worth a few words on the album's closing track, "Ballata del lavoro interinale": a song, in perfect Seventies singer-songwriter style, that tells of the reality of the lifelong temp worker, humiliated and depressed, handled with delicacy and a light humour tinged with melancholy. A thoroughly successful piece that could easily have come from the pen of the great Giorgio Gaber, and one that hints at the Milanese band's room for growth - a step forward toward defining a precise artistic identity that was already fairly recognisable.

What followed were stadium shows (on 31 August, at the Friuli in Udine, they opened for Coldplay, an event from which the legend was born that Chris Martin's band borrowed its Napoleonic-jacket aesthetic from them), a feature with Caparezza on "Le dimensioni del mio caos", and the reissue of "I soldi sono finiti", for which the band, instead of the real euro coin on the cover, tore up their by-now-famous Napoleonic-inspired stage jackets to insert a small relic of them into each CD.

In 2010 Ministri released "Fuori", which cemented their standing for good, considerably widening their fan base thanks also to the videos getting TV airplay, and to at least two tracks that would remain among the most beloved in their catalogue: "Gli alberi" and "Noi fuori". TV appearances continued (including on "Morgan Invece No") as did live shows, with the band also appearing alongside Foo Fighters and Subsonica at Mtv Day in Turin. In 2011 came the third (remastered) reissue of "I soldi sono finiti", an extended version that also included the four tracks originally featured on the "La Piazza" EP.

In March 2013 came "Per un passato migliore", which would remain one of the band's most beloved albums with fans. With Tommaso Colliva behind the desk, Ministri crafted a deeply alt-rock sound, with scorching guitars and sing-along lyrics, alternating angry moments ("Mammut" is the most Verdena-sounding song Ministri ever recorded), brilliant ballads ("I tuoi weekend mi distruggono", "Una palude") and memorable alt-pop tracks ("Comunque", "Spingere"), fittingly represented by the feline drawn on the cover. The songs work regardless, and behind the power-rock shell lies - by now their trademark - a fundamentally pop sensibility, skilfully tailored for younger generations.

"Per un passato migliore" reached number 7 on Italy's best-selling albums chart, and Ministri not only filled the country's most important clubs but also performed abroad, in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels and Paris. In the meantime, Afterhours invited them to take part in the celebratory reissue of "Hai Paura Del Buio?", duetting with Manuel Agnelli on a powerful new version of "Sui giovani d'oggi ci scatarro su". In early 2015, Rolling Stone magazine included them among the hundred faces of Italian music.

In the spring of 2015 they flew to Berlin, to the former East German radio studios (the Funkhaus), to record live with Gordon Raphael (producer of the first two Strokes albums) the songs that would make up "Cultura Generale". Preceded by the singles "Estate povera" and "Idioti", "Cultura Generale" came out on 12 September 2015 and debuted straight at number 3 on the Italian FIMI chart. Musically flawless, purveyors of an agreeable pop disguised as alt-rock with classic-rock streaks (most evident in a couple of guitar solos), on this occasion they give the impression of wanting not so much to consolidate their original fanbase as to win over a younger audience, thereby securing a generational handover. While the record glides by without any new anthems and feels largely harmless (many will single it out as the weak link in the Ministri discography, the proverbial "transitional album"), it must be said that live the songs work very well, and the audience response is always remarkable.

The tour launching the album is a long string of sold-out shows, taking them around Italy until spring 2016, when they released the single "Io sono fatto di neve" (accompanied by a video shot at the former MOI, Turin's Olympic village, occupied by over a thousand migrants living in precarious conditions) and headlined the stage at the Primo Maggio concert in Taranto.

In autumn 2016 they celebrated the tenth anniversary of their debut album with twelve special shows and published a book ("Locandine") collecting the best of their distinctive poster art. The celebratory tour organized for the tenth anniversary of "I soldi sono finiti" worked like a magic potion: immersing themselves again in that post-adolescent electric jolt renewed their drive and vital energy, shaking the Ministri out of the torpor of "General Knowledge" to produce "Trust Us", released on 9 March 2018 and landing straight at number 7 on the FIMI chart. The decisive calling card placed at the start of the tracklist is enough to reveal a band reborn: the synths that power "Tra le vite degli altri" and the mighty, almost stoner-tinged guitar-rock of "Fidatevi", with Davide Autelitano's voice and Federico Dragogna's guitars front and centre. These two tracks lead us into the folds of a record that holds other energetic songs ("Mentre fa giorno"), at times even furious ones ("Usami"), carefully set between sweeter or more meditative episodes: "Spettri", with its almost hip-hop gait, the enveloping "Memoria breve", the tense "Un dio da scegliere", the acoustic "Due desideri su tre", and the closing "Dimmi che cosa". But the decisive turning point comes with the sequence "Crateri"/"Tienimi che ci perdiamo", the record's true instant classics, the former violently intense, the latter soft and rounded, songs that will wreak havoc in their live transposition, a setting in which Ministri keep confirming their status as an accomplished, effective band, with new generational anthems that let them compete on equal footing (albeit with an ocean more experience) against the many fierce new small heroes of the indie scene.

The new club tour was followed by an appearance at Rome's Primo Maggio concert and another summer of festivals, during which they released their first 7-inch single: an album outtake titled "Fumare". In spring 2019 they took part in the compilation "Faber Nostrum", a tribute to Fabrizio De André by the new Italian scene, reinterpreting "Inverno". The following summer they released the new single "Un Viaggio", produced together with Sylvia Massy, the American producer who has worked with System Of A Down and Johnny Cash. In spring 2020, their song "Una Palude" was chosen for the soundtrack of "Se ti abbraccio non avere paura", a film inspired by the book by Fulvio Ervas, released for World Autism Awareness Day and watched by over 350,000 people in 72 hours.

Then the pandemic arrived, confining everyone to their homes by decree; live activity ground to a halt and remained fitful for about two years: in times of isolation and restrictions, people need jolts, energy, electricity and guitars. Ministri sensed that need, embodying the urge to shout their messages with passion and fury. The result is an EP, "Crime News and Easy Listening", released on 14 May 2021, four new songs sharing a common spirit, raw and intense, able to bring the band back to its most direct moments, to the irrepressible urgency of their early days. These are probably not the only songs written during this state of emergency, but they are certainly the ones that sit well together, born of an expressive urgency that brings the trio back to an almost primordial form, meant to shake the listener and drag them forcefully toward that return to normality everyone was by then longing for. The first 42 seconds of "Peggio di niente" are the best possible incipit, a centrifuge of sound, a short circuit generating an unstoppable force, similar to that of the early Fast Animals And Slow Kids (and you can tell where FASK come from), a band with whom they have always shared the same need to spew sounds and thoughts out at the rest of the world. The short format helps keep everything lean, with no stumbles, no beating around the bush, hitting hard and avoiding any concession to softness. There will be other occasions for that. Worth mentioning is the chosen packaging, which pays tribute to the look of certain book series published by Einaudi, made unforgettable by Bruno Munari's graphic design.

At this point in their career, Ministri feel they have new and bigger responsibilities: the duty to live up to their role, continuing to produce important work, acting as a megaphone for a movement - the music scene - going through a period of crisis and generational transition. Ministri have the experience and the broad shoulders for it, and they handle both tasks well; it's only down to some perverse short circuit that the success earned by the Milanese trio has turned out smaller than many would have expected back in the days of "Tempi bui" and "Fuori". They have never become a big-numbers band, even as they steadily built themselves into a cult live-club act over time - a standing that today has become their real strength: a level of recognition that lets them operate consistently according to their own ideas, without having to bow to too much outside pressure.

On 6 May 2022 they released "Oaths", nine tracks through which Ministri once again move between different registers and dynamics. The two singles that preceded the album, "Scatolette" and "Numeri", turn out to be the most effective and the loudest, not by chance quickly becoming classics of their repertoire. But after the urgency of "Crime News and Easy Listening", included as a bonus in the new album's setlist, "Giuramenti" also lets softer sounds resurface, welcomed into compositions that scale back the electric drive to sketch an intimately reflective mood. From this point of view, "Domani parti" and "Comete" provide the necessary extra to round off a project that ranks among the best this wonderful bunch of forty-somethings have made so far.

In December 2022 the band released the single "Da questo momento in poi", celebrating two years of songs and shows and the close of a chapter for the trio. On 6 December 2023 Ministri marked the 10th anniversary of "Per un passato migliore" with a sold-out show at the Alcatraz in Milan. In May 2024 they took part in the MI AMI Festival, and on 21 June of the same year they released the EP "Live @ MI AMI Festival".

In 2025 they returned with the singles "Buuum" and "Avvicinarsi alle casse", substantial previews heralding the album "Popular Dawn", released on 19 September. Ministri confirm they have an urgency to channel, and they do so through two nervy, thunderous singles ("Buuum" and "Avvicinarsi alle casse"), pure nitroglycerine, ready to go off beneath the stages of their upcoming shows. These aren't isolated cases: inside "Popular Dawn" there's at least one more time bomb, "Squali nella Bibbia", alongside gentler episodes ("Terre promesse", the title track, "Cattivi i buoni") and a narrative always ready to ripple ("Poveri noi", "Astronomia e nostalgia"), aiming to give life to potential new anthems ("Piangere al lavoro", "Spaventi"), ideal sonic beds on which to lay fresh lyrics destined for the test of time. "Aurora Popolare" presents itself as a true generational manifesto, describing the state of mind of those today approaching the milestone of their forties. Young women and young men devoured by disillusionment, torn apart by failures and frustrations, with no truth left intact, helpless spectators of the gradual disintegration of their own dreams. All the lives once promised to them suddenly appear unreachable ("Hai studiato per gioco"), while job and social insecurity force a reckoning even with the desire for motherhood ("Mica lo sanno/ Dove trovano il coraggio per fare un figlio"). Musically, the weight of exasperation builds exemplarily through the opening of "Buuum", closed off in under three minutes by a stop & go that recalls "No One Knows". To this unpleasant sense of irreparable defeat are added worries over the political and military instability plaguing the planet ("Ti vendono la pace/ Mentre comprano una guerra"): too many conflicts seem impossible to resolve, exposing the fragility of the systems that should be protecting us ("Oggi le truppe non hanno nessun passo"). Ministri are thick-skinned, and once again this time they're ready to don their Napoleonic jackets to face a new battle, but on the horizon they can only make out the eternal wait for a strong protest that never arrives, for any kind of revolt that always stays too mild ("Ci sarà altra vernice sopra i monumenti"), for a spark able to shake off bourgeois torpor. The long-hoped-for Popular Dawn never materializes, lit by a light that never was and perhaps never will be: as so often happens, the winner is whoever manages to make people believe a perfect design exists ("Ti dicono è importante che trovi la tua voce/ Basta che poi dica solo le nostre parole"). People take refuge in compulsive shopping, in the grip of the ephemeral ("Avete comprato tutto/ E siete ancora tristi"), yet forced to ration precarious salaries ("Ridimensionare la luna di miele/ La cena di Natale"), while the supermarket tannoy asks you to approach the checkouts (which in this case are not the ones on stage) to pay for the contents of your shopping cart: if this is the situation, something must have gone wrong in modern political-economic systems. "Aurora Popolare" holds flashes of small everyday moments, common to many, captured forever on paper by someone who knows how to take a photograph ("E piove sui pannelli solari/ Sulle sigarette in mezzo ai binari"), in a style that never leaves any doubt: from the very first lines it's clear we're inside a Ministri record (“Mostri grandi come grattacieli/ Fanno a pezzi grattacieli/ Grandi come mostri”). An album that works both in its explosive moments and in its intimately acoustic ones, both when the arrangements turn lush (the horns entering in the second half of "Squali nella Bibbia") and when "Astronomia e nostalgia" slips in a nod to the Neil Young of "Hey Hey, My My".

Over the years, a number of Ministri songs have led a sort of sidelined existence - written at different times and left on the margins of the official discography, never properly released, yet still able to keep their expressive power intact, or as the band themselves put it: "tracks sitting on the opposition benches, waiting to come into play". In 2022 some of these songs came out of the bedroom, shared with fans through the band's newsletter, a gesture conceived as an intimate exchange with their community, bypassing any middleman, accompanied by one simple request: keep them safe without spreading them online. An experiment built on trust, which the fans embraced and honoured, turning those songs into a secret treasure to be preserved and protected. Having wrapped up the first leg of the tour supporting "Popular Dawn", Ministri decided to give that material a proper home, reworking it in the studio and adding two further unreleased tracks. Thus was born the EP "Canzoni Ombra", released in March 2026, which finally shines a light on compositions that had so far remained in the shadows, but were never truly abandoned, able to tell us something necessary. The EP's focus tracks are "Questa non è musica", a powerful soundtrack for fleeting times, and "Gente che si ostina a vivere", a stubborn hymn to everyday survival, songs that look the chaos of our times straight in the eye with disillusionment, yet without retreating an inch, turning resistance into a form of fierce optimism. With irony and emotional tension, Ministri ask themselves what invisible force keeps pushing people forward, even when everything - governments, fate, even the sky - seems to work against them: guitars and socio-political commitment, the Milanese trio's now well-established recipe. Worth noting, to close, is the work done by Federico Dragogna on "Nostalgia di dio", which brings the band closer to some unusual sonic textures.