Bud Spencer Blues Explosion - Blues, grunge, and the desert

Blues on a slow flame

by Carlo Bordone and Claudio Lancia

A meeting in Turin for the presentation of "BSB3", with Carlo Bordone interviewing Adriano Viterbini and Cesare Petulicchio, respectively guitar/vocals and drums of Bud Spencer Blues Explosion. A few days earlier, Cesare, passing through Sottoscala Nove in Latina, crossed paths with Claudio Lancia. A few extra questions followed via email, because curiosity feeds on itself once you find yourself putting the contents of a digital recorder down on paper. What comes out of it is a fine snapshot of what Bud Spencer are today, the Roman duo now set on conquering the peninsula, and beyond.

Let's start by taking the long way round, talking not about music but about images...

Adriano: Among the imagery connected to our new record, there's first and foremost a Steven Spielberg film, "Duel". It was his second feature, shot in the early '70s, a story with just two characters, a tanker truck and a desert. We wanted to give that title to the rawest track on "BSB3", the sharpest and most muscular one. Which is to say that the link between music and imagery is something we definitely pursue.

Backing up "Duel" is a video directed by Alex Infascelli...

Adriano: Working with Alex Infascelli felt natural. We really like what he's done for Italian art, always with a rather radical edge. As a kid I loved a video he made for Luca Carboni, "Inno nazionale", in which a sniper slowly kills off every member of the band. We're honored to have had the chance to work with him.

The "Duel" video is definitely striking, it's really splitting our audience, but the end result is exactly what we wanted. Choosing not to please everyone at all costs is, for us, a way of staying honest.

You've always played a huge amount live, the classic band that grew up on stage. Over the years, how much has the live dimension changed your music, and how much did it shape the genesis of the new record?

Cesare: Actually, this is the first record we wrote in the rehearsal room. After a period of artistic isolation, during which only the two of us had heard the new songs, we needed to test them against an audience. So a few months ago we decided to do a ten-date tour to gauge the audience's reaction to the new material. That's exactly because the live dimension is fundamental for us.

We always try to carry the energy of our shows onto the record. A lot of people call us a live band, partly because we love improvising a lot on stage: often you know how our songs start live, but nobody can know how they'll evolve. For us that approach is essential. I don't know if over time we'll become a band focused on records, the kind that then plays just a handful of dates to promote them. Right now records definitely help us play more shows, they're a means to play more.

Where does the choice of your band name come from?

Adriano: Our name comes from the intention of bringing together the world of the United States, which has always inspired us, and our Italian roots, represented by spaghetti westerns and certain films from the '70s, which are very distinctive. At first our name made people smile, but the impact hinted at our intentions. Those who managed to grasp the irony had fun along with us.

There are a lot of influences inside your new album, moving from a powerful song like "Mama" to "Camion", the classic instrumental track that live can stretch out endlessly. "Camion" hints at possible future evolutions of your sound, because it contains flavors that recall Africa. Is that a direction that fascinates you, that interests you?

Adriano: There's a lot that's new musically on the new album. African influences are very close to my sensibility, to my way of understanding music. It's a very simple kind of musicality, without too many frills, immediate, even a bit romantic, with some interesting harmonic solutions.

Writing songs that lean into that style could end up feeling almost grotesque, because it's not really part of what's generally recognized as our sound world, but we have blended it all into a personal sound, and we'll keep doing so.

Speaking of Africa and African blues, we saw you on TV in Bombino's band: how did that collaboration come about?

Adriano: As a fan of that kind of sound, I started taking an interest in artists like him. It felt natural to respond to his request to collaborate, which flattered me quite a bit. Getting to step into that approach to music was great, a simple approach, but at the same time a conscious one. An experience I hope can happen again in the future.

You're both used to collaborating separately with many musicians as well. Are there any projects in the works?

Adriano: Right now we're focused solely on promoting the new album.

Are you happy with how "BSB3" turned out?

Cesare: I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and every time I listen to our recordings I always find something I'd redo or try to improve, but at some point you have to draw a line, and I feel I can say that "BSB3" represents very well who the two of us are today. Yes, we can consider ourselves very satisfied.

Let's take a step back: how did you approach the early days of your artistic journey? Did you face any disappointments along the way?

Cesare: I wouldn't say disappointments, as BSBE things have almost always fallen into place quite well. Before that, each of us had other projects, then we decided to share this adventure in order to develop an idea entirely our own. We rode the wave of social networks, which were just starting out and were generating a lot of interest and curiosity. Until shortly before that, to get your music known you had to mail it out and hope someone would listen to it. Then, through social networks, you could suddenly upload tracks onto a platform, like MySpace, and they'd instantly become available to everyone. It was a revolution we managed to catch early, and our name quickly started to circulate. The funny thing is that at first a lot of people thought we were a revival band based on Bud Spencer movies, so they looked down on us, assuming we made some uninteresting kind of music.

Was the choice to be a duo immediate?

Adriano: It seemed like an effective way to show who we are, without getting too caught up in talk about how a song should be arranged. As a two-piece you don't need to add too many ingredients, and everything moves faster. We've always worked more on unusual rhythmic solutions or tempo changes than on overly elaborate arrangements. It's a formula with immediate impact. After working with it for several years you discover all its limits, but you can't help but appreciate its great advantages. And it's very rewarding. We intend to keep going down this road.

Today we can say you're now established on a national scale. How does it feel to be unanimously regarded as two of the best young musicians currently active in Italy? Do you feel the weight of that status? Are you aware of it?

Cesare: Maybe we seem young, but honestly we're not anymore (laughs, ed.). Personally, I like to judge a band based on what it manages to communicate through a record or during a live show. I judge a musician by the personality they've developed. If that's what "best" means, then I'm honored! But if it's purely a matter of technique, I think there are far more skilled musicians out there than me!

What advice would you give to young bands just starting out?

Cesare: The key is to approach your musical path as if it were a job, dedicating a lot of time to the work of being a musician. There's a lot to do: writing songs, rehearsing them, recording them, designing and printing t-shirts, keeping up with social media - you basically become a kind of small business.

There are also a lot of things that, at least in the early stages, you have to fund yourself, like putting together a photo book that presents the band in a credible, distinctive way. If you manage to do everything yourself, in a kind of artisanal DIY spirit, it becomes even more fascinating.

And then you also need to play live a lot...

Cesare: Yes, you need to play a lot to get known. You always have to give it your all. You might end up playing a show in front of ten people in some small town in Sicily. But if you give it everything, the audience notices and appreciates it. You come back a few months later and those ten people might have become fifty, and in the meantime they've picked up your records too.

You've nonetheless become highly sought-after session musicians: which artists would you love to get a call from, the ones you'd do anything to collaborate with?

Adriano: I'd love to work with African musicians, but also with artists linked to electronic music, or with figures from the new generation of jazz musicians. Those are the worlds that appeal to me most.

In general, I'm always open to any kind of collaboration - I've always loved playing guitar for other people, trying to get inside other artists' heads and explore new paths, different from my own, bringing a personal touch to projects and worlds far removed from mine.

What might the future scenarios for your music look like instead? Would you like to experiment in any particular direction?

Cesare: We usually never set out with a goal in mind, a specific point to reach. We jam and wait for something we like to come out of it. We've just finished the long (at least by our standards) writing process that led to "BSB3". After that, we'll see - we don't rule anything out.

What has stayed with you from the American tour experience? And what struck the Americans the most?

Adriano: The first thing that surprised people was that we sang in Italian. American audiences have always rewarded the sincerity with which we present ourselves, without putting on airs. We played everywhere we possibly could. Americans really like our sound, and we always found great enthusiasm.

Cesare: American audiences tend to appreciate experimentation. They have a curious kind of approach, the same approach we share: not necessarily following a set path, but shuffling the cards and seeing what happens.

Any particular anecdote?

Adriano: I felt really embarrassed when we played in Seattle. The city of grunge, of Nirvana, of Pearl Jam, a stage where the Melvins might have played in the past. Not far away there was also the museum dedicated to Jimi Hendrix. A situation enough to make your knees shake.

We met a few years ago, when you were an up-and-coming band opening shows for bigger names. Today thousands of new acts would pay good money to open one of your shows. You've somewhat ended up on the other side of the fence...

Adriano: I don't feel like I'm on the other side of the fence, we just try to do our job as well as we can, always trying to improve and to offer quality music. We started out on this path trying to make the dream of living off music come true, making records and going on tour. Now we're doing that, this is our job, and we can consider ourselves very happy and lucky.

Among the new bands you sometimes find yourselves sharing a bill with, is there any name you'd like to point out to our readers? Anyone who's struck you for the personality of their music?

Cesare: Dola J. Chaplin, who opened our entire tour last April.

Final question: what records have you been playing on repeat these past few months?

Cesare: “Wise Up Ghost” by Elvis Costello & The Roots, “Everyday Robots” by Damon Albarn, “Shields” by Grizzly Bear.

Adriano: the Haden Triplets' debut.

(June 2014)