Sensibles - Stars, Dinosaurs and Little Songs

Ganzonette is a blog dedicated to garage-pop, power-pop, fuzz-pop and all things noisy but (guess what?) pop. You could call it a sort of troglodyte spin-off of OndaRock, since it was actually born (and is alive and kicking) on the pages of the site's Forum.

This summer the guys behind the blog put together volume 8 of the Ondadrops compilations; this time around, they've turned interviewers to introduce us to this Italian band and its debut album.

The Sensibles are from Brianza and there are four of them. Stella started the band, writes most of the songs and lyrics, sings, draws the cover art and bosses the boys around — namely Giacomo on bass, Filippo on guitar and backing vocals, and Gabriele on drums. Their job is to translate her ideas into power-pop riffs, choruses worthy of Evan Dando, Cheap Trick-style drum fills, and la-la-la/uh-uh backing vocals.

We discovered them this spring, while putting together our international compilation, and it occurred to us that it would be nice to include an Italian band too, after all. It wasn't easy finding one that sounded just the right amount of "dirty", that could bring a good dose of vintage flavor without sounding like a revivalist act, and that didn't take itself too seriously but still managed to capture in music the carefree spirit and bittersweet taste of youth.

The Sensibles have been active since 2009, but so far they only have a couple of split singles and a self-released 7" from 2012 to their name — the record that introduced them to us, and to audiences around the world, so much so that they'd already had the satisfaction of playing shows in the US before ever touring around Italy.

This year they've finally recorded their debut album, "A Bunch Of Animals", out in October on Rijapov Records and Eccentric Pop Records (for the American market), so we thought we'd do an interview — which actually turned into a slightly rambling group chat. Here it is below.

Let's start from the basics, with this description you sent us back at the time of the compilation: "The Sensibles are Stella, Giacomo, Gabriele and Filippo. Their songs sit between punk-rock and power-pop, the genres they love most and that have influenced them the most.

Tell us a bit about what came before that Po Valley summer: how did you meet? Any anecdotes about youthful rage, sniffed glue, gang fights, cold pizza, hair gel and backseat fornication?

Stella: Well, I should say upfront that, obviously, all of us are massive music fans, and for all four of us punk-rock was our first love.

During that scorching summer, after going to yet another gig, I asked myself: "why don't I start a band too?"

During that scorching summer, after going to yet another gig, I asked myself: "why don't I start a band too?" No sooner said than done — without ever having done anything like it before, I invented The Sensibles.

At first I was the only one who was enthusiastic; even Giacomo, who was in the group from the start, I think was pretty skeptical about the project (but since he was my boyfriend at the time, he joined just to humor me). I sketched out the first songs my own way (voice + tape recorder), we found a guitarist and a drummer, who left us after about a year and were replaced first by Filippo on guitar, then Gabriele on drums. The four of us Sensibles have known each other since prehistoric times, having always hung around here in sunny Brianza and on the local gig circuit.

Giacomo: I was BURSTING with joy from every pore! No, kidding: I actually started out pretty skeptical.

Let's take a step back.

I confirm that punk-rock was my first love (and anyone who says it's a genre "for kids" is dead wrong). Before Sensibles I was a guitarist and bassist in a few bands (always underground: punk/hardcore/indie), but above all I've always been passionate about music. A lot.

After a few musical disappointments I'd figured I'd never set foot on a stage again, but then Stella came up with Sensibles and I found myself incredibly happy about it.

Ga, Fili and Stella are the best people I've ever played with.

Filippo: I was also in a few bands before Sensibles, ranging (to paraphrase Stella) "from metalcore to piano bar". I was a fan of Ga and Giacomo's old bands (years ago we even sketched out a few rehearsals to start our own band, but nothing came of it) and I was among the first fans of Sensibles, even acting as "guest guitarist" on a couple of occasions; then when Ste (the previous guitarist) left the band I agreed (hesitantly) to join the band.

Gabriele: I used to play in a skacore band, so I was ostracized and treated a bit like the dumb little brother. Everyone knows that anyone who plays music on the offbeat is a bit like the black sheep of the family - people love you, sure, but you're seen as a bit closer to Satan than to your parents. In fact my middle name is Damien.

When did you decide to start a rock'n'roll band? Was there anyone who inspired you?

Giacomo: In 1995 (I was 16) I got together with three other friends and we decided: let's start a band. None of us could play anything, but after just a few months we were already playing together (pretty badly, to be honest).

The inspiration came from "Dookie" by Green Day at first, and right after that from the Italian punk bands I saw live (Senzabenza, Crummy Stuff, Sottopressione, Impossibili...). The great thing about punk is that the stage is (or at least should be) nothing more than an architectural barrier. Anyone can be up on it or down in front of it, it makes no difference. All you need is the desire to express yourself.

Filippo: I started playing guitar because of "Back to the Future", took a few fruitless lessons in middle school and gave up on the idea. In 1998 two of my high school classmates wanted to start a band and talked me into joining them precisely because of those classical guitar lessons. Totally reluctant, I went from "Ode to Joy" to "Anarchy In The Uk". Then I got a taste for it.

Gabriele: I started playing in the summer of '94 because my brother and my cousin had put together a band, and they didn't have anyone to "play" drums... I gave it a try and was blown away, and I haven't stopped since. That's saved me a ton of money on psych meds. And I'm not joking.

Stella: I already said that the desire to have a band came about just a few years ago... I like being able to express myself through a medium I love, and I'm lucky enough to be able to do it. I'm not interested in technical matters, I do it with passion, but I still care about consistency and precision, and about respect for the people who play with us and the people who come to see us.

What music were you listening to when Sensibles was born? What do you listen to today? What different "influences" does each of you bring to the band? What are everyone's personal obsessions?

Giacomo: What music was I listening to when Sensibles was born? Who even remembers that? Probably the usual stuff, meaning Ramones, Buzzcocks, Beatles, Beach Boys, Motown stuff, Dinosaur Jr, 90s pop-punk, garage-pop. These days I listen to a lot of Cheap Trick, Shangri-Las, Teenage Fanclub and every band I read about on Ganzonette (Mikal Cronin above all, but only when he's not playing flute). What influences do I bring to the band? No idea, honestly. I like stop&go dynamics, long simple drum rolls and smooth bass transitions between one note and the next (that last part doesn't really make sense, I know).

Personal obsessions? Lou Barlow, combo amps, playing bass with a pick, a long strap, few pauses, melody, the little importance I place on song lyrics, DIY, not asking anyone for anything, screaming vocals.

Filippo: What I used to listen to/what I listen to now: compared to my friends I listen to more blues, more noise, and more stuffnobodyelselikes. Personal obsessions: dissonance and, generally speaking, annoying my friend Ga <3

Gabriele: And damn if you're good at it!

Stella: What music was I listening to when the Sensibles were formed? Pretty much what I listen to now! What am I into these days? All pop stuff, melodic. As for favourite bands I'd mention Shonen Knife and L7, and for a couple of years now Shannon Shaw has stolen my heart too! I'm into girl bands and generally lo-fi sounds. What influences do I bring to the band? Influences? I'm the sun and the other three have to worship me, I demand human sacrifices at every rehearsal! Personal obsessions? Food, I eat like a cow.

Gabriele: When the Sensibles started I was listening to the same music I listen to now, though my path was a bit different. I started with glam (70s and 80s), then when I began playing I got closer to the punk (and ska) scene, and dug deeper into that side, but I've always kept this split going, exploring glam and hard rock bands on one hand, and punk and ska bands on the other. Has this influenced the way I play? I think so, I doubt there are many drummers on the punk-rock scene influenced by people like Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) and Chris Slade (Ac/Dc). And I think Fili's way of playing has shaped the band's sound too, no matter what he says.

Filippo: Let's just say my influence on the Sensibles lies more in the extremely refined guitar technique I've adopted after years of grueling research than in what I listen to, which honestly has little to do with our sound.

Gabriele: Ah, sure, of course… but forgive me, couldn't it be that your extremely refined guitar technique, adopted after years of grueling research, is actually the result and consequence of the crappy music you listen to? Just saying…

Filippo: Come on, that's because my idol is Rokkino! (the guitarist from Ga's old band)

Tell us how the leap from single to touring America happened. How did it go? How were you received? Is there an exotic curiosity for Italian rock'n'roll?

Stella: Well, it was all so easy it almost seemed impossible! Ahead of the Ep's release we contacted a bunch of independent labels, both in Europe and in the United States, looking for support and also trying to get ourselves known; one of the American guys we wrote to, Nick, replied right away saying that the label he worked with was basically dead, but that he liked the tracks and would be happy to help us put out a record (unfortunately, for budget reasons, that hasn't happened yet) and possibly set up some dates for us in the United States. Well, we jumped at the chance. It was a unique experience, one I hope to repeat!

And yes, the average American definitely widens their eyes when they find out there are punk-rock bands in Italy! Hahaha! One of the guys we played with during the tour admitted that the idea of sharing a stage with a group of Italians made him fear he'd have to share the bill with 4 Super Mario clones… no comment!

Giacomo: For anyone who'd like to know more about the US Tour:

Report part 1

and part 2

Any other tour stories? Vans breaking down? Nights sleeping in gyms? Skipped lunches and unhealthy breakfasts? Any anecdotes?

Gabriele: The main thing to know about the US tour is that we travelled in a big cargo van, so no windows in the back and only the 2 front seats. So we'd travel with the amps and gear arranged in such a way that a mattress could fit in the middle (probably belonging to Nick's dog, the guy who was driving us around). The good thing is that we got some epic naps in, the bad thing is that we got some epic naps in, the bad thing is that when we got out we walked like survivors of a concentration camp. And also it wasn't legal, so we always had to check if there were any rangers around.

Another really great thing is that we'd asked for an acoustic guitar, and Fili is a bloody human jukebox, so he'd sing these horrible Italian songs, and I'd translate them for Nick.

“Buy meee/ I’m selling myseeelf/ And don’t you think that I’m/ That I’m unreachbleeee”

Stella: If Ga's memory hasn't wiped everything, I'd say today he can really let loose and write!

Gabriele: No no, the US tour was over a year ago = long-term memory. If it had happened last week I wouldn't remember a thing Rokkino! (the guitarist from Ga's old band)

Stella: Ga, you're forgetting the night at the "Profondo Rosso" house!

Gabriele: Ahah, right. Also during the day-off we spent the evening with a friend of Nick's and her grandmother (!), who filled us up with cheap white wine, then we lit a campfire and toasted marshmallows just like the Peanuts, while Fili ran through his repertoire of Italian songs on acoustic guitar. Then they put us up there for the night... unfortunately the house clearly belonged to a psychopathic grandmother, obsessed with macabre knick-knacks... it looked like the house from Profondo Rosso: unsettling porcelain dolls, a votive altar with a photo of a hen (do I remember that right?) and other delights that made our sleep less than peaceful.

Filippo: Ga forgets to mention that the grandmother kept pouring him light wine (what did you do when I wasn't there) to get him drunk and seduce him!

Giacomo: It should be said that the "grandmother" was 54 years old (she had a son at 18 who had a daughter at 18: Nick's friend, who herself was 18 - in the smorfia 18 is "the blood" and 18 x 3 = 54, which in the smorfia is "the hat").

Do you have any shows planned for A Bunch of Animals?

Giacomo: On Saturday October 12th we'll be presenting the album at Lo-Fi in Milan (great venue!) with Tree House Society (great band!). While waiting for the album to come out we've tried to line up a few shows, but it hasn't been easy.

For now we've got these dates confirmed:

- November 1-2 in Germany (a festival in Mannheim and a TBC date in southern Germany)

- November 8-9 in Sicily (Palermo, Noto)

- November 23 in Genoa (at Lucrezia!)

Apart from that we're free! If you want to organize a Canzonette Boogaloo, we're in!

Talking about touring, on the other hand, is always complicated - all of us being "full time workers" makes it anything but simple to put one together. Still, every now and then we think back on our experiences in the US and Germany and get a real urge to rack up the miles. We'll try again, sooner or later!

Tell us about the new album. When did you start writing the songs? Did you have any particular idea in mind? Who wrote the music and who wrote the lyrics? Is there a song you're especially attached to?

Giacomo: The new record is called “A Bunch Of Animals”. For most of the songs, everything starts with Stella. Sometimes she already has the whole song in mind, other times she has a verse and/or a chorus that we then work on together. Two songs on the record (I think) were instead written entirely by Fili.

When did we start writing the tracks? Honestly, we never really stopped writing songs. Case in point: while we were on Nick's famous van, we sketched out a track that was then finished in the following months!

Did we have any particular idea in mind? As far as I'm concerned, I don't like playing with a specific goal. The compositional spontaneity I experience with Sensibles is something I'd never seen anywhere else, and I'm happy about that. And I'm really thrilled that we're so far removed from the clichés of the various genres, and that the end result is so rich.

I'm really attached to "Confetti Blizzard" because it has a line I really love: “I don't care about past, about future/ I just want to be ok for the moment”. And because there's a fantastic drum roll at the perfect moment, and when we play it Ga and I look each other in the eye and everything is suddenly crystal clear.

Then I'm attached to "Blood" because when we played it live in Germany for the first time, on our last mini-tour, people danced to it without knowing it and sang along without knowing the lyrics.

Gabriele: As far as I know, we started writing the tracks that ended up on the record right after recording the old 7", and I seem to recall the first track that came out was "Happy", the song that opens the record, which is also one of my favourites: an intro with Fili and Stella yelling over a rock'n'roll drum beat, 1-2-3-4 and off it goes, a great fast, immediate punk rock'n'roll number with a killer bass solo. The perfect sum of the Sensibles sound. Review that reads a bit like a 90s metal magazine, like Metal Shock or Psycho, but that's how it is.

As for the rest, everyone in Sensibles sees a bit of whatever they want in it... I hear a bit of power-pop, a bit of Cheap Trick (in "Confetti Blizzard" I threw in a drum roll as long as the one in

"Surrender"), a bit of early Green Day/melodic punk-rock in general, and also some 90s indie (the cheerful kind though, not the depressed/grunge kind), and there's also a Springsteen/Max Weinberg-style crescendo in the song "Dear Otzi", my favourite moment on the whole record.

Giacomo: Speaking of the drum roll from Surrender, how great is that drum roll?

Filippo: If I'm not mistaken, the only "mine" song is "Confetti Blizzard", although in the end I only sketched out the music in a voice memo on my phone, there was always good teamwork in writing every song, though obviously the bulk of it is always done by Stella (who decides our fate, she created us, she destroys us).

First track written: "Happy", we were already playing it on the US tour; last track written: "Stay With Me", the lyrics were finished by Giacomo just before recording the vocals.

You open the album with LALALALALA, you really like an easy win, huh? And you also close "Pictures In My Head" and side A of the album with a LALALALALA. LALALALA runs powerfully through your veins!

Giacomo: You forgot the LALLALLALA-LALALLA from "Silly Song"!

Gabriele: "LALALALA runs powerfully through your veins" is probably the nicest compliment I've ever received.

C: Has it ever crossed your minds to sing in Italian? I've been waiting for years for some cool garage band to revive the glory days of Fantom's or Barritas

G: I really like singing in Italian, but it's pretty risky.

Ironic lyrics -> risk of “novelty band”

Cryptic lyrics -> risk of “Vasco Brondi”

Anyway, we MIGHT give it a try one day.

PS: have you ever listened to “volume 4” by Senzabenza? It's a truly fantastic punk-rock/beat album IN ITALIAN!

L: I don't know what the others think, but in my opinion a song in Italian on the next record makes sense. But as a one-off, a special case… not as a regular habit of singing in Italian.

S: I've tried several times to write a song in Italian, but the result was never satisfying! I remember that among the “eligible” rhymes I had “mattino/tramezzino” (morning/sandwich).

Anyway, I'd like to as well… never say never!

F: I love lyrics in Italian, but the risk Giacomo mentioned is very high! Though if the go-to rhyme is “mattino/tramezzino”, I have huge faith in Stella's skills!

G: I remember the mattino/tramezzino rhyme, and I have great faith in Stella, anyway my favorite rhymes in Italian music are:

– dischi/whisky (records/whisky) (Renato Zero)

– insoddisfatto/gatto (unsatisfied/cat) (Marco Masini)

And how could we not mention the great Umberto Tozzi (whom Fili already brought up in his answer)?

F: stai con me forever (foreva) / bimba che correver (correva) (stay with me forever / girl who used to run)

Ride the wave of great music

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