THE STORY OF THE BAND...Massimo
talks...The Story of The Others starts right after a couple bands I founded
in'86-88 split up. The First, The SILENT SHAPES with members of Head
& the Hares. The second was the THE SIDE WALKERS. When this last
one disbanded, around April 1989 I soon stated The Others with some friends
of mine. We had just one thing in mind, playing garage punk and surf instrumentals
but pretty soon we chose the garage side. We had our first show in September
1989. Then we recorded 8 demo tapes and sent them to radio stations. We
started to have requests from bigger places than the usual social centers.
We worked pretty hard playing sometime 3 shows a week with a good following.
Local 'Radio Rock' gave us a chance to support The Fuzztones last tour
in '92 and that was a really successful night. We also had a great time
in Rome with The M. Overcoat, The Cynics.. Rich Coffee.. Massimo's previous
experiences...Apart from the two bands I told you before I've been in 13
groups so far since my very first act when I was just an ugly teen punk,
13 years old, in 1982. I used to work in restaurants durin' the summer
to put money aside and buy GUITARS! I could give you a few band names but
all were completely unknown like THE IN-OUT; THE VISIONS and lots a more...
THE OTHERS current line-up: The current line-up has been the same since
fall 1995 so in the recent past we've had a few changes. Today's the best
and most prolific line-up. Anyway.. Giuliano,the last one who enjoyed the
band, is on drums, he's sort of a mod-garagenik but he prefers to be called
mod, at least in front of his friends (I think he'll kill me for this!).
Fabrizio is on guitar, he mostly plasy the 12 string on the folk set and
sings solo on a few cuts too, he's the folkish one, though I likes Blues
and R'n'roll as well. Bruno is on bass. He's the graphic genius (although
at the moment I do most of the graphics on my own..) he digs garage punk,
R'n'B and..girls in high heels! Finally there's me,the old daddy-o singin'
and playing guitar, maraccas and harp.You should know my tastes - anything
from Enfields to the Outsiders, US '65-'67 folk punk and garage psych..ah
and girls with stockings and 50's underwear! Tryin to find replacement
for line up changes...Actually it's been a disaster! At first, every time
I looked for someone to join, it was a real hell! You see Rome is not a
bad place but the real garage scene can count no more than 25 people so
in the end if you want to find someone the easiest way is to use your friendship
to the play the music you wanna play. To be honest I don't think it's any
easier today than in the 80's. It depends on the occasion, and on meeting
the right people . The guys I play with are the best line up I've ever
had. Writing songs....I think I'm kind of a moody guy so if there's sun
outside I tent to see flowers and my happy side comes out but even when
I'm sad I take inspiration from rain, cloudy days in the countryside, girls
who made me cry, pictures, or just drivin' in my car for quite long trips
which is something I really adore.. obviously 60's songs I listen to. I
used to write simple things, recalling my stories with girls or just tryin'
to picture new ones. Then I also started seeing other sides of the relationship,
like in "tell your friends" when I'm talking of someone with mental problems
left alone by everyone else and also the time as a concept, the fact that
I'm seriously lost in time, could work.. but in the end I don't think anyone
seriously tries to understand what I sing about so.. The origins......Well
one of my cousin used to play in a sixties inspired punk band in the 70s
so I grew up listening to the Kinks, Stones, obviously the Beatles, then
punk rock, neo psychedelia, the Australian bands and finally into garage,
so I actually came back to the origins just diggin'out more the obscure
ones. Music on the national radio and TV was crap in Italy (as in the rest
of the planet mostly ) between the end of the 70s and early 80s so you
just had no chance to listen to some good r'n'roll if not for some older
relatives or friends..or pirate radio stations then by 1984/85 things started
to change a bit..but I don't think you were expecting me to answer I dug
Funky or New Romantic ,uh? Recent influences...As I said I started with
garage punk and obviously "Back from The Grave", The Texas Punk volumes
,the Seeds, M.Machine on to the crude R&B things ,early'Stones, P.Things,Kinks,Brogues,Phantoms
then I got into The Blue Things, Enfields, Outsiders, Dearly Beloved, British
North American Act, Dovers, Rising Storm, E-types.Since a while I'm into
mixin' all these influences so in our set you find a bit of all these things
together. Fabrizio surely brought a Byrds feel to some 12 string-folk tunes
as well as R&B. Bruno tents to enjoy mostly the wild stuff so to speak
but he equally digs European beat or US garage The Outsiders and the Kinks
are his faves. Giuliano's more and more into a perfect 60's drummin' and
his mod style's now more beat. Although he loves CWB and Love he digs to
go wild on drums so the most shakin'tunes are mostly his faves 'live' he's
actually such a good drummer but he don't 'show up' like most drummers
do, he's kinda shy but able to give so much to each song. Our current set
includes covers of the P.Things, Brogues, Squires, Morning dew, Cavaliers,
Shadows Of Knight, Customs 5,Spyders,Phantoms and, obviously, Outsiders.
Since we came to play Athens we have a more fuzzed and faster uyts.. Why
dropping the organ out...This is one of the most frequent question we've
heard from Greek garage maniacs...well it's not that we decided to drop
the instrument out..only the player! Actually Emilio, our Farfisa maniac
was really good but we ended up with discussions about music and roles
in the band he wanted to arrange more and go in a organ-dominated direction.
We didn't agree and to be honest he was really difficult to share practice
hours or a tour with, let's say he used to freak out easily and it became
very stressed but we're got good relationship today. At the moment I'm
playing the Farfisa on some tracks of the new LP. There's a close fan/friend
of the band who willing to play organ with us, we'll see, anyhow me and
him are also planning some recordings with a new band I'm starting which
will obviously feature the organ.. Not just one...At first it was just
me choosing them but then also the rest of the guys come with their fave
cuts so it's a mix of our tastes although I still probably choose 80% of
'em. Well I used to cover songs I really wanted to do no matter if we were
actually able to do at best but now we try and see if they actually sound
like the original or in a way we really like the same. The roman scene
and support ...Unfortunately the roman club scene is really poor, it's
always been so but at the moment you can count only but on a few places,
one of this is the Velvet Club. So we usually end up playin'outta town,
around Rome, up in Tuscany, Umbria or the South. We're actually going to
play a shot tour of the south in the next month. We've been able to play
in Germany two tours, then last year in Greece and this past summer'97
in USA and Canada so we're pretty satisfied though we'd love to play more
in our hometown as well... About recent releases..."So far out" and the
records on "360 twist!" and "Detour" have been recorded completely live
in studio, with no overdubs so they sound nearly the way we are on stage
but then again it'd depends on the show, some come out really good, some
other we can't even hear each other and it comes out pretty hard to have
a good show when you don't hear a thing..The other studio/garage recordings
(S.Apple and Zebra) have their own feeling some like more that kinda feeling-sound,some
other the wildest way, you be the judge. the very latest record it's the
4th LP "Everything's There!" and, as the title says there's garage, folk
punk and, sort comp of our favourite styles. Only 4 covers by Mourning
dew,Q'65,Aardwarks and Human Expressions, plus 10 bran new originals, recorded
totally in studio, mostly live in June 1997,out now on the new sublabel
TEEN SOUND. Recall the north American trip...It's been definitely a real
blast! The whole trip's been a great occasions for us guys to have lots
a fun and experience a life on the road for almost 3 weeks. The crowd's
reaction's been fantastic both in USA and Canada we weren't actually expecting
anything like the and we're really proud and happy. People like Craig Moore,
Glynis and Richard,The Girl Bombs, Bruce of Bad trip, Amazin'Larry and
Phil of primitive rds ,just to mention but a few have been completely supporting
and fantastic with us. Every group at the Fuzzfest invited us to come back
and play a whole tour with a show in each of their home town,who knows
we'll probably do that sooner or later! I've also noted a completely different
way of enjoin'the bands every band bein'fan of the other and supporting
without being jealous or else, it wasn't competitive at all it was FUN,
really different from playing in Europe! Plans....As I said we've been
asked to come back and we actually have some chances but it'll depends
also on the new LP. Get Hip's finally putting out our 2nd LP "Lost in Time!"
on CD . Our new LP "Everything's There!" will probably have a CD version
too and if there will be a good distribution there we can probably have
open doors to release more records there and play often but at the moment
nothing is sure so we'll see what happens, we actually do not plan things
at the table everything comes out when's the right time. Hopefully we'll
set a deal with 360 Twist! They delivered our 360 Twist EP' copies right
in our hands the day we played Atlanta and that was a real hot surprise,
Mike Gilligan's a great guy! That EP's gone fast and it's been reprinted...
Satisfaction...We're pretty satisfied with all our releases, obviously
looking and listening to them over the months and years you find out first
all the mistakes and things which could have been changed but then in a
way you're already familiar with the whole thing and it's a piece of your
life, not just of the band's but your personal life I mean..so even if
we laugh its all fun and memories in the end! The First LP was actually
a compilation of various different recordings done in studio, home and
garage between'90 and'92 so it sounds pretty different track to track but
everyone seems to love it and that's cool! All the other studio recordings
could have been more authentic in the sounds but these are things a band
learn over the years ... New stuff.....We'll have a cut on Corduroy's tribute
to The Rolling Stones with "'The Last Time",a cut on the greek mag'"Optical
Sound"'s tribute to the Q'65 with "the Life I live" and we have outtakes
for an extra EP . There are also 2 new EPs coming out of our surf combo,
The Royal Knightmares in which I play with Bruno as well. They're out on
Solamente Rds(USA) and Corduroy(Australia). Why music...? I was probably
looking for a way to express myself and apart from writing (poems and novels)
music was the first thing I've been into since I was kid. I dunno when
I was in school around 10 everyone was talking about football and trendy
games and I was into drawning guitars (and girls!).... Listen to....Since
quite a few years I don't listen to current bands outside of the garage/surf
& related genres. I trade and buy only occasionally with other labels
mostly for my catalog and keep a copy for myself,so in a way I support
also the current acts, but apart from surf,the mid-60's folk-punk, garage
beat, R'n'B and early psych ('67) it's the bag I'm in, so I mostly tent
to but original singles when I can afford it. I've already named some of
my fave bands. At the moment I really dig The Castells, Oncomers, Illusions(IL),Grodes,
Quebec bands and more obscure ones..I'm collecting 45s so I plan to release
some comps as well. Once you have all the good stuff on Voxx, Crypt ,Distortions,
Norton, Sundazed... and the best comps out in the 80s & 90s you go
for singles, right? Today's bands fave of mine are The Thanes, No-Counts,
Maharajas, Mystreated, Nuthins, Frantic 5,Walking Screams and Cardinals.
I used to dig Head & the Hares a lot before they changed completely
their line up and musical influences. Also in Italy I dig I Cosmonauti,
Fase 4, Shadows of Reflections, Hunch Backed Men and Bradipos 4 the most.
Overseas the fab Canadian Girl Bombs, Les Incapables, Loons, and the Flypped
Whigs, Boss Martians and Saturn 5 the most. Talking about purism...The
bands I've just listed are really good and some consider themselves as
purist. I do the same with my band. What I don't like is snobish people
and the fact that some bands tend to have an arrogant way about them. The
fact that a band's able to play in a more purist way depends on several
things but these do not make 'em special people. I like simple and nice
people. I'd like to see bands supporting each other more than stayin'in
a corner of the club starin' at the other band on stage. In my opinion
this scene does not need snobs, people sometime forget the meaning of the
60's, I'm not talking about hippies, I'm talking about music as a revolution
against what's oppressive and close minded, we don't need any more fascistists.
Even if people just consider themselves known-it-all collectors and hip,
cool and collected sixties purist. I've seen too many of these people tryin'to
hide this genre from the most, building as a cult for only a few, I 'm
on the other hand very happy and satisfied when I see that even the most
far and different people enjoy this music. I wish this clear up things
with anybody who reads this,'cause, on the other hand, I really love bein'part
of this so called 'scene' when it comes to meet nice people or, better
gettin' new, honest friends. The sixties, music, movies....Well I think
I've already listed a few of my faves bands from the 60's. The whole decade
really influences me a lot ,from the surf era on to Frat ,R&B, Folk-Rock,
obviously Garage and early psych as well as the 50's r'n'Roll, Soul and
R&B. As I collect B-Movies too I'll tell you that I really enjoy most
of the Russ Meyer's flicks plus the classic "Riot On Sunset Strip", Psych-Out","the
Trip", "Beat Girl", also Sci-Fi "Green Slime", "Monster From The Surf"...The
Forrest J.Ackerman'Famous Monster Of Filmland and Warren Magazines..The
Horros Classics with Bela Lugosi and Karloff,the weird Explotation (Betty
Page still rules!) and Biker Movies..too many to list'em all..but Misty
Lane'readers will know my taste! Sometime we have a chance to watch this
movies with the band and it's always loads of fun! Hangin'out........The
Others'hangout in Rome is the Bouledog Pub near the University where most
of the' roman scene'get together usually during the weekend. But as we
live pretty far from each other we prefer to have a beer after the practice
sessions, usually twice a week. If there's a good band playing we go support'em
as well. We like to play pool together as we did in Canada and in every
occasion. On the other hand I really dig gettin'outta town at least once
in the week and enjoy the countryside, there's lots a cool moody forest
areas and lakes around Rome. We all dig reading books and collecting records
when possible ,otherwise you'll probably find us in studio recording or
outside the studio looking at girls passing by.. 
Daylife........Fabrizio
studies Sociology, Giuliano studies Literature and Bruno's in a Graphic
studio. As for me the past year was incredible I was doing the Social Service
year instead of the military. Then writing for some magazines, running
the label, the'zine and playing with the band, then for a while I gave
guitar lessons as well, finishing my studies at University. I actually
don't know how I could manage to do all this ,so if I 've been late in
sending some parcels.. sorry I did my best! I had to buy a car and pay
for my flat and money was always little. Today's I'm tryin' to make a living
out of the label and working in a TV studio as a journalist, don't ask
me what'll happen tomorrow. I had plans to move to Canada but at the moment
I just started releasing 2 records there with the just born Misty Lane
Canada, we'll see..!
Their
Discography
AND
NOW ONTO MISTY LANE RECORDS,FANZINE...........
