Following our extensive coverage of the SOS4.8 Festival, normal business is resumed with a return to our MySpace Magic feature. The latest band to hog the limelight is The Savalas, an alternative rock band from somewhere in Italy. Having been tipped off by another recent myspace magic band, BuzzRadio, NME-Europe decided to find out more....
NME-Europe: Buongiorno - that's as far as it goes. Who are you and how did you come about?
Sav: The Savalas is an Italian alternative rock band that started in 2005 from the ashes of different bands of our area : Dasazert, an alternative metal band and Dissectional, a Tool tribute band. We're from San Gemini, a nice medieval town in the woods not far from Rome.
At present the core of the band is two people: Me (Clito), on vocals and Giangi on drums. We are currently rebuilding our live line up, which will also include a bass player, a guitar player and a jack-of-all trades on samples, keyboards and guitar.
NME-Europe: What's the reason behind your name?
Sav: We just wanted a name who could represent our ironic side, and so we decided to honor one of our movie heroes, Telly Savalas. We had the idea watching an old Kojak episode. That man was a complete genius.
I resist the temptation to ask about lollipops...
NME-Europe: Dare you describe your sound? Tell us about what has influence you.
Sav: Our music explores a great variety of musical territories and atmospheres in a free and peculiar style.
Our influences are too many to quote: from Faith No More to Tool, from Jane's Addiction to The Beatles, from Fela Kuti to traditional chinese music, lots of music but also literature, visual arts. We also pay close attention to social issues, and it's the case in our next album.
A wide-range of inspirational sources there!
NME-Europe: Your 'next' album? What are your releases to date?
Sav: Up to now we have released two EPs, Hot Dog for Frank (2006) and Plastic Pills for Happy Passengers (2008).
We just recorded our first album, Pornocracy, under the Californian sun. It features some of the greatest alternative musicians such as Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age, Kyuss, Mondo Generator), Martyn Lenoble (Porno For Pyros, Jane's Addiction, Dave Gahan) and Scott McLoud (Girls Against Boys, Paramount Style) alongside Massimo Pupillo (ZU, Mike Patton) and Xabier Iriondo (Uncode Duello, Afterhours). The album is produced by Alex Pappas (ex Finch) and supported by the American label, Above Ground Records.
An impressive line-up...
Yeah! It was amazing how these people accepted to collaborate with us, only on the basis of the songs we sent them.
NME-Europe: Have you got any gigs lined up to promote the album release? Who would you choose as your support artist?
Sav: We're still looking at gigs. If we could ideally choose an artist (cue dream mode!!!) it would have to be Jane's Addiction or Nine Inch Nails, not for the show but the party girls backstage.
Hmmm....
NME-Europe: What's your favourite album at the moment? And if you look back, can you remember which particular band, album or even track got you into music?
Sav: Giangi's favourite album right now is the last jaga jazzist, my favourite one at moment is MGMT and The Beatles Remasters. Giangi's original influence was Faith No More, whilst it was Queen who got me going.
NME-Europe: Finally, tell us about your objectives/prospects for next 12 months?
Sav: Well, ideally we'd like to find a European partner label, release and promote the album, book and play a tour in the U.S and in Europe and in general spread Italian Pornocracy across the world...
For now, readers can check out a couple of their tracks and a video about their imminent release, Pornocracy.
NME-Europe would like to thank Clito from The Savalas for taking the time to talk to us and wishes them the very best with the album release.
NC
Last 5 NME-Europe interviews:
The Pin-Ups (Manila, Philippines)
Buzzradio (Liverpool, UK)
The Manse (Liverpool, UK)
A Number Of Fires (Liverpool, UK)
My Raining Stars (Lyon, France)
Read all NME-Europe interviews
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