Loose Sutures Interview 19/03/20
MM: Thanks for your time, can you give a brief Background about your Band and why the name Loose Sutures.
LS:Everything started from Antonio (guitar) and Marco (drums), who had the very precise intention to form a band with a sound that combines heavy fuzz distortions and garage melodies, something like ‘70s hard rock and ’60s garage rock centrifugated together, but with the modern fuzz sound of bands like King Gizzard and Fuzz (the name of our band is a tribute to their song). They called us, me (Gianpaolo, guitar) and Marcello (bass), and we immediately find a good mix playing together. The nice thing is that we all take part in the compositional process: the initial idea (usually a riff that hammers us in the head) can start from one of us, but once we are in the rehearsal room we all participate in the same way to give a definitive shape to the songs.
MM: Which song would you choose for someone new to your band to listen to from your Debut Album.
LS:We think it’s a tricky answer because it's like asking a mother who her favorite child is. Every single song represents us and our project. Of course, we are very attached to “Shoot It Down”, which is our first single and also the first song we composed, but there are other tracks that we love. “Brutus” for example is exactly what we wanted to be: a mad bullet right to your head; and also “Wish To Fuck A Dead Man” is a song that says a lot about us: it is a slow and twisted fuzz ballad that explodes at the end as if it were really a fuck…
MM: I love the fact you use un PC images.. I am totally anti Political correctness, does it surprise you how people get so easily offended these days,and how important is it to you as a Band that people have some sense of humour and reality? which obviously comes out in some of your songs!
LS:Oh, it seems to be a serious question! Ok, assuming that we really love criminals, sluts, scums and outcasts in general, we’re not dummies: there are many rulers and politicians who claimed more victims than every criminal, but no one seems strange that people should continue to vote them and to give’em the power. We’re governed by fools and it seems to be accepted like “normal”, so the morality of the political correctness sucks! Then again, fools represent something that attracts people, in a psychological but also in an artistic sense. There is little to do: the dark abysses of human nature are inside every one of us. You can pretend they don’t exist, but they do. Madness fascinates, otherwise you would not read E. A Poe, Lovecraft, Dostoevsky or you would not watch a thriller film.
MM: The Coronovirus is screwing the world up, so can you tell us your plans for the year, and how will you guys cope with the virus.
LS:Unfortunately, no one expected that it would be a serious thing like this. At the moment we are buried in our homes, and if we want to speak to each other we organize some live streaming drinking sessions. It’s a way not to get depressed. But there’s no virus who can stop the music. We profit from this situation taking our time to work on our 2nd album…
MM: What can we expect from Loose Sutures live?
LS:Although we play together recently, there is a strong amalgam between us, and when we are on stage we have a strong desire to break everything. In our shows, you’ll find rage, sweat, fuzz, high volumes, and evil beats, dildos, shackles, alcohol and a lot of fun.
MM: What do you like best about being in a band and what's the worst?
LS:Antonio (guitar): when you play in a band you grow up, not just as a musician but as a man. You share ideas and feelings, and problems too. It’s like being in a family.
Marco (drums): Playing music is my relief valve, but playing in a band is like living in a family. Bad moments are in those moments when you are playing with your friends but no one seems to speak the same language! Marcello (bass): The best thing is that we drink a lot. The worst is that we drink too much…
Gianpaolo (guitar): The best thing is the smell of our rotten and sweaty room full of smoke, and the neon sign’s light of a kebab shop that Marcello brought us, which creates a very cozy ambient. That’s the thing I like the most. The worst thing is that we don’t have a fridge…
MM: how do you rate the importance of being seen live and meeting fans whenever possible?
LS:To play live is a fundamental thing and a unique experience that you can understand only when you’re on stage when you feel the vibrations of the crowd when you play in front of your friends. It’s every time like the first ejaculation: always too fast to understand what is happening at this moment, but once you’ll never understand if you’re doing right if you’ll never meet your fans on a live stage.
MM: Can you tell me how difficult is it to stand out from your peers.
LS:Marcello: We honestly don’t see music as a rivalry between bands. There’s always a chance to share music and influences together to grow up.
Gianpaolo (guitar): LOL! We call Marcello “Auntie” because he is 45 yo and the rest of us is over 30. But he’s the younger of all us by far and this says a lot about the fact that the problem is not to stand out from the peers, but to stay ahead with the aunties…
MM: Which three Bands would you love to go on tour with?
LS:Antonio (guitar): A tour is a wonderful experience but also stressful and tiresome. If you choose the bad company it could be a real mistake. But with good friends you can have fun, so I will say absolutely our friends 1782., then Black Lips, for their madness and energy inside and outside the stage. And last but not least QOTSA, the last bastion of Sex, Drug, and R’N’R…
Marco (drums): Thee oh sees, Fuzz, Meatbodies: They are bands we like a lot and to which our sound is inspired by.
10-MM: What's the most memorable concert you've been to (other than your own) and why?
LS:Marco (drums): They are two: the Black Lips concert at Primavera Sound in 2013, with a big stage-diving over the crowd, and the QOTSA live in the first row, with too much MDMA in my drink, dressing hood and sunglasses at 3.30 PM! Amazing!
Antonio (guitar): Slo Burn at Desertfest in London. John Garcia, Kyuss, Slo Burn, and the whole 90’s desert scene have been the soundtrack of my teenage years, and they are still now the very air I breathe every day. Seeing them live was unforgettable
Gianpaolo (guitar): Girl Band in Kantine der Berghain in Berlin, it was 2015 I guess. A gigantic sound: the walls of the club were bleeding. I’m convinced that a lot of bands perform better in small clubs than in big stages, and that’s because of their sound and the atmosphere that is created.
Marcello (drums): Rolling stones, Basel, 1993. With Black Crowes in opening act with the tour of “Amorica”. I was in the first line with a Dallas Cowboys shirt and I just peed in my pants.
MM: Which are your Two favorite albums of all time and what they have meant to you personally.
LS:Marco (drums): “Fuzz” of Fuzz, ‘cause it opens a world I didn’t know. “St. Peppers” because of Ringo Star’s beats!
Antonio (guitar): The Self-Titled album of RATM and Black Sabbath’s “Masters of Reality”
Gianpaolo (guitar): The first album of Velvet Underground is the beginning of everything. Personally, as a guitarist, I also say “Marquee Moon”, because the way an electric guitar is played today was defined on that album. Marcello (bass): “Exile on main street” and “London Calling”. They completely changed my life and are one of the reasons why I am a musician.
MM: Can you remember the first time you played live and what it meant to you.
LS:Gianpaolo (guitar): It was something like 15 years ago, I was playing in a rocksteady band and we were invited in a Mods Festival, where all were dressed like in Quadrophenia… No one was interested in us, and we played really bad if I have to be frank. But once you’re on stage, who cares? You just have to feel your instrument and your sound, and just go with the flow…
Marco (drums): Yes, I was completely drunk and I was on stage all because of adrenaline, the same that I feel every time I play.
Antonio (guitar): My first time was with Raikinas, my first band. I think it could be compared to the first time you have sex: you’re so tense and awkward and you don’t feel anything. I remember that I was so scared that I never looked up the crowd, my gaze was always on my feet. Sometimes I still feel that sensation of fear mixed with adrenaline. But I think it’s normal, and the minute you start playing, fear gets over and starts the fun…
Marcello (bass): I jumped on stage first time in 1991 at the sports arena of my hometown, 6000 roarin' people. I just felt halfway to hell. Awesome!!!
MM: Can you tell me why we should check out Loose Sutures.
LS:Because we tease the dark side of everyone, taking you in a morbid world. We are the strangers that give you candies. Don’t you want some?
MM: Four Words to describe Loose Sutures.
LS:We are four red fishes in a glass bottle! We can say “Truly Madly Deeply”, like the Savage Garden song, but we say it “Creepily” and this is the fourth word. All kidding aside: we want to be described by the people who listen to our songs. Listen to our album and come to see us on stage, and then you’ll find you own words to describe us…
MM: Quick Fire Round
1.Festival or Small intimate gig:
LS:Small intimate gigs
2.Vinyl or Digital:
LS:Vinyl
3.Sex Pistols or Iron Maiden:
LS:Sex Pistols
4. Peroni or Pizza:
Marcello: It’s a difficult question ‘cause there is no pizza without beer!
Marco: Peroni
Antonio: Pizza
Gianpaolo: I’ll tell you a secret, dude: Peroni sucks! The best Italian beer is Ichnusa!
5.Donald Trump or Charles Manson:
LS:What a question is that? Charles Manson without any doubt!
Final words:
LS:We’d like to thank our friend Alfredo, who is our sound engineer and recorded us, and Peppe also, our official photographer. They are our first fan and they got a lot of patience. We also thank the other bands with which we got some “affiliation”, like 1782, with which we share the rehearsal room, and our friends Enola Bit, Egon and Sonisterica. Of course, we say thanks to Marco and the Electric Valley Records family, and a huge thanks to our friend Trevor Peres, and to The Laughing Dogs. And also thanks to MM for your nice interview and your time! Stay fuzz!
