Every time I pass in front of a stall with a gondola moving in the sunlight or acting as a barometer above the shelf, I undoubtedly get a chill. desire to break them all. Let this be the secret of the Destroy All GondolasWe spoke directly with them about it.
Destroy All Gondolas: Rock 'n' Roll Beyond the Edge
It's an ironic name, but it also represents the annoyance and contempt for the reality we live in, without a doubt. Aside from that, behind the Destroy All Gondolas project is simply the desire to create completely out-of-control rock 'n' roll. We've been playing together since 2012, our drummer Corrado has been living in Berlin since 2013, and we've given the project a certain regularity, but we don't play regularly.
Laguna di Satana is your debut album. Fabio Polvani of Blow Up calls it one of the best albums of 2017. Let's start with the title: have you actually seen Satana in Laguna?
Laguna di Satana is, once again, an ironic title. It describes the boundaries of the album's imagery: comic-book heavy metal Satanism, strange rituals of an exotic, post-apocalyptic future. But "Laguna Di Satana" is also a reference to reality, our way of summarizing in a single phrase this decaying environment, its nature crippled by the greed and unscrupulousness of its inhabitants.
What influenced you in writing the album?
Our main musical influences are Johnny Thunders, Black Metal, '70s Sabbath, Link Wray and early '60s instrumental rock 'n' roll, and Paul Di Anno-era Iron Maiden. As for the lyrics, see above: contempt and intolerance for the reality around us, and no illusion that things can get better.
Why also print a record on a cassette?
Enrico (guitarist/vocalist of Destroy All Gondolas) has a small tape label called Rotten Babuino Entertainment. He's always been obsessed with cassettes, which he produces at home with old tape recorders. So, making the cassette was a natural choice.
The album has incredible momentum. I can't wait to see you live.
Thank you. The album turned out well, partly because of the production by Maurizio “Icio” Baggio, who did a splendid job with the sound. The artwork by Il Lama, printed on a gatefold cover silkscreened by MacinaDischi, also plays its part. It's a beautiful album to hold as well as listen to: it's the fruit of all these people's work, as well as ours. Of 300 copies printed, 12 remained in less than 7 months with independent distribution (Shyrec, Sonatine, DeathCrush)We haven't actually done many dates, considering we've been playing since 2012. Corrado lives in Berlin, and due to everyone's work schedule, we only manage one or two one- or two-week tours a year. We can't do many "dry" dates. We have to squeeze the dates into periods when we can all be available, and organize them months in advance.
You are preparing for a tour in the USA
For 2018, we decided to do this 20-date tour in the US after being invited by Slovenly Recordings to participate in the Debauch-A-Reno Festival, where we're on the bill with a lot of really cool bands including Oblivians, Mummies, Spits… It was a special occasion and we're building the tour around it, which we'll do with Gutara Kyo, a Japanese band. After this tour, we'd like to focus on creating the new album, something we haven't had time to do since "Laguna Di Satana" came out… so I don't think we'll play much live. Maybe we'll do some more dates after the summer, but we can't make any specific plans yet. Anyway, we hope to see you at one of our shows soon, keep an eye on us on www.destroyallgondolas.com or on the Facebook page, we write something to each other every now and then.
