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By: Martyn Coppack
We’ve been big fans of Black Rainbows since they first popped up on our radar last year with the excellent Holy Moon. Their visceral, lysergic take on rock and roll was imbued with a strong sense of tradition for the greats of garage rock, but also retained one eye on the contemporary. Flashes of psychedelia infiltrated the songs bringing a fresh take on a rock and roll classicism.
Once again they are back, this time with the superb Hawkdope, which takes its cue from the mean, lean sound of Detroit punk and charges it up with the smell of leather and motorbikes. It is party music for the mushroom generation with a strong dab of amphetamine to provide the requisite kick. With this in mind we felt we had to ask Gabriele Fiori from the band what their take on all this was….we think you’ll like this.
(((o))): So, Hawkdope? Excited? Ready to get back on the rock and roll trail?
Gabriele: Yes! Very excited, we worked very hard to get this album finished the way we wanted it, and to book a proper tour. And in the end we’re so happy how it came out!
(((o))): The album seems a lot leaner and focused than Holy Moon, it seems to be more direct in its approach. Would you say this was what you were aiming for or did it just turn out like that?
Gabriele: Hawkdope is what Black Rainbows want to be with music and is what we want to express with music. We worked 2-3 years on it, we even started working on this before Holy Moon. Holy Moon was been a record where we could put songs on we liked a lot, but we didn’t want to release on an official full length, so we decided to put these on a “side” album, and this is why we consider Holy Moon to be an EP. And this is why we have various songs in the same album.
The wall-of-fuzz is a dream for me, it is the sound I always wanted. I think Hawkdope is a perfect mix of the Monster Magnet-Fu Manchu-Hawkwind experience. We also have a couple of lysergic moments with the title track and ‘The Cosmic Picker’, we have a space heavy rock moment with ‘The Prophet’ a Nebula-Fu Manchu moment with ‘Wolf Eyes’ and we have the track ‘Killer, Killer Fuzz’, which is a bit of Monster Magnet, as with ‘JesusJudge’, and we also have a short acoustic track! So, I find it various as Holy Moon at least, I think we are making progress as the first record was not so good! Than with our second release Carmina Diabolo we made a “classic stoner” record. Supermothafuzzalicious, our third full length release, was more into stoner, but also a lot of rock and roll, and since that record we wanted to make things more psychedelic, acid, lysergic… so the split with Farflung, and the 4 way split with Naam, White Hills and The Flying Eyes, and perhaps Holy Moon as well were the beginning of the new side of the band, and I think we will always be more and more psych if possible!
(((o))): Hawkdope seems to distill the essence of all that is great in rock and roll from The Stooges, Primal Scream to Hawkwind. What are the influences that drive you in music, film and literature?
Gabriele: I think our band is a good mixture of the vintage, heavy, fuzzy, psychedelic tunes of the 70’s, such as Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, MC5, Hawkwind, with 90’s stoner rock as Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Nebula and Monster Magnet.
Personally I was 12 years old in 1992 when Kyuss released Blues for the Red Sun and I got it immediately, then I saw them live when I was 14 in Rome! Superjudge by Monster Magnet was one of my favourite records back then, I bought it on vinyl and I think I’ve listened to it like 1 million times! Then I started to discover all the late 60’s – beginning of the 70’s rock with bands as Cactus, Captain Beyond, Can, Free, Steppenwolf and the other thousands of great rock bands of that age!
For this particular record I think the sound resembles a perfect mix between Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu and Hawkwind. We absolutely have our own sound, but you find songs more direct and aggressive, as you find some lysergic passages quieter, and long fuzz suites like the title track ‘Hawkdope’!
Regarding films, well we like all the 80-90 movies we grown up with, such as The Goonies, Pulp Fiction, all the Tarantino’s movies and some action-fantasy movies.
(((o))): Where do you get ideas for lyrics from. The song ‘JesusJudge’ contains some rather great lines that work both in a rock and roll context and on a much deeper level.
Gabriele: The lyrics are pretty important, but not absolutely the main focus. Of course we want to talk about something connected with our musical style. Our music is a tribute to all the past rock from the 70’s and the 90’s, we don’t believe we have a particular mission that needs explaining by words, or something we want to tell. We often speak about visionary scenes and lysergic themes!
Many are invented. Some others tells about stories, like ‘The Prophet’, which talks about the coming of a prophet and his prophecies becoming true. With ‘Wolf Eyes’ I imagine to be in front of the face of this monster animal, which is hungry and wants to eat people! ‘Killer Killer Fuzz’ is about one big love the fuzz pedal! So in this song I describe how it can be devastating! ‘No Fuel No Fun’ is more of a party theme, talking of hanging out drinking and having a party, while ‘Hypnotize My Soul With Rock n’ Roll’ is about the love of the rock and roll music. And then we have ‘The Cosmic Picker’, which is another visionary theme about a mushroom eater and his trip!
At the beginning I thought that lyrics were very difficult to compose, but during the years I’ve found it more interesting and pleasant, with many things to say and imaginary to communicate, sometimes it is very nice to write down new stuff, but it can also be very frustrating if you don’t have any ideas to start!!
Also ‘JesusJudge’ is a re-elaborated version of life experiences, personal and from things you see around
(((o))): You sound like you are having so much fun, is this what makes Black Rainbows who they are?
Gabriele: Yes of course we have fun, but there’s a lot of hard work behind it for sure, as many bands do. So sometimes you have to suffer a bit, work hard, to see your dreams become truth, to see that fun! But we also want bigger level stuff. Many years have passed, and we still do it for passion, but sometimes we would like to have more, also if you see how things are going now. I’ve been in this scene since a lifetime, also during times where no bands were on tour, no record sales and so on. Btw we live with our music because myself, Alberto and also Dario, we live and make an earning with music things so sometimes you also have to think more seriously about music things, but still trying to never loose the fun and happy part!
(((o))): We must talk about Heavy Psych Sounds…such a great roster of music…how is life with them, how did your paths cross?
Gabriele: Well at least I am the owner of Heavy Psych Sounds Records! The label is pretty new, it was born only 3 years ago, but we released records with bands such as Karma to Burn, White Hills, Naam, The Flying Eyes, Farflung, Wedge, Wild Eyes, Hot Lunch, Black Rainbows and many other cool bands from all over the world.
I started because with Black Rainbows we were not very satisfied about the promotion done by our previous label, so I decided to make one release by myself, and I think I worked it pretty good. I continue to learn form other people, label mates, watching what other labels do, and I continued in the time to make connections and always make new friends and partners. After some time I offered my work to other bands I was in contact with, many cool bands, and this gave to me the opportunity to release cool stuff, especially at the beginning of the label.
There’s not a single coolest thing, there are a lot! It is always different, it permits you to meet people, make new friends, listen to a lot of music, cooperate with cool bands, organise gigs, choose the cover artworks, …I mean is a great job!
(((o))): What about other music, who should we be listening to back here at Echoes and Dust?
Gabriele: Lots of new bands, such as Wedge, Wild Eyes, Killer Boogie, Travelin Jack, Cosmic Wheels, Isaak, Tons and The Wisdoom..!
(((o))): You’re hitting the road again soon, will this be the first time in the UK? What can we expect from the shows?
Gabriele: Well some high energy psych n’ roll! Unfortunately we are not with our own gear, because we will be using Old Man Lizard’s instruments and amps, so we really hope to can give the listener what we usually do with our stuff! Which is a wall of fuzz, psychedelic moments, lysergic tunes, and a heavy fuzz storm in your face! Basically loud as hell!!
(((o))): Life on the road or writing music?
Gabriele: Hehehe good question! We need both my friend! I really do love to write stuff, always, I’m a continuous riff creator! It is one of my first activities! But it’s not good to have too much time without a gig, as it becomes just you, the band and the practice room. I used to make for too long in the past, many rehearsals and no live shows, and this really sucks! On the other hand, you can’t tour all the time with just the same set, so you need to write new stuff sometimes!
(((o))): And finally, the infamous Echoes and Dust last question…….what is your favourite biscuit?
Gabriele: I don’t know If I understood the question well?!! What you mean with biscuit?! Btw, pussy biscuit… I like that very much! Hahaha!
(((o))): Thanks again and it really has been a pleasure.
