JUNGLE FEVER is a hardcore punk from Italy. Even though we asked them for an interview back in January 2012, they managed to finally find some time for us around October 10th ;). We discussed the band’s origins, their releases, lyrics, live shows, past projects and Italian crisis. Scroll down and start reading.
Grab their demo for free at this location.
Hey, guys. What’s up? Please introduce JUNGLE FEVER for our readers.
JUNGLE FEVER is a 5 piece band from Italy. Main goal is playing it as hard as it gets. No frills . Just doing our own thing, by catching up, rehearse and express ourself on stage.
How did you form as a band? Tell us about how it all started.
The band started quite randomly back in summer 2011. Me and Edo known each others for a few years. Both of us were involved in the Italian/euro hc scene by playing in different bands (see WATCH YOUR STEP, THE DIFFERENCE, WAR CHARGE) and booking local shows in the Florence area.
I was studying in Edinburgh, Scotland back then.
Summertime in Scotland was driving me crazy – shittiest weather ever…i was on the brink of depression and couldn’t wait to go back to Italy and start from scratch by finding a proper job and starting a new band.
At the the time I was singing for WAR CHARGE from Edinburgh and that was the only thing I was caring about in all that fog and rain.Edo (our bass player) got in touch with me all of a sudden and sent me a few riffs he recorded with the other guys..so i wrote the lyrics and arranged them right from Scotland!
In September we all met up for the first time and I got to know the other 3 band members . We rehearsed just once in a dirty rehearsal room and recorded our first EP in an even filthier garage. It couldn’t be more spontaneous and fast. Believe it or not!!!
Cool. Where exactly are you based? Describe your local music scene for us.
We come from all over the place. I mean we rehearse in Alessandria, one of the most useless and boring cities I have ever been to… don’t look for it on google maps.. it is just lost in the north east of Italy.
I live in Milan but i am originally from Tuscany area; Edo lives in a small village near in the middle of nowhere in the center of Italy e and the other guys are from Alessandria.
Edo needs to drive 8 hours to rehearse in Alessandria ah ah! Not the handiest thing ever.Regarding our music scene, I can speak for the center-north Italian hc punk scene.
I don’t see much of a scene. There are no promoters doing a regular job. Not many young kids interested in this “movement” and shows usually suck. Regardless of my 26 years old of age I am still one of the youngest around [laughs]We had our “golden age” (if we can name it so) back in 2004-2007. Back then there were plenty of goods bands all over the country (WATCH YOUR STEP, DIE!, NO MORE FEAR, GONNA FALL HARD, THE MIRACLE, THE DIFFERENCE, STRENGTH APPROACH) and kids were actually excited about going to smaller gigs, support bands, buy merch and get nuts at the shows.
I haven’t been to many shows lately. To the few I have been…i didn’t see much going on. Same old faces and crappy bands with not much to say.I believe me I don’t wanna sound nostalgic or like on old man thinking back to the old times. This is the way I see it. Simple as that.
Yeah, I get it, man. You’re not alone in thinking that way about your local scene [smiles].
Many people confuse you with Trial And Error Records’ JUNGLE FEVER from Australia. I’ve your music mixed up with the other JUNGLE FEVER’s releases. Let’s make it clear. What releases have you recorded so far?
My bad! I picked the name and i still love it. I didn’t even know about the Australian band until I met their guitar player last October in Hannover when I was tourmanaging a band called BILLY THE KID.
I ll tell you the story:
This Australian guy was playing in another band and all of a sudden we got caught in a chat at the end of the gig..when he told me he used to play in a band called JUNGLE FEVER.
I was like: nooo man, so do I!!! And we laughed our brains out in the backyard of the lub! he couldn’t careless about the fact that there was a European JF playing!Regarding our records, we have only put out an EP called “WINNING MENTALITY”. It has been produced on tapes by Open up records and spread out all over the web.
What’s coming up next when it comes to your discography? Do you have any new songs you will be releasing soon?
We have a new EP coming up. Songs are ready. It’s all about the time to catch up and recorded them. We are bunch of lazy babies, you know..
The “Winning Mentality” EP is full of fast and furious New York style hardcore tunes. Have you always played it with a flow like this? Have you had any other past music ventures, ex-bands or side-projects, orientated to different styles?
Oh thanks for that! I am glad you like it. Some of us have already had some previous projects on a similar line of sound. Mostly old school/youth crew bands. My old band WAR CHARGE (go check them out right now, play it hard and furious, the way you like it! Scotland represents)
2 of our guys used to play in pop punk bands, BLINK 182/ NEW FOUND GLORY style. Oh, just to mention we love pop punk!
Do you have a certain message that you spread out? What are your lyrics about?
I dont think we have a certain message we d like to carry out. Lyrics are quite personal and describe my life, mostly in the most negative way. I feel inspired anytime something goes wrong or anytime I see somethings that pisses me off and opens my eyes.
Main topics are the lack of trust in the human being, lost friendships . Some songs have a slight political edge and describes Italy and its never ending crisis which affects me and my peers..see the song Land of Controversy.
How many gigs have you had so far?
About 10 gigs, most of them abroad. We avoid playing Italy usually, as it is not so much fun!
You will be touring Europe from December 26th until January 6th 2013. Have you booked many gigs? Who are you touring with? Reveal some more about this trek.
Hell yeah. Couldn’t be more excited. We are going to announce the whole tour shortly which is almost completely booked. Shows will take place in Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium (new years eve party!), Netherlands and Germany. We are booking the tour ourselves and we are actually surprised about the feedback from European promoters. Its going great and we can’t wait to kill it on stage.
Great. We’ll spread the word about the dates for you.
What does hardcore mean to you?
It means critical thinking and see the world differently, on one hand.
It means hanging out with friends at shows and have a good time on the other side.To this point, hardcore has always been my way to escape from the daily routine and the dull environment I have lived in most of my life.
Traveling for gigs, meeting different people sharing the same interest is just great.
Nothing else.
Oh. forget about hardcore for a while. I guess it’s not 100% of your everyday lives. is it? [smiles]. How does Italian economic crisis affect you? Do you give a shit about politics and economics?
Oh well. Tricky questions. We are not really interested in politics. I see my country going towards a slow decay. We are still run by a bunch of old arrogant politicians running this government for the sake of their interests, and there s no room for my generation at the moment.
It s hard to say if things are going to change and if they will go for the better anytime soon.
All I see is an increasing unemployment rate – including my homies and friends struggling to find a job after a whole life studying hard and graduating with top marks.I actually think about moving to the States or Canada all the time! [laughs]
You’re not a nationalist, obviously [laughs].
What are your everyday activities? What are the things that interest you besides music?
We all work our asses off though. I spend 10 hours a day working as event planner for an event mgt company.
The other guys in JF work in factories doing crazy night shifts . Edo is actually a hospital nurse… i hope I will never get the chance to see him in action [laughs]Our interests besides music?
All of us are sneakers freaks and waste our salaries on shoes and cloths. Pretty dumb, aint’ it? I love traveling around the world whenever I get the chance…I wish I could do it more.We are also into Italian football…our Sundays are spent watching Serie A games on tv and swearing for every missed goal from our beloved teams.
Thanks! Any final thoughts?
Thanks a lot for interviewing us. We apologize for our late answer, considering the fact you have sent us these questions over 8 months ago!!! Ciao ciao from 5 lazy bastards.
