On June 8, 2012 we conducted an interview with Giovanni, the vocalist of Italian melodic/post hardcore band WAITING FOR BETTER DAYS (Indelirium Records).
Hey! Cool to have another Indelirium Records band with us. What’s up?
Giò:
Everything allright ! I wanna play !
[smiles] Cool, let’s play. Tell us a little bit about the place you come from. Please describe Bari music scene for us.
Bari is a city where a lot of things have to be build yet, there isn’t a real music scene that is just about hardcore bands, we’re mostly a big group of people who plays different kinds of music and we all know each other, we just should learn to support the music scene and to give the right value to every production. The cool thing about Bari is that it’s small but there are so many bands that make actually good music and that could be successful with just a little bit sacrifice more, we’re kind of slow but, hey, we’re from the south – and here it’s really hot. Anyway hardcore bands from Bari that I wanna suggest are : ATESTABASSA, BACKJUMPER, MINUS TREE, BRENCA, TOOMUCHRICE, here you can hear what they do:
Great, thanks! What other projects have you been involved in? Besides FRANTIC, were there more bands you have been playing in? Tell us how WAITING FOR BETTER DAYS began.
Yeah, David and Domingo, the drum and the guitar player, they used to play in this band called FRANTIC, Domingo also in another band called IMPURE, and me ( giò ) i’ve started singing in the NO BLAME, our bass player Giuseppe plays in differents projects that are not hardcore like the other guitar player Enrico.
What bands influenced you initially to want to form a band?
Surely NOFX, PROPGANDHI, MISERY SIGNALS , PANTERA, AT THE DRIVE-IN, and a lot more !
How often do you rehearse? Do you play covers too?
Usually we rehearse twice a week, sometimes 3 times a week, we’re all kind of busy, if this was our real job we could play everyday. We think a lot about cover but in the end we do few of them, from the well known “ linoleum “ , to some songs by “ propagandhi” that we’d like to play in our next tour.
To what did the name of the band refer? What are your thoughts about current times and what better days are you referring to?
The better days that we’re waiting for are what we hope to have build, with our constant passion and strength. We hope that all of those people that are not proud of this system can one day finally have the chance to live also just for one minute in a world where there’s no more violence and no more money, a world where weed is not illegal.
So it’s been 4 years since you formed. Let’s go back to your first release, 2008’s debut EP that caught attention around the country. How do you remember those days?
Our first EP was a surprise, it was the representation of our willing to leave something behind us, to create something, it’s an EP full of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the only thing that hasn’t abandoned us, unlike everything else.
How was the release party for “To Those Who Believe To Be Left Alone” album? What bands did you tapped for this show?
Release party was big ! We enjoyed that so much and as I said before Bari is like a big Italian family: before our show there was the opening by these guys who rap (LEXVEE, BLAZE, TONY CIKLONE) and right after our show there was a dj set by this dubstep/electro duo called wtfu. This is a video of that night:
Tell us about the creation process behind the outing?
9 months of work, what we had we put in, there’s all our hearts inside of this new album, nothing more.
[laughs] Cool, easy, right? How was the album received?
The cd has been received in a positive way, we had 1000 like on bandcamp and we sold lots of copies, but we’re just at the start of this adventure, so let’s see what happens !
You’ve been playing lots of shows and that’s what I love about every single heavy touring band. What are your current touring plans?
We’re gonna leave for Tour in less than two months: we’ve kind of finished to organize our summer tour that will bring us in Europe, our beloved Europe. This is the tour event on facebook, if someone would like to come and have some fun!
Great. Looking forward to catch you guys live somewhere around.
What kind of relationship do you have with bands from Indelirium Records?
We all know each other, we all respect each other, we all support each other.
[smiles] Italian families, huh? Damn dude [laughs]. How do your own musical endeavors work with the label? Would WAITING FOR BETTER DAYS accept an offer from a bigger record label?
We’re fine with Indelirium Records, things work out pretty well with them, it’s a real cooperation, and we both represent a scene that is not big yet and that’s why we put so much effort in what we do. On the other hand if we receive a record bid from a bigger label that works on our genre, we would take it in consideration.
Let’s go back to your national scene for a while. Are there any annual metal/hardcore dedicated festivals in Italy? Or do you have to travel for fests like Ieper, Fluff or With Full Force?
Yeah, there are a lot of little festival where you can hear Italian hardcore music, there are so many singles music scene that work by themselves – but there isn’t a real culture about this so lots of people don’t see what we do as culture, but as a bad thing, so everything grows up slower. But it’s growing and that’s a good thing ! Anyway we like to travel all around Europe to see the artists we like in different festivals, passion is passion.
Do you encounter a resurgence of neo-Nazi hardcore kids these days? Do you see a problem of Nazi-style radical nationalism around you?
Maybe this kind of thing can exist somewhere in the rest of Italy, but not here in Bari, here nazi or fascists are just a joke, they worth nothing and they will never be a big thing cause we will not let them do what they want to do.
Good to hear that. Ok, what’s coming up next for the band, besides the things we talked about?
We’re starting to organize the November Tour in Spain and South France and we’re already thinking about our next releases ! Still wfbd.
Thanks for the chat, guys. Any last words?
Thanks a lot for this interview!
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