We recently sat down with Italian trio INTO MY PLASTIC BONES (est. 2006) to talk about their debut record “A Symbolic Tennis Pot”, an amazing, very refreshing take on SHELLAC / FUGAZI / Touch & Go Records inspired moods, that’s managed to pack enough punch to sink its edgy razor-sharp teeth into their scatterbrained listeners. These guys have recorded this album on tape without computers or editing and the result is simply stunning. Extremely natural, organic and charismatic. Influenced by the ’90s DIY scene, INTO MY PLASTIC BONES are a perfect treat for IDIOTEQ and we’re stoked to share the full stream of their late 2016 debut full length, accompanied by our interview, offering some details on their work and inspirations.
The bands has just released new music video for the track ‘Overstepping Bounds, coming from their 2016 record ‘A Symbolic Tennis Pot’, released on October 17, 2016 via Scatti Vorticosi Records & Vollmer Industries.
Hey guys! Welcome to IDIOTEQ! How are you? How’s Turin doing this warm winter?
Hello IDIOTEQ and thank you for having us! We’re doing great and the city is doing great too, so crowded and active as always.
Great! Ok, so you recently released your second full length record called “A Symbolic Tennis Pot”. Can you introduce us to the idea of this record and explain its intriguing title?
We didn’t change our creative process so we kept jamming together and chose the best parts of our jams. This band does hours and hours of improvisation until everyone is 100% sure of everyone’s part, then there is a selection of what fits best in what could be one of our songs.
So, our idea for this new album was to keep doing what we always did and give space to the vocals, but this time, after few songs were written, we found out that we were unconsciously working way more on the rhythm itself. We worked on the creation of rhythm mixing unusual patterns with repetitive patterns, and we tried not to force the result, so that the listener wouldn’t even notice most of the timing changes. Some tracks may seem smooth and easy but there’s always a subtle math-rock vibe in it, and this came out both with our instrumental parts and both with the vocal parts. Vocals and lyrics in this band, in fact, are not meant to communicate or explain, we just see it as a fourth rhythmic instrument.
The title “A Symbolic Tennis Pot”, as for the lyrics, has no explanation. Well, there’s a really stupid reason behind the title but we’re not proud of that reason so we keep it a secret :D
You’ve recorded this album on tape and made it ready for mastering without any production edits. How’s that? Is it the way you always go about the recording process?
There’s an awesome location called Oxygen Recording Studio, 1-hour far from Turin, where you can play, sleep and relax, and has this big main room with vintage gear and the possibility to record on tape. It was a big challenge for us because you really have to be focused and prepared. We just wanted it to sound like the three of us in a live session or in our practice room, so that what you can hear on the album is what we normally do. We already did something like that in our previous EP called “Jallo” so we fell in love with this kind of recording process and I think this is what we will continue to do in the future. Also, the fact that all the computers are turned off during the recording process makes you think and play in a different way.
Can we compare both versions of a sample track before and after mastering? How much change did Bob Weston bring to the original edits?
He told us that he always prefer to not alter the mix too much, so he worked on certain frequencies to boost the songs. Just a few days after we sent him the tapes we realized that some vocals were too loud on the mix (and being it on tape we couldn’t edit it no more) so he modified some frequencies and got us the result we wanted. He has been very willing and professional.
Are there plans to take it on the road?
We would love to play this record anywhere as possible so we hope to play shows as far as we can in the next months. We’re a small band so we have to book shows for ourselves and it’s not easy; anyway, it’s our dream to go abroad and try to leave the italian sole, even just for few shows. Hope to do it soon!
By the way shows, how is your local alt rock scene?
I’m not sure we can talk about a scene, anyway, there is a high-quality of bands and it’s a very encouraging thing for us. Turin has tons of bands and places to do gigs and that’s awesome, but the places we prefer the most are far from the big cities. Sometimes you play in a very small city and there’s a lot of audience because there are less concerts and people are curious and open minded. On the other hand, Turin has concerts everyday so people are used to it and it’s not that special event.
Do you see no threat to the traditional networking and sharing ideas through events at all from the current digital trends resulting in more and more people living their lives through social media?
The world is changing so fast and we do too. Personally, I am a social network victim and I like to share and check the world that’s on my phone. I think it’s important to live both worlds, the real one and also the digital one. It’s up to us, then, to recognize what’s important and what’s not, or which part of your life you should share through the social media or not. For me it’s important to fully live a concert without filming it with the smartphone, or eating a good lunch without posting it on Instagram. But that may be because I’m old and boring :D
Ok Paolo, since 2017 just started and we haven’t had many 2016 wrap-ups, would you mind sharing some of the best, most inspiring record and art related offerings you discovered last year?
I recently discovered VINCE STAPLES because the guy who did the cover of our new album (our friend Cristian Girotto) also did the cover for his new EP “Prima Donna”. I really like his album “Summertime 06” and the production… I know it came out in 2015 but I didn’t knew him before. Other records I loved are the latest albums by REAL FRIENDS, THE CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM and AIMING FOR ENRIKE, a Norwegian duo that was the opening band for a JAGA JAZZIST show here in Turin and did a really awesome job!
What albums and shows do you look most forward to this year?
I’m counting the days until the new WSTR album comes out, it’s the band I listened the most in the last few months. And regarding the shows, I can’t wait to see THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN again, and ZEUS for the eighth time (my favourite Italian band ever, check them out if you can). There will surely be other good shows in our city in the summer and in the rest of the year, we’re proud of what Turin always offers from a cultural point of view so we have no doubt that there will be great shows in 2017.
Alright buddy, thanks so much for your time. Feel free to leave your last thoughts and take care!
Thank you so much IDIOTEQ! Our new album is available on our Bandcamp page together with every other record we made. We decided to not give a price to our music so it’s up to you. Hope to see you soon. Ciao!!!
