A variety of Italian hardcore bands mourn the loss of dear friend, musician, promoter, Carlo Articolo, founder of Strikedown Records and member of RISE AFTER DEFEAT and SCORNTHROATS. His love of hardcore brought him to many amazing DIY projects and there are many things than many people have have come to know and love about Carlo in his endeavour that sadly ended when he passed away on Thursday 23 August 2018. 7 years after our interview for IDIOTEQ, it’s my great pleasure to invite you to the second edition of the Strikedown Fest, organized by Ghostown Booking and scheduled for this Frtiday and Saturday at La Cueva Rock in Quartucciu (CA). To celebrate the event, we caught up with Nicola from Blacktooth Music and Mattia of Ghostown Booking to get some more details about his legacy, this continued project, its meaning and some details that might interest you and get you on board this weekend. Check out the amazing line-up below, get your tickets HERE, grab some cool records from Strikedown and scroll down to see our brief interview.
Fri 8th Feb: Tear Me Down, Thee Oops, Scornthroats, Danny Trejo, My Own Prison, Thank U For Smoking, Runes, Worn Out, Gairo
Sat 9th Feb: Strength Approach, Gold Kids, Slander, Curse This Ocean, Discomfort, Sangue, Step On Memories, Jolie Rouge, Last Breath
Artwork by : Mirkow Gastow.
How did you first get to know Carlo? When did you first meet?
Nico: The first time I met Carlo it was 2010 in Cagliari. I remember he mailed me to meet and introduce me his new label Strikedown Records. He also gave me Rise After Defeat’s self titled debut album for a review in my webzine. I realized in a second this little guy was really passionate about music and diy, eager for knowledge and tips to make his stuff better and better. Later on I’ve found myself having dinner with him once or twice a week, to discuss about music, booking tours, html, myspace custom profiles and things like that. He was a great listener and an excellent keeper of good advices.
Mattia: I met Carlo at a local gig some times around 2008, we didn’t become good friends till late 2009. He messaged Curse This Ocean asking us to play some gigs in town and saying that he’d love to put out our first EP with his brand new record label. A year later we were playing shows together and booking bands together, we started our very own booking agency, by that time we were already deeply involved in the local punk community. We became friends by working hard together during the years and sharing the same goals and dreams.
What do remember most about his contribution to the hardcore scene? Can you speak to us about some of them?
Nico: He was super passionate about the underground hardcore music and its DIY structures. He spent shitload of money to professionally print the albums from the bands he loved and the ones he was connected with, unconcerned about the earnings and income. He later started booking shows with Mattia, by the name of Ghostown Booking, in a time when Sardinia was lacking of quality hardcore concerts.
Mattia: I’d say that his major contribution to the scene was to been able through the years to put out great records and put up great shows in spite of all the difficulties of living in an island very far from any hardcore scene. It gave strength to the local bands starting this network based on mutual help and respect and motivated people around him showing everyone that no matter how difficult and tricky can be if you work hard enough and if you are on top of your game you can still succeed. He kind of pulled the multiple forces and souls of the diy punk scene together after years of divisions.
What’s the status of both Scornthroats and Strikedown Records after Carlo’s passing? What does future hold for both parties?
Nico: Both projects are goin on hiatus after SD Fest II. Time will tell.
Tell us about the first edition of Strikedown Fest. Did you attend? How was it?
Nico: It was november 2013 and 10 bands shared the stage at CuevaRock, in Quartucciu (Cagliari, Italy). Somehow that was the first time we started talking about “Strikedown Crew”: many of us gave his contribution to the show, doing our best on graphics, backline, press, and doing everything in order to set up a strong festival. It was also our last show with Curse This Ocean. Definetely a night to remember.
Who came up with the idea of the upcoming part two of this event?
Nico: During the agonizing days after August 23rd, I thought a lot about Carlo’s birthday in february and in my mind I came up with the idea of bringing back Strikedown Festival for this special day. So I asked Mattia if it was the right thing to do or just a madman dream.
Mattia: Nico came up with the idea, almost right away and I honestly found it a great thing. We couldn’t let him go without celebrating his life and artist accomplishments also I it is very important to us that out of an extremely negative and heartbreaking occurance we are able to take something good that hopefully will bring us together as friends an human beings.
What details can you share regarding the festival?
Mattia: Strikedown Fest II will take place at Cueva Rock in Quartucciu (Cagliari) during the 8th and the 9th as mentioned before, and the main goal is to celebrate the life accomplishments of our friend Carlo. During the two days of festival 18 bands will help us doing that, mainly bands that were friends to him and had a deep personal connection with him and bands that he respected and loved.
Here’s the full list:
• Scornthroats
• Runes
• Strength Approach
• Discomfort
• Tear Me Down
• Gold Kids
• Sangue
• Thank U For Smoking
• Step On Memories
• Lastbreath
• Gairo
• Wornout
• Thee Oops
• Curse This Ocean
• My Own Prison
• Jolie Rouge
• Slander
• Danny TrejoMany of these bands, like Gold Kids, Step on Memories or Thee Oops, are coming back together exclusively for this gig and I think it says a lot on the impact that Carlo had on the life of many of us. There will be music, merch, vegan food, distros, djsets and party but more than anything else there is going to be a lot of friends brought together in a way that wouldn’t have been possible without Carlo.
