Northern Transmissions chatted with Andrea Giometti (lead vocalist/bassist) from Italian Post-punk band ‘Soviet Soviet’. Their upcoming album Fate comes out November 11^th on Felte Sounds.

NT: You guys grew up in Italy, but your influence is deeply rooted in post rock and punk. How did you first get exposed to this sound?

AG: This happened through television, radio and family/friends. We spent a lot of time in front of the TV or listening to music on the radio, but we think that our relationships with our parents and friends are very important. We can discover a lot from our parents, like the music of their days and we can listen to music by bands from the past. We listen to this kind of music (post punk) because we love it. We found out about it through radio broadcasts and music programs on TV and with the help of the people who grew up or lived through that period.

NT: Once in a while we hear a bit of an Italian accent in your songs. Is it difficult singing in a different language than your mother tongue?

AG: It’s difficult, but it’s the only way to reach all the people, not only Italians. It’s interesting learning and speaking another language and improving your pronunciation.

NT: Have you faced challenges being based in Italy, getting your music to North American fans?

AG: We worked a lot on our music. we worked on the lyrics, on pronunciation and we did lot of gigs. We gained a lot of experience through tours and live sessions.

NT: Your upcoming album Fate is coming out pretty soon. Can we expect a bit of a departure from the Summer Jesus Ep?

AG: It’s different from the Summer Jesus EP. Our work on the lyrics is quite different, as well as in terms of sounds and the melody. We’ve grown up a lot over the past few years, we’ve done lots of gigs and traveling so the new album “Fate” is the result of all of this.

NT: What’s the music scene like in Italy these days? Are there some exciting bands we should be looking out for?

AG: The music scene in Italy is very good. There are lot of bands that play great music. In our city (Pesaro), for example, there is “Be Forest” and “Brothers in Law”. Both of these bands play excellent music. There are Italian bands like “His Clancyness” that have also been touring out of Italy quite a bit.

NT: The album has international distribution, can we expect a North American tour soon?

AG: We’ll be playing in North America in the beginning of November. We’ll be doing release parties for “Fate” in Brooklyn, NY at Kent 285 Avenue and Saint Vitus and then in LA at Part Time Punks. We will be playing shows with ‘Flaamingos’, ‘Xeno & Oaklander’ and Azar Swan. ‘ERAAS’ will be doing a DJ set as well.

NT: You guys all have University degrees, what did you study?

AG: Alessandro (drummer) studied advertising and the other guys Alessandro (guitarist) and Andrea (singer/bassist) did technical studies.

NT: Which five albums are still influencing you?

SS:

Alessandro (drummer)

1. OK Computer – Radiohead
2. ( ) – Sigur Ros
3. New Adventures in Hi-Fi – REM
4. La Cura – Franco Battiato
5. Silent Alarm – Bloc Party

Alessandro (guitar)

1. Father, Son, Holy Ghost – Girls
2. Green Mind – Dinosaur JR.
3. A lesson in Crime – Tokyo Police Club
4. With Love and Squalor – We Are Scientists
5. Barely Legal – Hives

Andrea:

Nirvana
Placebo – (first three albums)
A Place To Bury Strangers
The Thermals – More Parts Per Million
Joy Division

http://sovietsoviet.bandcamp.com/