presents
Since their birth – in Venaria (Turin) in 1993 – the Italian rock band have quickly grown, expanding throughout Europe and even stirring up interest across the ocean. It is difficult to believe that this is the same group that began by playing covers of Rage Against The Machine and CCCP, but it was then that Linea 77 first sowed the seeds of what would become the hard core of their fan base. Their constant live performances soon made them a cult: in just one year from their first furious war cry, they were playing to a crowd of 8,000 people at the now defunct Beach Bum Festival in Jesolo.
In July 1995 Linea 77 recorded their first demo: "Ogni Cosa Al Suo Posto". A proud and decisive self production, receiving a series of positive reviews and the approval of fans of the genre, who literally snapped up the 500 copies released. At the beginning of 1996 Dracma Records signed the group, producing the second demo, "Kung Fu", a collection of studio sessions and outtakes not included in "Ogni Cosa Al Suo Posto". Once again, the interest of the specialised national press was immediate, and the band soon signed to Milan’s Collapse Records, who in November 1998 released the band’s debut complete album: "Too Much Happiness Makes Kids Paranoid".
The inclusion of a Linea 77 track on a Canadian compilation alongside heavyweights such as NoMeansNo and Voodoo Glow Skulls was the first real step towards the international stage. The debut album benefited, collecting a series of glowing reviews. This was followed by 70 promotional concerts and 2,000 copies sold in Italy alone.
Success was still underground, but it was enough to involve not so much the local torpid labels, rather those across the English Channel: Nottingham’s Earache Records proposed a contract guaranteeing worldwide distribution. The first step was to re-release "Too Much Happiness Makes Kids Paranoid", which was re-mastered and repackaged with new artwork and released worldwide in April 2000. A limited vinyl edition was released in Japan and immediately became a collector’s item, just like the band’s two demos and the Italian edition on Collapse Records.
The step had been made: Nitto, Emo, Dade, Chinaski & Tozzo set off on their first British tour, sharing the bill with Earthtone9 and Kill2This. 23 concerts with the record company promoting the band to the British press, and the MTV UK programmes 'Superock' and 'Brand:New' including the video for "Meat" on their daily playlist.
2001: Linea 77 bring their 'Happy-Core' to a new level. "KEt.CH.UP SUi.Ci.DE" is released, eleven tracks which define what the will become the stylistic characteristic of the five-piece: a cross between hard rock and an agreeable melodic unexpectedness. The album was recorded and produced at Backstage Studios in Ripley (UK) by Dave Chang, best known for his work with Earthtone9, Orange Goblin and Stampin Ground. "KEt.CH.UP SUi.Ci.DE” does not just demonstrate the band’s capability of incredibly hard yet – at the same time – catchy songwriting, but highlights a resounding ironic and playful side, thanks to the cover of The Bangles’ "Walk Like An Egyptian"! A surprise which helps the inclusion of our heroes on the playlists of Radio One, XFM and TotalRock Radio. The album was warmly received, entering at Number 10 in the independent charts of NME magazine, while Rocksound Italia featured the group on the cover of their November 2000 issue. The band recorded two videos, one for the title track, the other for what would become an anthem for Italian fans, "Moka".
The 'KEt.CH.UP SUi.Ci.DE Tour' lasted two years and took Linea 77 all over Europe, with over 250 concerts and appearances in the summer’s largest events at national (Heineken Jammin' Festival and Tora!Tora!) and international level, notably at Britain’s Reading Festival. It is thanks to "Numb" that the name Linea 77 became a mass phenomenon. Recorded in Senigallia with the artistic production of Haggis from Senser and released on 16th May 2003, the record contained a gem to rival – if not substitute – “Moka” in the hearts of Linea 77 fans. "Fantasma" was chosen as the lead single, gaining heavy rotation on MTV Italia and definitively placing the band amongst the elite of Italian rock. For the first time since their beginnings, Linea 77 managed to break down the aversion of the Italian general public (not very well disposed to hard rock and metal). This was achieved with the help of Subsonica, also from Turin, who collaborated on the third single "66 (Diabolus in Musica)". The album also included a ‘hit single’ in English: "Third Moon".
The notoriety surrounding the group is consecrated by the invitation to MTV Day 2003 in Bologna, where Nitto, Emo, Dade, Chinaski & Tozzo are – without exaggeration – the best act of the day.
Public acclaim came with the electrifying show at the traditional mega concert on 1st May 2004, organised by trade unions and held in Rome’s Piazza San Giovanni in front of 500,000 people. Linea 77 literally blew the cheering crowd away, definitively convincing any remaining sceptics. It is worth noting: who knows how/who knows why, RAI decided to cut some Emo and Nitto’s comments during their performance, considered too “strong” by the powers who readapted the ‘delayed live’ broadcast of the show. A sort of post-American Super Bowl, but not Janet Jackson’s breast disturbing the broadcast, but freedom of expression… The icing on the cake of 16 months of living dangerously came with Brand:New Day @ Tora!Tora! '04 held at Fiumicino (Rome) in September 2004. The acclaim did not end here; in October of the same year Linea 77 were nominated as 'Best Italian Act' at the annual MTV Europe Music Awards. This confirmed them as Italy’s best loved ‘indie band’. "Numb" was released in three versions: the first 5,000 copies included a bonus DVD with a behind the scenes look at the recording of the album; the standard CD single version; the reissue with a bonus CD of the Live @ MTV Day 2003. A year of glory certified by the release of the DVD "Numbed", featuring all the band’s official videos and numerous live performances, included amateur images from Reading and the complete version of Live @ MTV Day. To finish on a high note – together with Madaski, Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, Meganoidi, Mass Prod and A.D. - Linea 77 gave their support to the benefit CD "RISE against AIDS", released on the occasion of 1st December – World Day for the Fight Against AIDS with the twinning of MTV and La7. Preceded by a summer tour which brought the band back to live performance (with special emphasis on the south of Italy), the month of September 2005 brought the release of the highly anticipated "Available For Propaganda". The band’s fourth album was recorded in Los Angeles, in Paramount / Ameraycan Studios: two legendary places in the history of rock, where artists of the calibre of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Cypress Hill and Tool (to name but a few) have recorded.
The recording sessions were supervised by Dave Dominguez, who before working with the Italian five-piece had a hand in releases by artists such as Adema, Orgy, Papa Roach, Powerman 5000, Staind. His curriculum also boasts a collaboration with Axl Rose & Co on the elusive "Chinese Democracy" by Guns N' Roses, but it may be better not to openly talk about this…
The remastering was supervised by Dave Collins, who designed the sound of the twelve songs on the tracklist: he boasts an impressive roster of collaborations, including Madonna, Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, Perry Farrell e Porno For Pyros, Queens Of The Stone Age, Soundgarden, Phil Spector and many others.
“Available for Propaganda” was an immediate success and the band embarked on a two week tour of Eastern Europe with Soulfly. Sharing a tour bus with artists of the calibre of Max Cavaliera and company does not happen every day, nor do shows in sold out arenas, visiting Prague, Budapest, Sophia, and down to Istanbul. At the end of the first stage of the tour, Linea 77 flew to the United States, to Austin, Texas, where they had the honour of representing Italy at the legendary South by Southwest, the most eccentric of festivals, taking place in different clubs and cities in Texas - 300 concerts every evening, half a million concertgoers, the best of the world’s rock! Without even the time to recover from jet lag, the band immediately rejoin the Soulfly caravan for the last week of the European tour, taking in Spain and Portugal.
On home soil Linea 77 continue to clock up the miles and concerts, in an uninterrupted tour de force which keeps them on stage for around two years. In the meantime, between the Dutch show at Eurosonic in Groningen and their participation in MTV Day 2006, Nitto, Emi, Tozzo, Dade and Chinaski begin thinking about new material for their fifth album.
Having honoured their contract with the English Earache records with the release of Venareal 1995, a collection of the early demos from the band’s archives, Linea 77 are now free, with renewed enthusiasm, to sign for Universal. The fifth chapter in the story of Linea 77 opens with a symbolic title, one which accompanied the writing of the new songs and characterised the mood: “Horror Vacui”, literally, from Latin, “fear of emptiness”. The emptiness Linea 77 refer to is the same that pushes humans to surround themselves with objects, often technological fetishes, to make up for their emotional and social shortcomings. Not a pointing of a finger, or an accusation of the masses, but rather a conscientious position on what is happening, excluding no-one.
With this idea in mind, the group begins composing, starting from scratch, working on different approaches from the hardcore of their beginnings to a darker sound. A fresh tension pervades the sessions, partly due to the introduction of Dade playing a second guitar, temporarily putting his bass to one side. Working with two guitars allows Linea 77 to explore more articulate sonic territories, and rhythmic-harmonic structures they had never before attempted.
The pre-production lasts almost seven months, far more than in the past. At the end of the summer Linea 77 have thirteen tracks ready for release.
In September 2007 they fly to the States. Like the time of Available for Propaganda, the chosen destination is Los Angeles, where they spend two months at the Skip Saylor Studios, in the company of Toby Wright, producer of some of the essential albums by Korn, Metallica, Fear Factory, Slayer, Soulfly, Primus, Alice in Chains, Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss. On Toby Wright’s recommendation, Linea 77 change their working method, deciding to record the two guitars and drums in a single take. They spend the first week in the studio rehearsing the tracks, and are “hot as hell” on the day of recording.
Replicating the live energy in studio is an old dream which has now been realised. This was in fact the best possible decision. From then on, they continue recording on the basic tracks, working on voice and effects. “Horror Vacui” is no longer simply a sporadic and haunting idea, but an extraordinarily scintillating album, from a band which is solid, in synch and convinced of their capabilities like never before. The sole guest on “Horror Vacui” is Tiziano Ferro, whose voice and lyrics feature on the track “Sogni Risplendono”. The band’s relationship with the singer began when, after receiving the award for “Best Italian Act” at the European Music Awards, Tiziano Ferro stated in an interview that he would one day like to collaborate with Linea 77. The opportunity came with “Horror Vacui” and the result is remarkable. Yet another successful challenge for the band with this new release: a very different Tiziano Ferro, seemingly as far removed as possible from his usual way of making music, yet extraordinarily convincing.