Sim from the italian group Blood 77 answers my questions in the middle of april and he does it really good! Good at English and a really nice bloke.

History?
-Blood ‘77 was born in Formia (LT), Italy, as an original punk side-project of the 90’s hardcore band Gioventù Bruciata. We started playing gigs with the first line-up in mid-2003, and toured all around Italy for two years and a half (and also did a gig in Poland in summer 2006!), until we were finally ready to put out our first issue, the “Romantic Hotel” album, which was recorded, mixed and mastered by our guitar man Daniel, and produced by the italian labels Valium Recordz ( www.hellnation.it ) and City Of The Dead ( www.cotd.it ), and by our own fake label, called Lamette Records ( www.lamette.it ). At the moment, we’re working on five new tracks for a brand new split-EP, and of course, we’re always looking for new gigs to do...

Please tell me a little about every member, age, family, work, interests and
something bad about every one?
-Here I go:
il poverello: age 28, 1 sister, optician, interested in rock’n’roll from Elvis to Velvet Underground, Stooges, Television, Bowie and so on. Also likes fetish, underground comics, experimental movies. He’s an alcool addict, can’t stay clean for more than two weeks at all, and he’s totally debauched.
Daniel: age 28, 2 brothers, unemployed, interested in semi-unknown pop rock bands, recording demos, getting stoned. He’s got natural red hair, and this is surely enough...
Meat Machine: age 27, 1 brother, warehouseman, interested in streetrock, streetpunk, hardcore, glam-rock, pussy. He’s very ignorant.
Sveden: age 29, 2 brothers, unemployed, interested in crust punk, scum rock and 80’s english bands a-la-Discharge. He’s an extreme GG Allin fan.

My review of your record is like this BLOOD 77-ROMANTIC HOTEL(CD-LAMETTE RECORDS LAMR001) I think about groups like Last Resort, 4-skins and that type of bands of a little bit earlier styled streetpunk when Blood 77 is playing their music. It maybe depends on the fact that the singer sounds if he could have been in member in one of these groups. The group comes from Italy and have a sound which I really like…..it´s only 10 songs and as you can hear on the name it´s big influences from 1977. They don´t go so much for to play the highest or most distorted and here it is more melodies and punk rock n roll which is the thing. Sonic Reducer by Dead Boys is Blood 77´s gift to the heaven of covers.(EIGHT) 13/4-07
What about it?
-Thanks a lot, of course! I think you really got it.

Is there any other bands you´re being compared with?
-No, not really. And this is really good, I think. Better not sound like someone else: there are still lots of new bands that try to seem like this or that old group they love, and when I listen to their perfect but sometimes boring records I ask me why all the time.

Do you care about reviews?
-We care a lot about reviews, but we’re not interested in changing our way of playing rock’n’roll just because we want good reviews. You can like or dislike us, but this is our sound, and these are our lyrics. It’s a kinda personal affair.

Which is the most peculiar review you ever have got?
-The italian circuit of webzines and fanzines was very kind about “Romantic Hotel”, and you were so kind, too. Maybe someone said pleasant things in a few words, and someone else did it in a full page, but we find it all very interesting, and peculiar, of course. I think it’s just because we sent the record to the right people. Some dudes are great guys, but maybe too young to be into our music, ‘cause they still like only the sloganistic or tout-court punk line, and don’t look back to the 70’s yet.

How would you describe your music in three words?
-Sharp and cold and with three eyes.

How is it to live in your homecountry?
-It’s not the best thing to do if you want to play in a rock’n’roll band. You can only sink in despair and unemployement, and finally quit because you’re out of money or out of passion, or both. But we obviously got spaghetti, pizza, mandolino, and all that sort of stuff. You can love Italy, but only if you are here for a short loss of time.

What about the government?
-The government is always the same, even if they always change name. They do a lot of big talk, steal your money with taxes, pay the worst youth to join the police or the army, and leave the rest on their own. The italian democracy is just a dirty lie, and the italian TV is now a consolidated system of mass-control.

Do you think that music and politics goes hand in hand?
-I don’t think so. Maybe music can open some minds, but the idea of music that changes the world is obsolete and find its roots in the hippie stuff, which is now the establishment itself. So we just play our music and talk about ourselves, ‘cause we definitely think that it’s the best way to not let anyone use your work for his personal cause.

Best political band?
-Maybe Discharge. They said a lot of important things without going too far from the real problems or trying to critic the other bands.

Is there any good bands in your homecountry now?
-There are a lot of good bands in Italy at the moment, and there were a lot in the 80’s, too. We personally know a lot of punks and punk bands from the 80’s and the 90’s, and I assure you that there is still a great but mostly unknown circuit.

What do you know about Sweden?
-We know a lot of old punk-hardcore bands and also listened to the records of some new glitter-streetrock combos. A friend of mine went there and said that there’s still a lot of interest about music, and there are a lot of music clubs now open wide. Is it true?

Have you heard any good swedish bands?
-Oh yes! Anti-Cimex, Mob 47, Shitlickers. Our drummer simply loves ‘em, and that’s why we call him Sveden, too.

What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or is it a lifestyle?
-I think that punk is something that totally ruins your life, but it’s also something you can’t live without. It’s a clearer way of seeing things, without any sunglasses on. Rock’n’roll is a fast lifestyle, and punk is a tougher, faster and more violent kind of rock’n’roll.

Not any songs in the italian language,why not??
-Because we think that it’s very hard to write and sing a ’77 song in italian. Italian lyrics fill good in hardcore songs, and that’s why a lot of italian hc bands use to sing in italian. Our language is too intricate, and not many people can understand it outside our country.

Please rank your five favourite records, five favourite concerts and five
most important things in life?
-Records: The Velvet Underground & Nico; Television – Marquee moon; Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers – L.A.M.F.; Dead Boys – Young, loud & snotty; Germs – G.I.
Concerts: Ramones in Rome, 1994; Iggy Pop in Rome, 1996; Motorhead in Rome, 1996; Bloody Riot in Rome, 2000; Gioventù Bruciata in Monza, 2004.
Things in life: Self-consciousness; frienship; love; punk rock; alcool.

First, last and most expensive record ever bought?
-First: Queen – Greatest hits II.
Last: Motorhead – We are Motorhead.
Most expensive: Misfits collection I & II on Lp.

Most embarrasing record in your collection?
-Aerosmith – Pump. But I sold it, eheheheh.

Do you do any covers on stage? Why or why not?
-We use to play “Born to lose” by Thunders & The Heartbreakers, “Sonic Reducer” by the Dead Boys, “Bite it you scum” by GG Allin and sometimes we close the show with our personal version of “You’ll never walk alone”. Of course, we like covers…

Is it many interviews? Is it boring?
-No, we simply love doing interviews. We love communication, tout-court.

Which is the question you never get, please ask it and answer it?
-Q: Will you ever play in Sweden? A: I don’t know but we’d really like to!!!

Where is the best place to play?
-Poland is a great place to play: friendly people, great meat & beer, wonderful girls and lots of fun. I still don’t know where’s the best place, we’re always looking for it…

How is a good gig with you?
-If we’re not too drunk and fucked up, we can put together a more than decent gig. Like every trashed rock’n’roll band, I think.

Which type of people comes to your concerts??
-Skins and punks, but also friends of us and other guys and girls who wanna have fun with the Blood. We don’t like to have a sectorial audience.

What shall we do about all racists?
-Ignoring their ideas and music it’s quite enough.

The best band in punkhistory? And in italian punkhistory?
-Hard question. The Ramones? Negazione? Really, really hard…

The most important punksong? Your best song?
-It’s NOT Anarchy in the U.K., ahahaha. Our best song? Some people say “Debauched”, but we think that our best song is the song we haven’t written yet!

Futureplans for the band?
-Put out another record, tour tour tour, feel great doing our stuff.

For yourself?
-Not sink down.

Wisdomword?
-“Don’t try”.

Something to add?
-Thanks to you, Peter, to Skrutt and to everyone there in Sweden who reads this interview and beats himself in the chest. With our blood of the ’77, baciamo le mani!

P.S. Check out our webzine, www.lamette.it