Q: Your new album "Gran Gala" describes the situation in Italy brutally honestly. Why did you decide to portray the situation so brutally?
A: To be honest, we wanted to record an album about "Berlusconism" because we hoped that the Berlusconi era was over. Unfortunately, our hope has not come true due to the ignorance of the Italian people.
By the term "Berlusconism," we mean not only the last 18 years, which were marked by a bad government in Italy, but generally the ignorant and populist mentality that resides in both the right and left political camps.
This mentality, which is lived in politics, has its origins more than 30 years ago when Berlusconi began to gain more and more power over the news and the media. As a result, he was able to spread his immoral and trivial program piece by piece through the media, thus increasingly influencing the mentality of the population in Italy.
A very well-known Italian director, Mario Monicelli, once said that Italians like to choose people who think for them. People like Berlusconi, Mussolini, or Bettino Craxi (note from the author: among others, Prime Minister of Italy from 1983-1987, allowed Berlusconi to operate more than one private television channel, which was not legally possible until then), who, when they lost power, acted as if they were not responsible for what happened. Monicelli's words are so true.
Now we are in a dangerous situation. The old politicians who have been in power in recent years have ruined the country and exploited it for their interests. In contrast, there are the so-called "new politicians," who in our eyes are at least as dangerous as the old politicians. It is a situation that resembles that of 1919. That was the period of "Fasci Di Combattimento" when a group of people who did not allow criticism and dissent marched to Rome, found many supporters there, and brought Italy a 20-year-long, shameful dictatorship.
Q: How is your new album "Gran Gala" received in Italy?
A: We are on the road a lot and mostly play outside of Italy.
We do not care how we are received in Italy. When we think about it and about how this country has fared and will probably continue to fare, it only frustrates us more.
Italy has always been divided into two camps.
One camp is anti-fascist, considers the fight for a more social state important, and is against the mafia.
The other camp consists of people who do not care about any of this or who are generally against what the first camp wants to enforce.
It is nice for us to see that people from the first camp come to our concerts and can identify with our lyrics and our attitude. We are on the road for a large part of the year and come into contact with many other people and cultures, so we are quite far away from Italians and their special mentality.
Q: Your videos for the songs from "Gran Gala," e.g., "Danza dell'autunno Rosa," offer a lot of room for interpretation. Why did you decide to give a lot of room for interpretation without making a clear statement?
A: We think it's good when we can provide opportunities for interpretation. In our videos and in our songs, we like to use metaphors.
The themes we sing about are very complex and cannot be solved by a single measure or change. We want to achieve with our releases that people talk to each other about these topics and find solutions together.
For example, the song "Danza dell’Autunno Rosa" fits very well. This song is about the institutional left that panders to the masses to regain strength.
Of course, this is a theme that affects not only the left but generally the parties in Italy. It is also about the mafia mentality, where one wants to assert one's own interests at the expense of others.
Q: In Germany, many people do not understand why so many Italians voted for Berlusconi for the third time. Can you explain that?
A: Many Italians voted for Berlusconi because they are simply ignorant and stupid. However, it also has to do with media influence and the targeted dissemination of false information, which is unfortunately widespread in Italy.
This tactic is also used by the party "Movimento 5 Stelle" (note from the author: the party of Beppe Grillo). They are just talkers who have managed to impress some people.
For example, it is not known in Italy that Berlusconi told SPD politician Martin Schulz in the European Parliament in 2003 to portray a capo in a concentration camp film set in Italy. This response was given by Berlusconi when Schulz accused him of having a conflict of interest due to his political activity and ownership of television channels.
For Italians who vote for and have voted for Berlusconi, anyone who is against Berlusconi is a communist. There are far too many Italians who see Berlusconi as a benefactor and philanthropist. It is despairing.
Q: Do you have hope that better days can come in Italy?
A: When I look at the results of the last election and see how Beppe Grillo, a new Berlusconi, is gaining popularity, and considering that people are lying to themselves due to their own incompetence, I have no hope for better days in Italy.
Q: What will Italy look like in 2023?
A: Italy will be ruled by a new populist who promises gold to the population but only works for his interests and will continue to ruin the country. This has been the case in the past, and we see no change for the future.
Q: How do you cope with your success?
A: We have played abroad since the founding of the band. This is a big advantage, and we are very happy with it. If we had only stayed in Italy and tried to become known there, we could have disbanded eight years ago (note from the author: TALCO was founded in 2000/2001). We have worked hard on ourselves and the band from the beginning. We have certainly been lucky and are very glad that we have become more known step by step thanks to our fans.
It sounds a bit strange, but we think that we have also become more known because of our hard work. It is thus quite strange to benefit from a performance society, even though we are actually against it. Through our success, we can realize and live our ideas and visions. This is new for us. Many bands in Italy do not understand this.
We often remember the performance in 2005 at S.O. 36 in Berlin as part of the "Punk-Italia-Festival." That was where everything started for us. Many good and very well-known bands from Italy played at this festival. The bands were very well known in Italy and wondered why a band like TALCO was playing there, as TALCO was the only band at this festival that was not yet known in Italy and did not belong to the old-school Italian bands.
That evening we showed that it does not matter who you know as a band, but what you do on stage.
We thank all the fans and friends who have accompanied us from the beginning and have made us what we are today.
Q: On your website, fans can vote for the songs you will play live. Why do you do that?
A: Well, people come to our concerts and want to hear their favorite songs. Why shouldn't we give them the opportunity to vote for the songs they want to hear? Then they will be even happier. We can also get to know the taste of our fans. A close bond and contact with our fans is very important to us.
Q: Which band would you like to tour with?
A: Manu Chao! We last saw the band in 2001 at a ska-punk festival in Bologna. When Manu Chao performed, we realized that it was exactly the music we would like to play ourselves.
Q: You have many fans outside of Italy. Have you ever thought about recording an album with English lyrics?
A: No. We think it is important to write lyrics in the language you know, speak, and master. Only in this language can you truly express your thoughts and feelings. The Italian language is very suitable for song lyrics. We think it makes no sense to write a text in your mother tongue and then painstakingly translate it into another language.
Q: Do you know the film "Das Venedig-Prinzip"? This documentary shows how difficult it is for the residents of the city in their daily lives because more and more important infrastructure is disappearing (doctors, hospitals, schools, etc.), prices are exploding (both for food and housing), and the city is increasingly turning into an open-air museum for tourists.
A: Venice is a special city. It is true that this city is extremely expensive. Sometimes it is hard to believe how expensive. It is also true that the residents form a community that is as provincial and limited as nowhere else on the Italian coast.
Venice offers tourists an incredible amount. Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but as a resident of Venice, it is very difficult to live there. Venice manages to give its residents a very own mentality, and Venice is an island! The populations of islands are always special.
Q: You come from Marghera. Marghera is an industrial city. What is the political and social situation like there?
A: Marghera is primarily known for the fact that 160 workers died because they were exposed to the toxic substance vinyl chloride for years. The deaths have not had any effect so far. However, there is currently a change in thinking at the political level, so that the situation for workers in the factories will hopefully improve a bit in the future. However, for this change in thinking, 160 workers had to die.
Something in the moral standards of the politicians must be very rotten.
Q: You say Berlin is your second home. Are there so many Italians here that you feel at home, or what is the reason?
A: We even consider Berlin our first home! It is because we are so grateful to Berlin. We have always been well received in Berlin, met many great people who live in Berlin, and feel completely comfortable here. Berlin has always been a city that has supported us and made us what we are today.
It all started in 2005. Until then, we had played a handful of concerts per year. In 2005, Mauro (note from the author: co-initiator of the "Punk-Italia-Festival")
offered us to play at the "Punk-Italia-Festival." From then on, things went up for us. In 2007, our manager Kai from "Muttis Booking" started working with us on a level we never thought possible. Some time later, we received the offer from "Destiny Records" to produce and promote our future album. All of this is from Berlin!
Q: You are big fans of FC St. Pauli. Are there football clubs in Italy like FC St. Pauli? What is the football fan scene like in Italy?
A: There is no left-wing football club like FC St. Pauli in Italy, nor are there fans like those of FC St. Pauli. There used to be a left-wing fan movement called "Fossa dei Leoni," but it no longer exists.
Football fans in Italy are all extremely right-oriented. Especially the fans of Hellas Verona, Inter Milan, and Lazio Rome.
The majority of left-wing football fans in Italy belong to AS Livorno Calcio. This is a team from Serie B (second league), which may be promoted and play in Serie A next year.
