Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? Horror Vacui

How was the band formed? Koppa (the singer) has always been playing in crust/punk bands and wanted to started a goth/death rock band. After practicing with several different friends, we found the best line up with Masbucci (guitar), Marziona (guitar), Lara (bass), Henry (drums)

Can you tell about your band? We are 5 punks that share the same passion for new wave, goth and death rock. We are all anti fascist, politically motivated people.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? Koppa (vocals), originally from Galliate (Northern Italy); Masbucci (guitar), originally from Vigevano (Northern Italy); Marziona (guitar), originally from La Spezia (Northern Italy); Lara (bass), originally from Bergamo (Northern Italy); Henry (drums), originally from Bologna. We all now live in Bologna.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? Everybody besides Henry are playing different instruments compared to what they play in the other bands, so the first goal we wanted to reach was to be able to play different instruments, the second was to sound like we wanted to sound, the third was to release a record, the fourth was to go on tour. We achieved all our goals so far.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Vampire punk, kind of a mix of UK goth rock (Sisters Of Mercy, Mission, Fields Of The Nephilim, Screaming Dead, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Killing Joke, 1919, Lords Of The New Church…) and U.S. death rock (Christian Death, Kommunity FK, Mephisto Waltz, Superheroines etc)

Where was your first gig? Milano at Dauntaun

Where was the latest gig? Brooklyn (NYC) at The Acheron

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? Marziona and Koppa wrote all the lyrics so far; Koppa and Masbucci wrote all the music with the help of all the other people in the band who throw in and there their own ideas.

Who has the best since of humor in the band? We’re all very funny people.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? If there was something bad, we wouldn’t be a band anymore, so everything is good in our opinion. Musically we’re a vampire punk band

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We didn’t pick anything up. We just play what we like and we all have at least another couple of completely different bands. Our songs deal with many issue, from anti militarism, till anti fascism, from mental disease to problems linked to drug addiction, from anti religion to  anti government topics.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? Fuck cover bands…

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? “Black Rivers” CD-R Demo (2011); “Can You Still See Reality?” 7” (2012); “In Darkness You Will Feel Alright” LP/CD/TAPE (2012); “Return Of The Empire” LP/CD/TAPE (2014); “U.S.A. Tour LTD EP” 7” (2014)

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Not really, just a home made one

How old are you?/What got you started in music? Koppa is 37, Andrea is 27, Marziona is 32, Lara is 30, Henry is 41. We all started playing because we felt the need to say something and to destroy the boredom that you feel when you’re a teenager.

At what age did you start playing? When we were teenagers, in different bands. Horror Vacui started in 2010

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Can’t remember, but we were definitely underage.

What year was the band started? December 2010

Best/worst gig you've played? Worst was probably in Milano at Ligera supporting Belgrado in 2012 because I was too drunk. Best, I don’t really know. Too many good shows, luckily. Every show has a story behind, so it’s not really possible to say if it was good or bad.

What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? Nothing’s planned yet. We just came home from a U.S. tour, so we need to rest a bit…

Where have you played from then till now? Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Czech Republic, U.S.A., Mexico and Canada.

Witch band is the best you´ve seen? We’ve seen thousands of shows. The list can go on forever

Is it always the same songs live? Absolutely no. It would be sooooo boring…

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Probably Prague at Enemy Of The Sun Festival. Thanx to that show we went on tour in U.S.A. and had two records released by two different American labels

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Three tours: France and Spain with Sect in December/January 2012/13; central Europe in August/September 2013; North America in October/November 2014

How big crowds do you usually play for? Sometimes we played in front of 5 people, sometimes of 400 people. No matter how many people attend the shows, the most important thing is everybody had a good time.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? To play as many shows as possible to promote our new record “Return Of The Empire.

Where do you usually play? Squats, social centers, small clubs.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? Some booze.

What are your goals with your music? Our goal is to travel the world, not making money.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? We never decided to do that. If it will ever happen, then it’s good.; if not, who cares.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Both things in equal measures.

What are your sources of inspiration? Daily life.

What's the first step when making a new song? Musically wise, a riff comes to our minds, we record it singing it in the mobile and then we play it all together. Lyrically wise, some nice sentences come to our minds, we write em down and then we try to adjust em.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? If a person downloads a record, likes it a lot and then don’t buy the record, this person is an idiot. I download music, but also buy records if I like it and it’s not too expensive.

What would be your dreams for the band? To keep on playing till we’re old enough to quit with no remorses.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Lot of different stuff. Mostly punk rock, hardcore, cust, grind, anarcho punk, metal, pop, indie rock, classic rock.

What do you hold most dear? Friendship within the members of the band.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? Too many: extinction, nuclear war, slavery, global diseases, death.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Nothing. When we’re on stage we’re invincible.

What songs and what years were they released? in 4 years we wrote and recorded around 30 songs.

Have you been part of any other projects? We are or have been part of different collectives/squats. Now we run Atlantide squat in Bologna.

Have you been in any other bands? Yes, many many other bands: Kontatto (d-beat), Campus Sterminii (stench core), Giuda (heavy crust), Noia (metal crust), Pussy Face (riot grrrl), Sumo (post hardcore), Headed Nowhere (old school hardcore), Intothebaobab (anarcho punk), Ancient Cult (seventies rock), Gigi (ska core), Van Damme (power violence), Doxie (all female punk rock), Demoniac Stones (punk wave), Komplott (raw punk) etc etc

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I want to make clear that Horror Vacui is not a job at all. Koppa has a label/distribution of records, a small record store inside of a live music club and books tours and rents vans and backlines, Masbucci is a waiter in a restaurant, Marziona work as a social assistant in schools with teenagers, Lara is unemployed and arranges her finances giving Latin private lessons and cleaning a practice room in town, Henry work in a hospital.

What would you do if there was no music? I would be dead.

How important are your fans? I don’t think we have any; we have friends, and they are very important.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? A girl asked us to sign her leather jacket.

How often do you rehearse? 3 times x month.

Where do you rehearse? In a practice room run by the singer of the main old punk band in Bologna, Nabat.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Till The Last Drop and The Right Cure

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? I think you’ve already asked me this question.

What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? I don’t know anybody who lives out of the music they play, so I can’t answer this one even more considering that living out of music has never been an interest of mine.

Do you have any webpages? Just a Facebook page and a Band Camp one.

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Just be yourselves and trust yourselves.

Describe your show, visually and musically I’ve never seen my band live. Basically, when we’re on stage, we’re not so different from when we’re shopping at the supermarket or driving to our jobs.

What advice would you like to give other bands? Already answered than one a few lines above

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? It depends. Sometimes it can be the distances within the band members, sometimes is money to afford good instruments and practicing expenses, sometimes is the lack of venues.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? This question doesn’t mean anything if you don’t compare the clubs to something else.

Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Like I said we have no gigs confirmed, but if someone would like to see a show, just have a look from time to time at our facebook page.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence Creepy political black wave.

What is your favorite crappy instrument? Guitar.

What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Never happened one.

Whats your Pre-show ritual? Getting drunk.