Skiantos is an Italian
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band formed in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
in 1975. They have released ten
studio albums, two
live albums and five
compilation albums. They participated in the Gods of Demential festival on January 12, 2007. Roberto “Freak” Antoni, leader of the band, died in Bologna at 59 years of age on February 12, 2014.
Background
The group formed in the mid-1970s, and their initial repertoire mainly consisted of
cover song
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s.
After some demo tapes, the project became more concrete in 1977 with ''Inascoltable'', an experimental improvised live album which was only distributed
on cassette and which according to Freak Antoni was recorded in "a night of improvisation for ten people in love of music".
[Oderso Rubini, Andrea Tinti (cured by). ''Non disperdetevi. 1977-1982 San Francisco, New York, Bologna. Le città libere del mondo''. Shake edizioni, 2009, .]
The concerts of the group, especially in the beginning, were characterized by provocative performances with references to
Futurist
Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...
and
Dadaist
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...
at the forefront, including the launch of vegetables from the musicians on to the audience.
[Gianluca Testani. ''Enciclopedia del rock italiano''. Arcana Editrice, 2006. .]
In 1978 the group made their official debut with ''
MONOtono'', an album considered the
manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
of the band, characterized by "raw sounds, out of time music, voices out of tune and lyrics that reveal a non-vulgar aggressiveness, made of no sense, paradoxes and puns."
On April 2, 1979 Skiantos participated in the Bologna Rock punk rock and new wave festival, where their performance attracted much publicity. The band brought on stage a kitchen, a table, a TV and a fridge, boiled some spaghetti and then ate it, without playing anything; the audience protested, and Antoni responded "You do not understand a fucking thing: this is avant-garde, you piece-of-shit audience."
The same year they released the album ''Kinotto'', containing their hit ''Mi piaccion le sbarbine''.
Shortly later the leader Freak Antoni left the group, dedicating to some solo musical and literary projects with the stage names Beppe Starnazza and later Astro Vitelli.
The original lineup of the group reformed in 1984, when they released the album ''Ti spalmo la crema''.
Personnel
Current members
* Fabio "Dandy Bestia" Testoni – guitars, vocals (1977–1979, 1984, 1987–2012, 2016–present)
* Roberto "Granito" Morsiani – drums, vocals (1989–2007, 2016–present)
* Luca "Tornado" Testoni – guitars, vocals (1992, 1993, 1996–2012, 2016–present)
* Massimo "Max Magnus" Magnani – vocals, bass (2003–2012, 2016–present)
* Gianluca "Giangi La Molla" Schiavon – drums, vocals (2007–2012, 2016–present)
Former members
* Roberto "Freak" Antoni – vocals (1975–1980, 1984, 1987–2012)
* Andrea "Jimmy Bellafronte" Setti – vocals (1975–1980, 1991, 1999)
* Stefano "Sbarbo" Cavedoni – vocals (1977–1980, 1984, 1999, 2003)
* Bubba Loris – vocals (1975–1978)
* Mario "Come-Lini" Comellini – vocals (1975–1977)
* Linda Linetti – vocals (1980)
* Sandro "Belluomo" Dall'Omo – keyboards (1989–1992)
* Andrea "Andy Bellombrosa" Dalla Valle – guitars (1977–1980, 1999)
* Gianni "Lo Grezzo" Bolelli – guitars (1977, 1979–1980)
* Carlo "Charlie Molinella" Atti – tenor saxophone (1987–1991, 2009)
* Franco "Frankie Grossolani" Villani – bass (1977–1980)
* Stefano "Ringo" Sarti – bass (1977)
* Lucio Bellagamba – bass (1987–1989)
* Marco "Marmo" Nanni – bass (1989–2003)
* Leonardo "Tormento Pestoduro" Ghezzi – drums (1977–1980, 1999)
* J. Tornado – drums (1987–1988)
* Fabio "Tormento Pestolesto" Grandi – drums (1988–1989)
* Sergio Piccinini – drums (1987)
Touring musician
* Nevruz – drums, vocals (2019–present)
Discography
* ''Inascoltable'' (1977)
* ''
MONOtono'' (1978)
* ''Kinotto'' (1979)
* ''Pesissimo!'' (1980)
* ''Ti spalmo la crema'' (1984)
* ''Non c'è gusto in Italia ad essere intelligenti'' (1987)
* ''Troppo rischio per un uomo solo'' (1989)
* ''Signore dei dischi'' (1992)
* ''Saluti da Cortina'' (1993)
* ''Doppia dose'' (1999)
* ''Sogno improbabile'' (2005)
* ''Sesso pazzo'' (2006)
* ''Dio ci deve delle spiegazioni'' (2009)
Singles & EP
*1978 - "Karabigniere Blues / Io sono un autonomo"
*1980 - "Fagioli / Mi piaccion le sbarbine"
*1999 - "Gratis"
*2002 - "Virus"
*2006 - "Sesso pazzo"
*2009 - "Phogna - The Dark Side of the Skiantos" (EP)
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Italian punk rock groups
Comedy rock musical groups
Italian rock music groups