- 11 months ago
Sara interviews vocalist Damiano David, bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio from the band Maneskine.
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00:00It's 93.3 WMMR. I am Sarah and joining us today are a band who are very quickly taking over the
00:08world. They got their start in Italy. They're making their way through America and this fall
00:13they'll be in Philadelphia. Finally after long last I bring you Damiano, Victoria, Tomas and
00:19Ethan. It is Monaskin. Thanks so much for being here today. Hi. Hello. I want to start by
00:26apologizing on behalf of Americans all across the country for butchering your band name
00:33on this first few tours and press rounds. I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry. Living in Italy
00:42with a Danish name is not any better. Gotcha. So what's like the worst pronunciation of the
00:49band name that you've heard so far? Maneskin is the worst. I think the worst is Maneski
00:56because it means like aggressive in Italian. Oh. I didn't even think that. You might accidentally
01:05insult somebody if you mispronounce it. That's no good. So all four of you are here today.
01:11That's fantastic. Why don't you take a moment and introduce yourselves and let us know what
01:14you do in the band. Oh sure. Sure. I'm Ethan and I'm the drummer. I'm Victor and I play the bass.
01:20Damiano, the vocalist, Samas and I play the guitar.
01:24You're the vocalist, like the DJ. The vocalist, yeah.
01:27Come on, make some noise. The hype man.
01:30It's all about that. Every band needs a hype man. Absolutely. So where are you now?
01:36Brazil. In Rock and Rio. Yeah. Oh, that's exciting. Have you played yet or? No, we're about to play.
01:44Yeah. Okay. Okay. And you're from Rome originally, right? Are you based in LA now? I think I read.
01:52No, no, no. Still in Rome. We spent like three months living there, but we can't abandon Rome.
01:58Yeah. You can't. You can't. I wanted to ask about LA because it seems like that city definitely
02:03influenced the latest single supermodel, which we've been playing here on MMR.
02:07Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy for us to get to live there and like get deeper into the,
02:15I don't know, just the style of life that there is there because it's something completely different
02:21from Italy and of course, Rome. So we were a bit like more into the star system and everything. So
02:27of course we met like a lot of nice and cool people. But on the other hand, we also saw a lot of
02:32fake people that were just pretending to be someone different or just cared about being around,
02:38I don't know, celebrities or in the right, most cool clubs or whatever, and just fake everything,
02:46basically. So that's why we wrote the song Supermodel, taking a bit of the piss off them.
02:52How does Rome compare then? I've never been. So how would you describe it to someone who's never been there?
02:57It's very, very different. It's hard to say what's different because it's basically everything.
03:09How people interact, what to do during the day, how you eat, everything.
03:17It's way more, I'd say, way more chill. It's just, yeah, not so much about, you know,
03:24even just the restaurants or clubs. It's not about having these fancy places. It's more just about
03:30something more homemade, more traditional. Show with the flow type of vibe.
03:35I would say that it's more cool to take inspiration directly from the city because it's really
03:42beautiful and you can just walk around the city and see the beautiful architecture and take lots
03:48of inspiration. But Los Angeles is different because you can take inspiration from the people,
03:54of course, because there's not really, I don't know, scene in, if we talk about the music. So in Rome,
04:04there doesn't exist this kind of scene. That's a shame, of course.
04:08Yeah, I'd say like in Rome, there's also less like events for young people or people making music or in the art business.
04:15It's not worth the music business. It's based. Yeah. It's the opposite of the thing.
04:22Right. Well, you're making a great pitch for it. I definitely have to come visit sometime.
04:26Yeah, you have to. Absolutely. Teatro di Dira? Yes. Volume one. I did it. Yes. Hooray.
04:35That's the album that you released last year and volume one implies that there will be a volume two.
04:42So is that in the works? What can you tell us about some new music that might be coming?
04:47We have to admit, because when we gave that record, it was like before the Eurovision and everything.
04:53So we planned to release that album and then just a couple of months after a volume two.
04:58But then, of course, we won Eurovision, started touring and everything. So our whole schedule changed.
05:04So now it's been quite a long and we've wrote a lot of new music.
05:10So maybe it's not going to be a volume two. Who knows?
05:14Okay. You'll just skip volume two and go straight to volume three.
05:17Yeah. And then someday we can do a volume two.
05:20We're speaking with Monaskin on 93.3 WMMR. Let's talk about the VMAs.
05:27What happened? You're there. You're rocking. Nipple comes out, whatever. It's rock and roll.
05:34But you get off the stage and then, you know, the tweets start pouring in.
05:37Why weren't the cameras on Monaskin? So from your vantage point, what exactly happened that night?
05:43Cansorship. I don't know.
05:46Like we kind of expected that because we know how it works. But of course, we were a bit disappointed.
05:59But like not angry, but because we kind of knew that.
06:04But was it intentional?
06:06No, no, of course not. Of course not.
06:09I mean, no judgment if it was. I'm all for it. So there's no wrong answer here.
06:14It wasn't meant to happen, but we feel like it's been a bit excessive.
06:20Like you don't need, like it was, it's just a nipple.
06:24It just wanted to come out and say, yeah, I know.
06:28But the thing is that I was shirtless too, and Ethan was shirtless too.
06:36So like we still don't see the difference between my nipples, Ethan's nipples and fixed nipples.
06:43But it's really strange, isn't it?
06:46Yeah, very strange.
06:47What's under there? What's under there that's going to scare us so bad?
06:50Yeah, exactly.
06:51That's the thing.
06:52It's a bit, yeah, it's quite sad that still nowadays there's still so much difference between women's and men's body.
06:59Like it's just how we're born is just skin and everyone should be seen equally and not.
07:05Just it's unfair how much women get sexualized or also it's just like even something that should be so normal is seen as such a big deal.
07:14Or people think that if you're confident just in your own skin, then you're doing it for attention or whatever.
07:20I don't know. It's it's very sad.
07:22There shouldn't be all this difference and everyone should just be free to be who they are.
07:27I agree one thousand percent.
07:29And hey, perhaps you will lead the charge for some change.
07:32I hope it happens sooner rather than later.
07:34But if anything comes of this, I want I hope that you start selling those Black Star pasties at the merch booth on tour,
07:43because I would absolutely I would buy some.
07:47I would also buy the bunny rabbit mask that I think Thomas was wearing a little while back.
07:53Yeah, in Japan.
07:55We lost it so it was left in Japan.
07:57Yeah, we left it there, fortunately.
08:00So sad.
08:01It was nightmare fuel, but absolutely fascinating.
08:05A bit scary.
08:06I turned around and I saw this, I don't know, rock and roll rabbit.
08:10It wasn't a rabbit, it was a farm mouse.
08:16A farm mouse.
08:17You know, the lab mouse is the one they make experiments on.
08:23They must give me more power to play.
08:25It makes solos.
08:27Yes, it fuels the playing.
08:29So many of your songs are written in Italian, obviously.
08:35And I've seen a few concerts outside of the United States where English is not the first language,
08:41but everybody is singing the songs that are written in English by the band.
08:47And when I see that happen, it's really awe inspiring to me.
08:51And, you know, as you travel throughout the world, I'm wondering, do the fans who, when you're not in Italy,
08:57sing the songs that are written in Italian to you?
09:00Yeah, they do.
09:01And it's actually very funny.
09:02Like, it's crazy because a lot of people tell us they're like learning Italian with our songs
09:07or just to try to understand the meaning, which is very nice.
09:11But it's also very fun because every time we go and people try, of course, to sing along with the Italian songs.
09:17But then, of course, they have like the funniest pronunciation because they're not Italian.
09:23So every time it's like we hear new versions of our songs, which is quite fun.
09:29The American remix, the British remix, the Spanish remix, all of it.
09:34But I think it kind of speaks to the idea that music transcends language and things like that.
09:42Would you agree?
09:42Sure, absolutely.
09:46We'll see that in action when Mona's going to come to Philadelphia.
09:49Like I said, finally, this fall.
09:52It's those shows, by the way, on November 28th and 29th, and they're on sale now.
09:57Pretty cool that you've never played Philadelphia and your first time here is going to be a doubleheader.
10:02Yeah, not bad, right?
10:03No, not at all.
10:05Not at all.
10:06When was your first show in the United States?
10:08Was it in New York?
10:09It was in New York.
10:10It was the last summer.
10:11Boring, boring, boring.
10:12Boring, boring, boring.
10:14It was iconic.
10:14It was insane.
10:15Yeah, it was very good.
10:17It was a little over a year ago, right?
10:19Yeah, a year ago, yeah.
10:20Okay.
10:21I have a friend who traveled up there by train last minute to see you guys.
10:26She's such a big fan.
10:27And she said that it was an absolutely amazing gig.
10:30Very, you know, raw energy, bare bones rock and roll.
10:34Because it was your first show and first round in America, there wasn't a whole lot of fancy production.
10:41Not that you needed it, but I'm wondering, now that you've got this headline tour planned,
10:46what can we expect to see?
10:47Do you have anything planned in terms of theatrics?
10:50Well, we never make super fancy stage setups.
10:56We like to keep it very, very raw, just us on stage, some lights, maybe some pirates, but not even that.
11:05Like, we like to keep the focus on us and the music because we feel like the live, it's like the finishing part of all the work that you do.
11:16You know, when you write an album, you just settle, you write the album, you record everything, you do promo and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
11:24But everything reaches the peak when you're touring and when you're playing live.
11:30So we think that it's worth it to keep the attention just on the music.
11:35And we do the same like in TV, like we're very simple.
11:41As long as there's no nipples, God forbid.
11:55Listen, if there's nipples every show, I'm there.
11:58I'm absolutely there.
11:58Yes, I can't wait.
12:00Ethan, I wanted to ask you, you answered the call to be part of this band through Facebook, right?
12:07Yep, absolutely.
12:09Yes, it happened.
12:10The day he regrets the most.
12:13Pretty good.
12:14Well, you know, the three of you were looking for that missing piece of the puzzle and then you found it in Ethan.
12:19But Ethan, when you replied to that Facebook post, did you have any idea that you were going to be taken on this rock and roll whirlwind?
12:27Absolutely not.
12:29Like that period was special because I was looking for a band and when I replied to the victorious post, I didn't absolutely like it was totally unexpected, of course.
12:41But actually, the first day we met, like personally, and the first day we actually played together for the first time, I just felt, I don't know, I just have this good memory about this day.
12:57Because when I, when I played with them, I just felt normal, like playing with someone.
13:04And then when I, when I, when I came back home, I realized that actually it was very special what just happened.
13:13You felt the chemistry?
13:14I felt like that normal.
13:15Yeah, exactly.
13:16The chemistry that, that we felt like it was very special, was precious.
13:21And then when I came home, I remember the thing.
13:25I, I can, I, I just went to my mother that was waiting for me.
13:29And I said, Mom, I think I have a band now.
13:33Yes.
13:33And what did she say?
13:36She's like, oh really?
13:38Okay, happy for you.
13:41That's cute.
13:42That's cute.
13:42Very, very simple.
13:43Very simple.
13:44Especially also for me.
13:47Especially also for you.
13:48Of course, yeah.
13:49What does she think of it now that it's just blown up in the past, what, two years?
13:53I mean, you've been a band longer than that, but it seems like you've really accelerated these past couple of years.
13:57Yeah, correct.
13:58She was like, you should have deleted Facebook.
14:00Why are you with these weird people now?
14:05Crazy people.
14:06Actually, like all our families or all our parents and friends are very happy about all the things that
14:13we're doing now and all the things that we did, of course.
14:17So, yeah, I think, I think it's very important, like to be close to the here, to the heat of our,
14:23our closest, closest like persons and the persons we care the most about.
14:30I think it's very important.
14:32I imagine that Italy is very proud of you.
14:34Yeah.
14:35Yeah.
14:35Half enough.
14:37Half enough.
14:37For now?
14:38Half of Italy is very proud and the other half, not half, a little less.
14:43They are proud.
14:43Yeah, most of them are proud, but then there's a bit part of very, you know, conservative,
14:49like Italy on top.
14:51Those are the ones that don't like the nipples.
14:53Exactly.
14:54The ones that don't like the nipples, makeup and everything.
14:57So they're like, oh my God, why are these people going around the world representing Italy?
15:02But yeah, they're just the haters that are normal and haters in general.
15:06So, yes, you know, you've made it when you have haters.
15:09Exactly.
15:11Exactly.
15:11Yes.
15:11That's right.
15:13So touring all over the world means you get to rub elbows with some musical and rock and roll heavyweights.
15:19In fact, just a moment ago, I saw that you ran into Trey Cool of Green Day.
15:24Was that today or yesterday?
15:26Yes.
15:27He's one of my absolute favorites.
15:29What did you think?
15:30The best.
15:30We're best friends now.
15:32We are best friends.
15:34Oh, that was quick.
15:34He's super kind.
15:36Every time we are at the same festival, he always comes up to us.
15:42Nice.
15:43It varies with...
15:44Yeah, because basically we've been almost doing, I don't know, 10 shows with Green Day.
15:49Always the same shows.
15:50So every time we run into each other and now we're basically, every time we just spend
15:54all the time with him and his wife, they're very sweet.
15:57Yeah.
15:57Oh, yeah.
15:58It was because he was also in our gig in Pomona, in L.A.
16:04Pomona, that's right.
16:06He went to our gig just to see the show, you know?
16:10So it was really, really cool.
16:12Yeah, it's super nice.
16:13Yeah.
16:14That's kick-ass.
16:15Yeah, absolutely.
16:18He is actually Trey Cool.
16:20Is there anyone else that you've run into in your travels that was kind of a wow moment for you?
16:26Yeah, honestly, there's been so many people because, I don't know, it just feels weird
16:31because all these big, big, big artists you grow up admiring and watching on TV or whatever,
16:37and then you meet them in person.
16:38And it's crazy going from the Stones to, I don't know, Iggy Pop, but also like Miley Cyrus.
16:44Oh, all those nice people.
16:46Yeah, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
16:48Today we're playing before Guns N' Roses and our rooms are like next to each other.
16:54So we might sneak in and say, please, can you talk with us?
17:00Actually, Flia said that she's a broker.
17:04Yes.
17:05Yeah.
17:05She's a rapper.
17:07That's a pretty high compliment coming from him.
17:10It is.
17:11I can quit now.
17:13Yeah, you're done.
17:14You're done.
17:14Just kidding.
17:14No, you're not.
17:16You have a lot of work yet to be done.
17:18Like I said at the top, you're taking over the world and you're coming to Philadelphia this fall.
17:22We can't wait to see you November 28th and 29th.
17:25That's at the Fillmore.
17:26And those shows are on sale now.
17:28And we hope that when you come by, you're able to stop here at the MMR studios to say hello.
17:33That would be great.
17:34Of course.
17:35Of course, absolutely.
17:35Damiano, Victoria, Thomas, and Ethan Manuskin, thank you so much for joining us today.
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