Based in Sanremo, Italy, uragano have been making self-described "weird lo-fi noisy screamo" or "Italian turbo skramz" since 2013. The post-hardcore band released their new album, LP1, in January. We recently talked to vocalist and guitarist Luca Mele about the band's music and plans for the rest of the year.
What are the origins of the band's name?
Luca: I think me and the first drummer Fra, back in 2013 spent some days searching for a good one. At the time we already had the first EP written and I was rebooting the band after a first failed attempt that lasted one rehearsal. I don't remember who came up with uragano. Meaning "hurricane" in Italian, it fits perfectly the chaotic flow of the music. Also I really like band names with just one word, to me it sounded like a blend between Raein and Underoath so it was perfect.
How did you all meet and what inspired you to make music?
Luca: I think we've known each other since forever. And it's cool because it's a new lineup for uragano and some of us never really played together but I really feel we gathered the best combo of old friends. And this also inspired us a lot, during the years making uragano music really became an excuse to do music with friends. But yeah, before that, I think the main drive behind making uragano music has always been doing emotive and aggressive music that tries to escape from the usual post-hc box.
How has your music evolved since you first began playing together? Which song is your favorite to perform?
Luca: Having changed the lineup something like seven times it surely helped evolving our music and the way we play it ahaha. But besides that, we always wanted to do something that was not stale but ever changing since the beginning. Literally the first EP was screamo inspired and already the second release (a split with Gli Altri) was a Sludgy/Doom one. At the moment my favorite song to play live I think it's "PINGUINO." Certified banger.
What artists do you consider to be major influences?
Luca: Uff this is tough ahah. For myself, I pick La Quiete and Bring Me The Horizon. Ah and Enter Shikari of course.
Where have you performed and what are some of your favorite venues?
Luca: Considering that the band started 11 years ago, we didn't play that much live. It has always been really hard with jobs and life. But we still managed to play a bunch of places in Europe like Italy (of course, coming from here), France, Germany, Czech, Poland, Denmark and UK. I personally like to play unusual venues with this band. Like I still remember that Gli Altri/uragano split release party in a f***ing restaurant basement ahah. But speaking about favorite proper venues I'd say some of my fav to play were surely Café Na Půl Cesty in Prague and T28 in Milan.
How do you feel about the use of AI in music?
Luca: I like the idea of being able to incorporate AI technology into music devices more and more. I think it could open some really cool opportunities for writing and producing music. However of course there's gonna be some horrible consequences in the music market. I mean, I can already picture in my mind AI taking over the whole background and stock music industry, maybe even scores, and companies gonna pay AI programmers instead of composers and I don't like that idea. But that's more the way society is gonna use it. As usual, the problem is the people, not the technology. But talking about the tool itself I'm definitely not against it.
What are your plans for this year?
Luca: We have very busy lives but we will try to play live the new LP a little more. At the moment we have one special show booked for this summer and we are actually planning a European tour later this year. Gonna be the proper first one since 2017 ahah pretty excited about it.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Luca: Forza Calcio and see you soon.
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