Tropea, the interview: X Factor and the new album, Serole

The fact is that i Tropea ‒ Pietro Lupo Selvini (vocals), Domenico Fizio (guitar), Lorenzo Pisoni (bass) and Claudio Damiano (drums) ‒ had nothing to do with X Factor. And not just because they had already been around for years, building credibility on club stages. It's a question of attitude: they don't make “television” rock like Måneskin, to quote the master group of this discussion, but they put aside sequins, spotlights and glam atmospheres for a more difficult sound, for a few. It proves it Serole, their debut album released now, a year after the final in which they arrived, given the bases, surprisingly: more than melody and stadium chants, there are psychedelia and old generation Italian alternative rock, a mix between Verdena and Tame Impala, dreamlike, “for a mental journey”. Stuff for connoisseurs; or, to be negative, for nostalgics.

They do not deny the past and TV, on the contrary, but it is clear that compared to that world they represent a short circuit. Even if the edition of X Factor in which they took part, it must be said, it was particular for the search for projects that were already at least minimally established and that led outside the pavement, as the victory of the French Saints would later testify. «It's true», they say, «our name was already circulating in the clubs, we weren't there to gamble our careers». The Gascon spirit is the only thing that distinguishes them from the independents of the noughties, who instead tended to take themselves seriously. But they too, if looked at deeply, have this old and sacred idea of ​​the border between Right And wrong: «We are seeing Renzo Arbore's broadcasts from the 1960s. It's incredible, when you think about it, how much culture was done on TV. And how clear was the criticism towards “commercial” music compared to that which was not”.

The question, however, is legitimate: did you need it X Factor?
«At the beginning we also thought we had nothing to do with it. We wouldn't have expected it. We reasoned as we once did, convinced that we would risk the “street credibility” gained in the underground. But they were outdated concepts: the program was and remains focused on music, they gave us freedom; of course, there were also shootings and other things to do, but music was always at the center.”

And there?
«Zero expectations. We entered when we were almost thirty years old: we had no experience in the world of TV, but life experience, yes. Many friends had already entered and left the talent shows, we had put up the “shield”. We didn't wait for a turning point, much less did we believe that the program could, or should, “invent us”. We went there convinced that as long as the narrative of the program agreed with our intentions it would be fine, then the paths would part and there would be peace. We reached the final, and so much the better. But music had no longer been a dream for years, it was already a concrete reality.”

You already knew the “real life” that many contestants discover at the end of the program.
«Real life begins, for all the finalists, with the first episode of Masterchef (they laugh, ed.). For us it wasn't too traumatic, we just needed to get used to the fact that we go back to shopping on our own, not having a driver and everything else. But we lacked contact with the outside world.”

Was there anything you weren't ready for?
«It took time to process the energy given and received, and the love of the people. TV, beyond everything, brings a very large audience. We wanted to be tough guys, but the good feeling took over.”

What year was it?
«A year of “performances”, rather than concerts. X Factor maybe it gives two minutes per episode to play, other festivals we've been to, like Primo Maggio, just more. Clearly it's the TV, and it fits. It's a challenge: trying to strike immediately, getting noticed with little available. But we came from the stages and the actual live shows, the sweaty and very long ones. And we were very happy when we actually went back on tour.”

What did you miss?
«The, let's say, extemporaneous dimension: in a concert, due to its duration and situation, you have much more opportunity to improvise, to do unexpected things; on television, for obvious reasons, it is more “rigid”.

What can you see from the stage?
«Two audiences. The first is that of TV: it comes first, it is in front and is often made up of families, because the son has convinced the parents to come, and they bring the banners; usually, it seems to us, they are not too used to being at concerts. Further down there are the previous fans X Factor, more alert, who always frequent the clubs and know how to convey more energy to you. At the start”.

Weren't you afraid of betraying them?
«We would have betrayed them if we had betrayed ourselves. In fact the agreement to go to X FactorFor us, it was precisely not to betray the essence of Tropea. If someone was offended by the mere fact that we were on TV… well, maybe they weren't the right fan for us. And then we wanted to risk it a little.”

How is the coexistence between these two audiences going?
“Very good. The front rows are usually not used to energetic live shows like ours. But it's also an engaging show, and it doesn't take long for you to get used to it. In fact, in the end it becomes a big party, where everything comes back and people mix.”

In short, have you “survived” by returning to the past?
«And giving ourselves an objective: after six years of activity, it was time to concentrate all our strength to record a real album; clearly the distractions were there, but it was worth it. Serole he was born like this.”

I read online: «Serole is an Italian municipality of 99 inhabitants in the province of Asti in Piedmont». What does it mean?
«We like to mention places, in songs, that are places of the soul. In Serole, for example, there is Gallipoli. But Tropea itself is a place of the soul. Here the reason was also practical: we retreated to a house there, to work on the album without interference; we did it before too, it's a habit. And every band's dream.”

Why a record and not, say, a series of singles?
«Because, again, for bands it is fundamental. Even if the records don't make the algorithm happy, which prefers singles. Even if the records are out of fashion. But atypical choices represent our soul.”

The one that, you said before, you didn't want to betray.
«An alternative soul. If we had lived in the Seventies we would have been one of those protest groups, if we had been in the Nineties we would have been one of those alternative groups that perhaps we also take inspiration from.”

And today?
«Today making alternative music means turning off the voices that come from outside, where everyone shouts what they do. It means finding yourself. And in fact in recent months we have listened to as little new music as possible, to try to talk about ourselves. When we started there was a lot of movement around the Porta Venezia scene, where we belonged. And there was kind of an indie scene. Today it seems that this sense of dialogue and community has disappeared. But we believe in it: at the concerts – we will be on tour from February – we hope to see new faces who maybe want real music live; that is, dirty, rough, improvised. Creativity always comes from the alternative, not from concessions.”

Is there space to do it in Italy?
«The beauty of making alternative music is also taking your own space, without pressure. TO X Factorso to speak, that's how it went. And the radios in the last year have played our songs even if they weren't that popular on the radio. So we aim to take up more spaces.”