The group Generation.On.Dope is very interesting. Established in 2002, its sound is a mix of eighties hard rock with metalcore, post-punk and others. We interviewed Simone Zuccarini, frontman and founder of the band. Check them out below.
GROUNDCAST We are very pleased with the honor of interviewing Simone Zuccarini, from Generation.On.Dope. In order to initiate, could you tell us little about how you started your career as a musician?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI Well, I started as a kid, I was 14 and I just wanted to emulate my favourite performers, just like many teenagers do. Then, over the years, I felt the need to do something more personal.
GROUNDCAST What does the name Generation.On.Dope mean? Is it a way to criticize our present generation?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI It’s not strictly a criticism, it’s more like a suggestion. There are a lot of useless things we can’t do without and we somehow become slaves to those things, while many people are forced to live with less than necessary. Maybe our goal is to set us free from what we don’t need, in order to make this world a better place to live.
GROUNDCAST What are the difficulties of maintaining a band in active, in your opinion?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI Difficulties increase as time goes by. After many years playing in a band, you can face a lack of motivation that, in most cases, leads to a breakup. In our case, our motivation is the need to express our feelings and ideas through our music. In a certain way, music improves ourselves.
GROUNDCAST You have begun with a hard rock band called Razzle Dazzle, sounding a lot different than you do today. Could you tell us a little about the time as a member of the Razzle Dazzle?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI It’s been a great time, between 2003 and 2006 the rock scene in Italy was really dynamic, we had the chance to play hundreds of shows over those years, having much fun and knowing a lot of cool people.
GROUNDCAST Could you tell us about what your main influences?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI We are influenced by everything we listen to, and we all listen to a lot of music, mainly heavy metal in all of its derivations, but also punk-hardcore and so on.
GROUNDCAST How is the process to the composition of songs?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI In the case of “Ghosts”, we had a group of songs composed individually by each of us. We did not want “Ghosts” to sound like a collection of songs, but more like a concept album, so the big challenge was to make each track a chapter of a bigger story, though mantaining a certain musical variety.
GROUNDCAST Listening carefully to your work, is notorious the change and the incorporation of new musical genres, without losing the essence of heavy metal. In some moments I feel the flirting with the metalcore and the post-punk. How do you define the Generation.On.Dope’s genre?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI Well, it’s hard to tell. When you work so hard on a record, you’re no longer unbiased while speaking about it. On the other hand, it’s really interesting to see how the listeners define our music. Curiously, the most popular definition it’s simply “alternative rock”.
GROUNDCAST Where did the idea to record a The Cure’s cover?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI We first heard “Burn” in The Crow’s movie soundtrack, many many years ago. Riccardo made the arrangement, some of us were uncertain about putting it in the record, but when we first played it, we soon felt like it has always been part of our repertory.
GROUNDCAST Normally metal bands have members with visual fashion part with more aggressive/dark themes. However you dress like everyday people. Is it deliberate? Why?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI Sometimes it seems like look is more important than music, and this is so constricting. We tried to escape this clichè adopting a neutral outfit, in order to focus people’s attention on the music we play.
GROUNDCAST How was the production of “Ghosts” album?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI We managed the whole process in first person, without the aid of a producer. It’s been a hard work and we could have made some mistakes, but I think that it was necessary in order to preserve the heterogeneous sound of the record.
GROUNDCAST Could you comment a little about the lyrics of the new album?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI They mainly speak about the decline of a society, there are particular referrals to the situation of our country, but also to the inner struggle of people who doesn’t want to be a part of this system anymore.
GROUNDCAST What is your opinion about sharing mp3? In countries such as Brazil is very difficult to get access to physical CDs and they are very expensive, beyond the purchasing capacity of the people who could purchase the disc.
SIMONE ZUCCARINI Well, when we were kids we used to “share” music by copying cassettes or Cds, nowadays the music is no longer bound to the physical support and this is a great opportunity, both for artists and listeners. The global marketplace can not fight the progress, it has to deal with it. At the present time there are some services like Spotify or Deezer that give you access to an immense music library, almost for free! It’s perfectly legal, and the artists get paid for each time a song gets played, maybe this is the future of music distribution.
GROUNDCAST How do you evaluate the Europe today, with the crisis plaguing the old continent?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI It seems to me like we’re paying for some other’s mistakes. Referring to my country in particular, we’re suffering decades of mismanagement by an inadequate ruling class. Their failure is clearly evident, and it’s up to the new generations to think if another way is possible.
GROUNDCAST How is the metal scene here in Italy? Is there receptivity to new bands?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI In my opinion, the metal scene here is always alive and kicking! Unfortunately the chances to play live in our country are slowly decreasing, but there’s a lot of bands that are as good as many international acts.
GROUNDCAST What bands do you recommend in Italy?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI We’re in touch with plenty of great bands, our friends DustInEyes have just released an amazing EP, they are awesome. Check out also Rhyme, they just came out with their second album.
GROUNDCAST Do you know any Brazilian band?
SIMONE ZUCCARINI I can’t forget the day I first listened to “Chaos A.D.” by Sepultura, it really blew my mind. I also loved Angra, indeed.
Unfortunately we are not so up-to-date about new bands, suggestions are welcome!
GROUNDCAST Thank you for the interview. Here is the space to leave a message to readers of Groundcast.
SIMONE ZUCCARINI Time is the most precious thing you have, never waste it. Thanks to you and all the readers of Groundcast, check out our website www.generationondope.com or our Facebook page for updates!
Related Links
http://www.generationondope.com/
http://www.twitter.com/generationdope
http://ww.myspace.com/generationondope
http://www.youtube.com/user/GenerationOnTube