Interview with Cesoia

A talk with Bologna’s skinhead rock ‘n’ roll band Cesoia

Cesoia – made up of Gerry on vocals, Davide on guitar, Matt on bass, and Mauro on drums – haven’t been around for long, but they’ve already played a decent number of gigs and released a debut album at the end of 2024. So, let’s get to know Cesoia and their skinhead rock ’n’ roll!

Radio Punk: Hello lads – welcome to our zine! Tell us a little bit about how, where, and when Cesoia got started, and which other projects, bands, or collectives you have been or are currently involved in…

Gerry: Hi there! Me, Davide and Mauro have known each other for over 15 years – we all moved to Bologna from distant places in Italy. Then a few years ago, we met Matt, and after a many chats over many beers and shots, Robert Johnson appeared to us and we realised we should probably drink less and start a band that mixes the energy of rock ‘n’ roll with the rage of Oi!

Mauro and Davide come from Sardinia, where they played in various punk bands before moving to Bologna for university. It was not long before they formed Zeman. I sang in a few punk bands in Naples before moving to Bologna. It was here that I started Misfatt with Vinc from the local Oi! band Zeman during the lockdown period – a demented Misfits-style band singing in the Neapolitan language. We never played live, but we had a blast. Matt, on the other hand, has lived in a several different countries and, ages ago, played in garage bands such as Mod Fuck Explosion.

Radio Punk: Your themes and style are unmistakably working-class and skinhead. Tell us a bit about your lyrics and the messages you want to convey to your audience.

Cesoia: We live every word in our lyrics, and our lyrics are us – from laughter to rage, from social injustice to workplace strife, from class struggle to everyday battles, from drunken nights to late-night odysseys in search of the last open bar. In short, it’s music of the people, for the people. And to those who listen to us – great choice, keep it up, Oi!

Cesoia – S/T

Radio Punk: Let’s move to a topic that’s very important to us. What role does politics play in your lives? And what’s your take on those who identify as apolitical skins?

Cesoia: The members of the band have different political leanings, but we’re all anti-capitalist and anti-fascist. For us the real threat is not from below but from above, from control at all costs to the standardisation of entertainment. We’re all politically conscious – being apolitical is not for us. Politics is part of our lives and taking a stand on certain issues is a must.

Radio Punk: You’ve been around for quite a few years, despite the band’s relatively young age. How have you seen the punk and skinhead subcultures change over the years? Do you think there’s a new generation coming through, or are we heading towards the end of subcultures? If it’s the latter, what can be done to turn things around?

Cesoia: Subcultures have obviously changed along with society, but we still believe that those who gravitate towards skinhead and punk circles hold the same values as they did in the beginning. Of course, there will always be a few idiots trying their best to make you think otherwise, but the trick is to ignore them. The real enemies are elsewhere – it’s not about whether some kid is ‘inadequate’ because he doesn’t have the right clothes or whatever. As The Business said, ‘Fight the real enemy’.

For us it is about our friends and keeping the scene alive. The generational change in Bologna has slowed down – mainly because fewer self-run spaces, community-run centres and so on, mean fewer places for people to come together. For example, we recently played at the CPA community centre in Florence, and there were a lot of young people there who made the space their own.

Radio Punk: What bands are your main musical influences? Recommend some must-listen Oi! and rock ’n’ roll bands to our readers… And on the other hand, what are your guilty pleasures when it comes to music?

Cesoia: Apart from ’80s Oi! and ’70s glam/bovver rock, we’d mention what we call ‘punk with a Harrington jacket’ – bands like Slaughter and the Dogs, The Ruts, and 999, so bootboys, pub rockers, and glam rockers who somehow ended up in punk. We also love stadium glam like Slade, delta blues, country & western, Aussie rock, and first-generation rock ’n’ roll legends like Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry.

Guilty pleasures? Sabrina Salerno and Amanda Lear.

Bands we recommend: The Reapers, No Time, Claimed Choice, Mess, Siekiera, Tchernobyl, Miners, Rose Tattoo, and of course, Nabat and The Business… but we could go on forever.

Radio Punk: What’s your connection with the city you live in and its scene? What do you love most about Bologna, and what would you change if you could?

Cesoia: We all come from different places, so more than us having a connection with Bologna, Bologna is what connects us – this is where we met. The scene here has always been very varied, from the skinhead world to the punk scene. There were and still are very important venues like Atlantide, XM24, A Skeggia, Vecchio Son, and the Bologna City Rockers collective, which organises all the best gigs.

Nowadays, with pedestrianised zones, restrictive regulations, and sky-high rents, the city is turning into an open-air shopping mall, where those who create non-mainstream meeting places are seen as a problem to be eradicated. Evictions, lawsuits, bans and restrictions make things difficult, but there are still people who fight for these spaces with passion. That’s the beauty of the city.

Radio Punk: What’s in the pipeline for Cesoia? Will there be a tour or any gigs to promote this record? Will it be released in a physical format too? And in general, what’s next for Cesoia?

Cesoia: Gigs are coming up as we go along and we’ll add them to our Facebook page as they happen. We have decided to make our debut album available for free on all platforms. We’re planning to record another album in about a year, and this time we’ll release it in a physical format. As for the future – the future not what it used to be, so we’ll see how things go.

Radio Punk: We’ll wrap things up here – thank you very much! We’ve known you for years, but some of our readers may not. Who are Gerry, Mauro, Davide and Matt in normal life? What are their jobs, hobbies and passions? And finally, if you had to choose – whisky or borghetti? Thanks again and see you next time – Oi!

Gerry: Right, so I work as a stagehand for concerts and theatres, Mauro is a healthcare assistant, Matt is a translator, and Davide is a precarious teacher. We spend our time listening to music, watching ’70s and ’80s horror and exploitation movies, reading, hanging out in the dodgiest bars in town, and disturbing the peace.

Whisky or Borghetti? Why choose?

Thanks to you lot – see you around!

Credit photo: Francesca Chiari
Translation by Matt Zurowski