Interview with Here and Now! records

Chat with Mirco Desolei of the Here and Now! Records and singer of Double Me and Antisexy

Who doesn’t know Mirco Desolei and his unmistakable Paduan accent? Come on… Mirco has been very active for years in the punk circuit, especially in its more extreme and fast side. For years he has been managing the Here and Now! label dedicated especially to powerviolence, fastcore and grindcore and currently sings in the powerviolence/grindcore band Double Me as well as in the fastcore band Antisexy. Listen to what he has to say!

Radio Punk: Hi Mirco, welcome and thanks for taking the time to meet us. We’ve known each other for a few years now, back in the days of Eat You Alive!. Tell us about yourself, when and how did you approach this genre/subculture? Did you approach this extreme side straight away or did you approach it gradually, from metal or punk?

Mirco: Hi Tom!

I’d like to thank you and the guys at Radio Punk for giving me the opportunity to have this chat.

By now I’m starting to be old so my memory is a bit shaky, but I would say that the first times I listened to punk was when I started secondary school, with the classic Green Day and similar bands. Then, after a couple of years, I had some classmates who passed me NOFX and Sick of it All tapes and CDs, and there began an adventure that continues for over 20 years.

I lived (and still live) in a town 20 km from Padua, internet was not yet so widespread and fast, so my approach was slow and gradual. Over the years, through friends and by chance, I began to discover new bands, hear rumors of live gigs, and meet other people in the business and here we are. A series of coincidences.

Radio Punk: Tell us a bit, what was the first band or project you were involved in? And overall, tell us about your projects, both current and past projects.

Mirco: as far as bands are concerned, when I was at secondary school, I had a Californian Hc band, if we want to say melodic hardcore, as well as a band that I didn’t care much about where we played rock/metal (wtf) but I only sang with them because these friends hadn’t found anyone who sang the way they wanted. So, the line-up remained stable for a couple of years, then we all got tired (I was already tired a long time ago, haha). At university, I started playing with a purely Hc band that I knew very little about, a few concerts… The only thing that remains of that band is the email I still use now for Here And Now! (stillburns_pdhc etc, which always makes me smile). While I was singing with these Stillburns I was contacted by some guys from Padua to start a new band, and so Antisexy started. The Eat You Alive started during a break period from Antisexy, a band that has almost reached 10 years of life. The Double Me, on the other hand, as you already know, are still active and this year they celebrate 10 years of music activity. Who would have guessed it?

Regarding labels, before HAN I had a label with people from Milizia Hc and Antisexy, Shooting Your Knees, but the interest was quite low so almost by chance I found myself starting with a new label.

I’ve been part of some collectives to organise live gigs but actually I’ve always been comfortable running these things on my own. I wouldn’t have the time now anyway.

I tried to be as concise as possible, sorry, haha.

Radio Punk: Your label is very much on the ball when it comes to fast, powerful and distorted sounds. How did Here and Now! Records? Started and how do you run it? Are you very active abroad and is there where you manage to distribute your records the most? Which experiences similar to yours are there around the world that you collaborate with or that you recommend to keep an eye on?

Mirco: As I said, the label was founded almost by chance, an excuse to release the first demo of Eat You Alive and the first CD of Lyon Estates; I didn’t think it would last 15 years, but not even 5!

There’s nothing complicated about managing it, it’s more a question of time.

It’s more a matter of time. You have to keep up with the bands, the presses, advertising through different channels, looking for distributors for your releases, uploading the records to various platforms, shipping/packaging in your spare time. More than anything else it gets stressful at times but not complicated here.

A good 90% of records, as you rightly say, go abroad, perhaps because there is an audience more interested in certain genres.

Labels that I like particularly are Knochen tapes, Coxinha, Dead Heroes, Lixiviat, No Time, Wise Grind, Rotten To The Core, but there would be many others with whom I collaborate and of whom I appreciate.

Radio Punk: …what about bands in your vein that are not to be missed? In the future, do you think there will be room for other sub-genres or even other genres on your label? Do you listen to anything else, or are you pretty radical about listening?

Mirco: Well, I would name you the classics like Infest, Spazz, Lack of Interest, Crossed Out but also bands like Sidetracked, Internal, Cut The Shit, Hong Kong Fuck You, Guilt Dispenser, Twitch, Gets Worse…

Not too long ago I thought about having a part of the productions, maybe a second label, where I could produce only Hc bands like In My Eyes, Spirits, etc, but honestly I wouldn’t have the time or the funds. Rather than doing two things badly, it’s better to do one thing fairly badly, hahaha.

Honestly, I also listen to things that aren’t punk at all, I don’t need to mention bands like Queen that I’ve been listening to since I was 10 years old; I also like a lot of more “Britpop” and pop bands, which I’m not ashamed to say.

Radio Punk: How is the situation in and around Padua? There were years when, at least from the outside, the Padua scene was very active. How is it now? What differences do you find compared to the past and what was the golden age of this city for you?

Mirco: Yes, years ago it was really active, there were gigs every weekend, we organized gigs with bands from all over the world in weird places (one gig was at a kebab shop, for example). There were a lot of people who participated and a lot of people supporting us. At a certain point, many people from my age group gave way to younger people, but because of a lack of places rather than a desire, Padua is now almost miserable.

In short, I think it’s the story of all places: if there aren’t people who organize and people who support the situation collapses in on itself and only memories remain.

Radio Punk: In my phone, you are saved as Mirco Pizza and I think everyone knows about the incredible passion you have for pizza. Top 3 favorite pizzas? In your various tours abroad, have you found anyone who can make it outside of Italy?

Mirco: Hahaha, I don’t think you are the only one who has saved me like this.

I don’t have a favorite pizza but I must say that I go by periods. At the moment I’m going for calzone (always a vegetarian version in its various forms).

Well, in a few places I have eaten good pizzas outside Italy. If they were good, they were not what we call pizzas. But I must say that in California, in this town that I think was called Palmdale, in a place run by Mexicans, it was almost perfect.

Radio Punk: OK, we have asked you the question about pizza, which is the most important one and the one for which we felt the most pressure. Now it’s all downhill, DIY approach and politics: how much do they count for you in your daily life and how much in the choices you make in the band/label field?

Mirco: They count a lot, without a shadow of a doubt. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to compromise in the real world, but basically, I try to keep my approach the same, both in music and in life. As far as the label is concerned, being the only one who decides, 100% is my own doing and I don’t have any outside pressure so I would say it’s 100% DIY as far as I’m concerned.

Radio Punk: tell us about the bands, what are the plans with Double Me and Antisexy from now on? It’s a tough time, no gigs, quite a mess. What can you do to keep going?

Mirco: To keep going, you need to be curious to look for new bands. Don’t you have time to discover them at live gigs? Look for them! There are a thousand ways to find them online. By doing that, I found some bands that I liked a lot, like Deathrun, Suicideforce, Maxxpower, Dry Socket, Afterpill…

Antisexy are releasing a new 7″, it’s in the press now. After that, we’ll write new stuff but we’re not in a hurry.

Double Me have to go into the studio and record a 7″ with Fuck On The Beach and a 15 track is currently being produced. Then we’ll have another split, but we’re thinking about those in the meantime. A 5″ with songs remixed in a noise key by our friend Jan “C.O.P.Y.” should be out soon, then I hope Concussive and Violencia will pass on the tracks for the splits we recorded a year ago. In short, there are many things, but the timing is bad.

Radio Punk: Was everything easier and better in the past or was it just different? What do you think of the current situation, both Italian and not, as far as the world of hardcore punk in all its derivations is concerned? What differences do you notice and what advice would you give to those who are approaching these times?

Mirco: Honestly, I think that many (not all) Italians are still stuck at 30/40 years ago. They’re not looking for anything new, they always talk about the same bands. It smells stale.

As it happens in mainstream music, they always talk about Vasco Rossi and Ligabue (both Italian popular pop singers) plus a few new ones. And punk does the same, which is sad because there are many good bands.

Radio Punk: What can you tell us more about yourself outside the DIY field. What hobbies/passions do you have? Tell us about yourself as if you were on Verissimo (a popular rubbish Italian gossip tv show)

Mirco: oh well, there’s not much to tell. When I’m at home I spend a lot of time playing with Zeus (our dog) or I go out with Miriana to see friends, even if in this period of restrictions it was difficult to do it.

Maybe my favorite hobby is sitting on the sofa watching TV series, crazy films, and cartoons, hahaha.

Radio Punk: We close on a high note and thank you very much. Best concert and weirdest situation you’ve ever been in? Crazy expense claims, grotesque locations, and anecdotes are welcome!

Mirco: I don’t know if it’s good to talk about… hahaha.

Maybe the most absurd one was once in Florence, many years ago, as soon as we went to bed, a guy from another band (I won’t say who), pulled out a gun and said he wanted to kill us. After a friend of his explained that he hadn’t even talked to us, then he decided he wanted to kill some other guys. In short, an asshole.

No refunds. We got a fiver for a tour once. That happens, right? Sure, it’s a pity that it was because of another band that wanted more money than the others and they were satisfied (again, I won’t say who they are, but people that many people know).

But I can say that in 80% of the cases we have always been treated very well.

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