Negazione - Interview with "Tax" Farano and "Barox" D'Alessio from the famous italian Hardcore-Band

Turin at the beginning of the 80s: The autonomous strike- and youth movement of the 70s passed away. Members of various "armed-militant" groups like "Prima Linea" were in prison, splitting into the so called "pentiti" and the tough ones. The punk scene coming from England had passed its zenith, was worn down by commercialism and alcoholism. In this situation, a youth subculture emerged here as well, inheriting punk and the spirit of autonomy; in Italy, "Raw Power" from Reggio Emilia and "Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers" from Pisa belonged to the first generation of those bands that played a fast sound, sometimes reminiscent of metal. And from Turin came Negazione. Founding member and guitarist Roberto "Tax" Farano formulated the lyrics. Michele 'Barox' D'Alessio maltreated the skins of the drums for a year. The latter is now the curator of an exhibition entitled "Negazione. Collezione di attimi", shown in neurotitan gallery in Berlin from 3.6. to 10.6.2023. They explain that they had a different relationship to left-wing politics than the very militant autonomous movement in Italy. They were kids enthusiastic about US hardcore punk and were looking for an expression beyond punk stagnation and destructive political militancy. They found it in the network of the hardcore scene, which soon grew throughout Europe. The musicians' predecessor bands still carried names like "AntiStato" or "5° Braccio", a section of the Turin prison where political prisoners are said to have served time. In Negazione, the anti-authoritarian and rather anarchistic spirit was joined by the poetic and the unmediated emotion. Original photos of the concerts show the latter: a tangle of bodies, enthusiastic, but always and still searching something, often with a lost facial expression. And a lot of anger. Hardcore shows were uncommercial, took place in small youth centers or squats, and they could only exist thanks to an international network of friends. This extended in Europe from Amsterdam's Konkurrel label, on which Negazione released alongside other political punk bands, to Augsburg, where Germany's longest-serving hardcore fanzine "Trust" resided.