Måneskin – I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE is KINKY?
The story of Måneskin’s come-up feels as classic as their style and sound. The group met as young teenagers in Rome.
De Angelis went to high school with singer Damiano David and guitarist Thomas Raggi.
The trio all had die-hard music dreams and grew up on all flavors of rock. David’s taste reflects his own high-energy stage presence as the group’s frontman: Aerosmith, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden. Raggi cites more heavy metal and hard rock, including Led Zeppelin, while De Angelis favors David Bowie and Depeche Mode.
They were young and used to playing with other young, not-so-great musicians, but they needed a drummer. They found Ethan Torchio through Facebook and put him through an “audition.” “It was completely fake,” David admits. “We were just pretending to be cool, but we had no other drummers. He was the only choice, but fortunately he was pretty good.”
Torchio, who names the Police’s Stewart Copeland as his biggest influence, was excited to fill out the band’s lineup. But the group would soon learn how tough it is to be a young band in Italy. “There’s no scene or audience to watch you live,” Raggi explains.
Rome lacked the pubs and clubs where young artists are able to cut their teeth, so it was hard to book gigs. When they did find places to play, it involved a lot of begging and little return.
“No one has the gear to let you play, so you have to bring it yourself. No one wants to pay you anything. It’s very hard if you’re young because you don’t grow up knowing there’s a chance to do it,” De Angelis continues. “In Italy, there’s no other known rock bands.
There’s the historical ones, but there are no other young rock bands from here. It’s a real shame.“
The band got creative and decided to take to the streets. They began busking in the Colli Portuensi district of Rome and on the famous Via Del Corso. “When you have to grab the attention of pedestrians, that’s huge training for the stage,” David says.
In 2018, Måneskin released their debut album, Il Ballo della Vita (The Dance of Life), a quasi-concept album inspired by a fictional muse named “Marlena” and heavy on ska influence.
But their 2021 album, Teatro D’ira: Vol. 1 (Theater of Wrath), feels like it most realizes their vision as a band. Before writing the album, the quartet moved to London to experience what it’s like to be a part of a real music scene. “In London, there’s so many concerts every night. We had the chance to see many different bands, and that gave us a lot of inspiration,” De Angelis explains.
David adds that they really started to study their instruments and “all the possibilities” they could achieve with more technical knowledge.
When they returned to Rome to record Teatro, they recorded every song live in the studio to achieve maximum rawness — a sound that has helped create a true global fandom, in spite of radio stations telling them their sound wasn’t mainstream enough.
Måneskin now impresses with an accompanying video that shows Damiano David, Victoria De Angelis, Thomas Raggi, and Ethan Torchio in a somewhat voyeuristic ambiance.
They are seen taking on various forbidden desires, as well as gender-related stigmas and stereotypes. In a way, the song and video are about the fact that human beings are flawed and imperfect “sinners in need of redemption.” Of course, the video wouldn’t be complete without footage of the band performing the song live, with all members dressed in gorgeous glam-rock-inspired outfits that include fishnets and corsets.
It’s exciting to see a bilingual act have such global success with a genre that’s been missing from the charts for a while now.
Most importantly, they are authentic in every single aspect of the creative process. Whether it’s Torchio on drums, Raggi on guitar, De Angelis on bass, or David behind the mic, they are enrapturing to watch.
Additionally, they’re not afraid of the inherent controversy that comes with the rock genre, albeit in a different form than you may expect. Most recently, they advocated for the right to love whoever you want at a concert in Poland, which has seen a rise in anti-LGBT sentiments. In fact, they’ve been very explicitly outspoken in their support for the LGBTQ+ community in general and have made it a point to include same-sex references in their “I Wanna Be Your Slave” video as well.
Moreover, their total disregard for male/female stereotypes is incredibly enticing, and the joy they display on stage is truly addictive to watch.
So… are they Kinky? comment Here!