A zine done by Toshiyuki Hiraoka (from Yokohama, Japan). He also ran Voice Of Angel tape- & record-label that released the Voice Of Europe compilation-7″ (1988; with ‘Instigators’, ‘Flitox’, ‘Kina’ & ‘Political Asylum’).
I have no idea how I obtained this… This issue (in Japanese) has interviews with ‘Instigators’, ‘Kina’, ‘Negazione’, ‘Political Asylum’ & Jörg Dittmar’s ‘Lord Litter’ (avantgarde from Berlin); a Polish scenereport (by Paul Kwiecinski from Łódź) and info on IRRE Tapes (Matthias Lang, Ger).
Nowadays Toshiyuki is a musician, composer, producer and film-maker; check out toshiyukihiraoka.com
‘Kina’ is a HardCore punk band from Aosta (north of Italy, near the French/Swiss border) consisting of Sergio Milani (drums/vocals), Alberto Ventrella (guitar/vocals) & Gianpiero Capra (bass/vocals; also ‘Contra-zione’).
[Translation below, thanks to Kouji Suziki]
‘Kina’ is a veteran punk band from Italy and has many fans in Europe. I don’t think there are many people in Japan who know about them but check them out when you can. Their sound is British. It’s punk but a bit different from American bands; and they have a good reputation regarding their live performances.
Answers by Gianpiero.
Tell us a bit about the band’s history.
‘Kina’ was formed around 1982. There was another guitarist and vocalist at that time. Those two left the band after eight months and that caused a lot of trouble. Then the three of us decided to sing. I’m very happy now because I no longer have to put up with that egotistical singer.
What about tours and releases?
There was a demo-tape was released in May 1984 [Nessuno Schema Nella Mia Vita]. After that we set up our own label called Blu Bus dischi. The first release on that label was ‘Kina’s first LP [Irreale Realtà] in January 1985, followed by the second LP [Cercando] in May 1986 and the EP Troppo Lontano in April 1987. We also have a new EP coming out in April and a third LP by the end of the year.
Kina did a first full-fledged tour through Germany in August 1984. Then in December we went back to Germany and also played in The Netherlands in December ‘85. From October to December 1986, we did a big tour through Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. All the members are working now so we can’t go on tour; we can only leave Italy for the weekends but we did play in Switzerland and in Germany before that. We have plans to visit Berlin and France in the near future.
What kind of work do you do?
Myself (Gianpiero) work in a hospital [physiotherapist/osteopath] and Alberto works in a retirement/nursing-home for the elderly. Sergio works as a P.A.-technician during big concerts.
‘Kina’s not well-known in Japan but there are a lot of really great punk bands in Italy. Is it a good environment to play in a bands?
There were a lot of good HC bands in Italy in 1984 and the scene was a really great. After that, little by little, the enthusiasm faded, bands split up and there were fewer concerts and communication. Only ‘Negazione’, ‘Upset Noise’ and ‘Kina’ remain. There’s a 60s and 70s revival going on here right now. And a lot of new bands are doing that kind of music (in the vein of ‘Pink Floyd’, ‘The Stooges’, ‘Led Zeppelin’, ‘The Byrds’). There’s also melodic punk trend (like ‘Stupids’). The environment isn’t that good for us. A band with an alternative sound can play at squats or anarchist festivals. Indie bands with a softer sound play in clubs.
I don’t think ‘Kina’ is just a punk band, no?
‘Kina’ is definitely not just on a poor world trip. Out of the last 20 records I bought, only one is from a punk band. We listen to different types of music and we incorporate punk styles to put a lot of energy into ‘Kina’s music. We did concerts with different types of bands. We played at big festivals in Milan but also with heavy metal bands in clubs, and with folk bands outdoors. And they were always better than just a concert with punk bands.
Are lyrics important to ‘Kina’?
Yeah, they’re very important You’ll hate yourself later when you hear yourself screaming stupid things. We try to make our lyrics something interesting.
What kind of band do you like?
Mostly American bands. For example: ‘Hüsker Dü’, ‘Bad Brains’, ‘Firehouse’, ‘Minutemen’, ‘Rhythm Pigs’, and Italian artists and folk-singers of the 60s.
I heard that Gianpiero started shiatsu lessons? Tell us about it.
It’s a natural remedy for neuralgia, broken bones and ailments of the elderly. I’ve been studying it for a long time and learned many things besides Western medicine while traveling. I used to encouter a lot of frustration during my work. One day I tried shiatsu on someone with a knee-injury and I thought “This is it.”. In oriental medicine, there’s an inner world and an outer world, and if I told an Italian doctor about it, he would go crazy. Anyway, I plan to study it more and hope to be able to come to Japan someday to study it.
Are there many people in Italy who’re interested in Japan? And do you know anything about Japanese scene?
For us, Japan is really far away and we know little about country. I know about the Japanese scene by reading MRR. But everyone is interested. It’s almost impossible to get records from Japan here. If anyone wants to exchange records, please contact me and I will send you some good Italian ones.
Q: Finally: future plans and messages?
As I said earlier, we have some records planned for this year and maybe a tour to Eastern Europe next year. I want to communicate with people from as many countries as possible. My message to people from Japan is… I want to communicate more and exchange records. So please write me a letter. Japan is a distant country but I’m very interested in it.
Brob Tilt's zine-world 2 