Strange Flowers

The Strange Flowers carrier spam over 3 decades, having the band been founded in Pisa in late 1987 by Michele Marinò, Giovanni Bruno, Alessandro Pardini (soon replaced by Stefano Montefiori) and Maurizio Falciani. The current line up includes Michele Marinò, Nicola Cionini, Alessandro Santoni and Gabriele Pozzolini.
A constant trademark of The Strange Flowers path is an incredible ability of getting close to true success and celebrity and systematically blowing it or being overcome by unpredictable drawbacks. Yet, this somehow poetic feature almost always reflected some sort of purity, the refuse of compromising, the will of keeping the integrity and the honesty of a musical project which purposes were fulfilled regardless of success.
How It All Begun
The Italian independent scene in the 80’s was greatly influenced by 60’s oriented neo psychedelic and garage rock, thanks to the efforts and passion of journalists and producers like Federico Guglielmi and Claudio Sorge. Many cities provided bands to this unprecedented scene, like Turin with The Sick Rose and No Strange, Rome with Technicolour Dream and Magic Potion, Milan with Afterhours and Bologna with Allison Run. But the very true center was Pisa, where germinal band Useless Boys was the blossom, followed by descendents The Birdmen Of Alcatraz, The Liars and The Steeplejack. Obviously, The Strange Flowers came last and too late, when it was nearly all finished, therefore missing that wave and its impact on the Italian independent scene. In addition, unlike their town mates, they were more influenced by different flavours of rock music in addition to 60’s garage and psychedelia, such as American indie (but also folk), British new wave and not the least space rock. As a matter of fact, when they released their first self-titled 4-track demotape in November 1987, they stood like a sore thumb within the scene, having already developed some sort of a personal style, an attitude they kept all along this long journey. The first as well as the following cassette compilation, entitled “Underground Mirrors”, raised some interest locally, including radios and labels, especially in the Florence area. But when The Strange Flowers performed at the Festival Nazionale de l’Unità in Florence in September 1988, the lightness and delicacy of the music of those two demotapes had already gone, having been replaced by an unpredictable, yet violent and visionary attitude that reached its climax in the 20 minutes space rock improvisation of “Strange Girl”. In spite of the enthusiastic response of an audience that included Piero Pelù from Litfiba and Federico Fiumani from Diaframma, the label representatives changed their mind. Their initial idea had been that The Strange Flowers were eventually some sort of reincarnation of REM: the first of many flirts with success that turned to be clouds in The Strange Flowers coffees.?
The German Legacy
Still in the hot summer of 1988 young German manager Joachim Friedmann noticed the band at a gig in Pisa. He was there for vacation and legend says that drummer Maurizio Falciani could not avoid being attracted by Joachim’s girlfriend. Although this did not bring Maurizio where he hoped, it brought Joachim at a Strange Flowers gig. Result was that in March 1989 and then in September of the same year The Strange Flowers toured Germany and Switzerland with The Liars, The Sick Rose, and Mod’s legends The Prime Movers, stepping on stages where yet unknown acts of the nascent grunge scene were performing at the same time, such as Nirvana and Soundgarden. Another caress by success… Meanwhile, several bass players had wore Alessandro Pardini’s clothes, the last of whom, Stefano Montefiori, joined the band in August 1989 to form a line-up that would have remained stable for about 15 years. As a result of this German legacy, the first official record was published by Unique in 1990. It was a standard 7” single including “Me And The Eggman” and “Janet’s Faces”, tunes that, amazingly enough, can still be heard at The Strange Flowers exhibitions nowadays.?
Music For Astronauts
It is worth noting that Unique Records is today one of the most important independent labels in Germany, but at that time it was just a small, family-run business. Again, fame and success of the label came too late for The Strange Flowers to take any advantage of it and as a matter of fact that single went almost unnoticed. At the same time the band was suffering from what they thought was an unmerited lack of consideration in their home Country and by the end of 1990 they were about to give up. It was Joachim to save them, as he managed to raise some interest by German labels for an album. After a long a painful break, the Flowers entered Westlink Studio in late 1991 to exit in March 1992 with the master of “Music For Astronauts”, which included 11 original numbers plus their notorious cover of Beatles’ “Dear Prudence”. Due to be released by Screaming Apple, in spite of Joachim’s efforts, the album saw the light only 2 years later, when it was published within the “Teen Trash” series by Music Maniac, to be showcased at the legendary 60’s Festival “Beat-O-Mania” in Munich, where the Strange Flowers shared the same stage and performed with Rudi Protrudi from The Fuzztones, who had written the liner notes and designed the cover of “Music For Astronauts”. As a matter of fact Rudi had become, as he stated himself a few years later, “ a big fan of The Strange Flowers”. Two songs from that performance and a cover version of The Electric Prunes “Little Olive”, with Rudi singing and playing harp, were included in the live compilation “Beat-O-Mania At Its Best”. But it was all too late. The two year interval between the end of the sessions and the release of Music For Astronauts had destroyed the band’s enthusiasm and self-confidence. Expectations had gone and disillusion had taken over. Although nobody ever pronounced the word “split”, as a matter of fact The Strange Flowers ceased almost any activity beginning in May 1994.
Here is a review of their first two record releases, written by Thimoty Gassen and published within the book “The Knights of Fuzz”: “Forming in 1987 near Florence, Italy, this colourful group has toured Italy, Germany and Switzerland, depositing at least 3 demptapes in its wake. The demo I heard bursts with energy and verve, as this decidedly trippy foursome weave lilting melodic guitar and vocals with a strong sense of beat and drive. It is their debut 45, though, that merits the most praise. The double-sided gem shimmers with wonderful 12-string guitar and soaring vocal harmony. The B side “Janet’s Faces” might even be the stronger of the two tracks, with its spine-tingling chorus and beautiful arrangement (all that’s missing is a patented Roger McGunn Rickenbacker solo). The long awaited LP (recorded in 1991) also features sparkling harmonies, expert guitar work and sensitive flowery arrangements. It veers a bit off from their psych-pop sound into spacier areas, but always with discipline – there are no longer rambling guitar jams, and even the longest track clocks in at only four minutes. In the best tradition of 80’s Moffs and 1966 Beatles The Strange Flowers are a blossom to cherish”
The Second Coming
In 1997 Michele moved to Boston US, where he bought a multitrack recorder to make countless demos, including songs the Flowers had arranged and played in the dark years between 1992 and 1994. It was not clear what he had in mind and those demos remained in his shell. Meanwhile things had changed in Europe. Joachim had expanded his management activity and had been able to obtain a contract with a major Label for The Lemonbabies. Of course, the Strange Flowers were not there. Also the Italian scenario had changed. A new indie wave had arisen on the impulse of new and old acts, among which the most brilliant was Afterhours, notably one of the bands of the 80‘s neo psychedelic scene who had gained National success after switching from English to Italian. Still flirting with fortune, Joachim had refused Afterhours for a German tour a few years earlier. Having returned to Italy, between 2003 and 2004 Michele came across some recordings The Strange Flowers had made back in 1993 and convinced by his long time friend and fan Pietro Andrea Annicelli decided it was about time for the Flowers to be back. Having recorded a new song in late 2003, Pietro’s Edizioni Dei Corrieri Cosmici released an EP entitled “Across The River And Through The Trees”, which was celebrated by a short series of gigs, including one at the Reverberation II Festival in Berlin, where the Flowers shared the same stage with their teen idols The Electric Prunes, receiving congratulations from James Lowe himself. The incredibly positive response of the Berlin’s audience made the band aware of a potential they had forgotten, and, not the least, of the fact that their name and music were still valued. Therefore, there was no reluctance when Mike Grimminger, a long time fan who had just founded Beyond Your Mind Records, asked the band for an album. After a very short series of rehearsal sessions, the band entered Westlink studio in May 2005 to record the basic tracks of Ortoflorovivaistica. Then, recordings continued at Michele’s home, to be finished in October. When the album was released in December the impact was as great as The Strange Flowers would have never imagined. Thanks to a free and easy approach to the music, the Flowers had been able to put in this record all of their best elements. As a matter of fact the album was immediately ranked as one of the best psychedelic records of all time (“an essential guide to the modern psychedelician” as the subtitle states), which was testified by countless and enthusiastic reviews (including some in the major Italian press, such as Corriere Della Sera and Repubblica) and by its reprint on vinyl in March 2006 by Nasoni Records. Here are some of the most notable reviews: Corriere Della Sera: “…aprite la finestra quando ascoltate queste canzoni perché è musica che ha bisogno di spazio, si espande, occupa la stanza…”; Rumore: “...una delle band più visionarie e credibili della ormai poco viva scena psichedelica italiana...”; Venerdì di Repubblica: “…30 anni di musica allucinata riletti con allegra (in)coscienza…”; Coloursonic: “....these Strange Flowers are still in bloom…”; Concreteweb: ”.. Ortoflorovivaistica is full of beautiful and powerful masterpieces that are performed with so much feeling and passion you wonder what was going around the time of writing and recording...the boys from Pisa should definitely be proud of themselves with this one. Brilliant!...”
Ortoflorovivaistica was promoted by a series of shows in Italy and Germany, among which the most remarkable was the one at Berlin’s Bassy Club, where the band performed again with Rudi Protrudi, nearly 12 years after their first exhibition together. As a matter of fact, the legacy with Rudi had already been testified by the liner notes he had written for Ortoflorovivaistica. In addition, the Flowers had been included in The Fuzztone Tribute Album with their super psychedelic version of “Look For The Question Mark”. For the Ortoflorovivaistica tour, the Flowers had introduced for the first time a video show that accompanied their music, which was originally designed and produced by Pierpaolo Magnani of Associazione Culturale DN@ who followed the band for the next three years to then leave and be replaced by Giulia Altobelli. In 2006 the band released a split CD with Argentinians BabyScream, including an out-take of Ortoflorovivaistica and two covers.
Facing with the prospect of professionism, in June 2006 Giovanni and Maurizio were forced to leave the band, to be replaced by Nicola Cionini on guitars and Toni Boselli on drums. With this line-up the band performed at the Swamp Room Happening in Hannover and at the Nuvolari Festival in Cuneo. Meanwhile Michele was ready to release another album, entitled The Imaginary Space Travel Of The Naked Monkeys, which contains all of the out-takes of Ortoflorovivaistica. The album was published in March 2007, it was the last with Beyond Your Mind Records and, sadly enough, also the last with The Strange Flowers most enduring line-up.
The New Republic Of The Strange Flowers
After the appearance at the Nuvolari Festival, Toni was replaced by Gabriele Pozzolini on drums, and with this line-up the band performed for the first time in London at The Social and opened for the Fuzztones during their European tour in late 2006. By the end of that year, Stefano had also left the band. When in March 2007 Alesandro Santoni joined on bass, the current line-up of The Strange Flowers was completed. After an appearance at Leipzig’s Pop Up Festival, the band started working on a new album which was recorded under the supervision of Gianpaolo Antoni and released by Teen Sound Records, to be followed by a over 60-gig tour touching Italy, Germany and The Netherlands. The official video “Aeroplanes”, directed by Giulia Altobelli and Pierpaolo Magnani, was released in September 2008, when the band had already started working on a new album, Vagina Mother. Being offered a contract by a major Italian label, the Flowers refused on the request of singing in Italian (the last flirt with success so far), and after being contacted by several Producers, they chose Federico Guglielmi, one of the gurus of psychedelic rock in Italy. With Federico’s help the Flowers recorded their latest album in the summer of 2009, at Paolo Pierelli’s Point Of View Records Studio. The album was released by Go Down Records in November 2009, one month after the video “A Rose In Your Mouth”, directed by Giulia Altobelli and featuring actor Paolo Giommarelli. The Vagina Mother tour started in Novemebr 2009 and is scheduled to go on until the end of 2010.