by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
Is Rock music dead…? Does it “deserve to die”, to paraphrase The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins? And if it’s dead or dying, who’s to blame…? Is it streaming, filesharing, ruthless record labels or maybe the audience…? The entire ongoing debate about this, fueled by journos, experts and even listeners themselves, seems rather futile as long as there are still young musicians passionate enough to pursue their dreams. Hardrock Haven catches up with one of them, Jack The Ripper of the Italian band Speed Stroke, to talk their newly released album Scene Of The Crime, the ups and downs of creative process, the importance of image in Rock as well as the thing we probably miss the most right now – live gigs. And also, to give a shout-out to “all raging misfits with a heart of gold” the group’s first single is dedicated to…
Hardrock Haven: As it’s a decade since the band’s founding, how do you think Speed Stroke changed throughout the years in terms of sound and experience?
Jack The Ripper: We learned from every mistake and missed opportunity, both personally and musically. We always tried to merge our pretty different tastes for music into something simple but never corny, we always try to take our distances from the most common clichés to create something personal and this desire developed a lot throughout the years… In the beginning, we just wanted to create and play some juicy, high quality Hard Rock but without much ambition. There had been some line-up changes but we managed to keep the Rock’n’Roll train always on track, just adding new energy to the mix. Now we feel like it’s just started all over again, so our growth surely doesn’t stop here.
Hardrock Haven: Sure. Are you happy with your new album Scene Of The Crime, also as far as mixing and mastering of the new material is concerned?
Jack The Ripper: Yes absolutely! In my opinion, for this record we managed to blend perfectly two different kinds of approach to music production. In fact, “Soul Punx” and “Scene Of The Crime” were recorded and mixed at 33Hz Studio in Milan by Frank Altare and the rest recorded and mixed by our guitarist D.B. and Marco Paradisi, who engineered also our previous record Fury, at Boat Studio in Bologna. The mastering was made (just like it was with Fury) by Giovanni Versari at La Maestà Studio who worked on the Grammy-winning album Drones by Muse. We just stuck to the team who worked so well on our previous album, adding a little of new taste here and there.
Hardrock Haven: The album’s sound reminds me of the mid-2000s Sleaze Metal bands such as Crashdïet, Babylon Bombs, Vains Of Jenna or very early Crazy Lixx. What are your other inspirations?
Jack The Ripper: Surely the wave you mentioned was the main fuel to our music style, adding probably the biggest one which is Hardcore Superstar. We always look up to them to find some motivation and inspiration. It’s impossible not to mention the milestones of Hard Rock like Skid Row, Guns N’Roses, Van Halen, Extreme, AC/DC and many other that forged our music. Individually, we have very different taste in music, as I said before, and it’s impossible to make a list of these differences. Just think about the fact that among my all-time favorite bands there are A Perfect Circle, The Mars Volta, Manowar, Turbonegro, Kvelertak and much more random stuff… But we have many connection dots that make our sound as it is.
Hardrock Haven: The album has a bit rough vibe to it and is certainly not overproduced, which happens a lot these days in this genre. Was it the kind of sound you aimed for? Why?
Jack The Ripper: This record was intended to be more spacious than the previous ones. There’s a lot of room for every frequency so it doesn’t sound like a brick wall right in the face in terms of sound. We tried to get that feeling throughout the songwriting instead.
The main inspirations for this kind of production surely have been Van Halen and AC/DC, their production is basically empty but insanely powerful and rough at the same time.
Hardrock Haven: Right, it’s learning from the very best. Having dedicated the first single “Soul Punx” to “all raging misfits with a heart of gold”, can you tell more about its message?
Jack The Ripper: “Soul Punx” means a lot to me, it’s dedicated to my closest friends, the “676”. Basically, we are a group of pretty different people, each one with their scars and their stars, each one with different visions of the world around us – but we manage to have a powerful connection that transcends everything and when we are together evil magic happens.
On a more lyrical level I address all the people who live the duality of their soul excluding guilt or shame from the equation… You may want to dance or punch someone in the face at the same time. Humans are not machines programmed only for good thoughts and smart decisions and making mistakes or being angry doesn’t make you a bad person. You’re a soul punk, a misled creature in a world too complex for you to be always perfect… and that’s totally okay.
Hardrock Haven: I guess every misfit knows well what you’re talking about. Another track that certainly stands out in terms of music is semi-ballad “No Love”. What was the inspiration behind this song?
Jack The Ripper: This song is a delicate one. Musically is easy to pair it with “Estranged” or “November Rain” by Guns N’Roses but actually it has been composed very freely from our influences. we just wanted a Rock Opera moment taking out everything unexpressed we had, more like a pocket “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Lyrically, it addresses abuse, both physical and psychological, in every kind of relationship and perpetrated regardless of the gender. The verses are spoken by the abuser, trying to hide the most vile and selfish intentions under the rug of love. While in the choruses I feel sorry for the both of them, the abuser for mistaking those words of possession for love and for the victim because those words of fake love hurt a lot. It’s a very theatrical song, which has to be interpreted by its characters to be understood. We also wanted to have a children chorus in the middle part to represent the difficult position of kids stuck between a toxic relationship.
Hardrock Haven: A dark song really, and very true on many levels. Lyrically, Scene Of The Crime is rather dark in general. What are the main sources of inspiration for the band when it comes to songwriting?
Jack The Ripper: Just what we feel in that moment. The main topic of most of the songs is insecurity. The album begins motivating yourself to do the impossible, then you live your life at the fullest not thinking about the consequences, then you’re just free to do whatever you want until something happens and you start having doubts about everything, questioning every move you make and asking yourself if it’s the right choice or not… The absolute climax of doubt is “Red Eyes” and the “before bed thoughts” song “One Last Day”. Near the end, you get rid of your doubts, you send everybody to hell and then the cycle starts all over again.
Also the album cover is a sign of this, the guy on the front holds a knife and has a smirk on his face, sure he’ll get away with it… while in the back, right around the corner there are four cops just as sure as him to have the best chances to win the fight.
Hardrock Haven: These days many Rock bands influenced by the ‘80s Hard Rock scene in terms of sound don’t feel the need to pursue any kind of stage image associated with the genre in the past. To which extent is image important for Speed Stroke?
Jack The Ripper: To me, it’s just a matter of taste and personal values in terms of what you want to add to your “package” to make it even more precious. You gotta feel it and everybody is different in that sense… there’s no winner or a band with a magic formula to “own the game”. Steel Panther work well just as HCSS or Backyard Babies. A personal style is always the best style.
Hardrock Haven: Exactly. 2020 being obviously a difficult year for the entire music industry, what kind of impact did the pandemic have on Speed Stroke?
Jack The Ripper: We’ve always had an intense live activity and to see it taken away from us it sure hurt. Luckily, all the work for the album has already been completed. We first thought of releasing it in the summer, but then the apocalypse came and here we are. We live in different cities, so we are kinda used to stay apart and work together “wirelessly”, so fortunately we haven’t been affected in that sense. The worst part is now, because we want to bring our new music on stage and we can’t and all of this while the entire music industry is collapsing. It’s sure a tragedy.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely – in those circumstances, reminiscing about the better times doesn’t sounds like too bad an idea… So, with your vast experience as far as supporting other acts is concerned, which of those performances do you think was the most remarkable?
Jack The Ripper: Probably all the gigs we did with Hardcore Superstar and all the times we opened for various awesome acts like Dogs D’Amour, Crashdïet and Babylon Bombs at the “European Whiskey a Go Go” which is Paunchy Cats in Germany. Our affinity of sound and attitude with HCSS, I think, reflects a lot also with the audience, so when we play together the chemistry with the crowd it’s simply amazing.
Hardrock Haven: What do you think being a supporting band can teach you and what is your overall experience positive or negative?
Jack The Ripper: Absolutely positive, unless the headliner band is full of assholes! (laughs)
It’s always a friendly challenge. You gotta be at their level and you want to piss them off but you don’t want to at the same time. We always have a lot of fun in these situations!
Hardrock Haven: If you could go on tour with just any band in the world, who do you think it would be and why?
Jack The Ripper: Absolutely Hardcore Superstar, for the reasons I’ve mentioned before, and predictably a huge one like AC/DC… we have a morbid fascination about their reservedness, so we would like to tour with them just to get a little closer to their secrets and their stories.
Hardrock Haven: So in case it happens, just remember to report it all back to us (laughs). Your further concert plans by now concern March 2021 when you are scheduled to support Reckless Love on three gigs across your homeland. What are your expectations, especially considering how few concerts you’ve managed to play this year?
Jack The Ripper: We can’t contain the hype to be honest! We played with Reckless Love on their tour with Santa Cruz before and it was a wild night… now there are three, so we have big expectation about that! Especially because people are extremely hungry for concerts, just as we are.
Hardrock Haven: Ten years into the band’s history, how do you imagine Speed Stroke in another ten years from now – in 2030?
Jack The Ripper: Still playing Rock’n’Roll, still searching for the perfect song, still arguing in the van about music, still having a helluva fun expanding our horizons and still hoping that this kind of music will be treated better than it is today by the mainstream world.
Hardrock Haven: Fingers crossed for that – especially the last thing you’ve mentioned! Any last words?
Jack The Ripper: Thanks for this super interesting interview and thanks to all the beautiful misfits who blasted our new album on their speaker and headphones wherever they are, every press of the play button means the world to us, it give us purpose and joy to create music for the ones who need it. We hope you are all safe and we can’t wait to share our body fluids in clubs, concert halls, stadiums or whatever place, as long as we’re together again. See ya at the scene of the crime!
Visit the band online:
https://www.facebook.com/speedstroke/
Photo credits Veronica Anacleti.
