Happy Birthday

I have heard many years of telling,/And many years should see some change./The ball I threw while playing in the park/Has not yet reached the ground.

[Dylan Thomas, Should Lanterns Shine  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6M6qGVczIQ]

Hey guys,

time tears us to pieces, so they say. I don’t know if it’s true. The passing of years is silent and feeble, is the colour fading from book covers, school class photos to look at trying in vain to remember all names, old and worn band t-shirts forgotten at the bottom of your dress drawer, and some CDs you’re not listening to since… since when? You cannot even remember when or why you bought them, that’s it.

You have listened to Rogi by Starfuckers, Wallace Records release n. 1 – Tracce, track n. 10

You have listened to Monserrat by Meteor, Wallace Records release n. 190 – Magic pandemonio, track n. 10

Every life stage has its own soundtrack. 20 years ago I was fond of grunge and experimental rock as most of the people of my age, now I often listen to deviant electronic music. Music has changed and the world has changed too. Don't cry about that, because everything is flowing away and we should follow the rivers of time, losing ourselves on the way and not trying to hide the lines on our faces, or the belly we gloriously earned through decades of beer. We are foodies, we are drinkers, we are fuckers. And we should be proud of it.

You have listened to Tiki 2007 by Ovo, Wallace Records release n. 50 – Phonometak Series n° 3, track n. 2

You have listened to A Closer look into the Mind and Soul of Pope Benedict XVI by Germanotta Youth, Wallace Records release n. 139 – The Harvesting of Souls, track n. 10

Wallace Records accompanied many of us during the last 20 years, so I convinced myself to get in touch with the man behind the label and ask him to grant myself an interview. The answer was «No, little girl, I'm sorry. I'm not one for interviews». But I'm no little girl and, moreover, I'm stubborn as a mule, so I chased Mirko Spino for a while, and in the end he gave in… more or less. «Just one question». How to summarize 20 years of music and life, 20 years of excess and rigour in just one question? It took me time to choose my enquiry.

You have listened to Doll’s Eye by MoE, Wallace Records release n. 193 – Examination of the Eye of a horse, track n. 5

You have listened to M/L by The Rambo, Wallace Records release n. 194 – The Stabbing, track n. 3

Voices are ghosts, roaming around digital roads. I recorded my question and sent it to him to answer. I don't know where he was at that time, to be honest I don't even remember where I was myself, but I like to imagine the both of us as hermits, and those few words as smoke signals traveling over long distances. «Mr Spino, how drunk were you the day or the night you decided to found Wallace Records?» «Sobriety is overrated». Dylan Thomas would have agreed with him. «Who the fuck is this Dylan Thomas?».

You have listened to Incipit by Bologna violenta, Wallace Records release n. 146 – Utopie e piccole soddisfazioni, track n. 1

I have heard many years of telling,/And many years should see some change./The ball I threw while playing in the park/Has not yet reached the ground.

[Dylan Thomas, Should Lanterns Shine  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6M6qGVczIQ]

No, that ball has not yet reached the ground, it is still floating somewhere over our heads, high in the sky, while we run and laugh and push one another, everyone of us trying to get to it first. We are just kids. 20 years have passed in a rush, but we haven’t changed so much. It’s too late to give away this endless sunshine and choose adulthood. Thank you for these 20 years of wild music. Happy birthday, Wallace Records.