BACKSTAGE WITH BAR ITALIA

Perfectly Imperfect joins Bar Italia backstage to talk 💋 Snogging, 🖌️ Tracey Emin, ⚽ Fútbol, 🎵 OutKast, 🗣️ Talking on Stage, 🌐 Early Internet Websites, and more.

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A Quick Note from Perfectly Imperfect

In real life, recommendations aren’t presented in an easy to consume Substack list. They’re weaved into long conversations, mentioned briefly in passing, heavily dependent on context, or shouted over a DJ set.

This style of organic discovery is what we’re trying to capture with our new interview series, and to kick it off, Atlanta-native and Perfectly Imperfect contributor Vivi Hayes chatted with Bar Italia on their most recent tour.

- Tyler

BACKSTAGE WITH BAR ITALIA BY VIVI HAYES

This interview took place in Atlanta, GA on March 20, 2024.

I’ve just arrived at the venue and I’m feeling like a creep slash weirdo sitting in the car watching Sam Fenton of Bar Italia kick a soccer ball in the parking lot.

Bar Italia is playing a sold-out show tonight at The EARL, an Atlanta institution. Tonight’s patrons are the fifty and older crowd. The door guy says I’m the first 2003 ID he’s seen. The spot is decorated with all sorts of mid-century ephemera- faded advertisements for Winston cigarettes, graffitied bathroom walls read “BEWARE OF THE DEEP STATE” “Mullets are stupid”, “I DON’T FEEL AT ALL LIKE I FALL.”

I’m here excessively early to avoid afternoon traffic and the anticipation’s got me repeating mantras to alleviate my nerves. “I DON'T FEEL AT ALL LIKE I FALL.” Claim. Affirm. Six thirty rolls around and their tour manager brings me backstage. I meet Nina and she asks if we can do the interview outside. Of course- there’s a clear blue sky and the weather is sitting at a nice seventy degrees.

Bar Italia is a London band and a favorite here at Perfectly Imperfect. After a few years of building mystery and underground hype, they signed to Matador and released two albums within a few months, Tracey Denim + The Twits, which raised their profile quite a bit. To me, their music feels very singular. It’s evocative, moody, and refreshing. Genre-wise they’ve been described as post-punk, shoegaze-y, or placed into the catch-all “alternative rock” category.

On the back steps of the venue, I'm joined by Nina, Sam, and Jezmi of Bar Italia as well as the two tour additions- a bassist and a drummer, Emelie and Liam respectively. Nina kindly goes back into the green room to fetch me a chair. I shake everyone's hands and introduce myself as Vivi. Sam says “Vivi. Vivi Westwood. Sorry.”

This will be my third Bar Italia show; I caught them two nights in December. I bring up the Bowery Ballroom show and joke about the excessively tall couple tonguing each other in front of me for what felt like the entire set.

Sam: I do remember that. I do, honestly. I was like Wow. Who is that hot, tall couple?

Vivi: Do you guys feel like you make make-out music? 

Sam: Definitely.

Nina: Hopefully.

Sam: Hardcore sex music.

Vivi: Have the crowds been what you expected? When you were making music, did you have any image in mind of who would be listening to you guys?

Nina: Not really. Not in my opinion. I didn't have an idea, maybe somebody else did.

Jezmi: “I mean, no, but making out is kind of the best you could hope for.”

I’m eager to enquire about their fall exhibition at London’s Frieze Gallery, Drawings by Bar Italia. I'd seen an image from the show, a drawing by Nina with the lettering “Piccoli Brividi” (Italian for Goosebumps. Y’know, the bestselling book series. The scary ones). This drawing is on the cover of their EP ANGELICA PILLED. I ask if they make their covers and visuals (They do.) 

This piece is kind of a beautifully grotesque image, and putting it on that EP, one I feel is maybe one of your more ominous-sounding works… Is that intentional with the sound of the EP or you just had it and you liked it? 

Nina: I remember that time, we were all together and it worked quite smoothly. Kind of intuitively, it just happened. We had that image and then the photo and we liked it

Jezmi: The music definitely wasn’t like that though.

I couldn't tell if he was referring to my ominous comment or Nina’s explanation of the inclusion of the drawing.

Jezmi: I remember that time as being incredibly bleak.

Nina: Bleak? Really?

Jezmi: It was like, really deep winter and it was really cold. I don’t know. Just bleak.

Nina clarifies the artwork in the show wasn’t made while working on The Twits, the album released around the time of the exhibition. 

Sam: The drawing exhibition was just for fun really. It wasn't related to the album campaign. We all draw so we thought it'd be nice.

Their artistic backgrounds do seep into their music. The title of their album Tracey Denim refers to English artist Tracey Emin.

Liam: Is that what it is? I love her.

Sam: You're the first person to mention it. As far as I know. It's a pun. No one’s got it. It's obviously a shit pun ‘cause no one’s…

Vivi: No! It was funny!

They joke about naming the next Damien Worst. Or Damien Thirst! They go back and forth. These guys are funny. Lol. 

We discuss Atlanta and its music scene, I bring up OutKast, who they listened to on the way here! Hell yeah. I discuss my feelings towards Atlanta, how I often say I don’t like living here which isn't exactly true, and how when non-ATLiens say anything negative about the city I get defensive.  

I often feel like with artists out of Atlanta, their music references it in some way. It’s very important. With music coming out of London, I’ve seen you guys labeled often as a “London band” and I feel like that is because people don’t know where to place you genre-wise. Is that frustrating? Do you feel like it's kind of inhibited you? 

Sam: It’s not frustrating but it’s funny to watch people who desperately want to be able to associate it or label it try and make some connection or other. Cause obviously London’s really important to us as a band. But also, you couldn't necessarily pin it in the sound.

Jezmi: Specifically to that, I don't really like it in a way but as soon as someone says anything bad about London I feel really defensive, because I feel like it is in a lot of the stuff we do for sure, that environment.

Later in our conversation, Jezmi asks me, “Who is the big figure in Atlanta music right now? Rick Beato?” (Haha)

All that comes to mind are specific musicians, mostly underground rap. Put on the spot, I name Destroy Lonely. (If looks could kill, Baby I'm the fashion demon. Riding down Candler Road, and I’m speeding.) The band was not familiar, but Nina says “Destroy Lonely? That is a Sick name.” We all agree. We talk soccer…fútbol, as eight of the World Cup 26 matches will be played in Atlanta. Jezmi is a Chelsea fan but Sam says “Make sure you don’t write Bar Italia is a Chelsea supporting band.” 

Reading about your shows, people kept saying “They're so quiet, they say nothing”. I saw you guys twice, you guys interacted with the audience, you just weren't speaking into the mic, “Hey everybody how's your night”. Do you feel like that's a faux pas? 

Jezmi: What’s more of an interaction, someone saying something in the crowd and you react to it or someone doing the same pre-rehearsed fucking speech at the beginning of every gig? Have you heard that, I think it's Paul Stanley, the guy from Kiss, there's a compilation of all of the times he said ‘This song’s just for you’. Like, ‘We don't usually play this song Albuquerque but for you’, ‘We don't usually play this song New Jersey but for you’ You do do the same fucking thing thirty nights in a row. If you said the same bit thirty nights in a row that’s not interaction with a crowd. That's talking at people, and that's disingenuous. It's stupid. So I'd rather not say anything and see what happens. You have to be the instigator of this because you're on stage, right. 

Nina: We’re already doing the other bits.

Jezmi: We’ve got other things to think about.