Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1475578
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 AUGUST 2022 8 INTERVIEW Will 'Shostakovich's Nightmare' We seem to be living in an age of great musical comebacks. First, Black Sabbath reunited for a world tour; then AC/DC recorded its first studio album in decades. And now, Shostak- ovich's Nightmare is reuniting for a charity concert. So let me start with this: is this gig the beginning of a more permanent comeback for the band? Or is it just a one-off performance? I certainly hope it's not just a 'one-off'; because we've been playing together again for around two or three years now: these days, on a weekly basis. So hopefully it will be a permanent thing: in the sense that we'll keep on gigging, and playing live reg- ularly. Because that's what I real- ly miss: playing live. The last time we did a live gig was in 2009: we were one of the supporting bands, alongside Areola Treat, when Therapy? performed at Sky Club. That was 13 years ago; and since then… well, my other bandmates might not miss it, as much as I do. But I really do miss live performances: where I can make a fool of my- self, and cavort around the stage in front of an audience… my 'silly antics on stage', basically. I miss that, a lot… Are you working on any new ma- terial, though? Can we expect a new Shostakovich's Nightmare album, any time soon? We're not 'recording' anything, at the moment; but we are work- ing on a few new songs. Even be- cause, at first, there was a bit of resistance to just playing the old ones. But also because… it's very strange, actually. One thing you realise, play- ing the same songs for so many years, is that… some of them may have remained more or less 'valid', and 'interesting', to this day. But then, there are others – especially the ones that we ourselves thought were 'good', at the time (in all humility, and within our limitations as mu- sicians, etc.) – which have now grown 'dated', in a very drastic way. Almost to the point that they've become something com- pletely different, to the songs we had originally composed… A lot has in fact changed, since your band started up in the 1990s. Not least, the sort of audience you will now be play- ing for… some of which will be composed of an older genera- tion, to whom the name 'Shos- takovich's Nightmare' evokes certain memories; but some will be youngsters, who might never have heard it at all… I hope so… Are you concerned about it, though? Not to jinx you, or an- ything: but just as your audi- ence's age has changed, so has their taste in music… Perhaps, but that only makes it more interesting. In fact, I'm very happy that some of my younger friends, who never watched us before, will finally get to see what we're like. And I keep telling them, 'Listen: don't raise your expectations too high. You might be disappointed!' Because I imagine a lot of peo- ple will probably end up saying: "Ah, OK: they're not as good as older people thought they were, back in the 1990s; but then again, they were the only thing around back then; so there was nothing to really compare them to…" But the way I see it: that makes us lucky, in that we have history on our side. Because we're 'very old' – relatively speaking, any- way: I'm turning 48, myself. But I've always been something of a 'Peter Pan', really – but because we were around in the early 1990s: at a time when, let's face it, there weren't THAT many bands in Malta; and even fewer that played what was considered 'weird', 'obscure' music… Anyway: because of all that, people tend to look at us like we were some kind of 'seminal' band, in the annals of Maltese rock. But at the same time: if you compare us, back then, to the sort of bands that exist now- adays; and the sort of stuff they do… the truth is that we were probably very amateur, at the end of the day. And we are, in fact, amateurs. Of the entire band, I'd say only one – Matthew, our guitarist – can really claim to be a good mu- sician. The rest of us just try and keep up, as best we can… But that's what I meant. Aren't you the least bit nervous about your first gig in 13 years? Not really, because I'm not normally the type to get nerv- ous about things, anyway. As far as I'm concerned: it will be fun to finally get to see whether we really were 'completely shit'… or whether there was really some- thing interesting about us, after all. And part of what it makes it fun is that: we were always an eminently 'live band'. If we were known for anything, all those years ago… it was not because we were the 'best musicians in the world'; but because we have always really loved playing live. We always gave it everything we'd got, on stage. So I'm really happy to be re- capturing that lost territory, af- ter so many years… Nonetheless, the music scene you are returning to is not the same as the one you started out in. You said it yourself: in the 1990s, there were nowhere near as many bands as today; which also means that it would arguably be much harder for a band like SN to start out today, than in yesterday's less com- petitive environment… Not 'much harder', no. Because at least, today there is a scene for 'indie, alternative' music. There are lots of very, very valid bands, which play music that is not gen- erally regarded as 'mainstream'; and there's also a very exciting atmosphere, where bands col- laborate with each other, and intermingle in a way that didn't really use to happen, back in the old days. And even what we under- stand as 'indie' or 'alternative' music has changed. When we started off in the early 1990s, the 'mainstream' was very dif- ferent to what it is today. Now, music that would previously There have been minor tremors of excitement, among Malta's older rockers, at the news that veteran 1990s indie act 'Shostakovich's Nightmare' is reuniting for this year's 'Rock For Richmond'. But as frontman ANTONIO TUFIGNO mumbles through his beard: part of the hype is also just curiosity (including his own) about 'how good we really were'… Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt