Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1475578
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 AUGUST 2022 9 INTERVIEW Nightmare' finally come true? have been considered 'alterna- tive' or 'indie', has seeped into the mainstream; it has become more acceptable… Another thing that has really changed is the attitude towards original music. Back when we started, we never used to do 'cov- er versions'; we always wanted to play our own stuff. But when we performed in bars like The Alley in Paceville, for instance… there was a rule that half of all sets had to be cover versions: 'Bil-fors. Inkella, you don't play'. Now: we used to get around that, by performing cover ver- sions of bands that were argua- bly even more obscure than we were – like 'The Pixies', for in- stance. But still: there was a deep mistrust of anyone trying to do things differently. The idea was that, to be 'interesting', bands had to play music that people al- ready knew. That is something you don't really encounter, nowadays. And besides: today it's much easier to record; there are more oppor- tunities; and there is certainly more of a scene for live alterna- tive music; with venues such as Hole In the Wall in Sliema; the Garage in Zebbug; and so many more. So all in all, I would there's a lot more exciting stuff happening, than when we started out… Indeed there is: and some of that 'exciting stuff' has proven to be controversial, too. Apart from being SN's frontman, you are also from Valletta… [Nodding] Born, raised and lived there for 33 years… May I ask you, then, for your own views about Valletta bars being allowed to play live music until 1.30am? As both a live per- former, and a proud 'Belti'… do have mixed feelings about it? Well, let me put it this way. If it were just me, I wouldn't be all that bothered. I like that sort of activity myself; and as I remem- ber a time when Valletta was practically a Ghost Town, after 7pm – you could 'commit a mur- der and bury the corpse' [toqtol u tidfen], right in the middle of Republic Street - there is some- thing to be said for the fact that people are now flocking back to their capital city in the evenings. But that's just me; and you do have to put it in context. Clear- ly, it is a problem for other resi- dents. First of all, if you look at the population of Valletta, most residents are on the elderly side. And some of the places playing music at night – especially in Strait Street – are right under apartments where elderly people live. And let's face it: it must be awful, for them, to have to put up with loud music until late at night… so even out of consider- ation for others, I'd say it wasn't a very good idea. What about the impact on the identity of Valletta itself? Do you agree that the capital may risk losing part of its character? In a sense, yes. Because even if, in the 1980s and 1990s, Valletta was derelict and abandoned af- ter 7 or 8pm… it was completely 'mine'. It completely belonged to the people who lived in it. We could go for walks, late at night, through those empty streets; and the 'monumentality' of it all was really at its best, when the place was empty. (Interesting- ly enough, the same thing hap- pened during COVID, too. The Valletta streets went back, for a time, to 'belonging to Valletta residents'.) Now, however, it's a whole mix of things: some of which I do like, to be fair. I love Valletta so much, that I'm very happy to see that its popularity has grown so such an extent, in recent years (even among people who, a few years ago, wouldn't even have dreamed of venturing into Val- letta after nightfall…). But at the same time, it does seem to be losing some of its character. I'm not overly 'in love', for instance, with the way things are developing in the streets: how bars and restau- rants constantly take up more public space, at the expense of everyone else: the elderly, peo- ple in wheelchairs, people with push-chairs… It shouldn't be that hard to find a way for everyone to co-exist, amicably, in a better-managed way. The real problem, however, is that all these extensions into streets and pavements are objec- tively… UGLY. Why does every- one have to have white plastic chairs, for instance? Aestheti- cally, it hurts my eyes. And the same goes for the music, too. It's not just that bars are allowed to play live music until late; it's that the music they are playing is – with some exceptions, to be fair – utter rubbish. The same old boring, repetitive mainstream music, that most bar-tenders think (wrongly) that everyone wants to hear…. Let's turn to the 'Rock For Rich- mond Concert'. There has long been a association between the Maltese rock scene, and some form of 'social activism'. Shos- takovich's Nightmare might not, admittedly, be the best ex- ample: but bands such as Norm Rejection, Dripht, Brikkuni, Semplicament tat-Triq, etc., tend to often include social ac- tivism in their lyrics. Do you see yourself – and the rock scene in general – as being 'socially committed', in that sense? We were never really an 'ac- tivist band', ourselves. And we were certainly never very 'so- cially committed' in our lyrics. Unlike Brikkuni, for instance - where Mario [Vella] writes very pointed lyrics, about contem- porary issues as they happen: like the protests of 2019 - our own songs were always more surreal, and 'all over the place', in nature... But even if we don't write spe- cific lyrics about social issues: we've always been very interest- ed in these things. And we try to support, where we can – not, mind you, that our support ever amounts to very much: but still, we used to perform at activities organised by YMCA: that sort of thing. We were always there, at the periphery of everything… The Richmond Foundation itself is a charity which aims to 'ad- dress mental health problems, and promote mental well-be- ing'. Is that a cause you feel strongly about? I wouldn't say 'strongly'. To tell you the truth, I would have been just as happy to support other charities; so long as I agree with the cause, and they do a good job of it. But I also know some of the people who work with [The Richmond Foundation]; and I know them to be genuine, and serious. And I also believe, very much, in the change they are trying to bring about. Not that I'm an expert, mind you; but from the little I know, they are working on chang- ing the perception that 'mental health issues' are to be treated as being somehow s'distinct' from other health issues. Not like it was when you and I were children, for example. We were brought up to believe – well, maybe not everybody; my par- ents never taught me that, that's for sure; but it was the culture, at the time, that if someone was slightly 'off his rocker'… or 'ir- regular'… then that person was automatically someone to be 'scared of'. They became 'out- casts', for no reason… If can add to that: we also be- lieved there was nothing that could be done about it, either. Once you're viewed as 'having something wrong with your head'… that's it. You're beyond the reach of medical science… Exactly. But to be fair, things have already come a long way, since then. And it's partly thanks to institutions like Richmond, and others, which are success- fully instilling a culture that… 'Listen: this is a health problem." Because somehow, we didn't use to think of it like that, before. We never looked at it as a case of: 'you can be physically injured; and you can also be mentally injured'. But children, today, do under- stand this. The younger genera- tion's attitude to mental health has already changed a lot in that sense; and I think it's really im- portant. I think it's one of the truly good developments we've seen, in this country… and let's face it; there haven't been all that many others.