Because the new member of The Glittering Blackness Society is italian, the following text and interview is in english language (my italian is still non-existent as is the german of the interviewed person).
I’ve known Jukka for about 7 years now. Before that i only knew his band, Giardini di Miro. But because Johannes, who runs the 2nd rec label (read the first GB Society interview) is my friend, i was lucky enough to get to know Jukka and the rest of the band several years ago and i think i can consider Jukka as a good friend now. Jukka is someone i can have inspiring discussions with about music and art and also about politics. Well, concerning politics, he is the one who has a lot more to say than i have but i am always a keen listener. Jukka also taught me a lot about italian culture and every now and then i enjoy getting on tour with the band, but that is another story you might get to know more about later.
PS: Giardini Di Miro is touring germany (and belgium) in march, and you shouldn’t miss it! They are a great live band, and they will play a lot of songs from their current album „Divided Opinions“. Tour dates are available here.
Silke: Welcome to the second The Glittering Blackness Society interview! It is a great honor for me to have you here! First question: Tell me about how it was growing up in famous Cavriago (Reggio Emilia, Italy), the only small town i have been to that owns a Lenin statue!
Jukka: It was sort of magic, to be honest. I know that people won’t agree with me but i don’t care because it was really fantastic. I forgot most of the stuff i did when i was a child, apart from some selected memories. Most of them related to my young communist era. Haha! No, for real, i was the son of the secretary of the communist party, not a secondary thing in a place [like Cavriago] that has the only Lenin statue in the western bloc. I think it was fantastic because it was the italian way of communism. For me that was summer parties in order to raise money for political activities. We spent two weeks every summer having open air parties with typical debates in the restaurant, open air cinema and many other great stuff. Before/post that stuff i spent millions of hours in the festive area with my dad, mum and my grandfather because we had to built everything up and than in the end to take it away. Summer was magic. Always. It was also magic because every year i spent one month at the seaside with my grandmother and my cousins and then 20 days in jugoslavia with my parents.
Silke: The festival stuff sounds a little bit like growing up in Woodstock!
Jukka: No, no! It wasn’t like Woodstock! We were communists, not hippies. And italians, not americans! That are two very important differences! So, no Woodstock attitude!
Silke: Hehe, i was just kidding!
Jukka: It was big fun and work for everybody. It was something great for the community. It reallly was. Anyway, i spent my time mostly in da street, running my bike all day long.
Silke: No soccer?
Jukka: Yes, street soccer! But me and the other children that were living in the bloc were not so addicted. We always tried to play more unusual games. Street tennis was fantastic and street hockey with selfmade rackets was genius.
Silke: Did you smash any windows in the neighborhood? It’s part of the game!
Jukka: No, that never happened. I’m sorry. And frog fishing was another must for the summer season.
Silke: So it seems like you spent a lot of quality time with your parents. Did they also somehow affect your taste in music? What were/are they listening to?
Jukka: Okay, i spent lot of time with them, but just on weekends because they both worked during the week. We listened to very few music at home. We listened to some classic music and to italian modern folk/pop singers, like De Gregori or Battisti and some De André, and also to the Beatles and some other stuff. But i was never too impressed by the stuff we listened to at home.
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