Skiantos is an Italian comedypunk band formed in Bologna in 1975. They have released ten studio albums, two live albums and five compilation albums. They participated in the Gods of Demential festival on January 12, 2007. Roberto “Freak” Antoni, leader of the band, died in Bologna at 59 years of age on February 12, 2014.
The group formed in the mid-1970s, and their initial repertoire mainly consisted of cover songs.[1] After some demo tapes, the project became more concrete in 1977 with Inascoltable, an experimental improvised live album which was only distributed on cassette and which according to Freak Antoni was recorded in "a night of improvisation for ten people in love of music".[2]
The concerts of the group, especially in the beginning, were characterized by provocative performances with references to Futurist and Dadaist at the forefront, including the launch of vegetables from the musicians on to the audience.[1][3]
In 1978 the group made their official debut with MONOtono, an album considered the manifesto of the band, characterized by "raw sounds, out of time music, voices out of tune and lyrics that reveal a non-vulgar aggressiveness, made of no sense, paradoxes and puns."[1]
On April 2, 1979, Skiantos participated in the Bologna Rock punk rock and new wave festival, where their performance attracted much publicity. The band brought on stage a kitchen, a table, a TV and a fridge, boiled some spaghetti and then ate it, without playing anything; the audience protested, and Antoni responded "You do not understand a fucking thing: this is avant-garde, you piece-of-shit audience."[2]
The same year they released the album Kinotto, containing their hit Mi piaccion le sbarbine.[1] Shortly later the leader Freak Antoni left the group, dedicating to some solo musical and literary projects with the stage names Beppe Starnazza and later Astro Vitelli.[1][2] The original lineup of the group reformed in 1984, when they released the album Ti spalmo la crema.[1][2]
^ abcdefEnrico Deregibus (8 October 2010). Dizionario completo della Canzone Italiana. Giunti Editore, 2010. ISBN978-8809756250.
^ abcdOderso Rubini, Andrea Tinti (cured by). Non disperdetevi. 1977-1982 San Francisco, New York, Bologna. Le città libere del mondo. Shake edizioni, 2009, ISBN9788888865898.
^Gianluca Testani. Enciclopedia del rock italiano. Arcana Editrice, 2006. ISBN9788879664226.
