In addition to acting as vocalist and bassist for Bay Area Death Metal power trio Necrot, Luca Indrio also spends time handling the bass in Vastum and Acephalix, two other superb Death Metal bands. All three bands share some of the same qualities: a real strong sense of songwriting, as each song, in addition to the heaviness and brutality it contains, is also extremely catchy, which is not always the case for this style of music. Yet, each band has its own unique approach and its own specific sound. The focus, here, is on songwriting over displaying extreme technical prowess. It’s no coincidence that all three bands are regulars of our playlists here, at The Thanks List, as we really appreciate well written Death Metal music. If you’ve enjoyed Bood Offerings, Necrot’s 2017 debut album (and if you enjoy Death Metal,or Heavy Music in general, chances are that you did), make sure to check out their new album Mortal, which come out TOMORROW on Tankcrimes. You can also order it directly from the band. It offers the same high quality craftsmanship you can expect from the band that recorded Blood Offerings so you will not be disappointed!
What have you been listening to the most lately?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Death Metal and some usual classics. I recently got asked from Gimme Radio to do a playlist for them and I did a podcast for them a couple of weeks ago. So I was working on creating that list and that made me rediscover a lot the stuff that I haven’t listened to in a while. That was a mix of more well known Death Metal bands and I kind of tried and went through a list of bands that we have been on tour with Necrot in the last years.
What are some of the dark horses that you had in there?
Nothing too dark! *Haha* I mean, it depends. Our friends in FETID or the band TORTURE RACK. Really cool. Or FACELESS BURIAL, a band from Melbourne, Australia. We toured with them in Australia and they were super awesome. Down tuned, low vocals, 3-piece. WITCH VOMIT, RITUAL NECROMANCY, NIGHT FAIL. A lot of these bands are from the West Coast, maybe I’m being a little biased but these are a lot of the bands we’ve played with a lot through the years. Then of course, I wanted to include some classics in that playlist so I went through the whole IMMOLATION discography, MORBID ANGEL, DEATH, early SEPULTURA, all that kind of cool stuff that whenever you listen to, it’s just fantastic.
On the regular, is Death Metal the genre you listen to the most?
Yes, Metal in general, Death Metal. But I do alternate, I listen to completely different stuff depending on the mood or what I’m doing, like, SISTERS OF MERCY, or DAVID BOWIE or BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB. But I listen to a lot of Metal, definitely.
Do you have any go-to’s depending on your mood? Something that you’ll put on when you’re cooking or if you’re driving, etc
Let’s say, if I’m sad, or bummed out, I’m gonna listen to albums that comfort to me. So I’m talking about DEATH – Human, IMMOLATION – Dawn Of Possession or even some MOTÖRHEAD album, Bastards or Nö Sleep At All. But a lot of it is related to just growing up and listening to this shit. If I want to be comforted, I listen to bands that I used to listen when I was a teenager because it gives you that kind of comfort, like comfort food. You know, when you eat something that reminds you of when you were little, like mac and cheese.
Do you remember the first time music had an impact on you?
Well, I grew up sharing the room with my older sister. She was only two years older than me but when I was like, five or six, I was listening to whatever she was playing. Luckily, she was listening to some good stuff. NIRVANA and Britpop, and even BLACK SABBATH. Then I remember I started playing guitar around 7 or 8, I was kind of induced into taking guitar lessons from my mother. I started taking guitar lessons, and they would teach you a little bit of guitar then they tried to teach you some songs. So they were like, “bring a song and we’ll try and figure it out.” It was fun to try and discover more bands.
Then, when I was like 12, I started my first little band with two friends of mine, and that’s where I switched from guitar to bass. We started this Punk Rock band that was like, three riffs. I remember the first song talked about my friend and I don’t remember what they stole from him or there was something that happened in school. That was the first round and the drummer of the band, he was discovering SEX PISTOLS and DEAD KENNEDYS, or even GREEN DAY and shit like that. Then we wanted to play harder because our guitar player was super into METALLICA and he got us all into Metallica. At that time, Pantera was huge too. You know, I grew up in Italy, I didn’t grow up in the Bay area where you’re bombarded by really good music or an underground scene. We were listening to everything that was kind of Alternative.
Then you get into the heavier stuff. I got into some Italian Anarcho-Punk bands and Hardcore bands and then got into Metal and Death Metal. I got into Death Metal through DEATH. Then I started discovering all the Death Metal bands from there, and then I was into like, DARKTHRONE and MAYHEM and Black Metal. There was that period of listening to all that shit, when I was about 15. By 17, I was deeper and deeper into Metal. But at the very beginning, when you’re a kid, we were attracted to anything that was Alternative or what we would be able to see on TV because there wasn’t going on internet or something. On MTV, the coolest stuff I remember was the video of the song Drain You from Nirvana. Then I saw Metallica with the video for One. There was this weird TV channel where people could call and ask for a video from a list that they had. There was some cool stuff. You would also learn about bands from Beavis and Butthead too, that was also cool. There was no access for me to cooler stuff like MORBID ANGEL or Death or these bands until when I was a bit older.
I guess you started going to shows around that time also? What were some of the best local bands back then?
I think I started going to shows when I was 14 or 15. I would go with my sister. There was one venue in town and this other occupied place. The occupied place had a lot of underground shows but most of it was pretty bad. Then there was this other venue that was having some shows but I haven’t seen anything too amazing until I was a little bit older, 18 or 19, that I could be able to actually travel to Northern Italy, where the cooler shows where, like Milan or whatnot. Then I moved to London so I saw some cool shows there. I saw OBITUARY there. I saw this big Metal and Hardcore fest and there was a bunch of bands. There was MESHUGGAH…what other bands…I don’t even remember.
What would be some of the most memorable shows that you’ve ever seen in your life?
Well, definitely BOLT THROWER in Oakland, 2013. That was insane.
Another fun one was in Italy, every year, there is this fest Gods of Metal, and one year was SLAYER, SODOM, there were so many good bands on the bill. It was insane but the tickets were super expensive so me and three friends of mine we did this insane thing. We drove up to Milan the night before and basically, we broke into this gigantic park that was connected to where the festival was. It’s really insane shit when I think about it right now, to get into a show, that’s completely nuts. Anyway, we went to a lake and we ended up behind the stage, at like four in the morning, the day before the festival even starts, and we hid where they throw away all the trash. We knew that at 10am, they were opening the gates so we waited there silently until like 10:30 or 10:20 and then we were like, “Okay, I think it’s safe.” When we came out from behind the stage, we were like, “we’re just gonna go and mingle with the people, that’s it, we did it.” So we came out from behind the stage, and the place was still empty because they haven’t opened the gate yet. They were late for whatever reason, and there was all these people setting up their stands and stuff like that. One of the security guys saw us from outside the place, he couldn’t reach us, but he saw us. He was like, “what are you guys doing in there?” Because we looked young, we were 18, dirty as fuck, we didn’t sleep all night. So we ended up running and hiding in the disposable toilets. Then finally, after another half an hour or whatever, people started to finally come in and we were successful and we saw Slayer, Sodom, SATYRICON, TESTAMENT…I need to relook at the bill, there was so many good bands.
That’s one of the best concert story I’ve heard, to be honest!
*Haha* We really wanted to go but none of us had any money. We barely had the money to drive all together in the car there and back.
What are some of your favorite riffs of all time?
So much CANNIBAL CORPSE guitar riffs are so sick and catchy. Same with the fucking Hanneman SLAYER shit, heavy, catchy, he’s got it all.
So you’re more of a Hanneman guy, over Kerry King?
I mean, I don’t know enough but I do know that Hanneman wrote most of the stuff that I like. I don’t know him personally and of course, Hanneman died…that’s the other thing, I got to see Slayer with Hanneman that one time that we broke into the festival so that makes it super worth it I guess now. So yeah, favorite riffs, I think Slayer is in there, of course. Chuck Schuldiner (DEATH) also, even his solos are insane. IMMOLATION. BOLT THROWER. It’s hard to answer this question, you always forget someone that you should have said.
Is there any bands that you always wanted to see but just never had any luck and never got to see them?
I want to say…look, Death is one of my favorite bands ever, but I saw a lot of videos of them playing live and I’m not super impressed by their live performance. I mean, they’re great but like, I feel like I wish I was rather seeing a SEPULTURA show like 1991 or something like that. I would rather be in this more chaotic kind of situation with a fucking insane mosh pit and just fucking pure rage. I think Sepultura in the early 90’s, they were destroying everything. So yeah, I have to think not just about the band or the band that will give you a better time there.
Outside of Metal, I wish I got to see The CRAMPS again. I only got to see them once. I wish I got to see DAVID BOWIE and never got to see him. I mean, if we talk about the older dead ones, I mean, I wish I saw JIMI HENDRIX, you know? We could go on forever. Freddie Mercury, I would have loved to see QUEEN, why not? The RAMONES? I want to go see The Ramones!
In terms of bands that you’ve toured with, what would be the one that impressed you the most? The one that you just had to watch their set every night.
Both MORBID ANGEL and CANNIBAL CORPSE are awesome to watch every night. Same with SUFFOCATION. They are also great to watch every night. These bands never get boring. The songs are great and the musicians are awesome so even if you don’t like the songs that much, you just watch them play and it’s insane.
But I have to say, maybe the band from which I’ve learned the most is IMMOLATION. They’re super down to earth. They bring a minimum amount of people with them on tour, they do everything themselves. They’re super nice. They keep their shit together, they’re always nice even when they’re stressed out. They’re nice to each other, they run their own merch table. They do everything by themselves and to me, it’s a good example of a working band, that manage to do everything they need to do. Some bands, they just want to get on stage and play, that’s it. That’s their ultimate goal. But even bands like us, I don’t ever see us stop doing some of the work that comes with going on tour because you’re just used to do it and you enjoy all of it. I think Immolation was a great example of a band that I was looking up to, as far as behavior. The first time we met, first day of tour, they were like, “Hey guys, if you guys want to use any of our cabinets, feel free.” Every bands had all of their shit, we didn’t need to borrow anything. They were like, “if you want something from the merch table, just come over, I’ll give you whatever you want.” I mean, super nice people, from which you learn. If they’re at the merch table, they meet with all the fans, they talk with them, they have the patience of doing all of that. You can tell that they enjoy it.
Another band that was great to tour with is BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. We’re not necessarily similar as far as what we play and the style we go for, but they’re super professional. I’ve never seen a band so professional. They play super long sets, they’re always on time, they’d never fuck up. They play for like, an hour and a half without taking any breaks, they go super fast. Nobody fucks up anything ever, it’s cool. I cannot listen to a whole Black Dahlia Murder album but live, they’re incredibly impressive. One of the most impressive bands I’ve ever been on tour with.
Is there any artist or band that you love, in a genre that you typically don’t like?
I don’t listen to much electronic music but when I was younger in Europe, we were listening a lot of The CHEMICAL BROTHERS, PRODIGY, APHEX TWINS. They were huge.
Also, I don’t like Ska that much but The SPECIALS are cool.
Do you have any unpopular music opinion that you’d like to defend? Stuff that you really love but yet, you can hardly find anyone to agree with you.
Hmmm…There you go. I think that Lars from METALLICA is a great drummer. I disagree with these people that say he sucks or that he was the weakest link of Metallica. If you think about it, he is the drummer of the most successful Metal band ever so how is it possible that he sucks? His style is not complicated and he’s kind of sloppy if you want but I enjoy that. It sounds very real, it sounds live. I think he adds to Metallica’s sound, he doesn’t take away. He brings that Punk feeling to some of their albums. I’m super pro-Lars.
You’re right. When you think about it, how many great bands would have a bad drummer? A drummer is the backbone.
It’s impossible! It doesn’t make sense. I think it’s just people talking shit because they’re jealous or I don’t know. I mean, also, art is not a sport. Music is not a sport. It’s not whoever jumps the highest wins. It’s an artistic thing so it doesn’t matter if you play perfectly or not. How people perceive it is what feelings come out of people when they listen to it. You can play something super perfect and it be a pile of shit anyway. I think that people criticizing are just people that they’re like, “Oh, I’m more technical than him” or “there’s more technical drummers than him” but they really miss the point.
I’m totally with you on that. To me, music is about the vibe and the emotions that you get from it.
I mean, otherwise, even bands like VELVET UNDERGROUND would never had become nothing. It sounds like shit on a technical level. I think it’s great. I love it. I used to listen to it a lot when I was growing up too but the recordings are shitty.
Is there any up and coming bands that you’d like to recommend?
I really like this band TAPHOS from Copenhagen, Denmark. I like TORTURE RACK a lot. I like FETID. I like that band FACELESS BURIAL I was telling you about from Australia.
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