Persiana Jones

Persiana Jones started in February 1988 in Rivarolo Canavese, a village in the Turin North Area. During the first two years , the band expands his activity to all North Italy.

In 1990, the first record is released. "Impazzire" is a miniLP with 4 songs, recorded and produced by Madaski. In a few months the record sells more than 3000 copies ans is reviewed abroad. The frenzied live activity of Persiana Jones helps increase the band's fame all over Italy.

1991, the band wins Valdelsa Rock, italian rock festival nearby Florence. In December a new picture disc is released, "Baciami Tony" (four tracks), together with disco-mix version of the same song, produced by Madaski again. 1992: the band appears on Rai TV for the first time, in a live show in Rome attended by 15000 fans, along with the other new Italian bands. In december, another concert at Palladium in Rome, is broadcasted by Stereo RADIORAI, during the popular show "Planet Rock". After attending lots of anthologies (Sotterai Italiani, Skandalo al sole, Vox Pop 93), in May 1993, a new Mini CD is issued. It consists of 3 afro-american tracks entitled "Che Passa", produced by Madaski again with the help of Carlo U. Rossi. During the "Che Passa" tour (with occasional shows abroad), the new live album is recorded.

1994, January: Show comes out: 16 tracks (7 previously unreleased), all live. The record contains all the power of an average Persiana Jones concert: from SKA to Latin, all seasoned by loads of fun. In 1994: appearance at some TV shows ("Segnali di fumo" on Videomusic, "Domino" on TMC and "Saxa Rubra" on RAI 3) and some radio shows: Pomeriggio giovani" and "Hit Parade" by Piero Chiambretti on RAI Stereo2 1995 Persiana Jones quit Vox Pop and self-produce the new album, "Siamo Circondati", distributed by Banda Bonnot. Recorded at Transeuropa Studio in Turin and produced by Carlo U. Rossi, "Siamo Circondati" contains of 13 new tracks. Its a multicoloured and carefully finished work, it sells more than 5000 copies and is well reviewed also abroad. It is distributed in Belgium Holland, France, Spain, Switzerland and USA, but the best results come from Germany. Durante the promotional tour in Austria and Germany, Persiana Jones plays with excellent SKA bands from Germany and elsewhere (No Sport, Skaos and others), obtaining a good success in spite of the fact of singing in Italian.

1996, a line-up change: the brass section is reduced to one tenor sax and the band counts now 5 elements. Another German Tour then Italy again with shows with The Skatalites, the fathers of Jamaican SKA, and Toasters, form the USA. 3 antholgies: in October "War is insanity" - Germany, in November "Let's skank" - France with SKA bands from 3 continents, in December Latin ska vol.II" - USA. This one is the most important, as its issued by Moon Records (New York), world leader of SKA music.

1997, after a few dates, a big change for the birth of "Uaz Record" (by Beppe e Silvio Carruozzo). It goes to show the intention of the band od staying inedependent. February-March: the band records a new record, "Brivido Caldo", at blumusica Studio in Torino, 14 brand new songs, with the artistic production of Pippo Monaro. This is a heavier record than the previous ones; more rock influences on the usual SKA foundation. In March Persiana Jones, first and only Italian band to do it, sign a contract with Moon Records NYC, that deals with the print and distribution of "Brivido Caldo" all over the world. After 50 dates, a new drummer and, after a period of rehearsal, the second part of the tour starts on october, 31st.

1998. Lots of gigs abroad, Catalunya above all, where the band attends at some major Spanish festivals and wins praise from the crowd and tye critics. In Italy, the band plays the 2nd Moonstomp Ska Festival in Bologna and attends the compilation "Italian Ska Invasion", from an original Uaz Record idea along with the independent label Lilium, distributed in Italy by Epic-Sony. A gig at El Paso Squat in Turin is recorded to be released in February. On December 19th, the Brivido Caldo tour ends in Zurich, after 123 dates.

1999. February. Persiana Jones starts the sessions for the new album, produced by Uaz Record. It comes out in April and is called Puerto Hurraco, after a bar in Barcelona where the band used to end up after its Catalunya nights and where it is possible to meet the strangest creatures. The CD is recorded at Blu Musica Studio in Torino, once again with Pippo Monaro, it contains 16 songs and is mixed partly at Transeuropa Studio in Turin by Carlo U. Rossi and partly at Blu Musica by Pippo Monaro. The sessions involved old memebers of the band too: the old brass section (Roy Paci e Rosario "Tyson" Patania), Vito Miccolis on percussion, Roberta Bacciolo e Roberta Magnetti from "Violectra", and Victor Ruggiero from the American band "The Slackers". The "Puerto Hurraco Tour" starts from Turin and will bring the band to visit all the major cities of Northern Italy. The tour has followed the release of the new single "Tremarella" and a couple of live shows in national TV programs. During the year the band has played at the Genova Festival in front of 5,000 people, two times at the "Moonstomp Ska Festival" with Skatalites, Slackers and Bad Manners and, above all, at the itinerant Vans festival "Warped" in Bologna, with Pennywise, Ice-T, Pietasters and many others. In September the band attended the "Bam Tour" in Catalunya and played a concert at "Puerto Hurraco Bar" in Barcelona. In December they played Switzerland (New Years Eve at the Zoo Bar in Zurich).

January 2000 The "Puerto Hurraco Tour" goes on while the band release a remix of "Un giorno nuovo", produced by Madaski. The remix is released on a mini-CD with five songs . In springtime and summer the tour continues all over Italy and occasionally abroad. In September the band attended two important festivals in Spain, in February 2001 the tour ends with two gigs in France and three in Switzerland, a total of 120 concerts.

March 2001 The sessions for the recording of a new album begin, the producer is Madaski but three songs are produced by Darian Rundall, producer of all the records by Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies, U.S. Bombs and more Epitaph bands. Rundall works with an Italian band for the first time and the result is a powerful album, with no gimmicks, very direct and quick. The reviews on the press are all good. Additional musicians for the album are Paolo Parpaglione on sax (Africa Unite), Gigi De Gaspari on trombone (Bluebeaters), Alberto Mandarini on trumpet (Paolo Conte Band), Zazzo on vocals (from the legendary Torino punk band Negazione). The album is called "Agarra la onda", is released on June 1st and its distributed by Venus.

May 2001 The new tour starts from Bologna and goes on for the whole year. During the summer the band plays the most important Festival in the Slovak Republic in front of a crowd of 18,000 people; two gigs at the Deconstruction Tour and Independent Day in Bologna. In the autumn, after many concerts in Italian clubs, it's time for a tour in France while in December back to Slovak Republik (Bratislava) and Czech Republic (at the Roxy in Prague). The New Years Eve concert is number 850 with a total of 400,000 km.all over Europe. The first part of the tour ends in January 2002 in Florence.

Persiana Jones, more than 850 gig…still on the go ! ! !