Gaznevada: at the cinema the story of the worship band

THE Gaznevada They are a Bolognese musical group active mainly between the late seventies and the late eighties, which emerged in the context of the seventy -seven movement that in Bologna had its cultural peak.

Today the complex path of that band born, among the many, in that cultural, political and social ferment is remembered with the documentary “Going underground“(Title of opening of their album“ Sick Soundtrack” Which tells of the story and life of twenty -year -olds who, between the 70s and 80s, chase their dream of living with music and who eventually left a mark in Italian music.

The Gaznevada have united, like many in those years, punk, funk, electronic and new wave influences, starting with a punk rock and no wave sound, and then evolving towards pop, Italian disco and electronic sounds. In 2022, the band returned to business after a long period of silence.

The group formed in Bologna in 1977 and debuts with the song “Mom give me the benza“. The band, initially composed of seven members, has its meeting place in the occupied house” Traumfabrik “, a sort of factory where different forms of art come to life. In November 1977 they change their name in Gaznevada, inspired by a story of Raymond Chandler. Oderso Rubini.

In 1979 they published theirs first homonymous album. But it’s the second job, “SICK Soundtrack“(1980), to affirm them as an innovative band, mixing screeching sounds, rough sax and new wave and no wave influences.

In 1981 they published the Mini-LP “Dressed to Kill”continuing their path and musical evolution. They participate in important festivals and in 1982 after the abandonment of Giorgio Lavagna (Andy Droid / Andrew Nevada) begin to explore new sounds with the individual “boys of space” and “White Wild Boys”, and participate in the musical “Pirate!”.

In 1983, the Gaznevada achieved a great and unexpected success with the song “IC Love Affair” from the album “Psychopathic Party“, Becoming a cult track in Clubbing music. After the change of some members, they sign a contract with EMI and publish other singles. In 1985 he came out”Back to the Jungle“, with the single” Living in the Jungle “, which became the acronym for the Rai” Cartoni Magic “program. In 1986 they produce” Sex Sister “, while in 1987 a further change of training took place. The following year 1988 he published the single “Thrill of the night” from the album “Strange Life“, their fifth and last album.

In March 2022, the guitarist Ciro Pagano ((Robert Squibb) and the bassist Marco Bongiovanni (called first Chainsaw Sally and then Marco Nevada) participate in the “Rock and Revolution” review in Bologna, where they tell the creative Bologna of the 70s and offer An electronic djset of the Gaznevada. The work with a live djset on the occasion of the launch of the capsule collection “Going Underground” by Slam Jam.

It is their latest record production.

All this is told in “Going underground”, Documentary produced by They are films and Wanted Cinema who develops starting from the memoirs of the Gaznevada themselves and from an accurate search for vintage materials, often unpublished.

The film will be in theaters from February 24, 2025.