Bee Bee Sea have the mischievous look of those students who purposely sit at the back of the class so they can escape the teacher’s surveying eyes and do whatever they want. They arrived at the studio one morning last spring, late. The first thing they did was have a coffee, the second was argue amongst themselves over a miscommunication about their plans for the afternoon. Of course, that made us love them even more than we already did. The band was formed in 2015 in the industrial town of Castel Goffredo, in the North of Italy, where Damiano (guitar, vocals), Andrea (drums) and Giacomo (bass) grew up. They started making music for a very simple yet completely unquestionable reason: they liked it. Since then, they took their fuzzed psych punk around the world, touring solo and supporting bands like the Oh Sees and Black Lips.



S: Thank you guys for stopping by, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. And thanks for playing a few of your songs for us today. Do you want to tell us a bit more about the ones you chose to perform?

   We did Time & Time, which we recorded a year ago and came out recently. It’s a bit of a more introspective kind of song, and we hadn’t played it live very much yet. Then we played Telephone, out of Day Ripper, our previous studio work. And then we did an AC/DC cover.

S: The cover was amazing, I loved it. And the rest, of course, but that one caught me by surprise.
You guys sing mostly in English… I think your only song in Italian is a cover of Piangi Con Me, which I was obsessed with a few years ago. Was it a conscious decision not to write in your own language?

   It just felt more natural. We grew up with English music, so when we started we didn’t even think about writing in Italian. We tried, but it’s super difficult, it just comes out easier in English. I think it’s also a matter of not having a lot of examples to follow - there aren’t many bands that do the genre we do that sing in Italian. I guess maybe one day there’ll be a band that will do the genre that we do, singing in Italian, and it’ll be fucking cool. But right now I don’t know one.



S: Yeah, I agree, and it’s a bit strange that there aren’t more artists spanning different genres singing in Italian, since we have such a rich history of singer-songwriters. I think it was Guccini who said in an interview that the Italian language really isn’t suitable for the rhythms and the metric of Blues and Rock. Maybe it’s that. Anyway, moving on to a big topic - the pandemic. What’s your perception of the changes that the music industry has undergone as a result of the lockdown(s)?

It changed the way people listen to music. It didn’t change much for us, in the sense that we continued to play whenever we could meet, and thankfully our audience was back when we were able to tour again. One thing we’ve noticed though is that people come out for gigs more. If before you had a packed venue, but one third of the people were there just for the night out or the DJ set afterwards, it seems that now those who are there are there for the music. It’s something that before the lockdown we all took for granted - even if you liked an artist, you had the perception that you could go see them anytime. People are more eager now. They come out for the concert.



S: It makes sense. Levitation Room, who were here a few weeks ago, said the same thing. They were touring in Europe and found that a lot more people were singing along to their songs, which I think is amazing - we got all a bit tired of livestreams I guess. What about Italy specifically… I’m curious about your perception of how things are going, is the music scene healthy and thriving?

   There are certainly some very good bands. A/lpaca are great, and so are FREEZ, we’re under the same collective called Super Stanzy. But yeah, especially in the Mantova and Brescia area there is a nice and thriving community I would say. One of the problems is that a lot of venues shut down because they didn’t make it after the pandemic. There are fewer places where bands can play to start off. But it’s all a matter of getting organised. It’s possible, you just need to really want to do it and kind of get together.



S: I guess it’s the same here in London, it’s a big city but the scene isn’t as big as you’d think, everyone knows each other. In terms of how you got from doing covers for fun to touring with bands like the Oh Sees… What’s your advice to someone who wants to pursue a career in music?

   Just have fun. Don’t think about it. If you want to do it, do it. It’s all about the passion. We started for fun, and we’re still doing it for fun. We grew as a band, we’re doing more gigs and more people follow us, but we still do it because we love it. If one day we get discovered and become huge, great. But even if we don’t, you’ll still find us doing the same thing. If your goals are anything but the love of music you’re way more likely to be disappointed and discouraged. Another advice is to play live shows. The rest will come by itself, but don’t be shy and just get out there and play.

S: What’s the worst show you’ve ever played?

   Oh gosh… from time to time there’s a shit show, but that’s part of the game isn’t it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I remembered we played in LA, in a super cool venue called Zebulon. That time, everything went wrong. I broke two strings, the microphone wasn’t working, and the pedals… I regret that a bit because it could have been a good occasion. A sound guy from the Oh Sees was there, we could have been discovered, and instead we kind of fought on stage.





S: Oh no, did you go full on Brian Jonestown Massacre?

   It was more of a wrestling match with our tour manager. But anyways… We also have a little bit of a curse with rented cars. In the US, once they towed our car, and another time we managed to leave the keys inside and the car locked itself. We were in the desert, with nothing around us. And then two days ago, as we were driving in the UK, we panicked because here they drive on the other side of the road and we scratched our car on the barrier.

S: I feel you. When I first came to the UK I rode a bicycle on a roundabout the wrong way around, at night. It’s just confusing. Now, tell me, who would you like to open a concert for? Dead or alive, anyone goes.

    Damiano: If Oasis were to ever reunite… (laughs). I could die happy. I’d stop making music. I’d be done.
Giacomo: I want the Beatles opening for us. You said dead or alive.
Andrea: Well… it’s kind of a running joke. I like Metallica (they laugh). If they called us to open for them, I think we’d say yes. And AC/DC, of course.


Time & Time is out now → Click here to listen