The Bad Penny (beta)

Three years ago, psychedelic-pop band Dumbo Gets Mad gave a rousing performance at Treefort Music Fest that left a massive foot-size imprint on Boise. Tonight they return to the city in the hopes of matching or even besting their previous show. The band is opening for Levitation Room – read The Bad Penny‘s 2019 interview for The Big Takeover and 2024 interview for New Noise – at Shrine Social Club.

Doors open at 7 p.m., with the show beginning an hour later with a set by Floating Witch’s Head (featuring Treefort co-founder Eric Gilbert). Buy tickets here for approximately $40 apiece.

In anticipation of Dumbo Gets Mad’s return to Boise, we caught up with frontman Luca Bergomi – who founded the band 15 years ago – via phone on Saturday. The Bad Penny picked his brain about how their tour is going, various records they’ve put out over the years and why asking the right question is often more important than arriving at the right answer.

First of all, how’s travel treating you? Are you hitting any obstacles or is it going pretty smoothly so far?

No, not particularly. We started in San Diego, then we did Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and yesterday was Portland. So far, it’s really good.

Did you have more difficulty than usual getting into the States because of all the visa shit that’s going on?

Yeah, kind of. The first time [we came to the States,] we had to go to the Italian consulate to do interviews for everybody who wanted the visa. And then the second time, they just gave us the visa [without] interviewing us.

But nowadays, I’m under the impression that every European that wants to come to work in the U.S. must do the interview in their consulate. So it’s kind of a bummer. You need to spend a morning answering really personal questions.

Plus … the cost of the whole thing is huge.

Yeah, I’ve been hearing that from a lot of bands. Is it higher than $1,000?

No, no, it’s much more. Only a few years ago, it was just like a few hundred, if I remember correctly. 

So you’e not still living in Los Angeles, as you were the last time we talked?

No. I spent [time] there at the beginning of the [making of] the first record [2011’s Elephants at the Door]. I mixed it there, and I ended up producing a couple of songs there in L.A., and for six months I was around California. Then, from time to time, I came back during [subsequent] years. But I am based in Italy now.

Three years elapsed between 2021’s Things Are Random and Time Is Speeding Up and your 2024 single “The Depth of an Answer.” Did you take three years off from writing and recording music to get a break or for other mitigating circumstances?

No. I don’t have a deadline when it comes to my music, discography-wise. I get really calm about the timing, so when it’s over, it’s over. It might take one year, two years … this time [it was] three years.

Would you say “Depth” is more layered, complex or dense?

No. This time, the process started with 20 songs and ended up [with] 10. I had to produce almost everything, and that was pretty time-consuming to [choose] 10 out of [20].

What did you want “Depth” to be like in terms of personality, character and/or message? What kind of vision did you have going into the making of it?

There’s not really a theme; [the songs are] just reflections of … how I feel about society, myself and maybe the future a bit. It’s like thinking out loud what is the right question. There is not supposed to be a real answer to the question, but just to put [it out] is enough. Sometimes, from time to time, there are Italian friends who listen to the music and tell me that they feel the song, they feel the lyrics. Sometimes they ask me, “What does it mean?” It’s like pretty subjective.

An exception would be Dumbo Gets Mad’s 2015 album, Thank You Neil, which paid tribute to popular astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, right? If I’m not mistaken, scientists say something similar to what you just stated, which is that it’s more important to ask the question than to know the answer, because the answer might not be right, but the question is something that should be asked.

Yeah. It’s a procedure. Also, it’s really important to keep yourself in the loop of curiosity. Curiosity is the main [operating premise] of the human brain, so having questions related to philosophy and society are important.

Do you feel like philosophy is so crucial these days because of the major changes that are happening worldwide in institutions and traditions – and the fact that things are moving so quickly in very big ways? 

I don’t think this time period of our journey on planet Earth is something really bad or really good. I think if you look at history, it’s a strange beast. You’ve got the medieval wars, you’ve got the First World War, Second World War. I don’t know if there is a cool, perfect era to live in – and I don’t think this is one, but I don’t think it’s bad either. It’s [more] about your point of view, your personality and how you react in front of those things. So maybe just putting out a question is what art can do. 

It’s human nature. And part of us is always willing to do good. The motor, the engine of life, has always been love and goodness and kindness. Those [qualities are in] ourselves as well.

That’s a beautiful outlook on life, and with so much anxiety and depression out there, it seems like the most healthy attitude to have. Otherwise, you get caught up in bad feelings and wind up not doing much with your life.

Yeah, absolutely.

Do you have a favorite philosopher?

Socrates is one of my favorites for sure.

It’s funny you say Socrates, because if I’m not mistaken, the Socratian method as often exercised in classrooms is all about asking a question of a student, and then not letting them go as they try to defend it, right?

Yeah. That’s pretty cool.

Just a few more questions. In a lot of the promotional materials I’ve seen about you guys, you’re referred to as a “psychedelic soul” band. Can you tell me in your own words what that means?

I think it’s not about genre, because psychedelic to me is not like really the Nuggets [collection of songs] from the ‘60s or the psychedelic-rock genre. Psychedelic music, to me, is experimenting [with not only sound but] composition and structure [as well]. I try to write very different songs from one another, because I like to keep myself interested in various forms of music, not just one. Sometimes it’s jazzy, sometimes it’s soul, sometimes psychedelic, sometimes rock, sometimes I don’t know.

Soul is the music that moves your heart, your brain. So psychedelic soul, I guess, would be referred to as kind of an exception. 

Fear of sounding too bullshit-y, the way you guys go about making your records with so much variety … for a listener, it is a psychedelic experience apart from just the sound. You give listeners a cerebral adventure where they can travel through different types of approaches to making a song.

Thank you, Kurt. I really appreciate you saying that. That’s exactly the point, you know.

Lastly, do you have any memories of what you liked or didn’t like in Boise when you played here at Treefort Music Fest in 2023?

I remember the experience of the festival was really neat. That night was really crazy, because everybody was really hyped and paying attention to the show – but still, there was great energy in the room. This time, I don’t know what to expect out of Boise because this time it’s people coming out to listen to a single show.

You’ve had a friendship – or at least an associations – with tour mates Levitation Room over the years, right?

I don’t personally know them, but I’m really looking forward to that.

The last question I have is the silliest one. I’m almost embarrassed to ask it, but … there’s a trend now where people are dressing up in costumes, especially when ICE goons invade a city to terrorize its residents. A lot of the residents dress up as furry animals as a way to make fun of the immigration officers. Your band has been around for a while … has anybody shown up in a Dumbo or elephant costume yet?

No, no. Nothing like that. That would be like interesting though, yeah!

OK, that gives me something to do today. I’m gonna hit a few thrift shops around town and see if I can find one for the show. And if I do, I’ll make sure to wear it.

Cool, man!

For more on Dumbo Gets Mad, check out their Bandcamp page Instagram feed and Facebook profile.

This entry was posted on 05/05/2026 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Concert Previews, Interviews with tags Dumbo Gets Mad, Levitation Room. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.