“Every day could be one’s last, whether because of repression sparked by even a single misplaced word of dissent, or because of the indiscriminate bombings.”
-Malota’s Max D’Ospina
With its canals and bistros and overall sense of tranquillity, Venice, Italy, is arguably one of the most picturesque, luxurious places on Earth – which makes it no wonder that it’s also one of the most popular tourist destinations anywhere. Dig a little deeper under the surface, and you’ll find that it also has to offer – perhaps conflictingly to some, but not necessarily musically erudite readers of The Bad Penny – a heavy psych-rock band very much worth its (Italian sea) salt.
Said group is Malota, a quartet whose new album, Scapegoat, dropped in mid-October via Go Down Records. While their mesmerizing record is worth not just perusing but purchasing, when we had the opportunity to interview the immensely talented troupe, we forewent conducting a typical banal back and forth about Scapegoat. Instead, we picked the brain of Max D’Ospina (bass, piano, didjeridoo, vocals) about fascism, a toxic political ideology that Italy defeated less than a century ago and that is currently corroding what little remains of democracy in America.
It used to be said that “history repeats itself.” Wisely, and fortunately, historians have amended that aphorism to say “history does not repeat itself exactly, but it rhymes.” Perhaps we can learn something from what D’Ospina had to share about the horrors that happened in his homeland, which he bravely shared with us.
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