Introduction: Due to time constraints as regular individuals running Witching Buzz and focusing primarily on writing reviews, we are limited to publishing only one (occasionally two) review(s) per day. However, we strongly believe in providing greater exposure to deserving bands and musicians who have put in immense effort. As a result, we have launched a new section called “Witching Riffs: Behind the Sound.” In this section, we have crafted a series of intriguing questions that we pose to every band or musician who wishes to share more about their unique projects. While the questions remain the same for each participant, the diversity among bands ensures that the answers will be fascinating and diverse. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this captivating journey as we delve into the minds and stories of these talented artists.
Rhino / Italy
What drew you to the immersive and hypnotic sounds? How do you aim to captivate your listeners with this genre?
Hey first of all thanks for hosting us, it’s always a pleasure to answer some questions about our music and our latest release Human Farm in particular (released this February through Argonauta Records). About our peculiar sound, also in terms of songwriting, is essential to say that the five of us got almost the same solid listening background. Consider that we experienced the explosion of the grunge and noise scene in the late 90s/2000s, so the inspiration taken from those eras can be really heard throughout our entire discography. Surely Human Farm is our most refined work, both in terms of sound and songwriting, but heavy riffs, thunderous fuzzes and psychedelic trips always were in our DNA.
Can you share the story behind your band name? How does it reflect the essence of your music?
Rhino were born in 2012 and actually at that time we didn’t thought too much about the band name. There were only some friends enjoying making music and drinking beers together (as most of the bands starts). Our drummer Lord J. Frank came up with this name one day and we all agreed with him for the following reasons: rhinoceros are animals with a peculiar way of living. Most of the time they are chill, minding their savana businesses, but when triggered they are actual living tanks that can destroy everything in front of them with just one furious charge. That reflects in our music: both psychedelic and slow paced, but also full of heavy riffing sections that aims to assault the listener eardrums.
What are some unconventional or unexpected influences that have shaped your unique blend?
As previously said, beside the stoner rock influences, what makes our music, in a way or another, peculiar, is the grunge and noise background the five of us got. We really think that without the grunge, the stoner rock couldn’t exist, and viceversa, so it was really natural for us to blend those two genres, really a no brainer. Each one of us was, is and always will be allowed to express his musical self at 100% in Rhino, since we believe that diversity is always a good thing, both in music and in life. For instance our vocalist Frank The Doc is absolute fanatic for 90’s hardcore punk and that Italian scene in particular. Our bass player Frank The Door listens to a lot of 80’s new wave/darkwave. Basically it’s melting pot and we like it this way!
How do you approach creating expansive and atmospheric soundscapes? What techniques or methods do you employ to achieve that signature vibe?
First of all we listen to a lot of desert rock of course. I mean, we are obsessed with Yawning Man and those kind of bands that mastered the art of sculpting soundscapes. Second, we are gear nerds and we care really a lot about our sound. We always try to get the best equipment around to let us tailor the widest and most gigantic soundscape. We of course love reverbs and delays, but we don’t just rely on those since we believe that a proper songwriting is the key to let the listener to be lost into our creations.
Are there specific themes or emotions you seek to convey through your music? How do alternative music help you express those concepts effectively?
We actually see no alternatives nor other options than making the music we make, it’s something therapeutic and essential to our lives! Since the beginning our way to approach music was very bound to our personal lives and it reflects what happens to us and most of the time is a mess, but there are also some songs less messy and more leaning toward the bright side of things.
Share a remarkable moment or incident from your journey as a band that exemplifies the spirit of your music.
Every release of our has its own backstory of course, but we think the one encapsulated in Human Farm is very important and worthy of some attention. In the last years, we’ve noticed a social trend, more pronounced today than ever before, that tends toward the homogenization of the masses and to the globalization, as if all human beings were created by a mechanism operated by a deus ex machina that inexorably commands the human production line. It’s like the world where we live in tries to make its products as homologated as possible, perhaps the same, with no particular characteristics and somehow faceless, soul-less and we wanted to express our feelings about it in music: that is what’s inside Human Farm.
In what ways do you envision your music progressing or evolving in the future? Are there any new elements or experimental approaches you’d like to incorporate?
Who knows! Our very lives are unpredictable, imagine predicting how could be our music in the, even near, future! Actually there is a fil rouge that connects every release of ours, that is the absolute faith in the Black Sabbath & Kyuss heavy riffing legacy, beside the total fuzz worship and the out of this world psychedelic trips.
We give you also an exclusive spoiler: we are already working on new songs. They will be kind of different from the Human Farm ones, but surely there will be very much Rhino anyway. We got a lot of machines into our pedalboards and we like to turn knobs and push buttons, so one could expect something a bit more experimental than usual at some point. Maybe not now, maybe in the near or far future, again, who knows! We are always open to new ways to express ourselves.
Is there a particular song in your discography that perfectly encapsulates the essence of your music? Please elaborate on its creation and significance.
Definitely we cannot choose one song that encapsulates the essence of our music. As previously said each song has its own story and often our songs are about personal events taken from our crazy lives, so each one has is own raison d’être. To not leave your question as almost unanswered, we can say that Magic Water is a very meaningful song to us (from our latest album Human Farm). It is about a person that left this twisted mad world. A person that will always be remembered. We had the absolute pleasure to host into this song the marvelous vocals of Cristina Chimirri (from Haunted) to fully express the beauty but also the pain that is behind Magic Water. For sure one of our favorite songs ever.
Are there any emerging or lesser-known artists within your music genre realm that you find inspiring or deserving of more recognition? Feel free to share their names and what you appreciate about their work.
This kind of question is always so difficult to answer for us since we listen to a lot of new music and we are really into the underground, so we know and listen to a lot of emerging or less know bands that deserve to be mentioned but we always have the feeling to forget someone.
Anyway here you have some acts that you should definitely check out: Ufomammut, Black Rainbows, Carcano, Atomic Mold, King Potenaz, Mr. Bison, Kayleth, 1782, Sonic Wolves, Consumer, Haunted, Torpore, Rancho Bizzarro, Nadsat, State of Neptune, Oreyeon. Italian bands only on this list, so you get also a kind of big picture of what’s gong on is the stoner/sludge/doom panorama in our country!
What do you hope listeners experience or feel when they immerse themselves in your compositions? Is there a specific mood or sensation you aim to evoke?
As previously said we like to move between two moods basically: furious, thunderous riff assaults and chill, psychedelic, otherworldly trips. Actually we let the listener to decide how to feel while listening to our compositions, someone could find a section relaxing, some other one disturbing, but surely we are grateful to anyone who spent or will spend some time to listen to our music. Our suggestion is to put one of our records on play, sit back and relax, be in good company, roll a big joint, crack open a cold one and chill! That’s also our favorite way to listen to music and we have no doubt many of our listeners would agree with us!
Turbo Regime:
– Fuzz or distortion?
Eternal fuzz worship
– Analog or digital effects?
Analog, deadly voltage operating hot tubes
– Sabbath or Zeppelin?
Black Sabbath
– Heavy riff or mind-bending solo?
Heavy riffs
– Vintage gear or modern equipment?
Hunting down and acquiring vintage gear to make the perfect wall of sound. An endless quest, but that’s how we roll!
Thank you so much Witching Buzz for hosting us, it has been a pleasure to answer to your questions! We wish you all a lot of fuzz, cheers from Sicily!
https://www.facebook.com/rhinodesert
Label: Argonauta Records
PR: Grand Sounds Promotion
