Posted on October 15, 2009 - by Mark Zonda

Funny Little Bunny

A chanteuse? A strange cult? A wild creative artist? Once Paolo from MyHoney told me that if someone is unable to like her music fails in understanding good music as well. So… Frida Vermina doesn’t really need presentations at all, at least for those indie maniacs addicted to “Rough Bunnies“ and “Inside Riot” underground productions. I met Frida and Anna some summers ago during a gig, and I recently had the pleasure to ask her some questions for the craziest interview this magazine ever had since Pincess Nico.

Frida: Hello Mark, how’s it going in Italy?

Mark Zonda: All it’s fine in here Frida, thanks.

Frida: I’m sitting in Malmö, with my girlfriend’s cat Tofslan in my lap. Today I saw this autumn’s first frost when I woke up. It is really cold here. I stay indoors and eat spaghetti, but it is really hard to do so with the cat wanting all my attention.

Mark Zonda: All of a sudden we saw summer ending with a 10° fall into winter.

Frida: To everything there is a season (like in the byrds song). I already miss summer though.

Mark Zonda: First of all, for those who doesn’t know you, is Frida Vermina your real name or it’s just for the star system?

Frida: Yes, my real name is Frida Vermina. Before I also had the surname “Persson”, which means “son of Per” (my dad’s name was Per-Rune). But I am nobodys son, so I simply removed that name.

Mark Zonda: When and how your love for music was born?

Frida:  My love for music? It was when I found my parents vinyl records in our basement at the age of 8. The first artist who sang his way into my heart was Cliff Richard. I sang along to all his songs with passion, even though I didn’t have an idea of what the lyrics meant. After him there was the Beatles along with all the 60’s rock/mods music; the troggs, animals, rolling stones, small faces, the who and the wall-of-sound-thing with phil spector. And of course, maybe I should tell you that my parents made me play the violin since I was 6 years old. I hated it and wanted to play the drums, but they wouldnt let me. My mother hates all things that sound. She likes silence. Therefore I learned how to play the guitar and listened to punk music. I dont know if I love music more than anyone else. Or yes, I like it a little bit more than my mother does…

Mark Zonda: Cliff Richard? I started to grow a music consciousness around 1987. I never became a fan, but Cliff was a guest in Festival di San Remo, and his “Some People” is still one of my all time favourite songs! Is this festival known in Europe? As for drums… my parents tried to give me a tambourine for Christmas a couple of times… but I kept on smashing them, so they gave up!

Frida: I’ve never heard about Festival di San Remo, no. Is it big? So you’re a very talented tambourine man? Do you play any other instruments?

Mark Zonda: Festvial di San Remo was hudge in the past, still it’s now surpassed abroad by the most notorious EuroContest. Wonder why… Italy it’s the only nation not being in it! The festival takes place in Italy once a year. I suck in playing drums! I play harmonica, hukulele, piano, glockenspiel and guitar. I guess drums it’s so hard to learn because you need space and cool neighbourghs  to practice it…  You got quite popular with a band called Rough Bunnies. Best and worst moments of the band?
…

Frida: Hmmm… Maybe those moments are exactly the ones we’d like to keep to ourselves!
One of the best gigs I had was with Peter from suburban kids with biblical names. We played at Debaser Medis (a place in stockholm). I really liked the people who had the club, osaka vs tokyo, the entrance was very cheap so everyone could afford to go to their club nights. It is important that everybody, no matter how rich they are, has the same possibility to take part of culture. The whole italian tour was of course really nice too. we really really loved being in italy with the bora wind, the sun and the lovely food. Our worst gigs have been our last gigs in sweden. we have grown tired of playing and we need something new to find the spark again. i think that would be to change music genre. i want to play ska. anna and i have fun together nowadays when we dance. she is really really good at dancing to folk music.

Mark Zonda: Wouldn’t touring with a band you love be a good remedy to find a renewed energy? If so… which band or artist would do the trick?

Frida Actually, to be honest, the only thing necessary for me to start playing music again is to find more spare time and stress a little less about my economic situation. When I find the time, the music will be back again, as always. Touring with a band? Yes. My favourite band of all times is The Raincoats.

And Vaselines of course. It would the same magic touring with one of those bands like when calvin johnson once danced and sang with us on stage. It was lovely, we felt so honored. And it was a great honour.

Mark Zonda:  I was lucky enough to see a storic gig in Ravenna touring with Parker Lewis and Le Man Avec Les Lunettes. It was seconds after the best edition of Emmaboda Festivalen. How did that happened? Do you love Italy?

Frida: Ravenna, is that the same as Camposanto? Where the Lambrusco dell’ Emilia come from? I love that wine. In Malmö you can buy it on the black market, but i have never seen it in one of our liquor stores (systembolaget). Or was Ravenna the gig by the alps? No, it cant have been. Parker Lewis was only with us in Camposanto.

Mark Zonda: For Ravenna I mean Marina di Ravenna, nearby the sea. I was there, you where there, Le Man Avec Les Lunettes and Parker Lewis too…  so you shall not recall of being there… I’ve got evidence of that! You also gave me some consulence under the name of “Doctor Luv”!

Frida: In Camposanto lives a man who is addicted to swedish tobacco, snus. His name is Samuele, do you know him?

Mark Zonda: Hem…. not really, sorry…

Frida: I really enjoy when italians love snus as much as i do. Le Man Avec Les Lunettes’ Alessandro invited us to Italy a little while after we released a split ep with them. Of course I love Italy. I love how I was treated as a guest there, I love all the people Ive met and the friends I’ve made, I love the Sacra Corona Unita and the food. i love the wine. I love that there are so many pregnant women in italy. I love the sun and the Adriatic Sea. The only thing i dont love is the politics. Marina di Ravenna… Hmmm… Hanna Bi? I do remember Hanna Bi! Oone of the best places in the world. We swam in the sea in the middle of the night, almost naked. It had been so warm all that day. At Hanna Bi I forgot my favourite swim shorts. They were blue. Anna and I both had a great time there. So I gave you some good advice? What did I tell you?

Mark Zonda: It was a strange strange night. Can’t really remember it! It was a strange situation and I hope we didn’t frightened you!

Frida: You know, I think I’m very good with giving people advice on love, but my friends say that I’m not. But, you can call me Dr Love if you like. I wont get angry! So you don’t know Samuele? Hmm. He plays in this band… “The calorifer is very hot”. He is the zingari.

Mark Zonda: Ok! I don’t know Samuele but I do know Calorifers. They’ve been recently remixed by my friends “Cook Kids Can’t Die”. Which artist would you pic to remix “Dance with your shadow”?

Frida: It would rock the dancefloor if handed by Richard Gottehrer. oh, i have no idea. Lady Sovereign? She is cool.

Mark Zonda: Putting mixing apart… what about your new projects?

Frida: After Rough Bunnies i had a band called “japanese ropes”. it was more punk than rough bunnies. soon, when i have more time i will start a ska band. alessandro and i recorded some songs when i was in italy in september. i think he will release them soon, but you have to ask him. His Facebook is “Alessandro Paderno”

Mark Zonda: Oh! I know Alessandro. It’s easier meet him on indie gigs than waiting for his replies on Facebook. I was even his guest on the radio. Did you knew he run his own indie radio show?

Frida: So you know him? Ale is a wonderful man. He is also a very busy man, you can’t blame him for not replying. He works very hard. But he will also soon become a father and he promised me to become one of those fathers who take much responsibility. Ale is also a scout and like phil spector he records music. Except all this he plays a lot with LMALL. Im not surprised at all that he has his own radio show.

Rough Bunnies – “When We Were Kids”

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