THE SMALLTOWN TIGERS… the AMAZING FEMALE POWER TRIO!

They are the Amazing Smalltown Tigers, a female power trio from Romagna , Italy. The band members are: Deborah(vocals, bass),Giulia (guitar) and Serena (drums).
The project was formed in 2018, and that same year, entered the Amore Mio Non Muore studio in Forlì with the support manager, Stiv Cantarelli!

The female band recorded the explosive debut album “Five Things” with 8 songs is a powerful mix of punk rock roots and glam attitude, was released on April 24 in the year 2020, under the Area Pirata label. The album was mixed by Roberto Villa and mastered by Jim Diamond.

In addition to touring Italy, in 2019, responded the first English call and had four unforgettable shows!

In October 2022, had the opportunity to support the legendary English punk band, The Damned, for five shows!

In March 2023, they had the honor of opening The Damned’s European tour support band for 6 shows in 6 different countries, in Paris, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland.

After some shows in Italy the band hit some stage in UK again last September, in Redcar, London at the Bird Nest and in Brighton at the Albert.
And don’t forget that… the Smalltown Tigers, is the amazing female trio in the European music scene!

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE SMALLTOWN TIGERS!

Athenscalling.gr: Hi girls, I am happy that I will have the honor to have the interview with … THE SMALLTOWN TIGERS… Welcome in Athenscalling.gr the webzine of culture! First of all tell me about your name of your band. So I will ask you Deborah… who was the godfather of the name band?

Deborah:There’s no real story to tell about the name, our PR Gerry Ranson came up with it, for no particular reason. We liked it and we thought that the name reflected who we are and where we come from. We come from a small town in the north east of Italy, Rimini, so.. and why Tigers? Well, the tiger is a feline and we feel a bit like that. Of course we could have chosen cats, but Smalltown Cats sounded weird to us!

Athenscalling.gr: And how did you meet… how did the band form, dear Giulia?

Giulia: Me and Valli have known each other since we were kids. We lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same school. At some point, as we were growing up together, we started to have mutual interests. Music it’s always been the one we loved the most, so starting a band just seemed a natural thing for both of us.

We started playing guitar and bass, playing Ramones covers for fun with some friends, we had and still have a lot of fun. We did it for some years, and still doing it, before we realized we wanted more.

We’d wanted to try something more creative for a long time. In order for us to grow as musicians and remain relevant in the local live music scene, in 2018 we started a new band, Smalltown Tigers. We dedicated ourselves to creating our own sound and transformed new riffs and melodies into original songs,and on April 24 our debut album was released Five Things…and at that point Serena came in. Our drummer just left and Our manager just got in touch with her and we met up for a rehearsal. It was love at first. Now the Smalltown Tigers are: Valli (bass, vocal), Monty (guitar), Castel (drum) sight… the best move we ever made! And, even better, we became friends in no time.

Athenscalling.gr: Serena how do you feel playing together, with Deborah and Giulia?

Serena: playing with Deborah and Giulia was, from the beginning, as if we were programmed to play together! The best thing is that we are in tune on and off stage.

Athenscalling.gr: Let’ s talk now about your debut album … “Five Things”. Tell me Deborah, about the music and the lyrics of the album, how were they created?

Deborah: It was a kind of work in progress. Since 4 years ago we have never written an original song. And that was the main reason we reached out Stiv Cantarelli, our producer. To help us out in that process. At first he came up with some ideas that we played the way we like, you know, just to give them our fingerprint. After that, we started to develop a riff, a vocal line. Starting from there, we make demos for Stiv that helps us to get through the final cut. It’s a team effort.

Stiv has been really important for us, especially in the early days. You know, you may have a good idea for a song but put that into paper? That’s another story. You need to be schooled to do that, about how to do it properly. We’re still learning.

Athenscalling.gr: “Five Things” Giulia, is the name of your album, tell me about it … why 5 … maybe 6 …. or 7! So why five?

Giulia:”Five Thing” is the name of the album, but it is also the name of the first track, as well as the second single excerpt. The lyrics speak about different moments in your life, when things don’t go exactly the way you have imagined them.The five things are different for each one of us, these are the most important things for you to think about during your life.

Athenscalling.gr: And your best song from the 8… Serena? Do you have any that you like most than the others …7?

Serena: “the bitch” is the one I like the most… it’s a direct song. it’s about a girl who’s a bitch, and she doesn’t care, because something happened that affected her and her only way to act is to be like that, some kind of self-defense?! Perhaps. It has a “wrong” rhythm and tempo, it leaves you a little dizzy, but at the same time it gives you great energy.

Athenscalling.gr: Now one question and 3 answers… Tell us please about the 5 things, that you don’t like…

Deborah: if we are talking about our album I don’t have no thing that i don’t like, but in life i really hate lies and liars, hypocrites, missing time, yellow melon and latin music.

Giulia: cold season, all types of pollution, scrolling Instagram and all types of socials, getting old, waking up early in the morning.

Serena: traffic, inappropriate comments, bullies, warm beer and betrayal.

Athenscalling.gr: And about the 5 things, that you like?

Deborah: I love eating, sharing moments with friends, playing music with my band, surfing and sleeping!

Giulia: my furry lazy cats, my bands, my guitars, spending free time with books, red wine.

Serena: I like pizza, the sea air in autumn, sharing the stage with my friends, cinema, and sports.

Athenscalling.gr: Again one question and 3 answers… Do you remember the first album in your bag?

Deborah:I’m not sure if it was the White Album from The Beatles or an Oasis album.

Giulia: Enema Of The State – Blink 182

Serena: I think it was metal music mix. During my school days I had many friends who listened to that genre. I remember, for example, the Static-X.

Athenscalling.gr: Now Deborah I would like you to tell us something about the music genres… What is your preference in musical genres?

Deborah: Well, punk is my favorite kind of music, but I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, from metal to classical ones.

Athenscalling.gr: And your best band in the world Giulia?

Giulia: mmm that is difficult! I think I will choose the first line up of Ramones: Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy.

Athenscalling.gr: Serena… please tell us 3 of your favorite songs?

Serena: only 3 ?! It’s so difficult… well…

Blackbird – The Beatles , Space Truckin’ – Deep Purple, and something about Rolling Stones.

Athenscalling.gr: Now let’s go to Greece, what do you know about my country?

Deborah:I’ve never been to Greece, but I really love to do one day.I know that you have a lot of islands, an astonishing sea and really good food!

Giulia: I know that democracy was born in Greece. That’s so cool!Also I know a really good Greece restaurant in Rimini so I tasted your cuisine even I have never been in Greece and I can say: so good, I love it!

Serena: I’ve only been to Paros once. Knowing the locals I can say that Greece is carefree and joy of living. A peculiarity of that trip was the large quantity of shooting stars seen in a single night. It looked like a sea of ​​stars.

Athenscalling.gr: Just before the end of our meeting …give a wish for the next days coming in our life ……please!