Måneskin’s Victoria De Angelis on the legacy of The Beatles: “They’re fucking icons, and I admire them so much”
“Whatever you want to write, you can do it because the Beatles did it.”
Image: Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images
You probably wouldn’t have guessed that Eurovision glam-rock group Måneskin had a love for 60s Rock ‘n’ Roll band, The Beatles, but after the release of Mark Chapman, a song from their latest album Rush!, you’d be wrong.
In an interview with Guitar Player, bassist Victoria De Angelis explained why they named the song after John Lennon’s infamous murderer, who shot him in the back in New York City in 1980.
“We felt like the media tends to glamorise killers and other bad people – almost like theyre cool or something. We wanted to portray things the way they are”.
However, when it comes to why they chose to focus on one of The Beatles, the reason is simple:
“Yes, we’re young, but as musicians we understand what the Beatles did,” says De Angelis. “They made some of the biggest changes music has ever seen. They changed the whole culture. If it weren’t for them, we probably wouldn’t do what we do. What we play is very different from them, but we’re inspired by them. They’re fucking icons, and I admire them so much.”
“They showed that you could make songs in pretty much any style,” chimed in guitarist Thomas Raggi. “It’s like, whatever you want to write, you can do it because the Beatles did it.”
In other Måneskin news, they recently addressed rock fans who have accused the band of not being “real rock”, saying it’s not their goal to convince those fans they are.
Asked if the group is concerned about not being “taken seriously as a rock band” in a new interview with Classic Rock, frontman Damiano David replied with a laugh, “I would say traditional rock fans aren’t our target.”
“When we play, people can be like: ‘This is not real rock because it’s on TV, so it’s shit!’” bassist Victoria De Angelis added. “We don’t care about it, because if you’re really passionate about music you should judge the music and not where it comes from.”