By Sergio Messinafrom the CD Da Liverpool a San Siro: la leggenda continua (ShaKe Edizioni)
recorded at Ambaradan Studio, Milan, in 1998
© ShaKe/RadioGladio Records
The very first venue I've ever played in Milan (where I've lived since 1992) is Conchetta, or as they call it Cox18. It's one of the finest (and oldest) squats in town, but no one lives there: it's a club, a cultural center, a fabulous bookshop (named Calusca) and a meeting place for some of the most formidable restless souls that inhabit this city. Among the groups that made Cox18 their home there was Decoder/ShaKe, the very first italian cyberpunk collective. Their magazine, Decoder, was then on the cutting edge of the movement, and their underground publishing company, ShaKe, printed some essential books to understand the contemporary world.
In 1998 I got a call from one of them, Gomma, asking me if I knew how to record a whole corner of the huge San Siro Stadium in Milan, home of the very colorful (and often unruly) Milan AC supporters groups, in order to make a CD of their songs and calls. This was an unusual request as I'm not really a soccer fan, but I soon discovered that the actual game is only a fraction of what happens at the stadium, and that soccer fanatics were way more interesting than the players. I had a great time recording these adorable hooligans, and some of them became good friends.
The concept of the CD was more complex than merely publishing the songs. Drawing a connection between the Milan and Liverpool fans, they commissioned a few artists and bands, including me, to rework the recordings and produce original music that featured the stadium songs along with our beats. I've picked a call and response with a very simple melody (lead by my man Chico) and synchronized it with some samples from the amazing Burundi drummers. It seems to convey pretty well the meaning of the call: Go Milan, Milan is champion, Go Milan the South side (the "ultras" supporter section of the stadium) is with you!
La Sud è con te 2'21
