Blog post -
Interview with Simone - In Your Eyes ezine
Taking advantage of the “quiet chaos” which is crossing our senses, like the warm, atomic wind which is going to – like it or not – run over our souls - and I am getting this image from a song by Righeira, the Italian electro-synth-pop duo which was mainstream in the early eighties, “Vieni sulla spiaggia. Tutti col sombrero / c’è il vento radioattivo che spettina un po’” (“Come to the beach. Everybody wearing a sombrero / there’s the radioactive wind which slightly messes up our hairs”) - it came to my mind that I could have a nice conversation with Simone Benerecetti, the spokesperson (as well as the boss) of In Your Eyes ezine, an online fanzine based in Varazze (Savona, Italy) I’ve been contributing to for about three years.
Not much is known about him, he isn’t really in the public eye, except for the people who wander in the underground of online journalism, with particular regard to music. Simone represents the editorial pivot (he actually is) who, following the DIY philosophy, takes care of the functional gears of the fruition and spread of many musical contents, belonging to the present scene or not.
Hi Simone, howdy, let’s just start from music. When did your long experience, primarily as a listener, I guess (I don’t know if you’ve ever actually played music), when did it turn into such a deep passion so that you decided to write and talk about it?
My passion dates back, I think, to the first time I sifted through one of the first issues of Velvet, a monthly magazine which would later develope into Rumore. There used to be a different feeling back then, an alternative way of expression to the mainstream. Initially, I tried to do something more than just listening, but as it turned out that I was not, let us say, not “particularly talented” for music, with the aid of a few friends of mine I tried to describe our times by setting up a paper fanzine, Uniduila. The passion is just that: the will to describe, and to describe oneself through music and more.
The name of your first fanzine is peculiar, does it mean anything in particular?Back then, in Varazze, there used to be a quite well-known football coach who, during the training sessions, would keep saying “Passila. Tirila. Uniduila.” (referring to the quick ‘one-two’ exchange between two players); this catchphrase funnily left a mark in our mind; moreove
r. However, we basically liked the musicality of that expression.
What are your music preferences, having also lived in times when music was still a valuable generational aggregation factor; tell us briefly, provide us with a brief gallery of memory, if you can…
If I begin with memories, we’ll end up with an encyclopedia. Let’s say that my twenties were characterized by many musical extremes: Negazione, Descendents, De la Soul, Public Enemy, Soundgarden but, basically, I liked music in general, like now. Frankly speaking, I am no longer listening to some of the overthinking records of the times (Italian HC punk: Indigesti, Raw Power, and also US stuff such as Uniform Choice). I can’t tell if this is due to ageing or to opening up to a vast amount of diverse stuff.
How do you frame [?] your activity, your role in the management and in the life of this fascinating creature?
I’m very proud of what IYEzine has achieved and of what it is now developing into. As you perfectly know, my role is that of maximum leader. Jokes aside, it takes a lot of passion: finding the time to nurture it is a challenging balancing act, and I can tell you, Bob, that it is quite a feat to succeed in diving my time between personal life, work, and the occasional mishaps.
I know that the graphical aspect is very important for you and you are personally responsible for it. How did you find the transition from paper to screen: pros, cons, impressions?
This has always been Marco Ferrando’s job, but now he is too busy with work and family; therefore, to make up for this, I am trying to do it on my own. I’ve always thought that a nice presentation of good contents is important, even taking the famous User Experience into account.
Let’s focus a b
it on the structure of the online magazine and the role of social media.
Personally, I would have given up social media ages ago: I couldn’t care less about Mrs. Carmela going jogging, for example. I can tell you that Facebook in the beginning used to bring a lot of traffic to our website; currently, though, looking at the last updates, its contribution accounts for about 20% of the total, while the rest comes from either Google (due to its great positioning, and here my modesty shrinks to nothing) or direct users. At present, we’re using the three main social networks: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Apart from music, what other topics fall within the scope of IYE?
IYE deals with anything which enables us to express ourselves. Music? Books? Short stories? Mailart? Any contribution, of course should be driven by passion and commitment rather than a quest for money.
I know there’s also a branch of IYE devoted exclusively to metal, is it under your supervision as well, or do you have other close collaborators?
Metaleyes was established a few years ago due to some collaborator’s urge to have space specifically devoted to metal and all its derivations. Unfortunately, a few months ago they decided to give up because, well, that’s life. Meanwhile, though, IYEzine has started again to publish metal reviews.
Let us now mention other initiatives that are part of IYEzine’s wide world: let’s focus on the original initiative brought about by the remarkable Netlabel, the artful merchandising and all the good stuff which is “traded” with the zine…
The netlabel is a project I am nurturing with Massimo Argo and Fabio Battistetti. It represents a lateral branching of the fanzine. We like the concept of sharing art; this is the main goal of netlabels in general: making all releases freely available for download. We’ve been online for 5 years and we have passed over 2,000 downloads.
As for merchandising, well, the idea is rooted in our will to spread IYE. In the beginning, we used to make these items exclusively for us collaborators; then, we began to sell some stuff and I think, in this moment, there are around 250 items branded IYE. This is also consistent with the zine’s small self-sustaining system.
What kind of merchandising items are available and, of course, who works on the design?
We’ve printed out t-shirts and a few jumpers, but due to economic reasons (the budget doesn’t cover the necessary expenses), and considering the rather limited demand, it is a small-scale phenomenon, although I’ve often thought about widening the range of gadgets. The drawings were contributed for free by two artists: Mauro Ferrando and Mad Kime.
Ok, let us suppose that I have an home-recorded album which I want to share; after coming across your netlabel IN YOUR EARS, I decide to get in touch with you: what kind of support could you specifically offer me, what kind of strategies would you adopt to help me? How do you collaborate with the artist?
We will listen to each and every piece of work we receive. If we deem it interesting, suitable for IYE, then we’ll review it. Basically, this is it.
We don’t charge for the review service, although other websites do. Moreover, we share the stuff under common license.
Dear Bob, and dear readers, be aware that we engage in this activity just for fun, awarding priority to the ludic and creative dimension over the lucrative side, pursuing the aspiration to support good, unpublished underground music, as if we were talent scouts.
It goes without saying that if you are looking for a professional service, well, there are companies for that.
The following step in this process is publishing the review and inviting the artist to share it on his website.
Great stuff, really fun and praiseworthy.
Alright, boss, let’s keep exploring the zine! Ah! Excuse me, Simone, but I’ve just noticed in the Shop page that you also have mid-priced record covers, along with the peculiar ‘romantic gorilla’ t-shirts and some nice shopping bags.
The “SHOP” section is under optimization, textile products can be bought, as well as CDs; with regard to records, though, a qualification is in order. Our longtime friend Roberto Sacco, the mastermind of the legendary paper fanzine TUTTI PAZZI, with whom we’ve also organized several rock gigs here in the area of Savona, relies on us for the sale of underground music stuff under the aegis of his small distro. I’d say, another good reason to have a look at this section!
The new materials I have come across are often very ‘tasty,’ I think IYE is becoming tentacular, like a monster dwelling in the marine abysses… and at this point, I think we can dive into the section VALIS…
VALIS has its origins in an idea I had with Stefano Spataro (who, accidentally, has just published his first science-fiction book ‘Attis’ on Prospero Editore) and collects the cooperation with other collectives – such as the staff of the magazine Ronin, with regard to comics – focusing on science-fiction. Unfortunately, some problems forced the project into the present stand-by condition, but the section already includes a substantial amount of stuff: interviews, reviews (of books and movies), episodic stories, etc. All in all, it is undoubtedly diverse and heterogeneous. Obviously, we hope to be able to start again with new interesting input, up to the task of reviving attention and participation.
On a different note, what can you tell us about the radiophonic activity that can be found in the section ‘PODCAST’? I’ve listened to cool compilations by Il Santo…
A couple of years ago we tried to set up a web radio. Despite the initial enthusiasm, we had to slow down due to the reality of the realization process, regarding the bureaucratic machine (licenses, copyright, taxes) and, above all, the little time available to take care of it. Therefore, we decided to shoot a bit lower, taking advantage of the resources offered by the web, and settle for podcasts which collect the work of competent speakers such as Alberto Calandriello (Championship Vinyl) and Luca Calcagno (aka Il Santo): these are recorded programs and awesome compilations that can be enjoyed simply by turning on the virtual player. However, live transmission is left to Facebook, in the rare occasions we use it with this goal. Wisely, we prefer to give prominence to fully-fledged projects rather than sketched stuff.
We still have multiple dreams, and I can’t deny that I’d like to run a physical space to share and listen to music, a sort of cultural reference point to share books and other stuff, but these things would exceed by far the limits of our budget.
I would like to mention the physical presence of IYE in the streets, with a stand full with music and merchandising available for the passer-by, with DJs pumping good music, offering colorful aspects and spaces of real contact, focused on participation and exchange, with the e-zine: when, where, and why do you hit the public space?
We take out our stand, which is very important to us, in some fixed dates over the year, such as on April 25 in the open air and on December 8 at the Rude Club, both in Savona. If we were younger, we would wander around far more: just figure out the fun, Bob! We normally take the t-shirts and the shopping bags, and we are also getting used to give out ‘photocopies’ of our best, in a pure DIY fashion!
Scrolling down from the upper side of the website, which displays the latest releases, we find a big banner (can we say so?) which announces the ‘Mail Art Project 2020,’ which shows the freshness of the recent project. Is it a competition, a common creative work? I know the great music critic Vittore Baroni is a committed artist and promotor of the mail art. Where does this novelty come from?
To be fair, IYE had already developed a mail art project in 2007 (https://www.iyezine.com/poster-parade-2007-mail-art-project-2). As should be clear by now, IYE likes the art coming from below, the so-called street art. Mail art is a populist artistic movement which makes use of the mail service as a mean of distribution, by sending out (normally, small-sized) works of art, thus creating a feedback cycle between sender and receiver. We really believe in these events, glancing at the chance, in the future, to take part with our work in some minor exhibition.
Great!
Having at heart the free sharing of opinions in the section ‘ARTICLES’, where we can find different takes on topics of history and current events, I see that you award prominence to poetry, short stories, and Claudio Spinosa’s haiku – a constant presence in your page.
I conclude this juicy overview by devoting a moment to the most exciting section, in my opinion, of the zine, labeled IyeLab. I’ve read incredible things there and I can even boast the presence of some ‘beyond the lines’ writings of mine: can we say that it is an extension to all modalities of expression, Simone?
Yes, we may define it better in this way: a blackboard where everybody can write whatever they wish adopting their preferred strategy: the means doesn’t make any difference, we just want to give way to the authors’ will to express themselves. As for haikus, I always find them very interesting, synthetic, poetic. Straight to the point.
Ok! We thank Simone Benerecetti for his long-termed vision and his tenacity, knowing that we can rely on a fanzine that, as we could see, goes beyond the simple function of online magazine. Founded to give voice to those who don’t have, it represents an optimal space to inject lively energy into the many things dwelling around us, as well as making their existence more participative. Those who step into IYE will leave their heart here because this is a creature you can’t help loving and, after all, such positivity fuels its permanent evolution, with a philosophical wisdom in the use of time and means. In Your Eyes ezine collects a meaningful experience filtering into our daily lives, where its attitude isn’t limited to telling stories, but reaches out to a more intimate and creative dimension, fostering critical thinking, consistent with the "Do It Yourself" philosophy.
Congrats to Simone and the valuable staff of collaborators who, by means of their work, are rewarded by the absolute loyalty of their numerous fans, enabling us to, even in these days, still find a sense to the word ‘freedom’.
