Five Quickfire Questions With Autobahns

A true punk connoisseur will drool excess saliva from the corner of their mouth, convulsing in electro spasms as they lock their bloodshot eyes with yours, in a stammering attempt to tell you they were able to see the sizzling flair of extraterrestrial, Euro egg-punk extraordinnaire’s, Autobahns two nights in a row!

The perfect task for the OnlyBands crew, a few weeks ago Dakota and I were living our best life possible at The Brightside for a second helping of Autobahns following on from the first course at Solbar. The night before they were supported by our old mates Drunk Mums and hard-rockers Leatherman, who we also managed to interview over the course of the weekend (keep an eye out for that one soon). The Brightside gig boasted the cream of the crop of rising local bands; Fast Johnny and the Slow Burners, KNEE, and Liquid Face, all coming back for a Sunday sesh following last Friday night’s feast with Private Function. 

It was rainy and dark when I sat down on wet milk crates with Autobahns mastermind Giuliano Lannarella and his axe-wielding thrash machine touring guitarist Marian to ask them Five Quickfire Questions! Hailing from more cultured shores than us, both lads are fluent in several languages, but Australian English comes with the added challenge of us disregarding the entire decade of English classes that most of us received. Still they took in stride with patience and good humor and even managed to educate me on physical media!

1. Bad Day and I Like Tomorrow. What makes a good day vs a bad day for Autobahns?

Marian: Ha-ha, tough one. Well in general or on tour perhaps?

OB: On tour, that would be relevant.

Marian: On tour, I guess “a good sound tech” (low singing voice).

Giuli: A good sound tech makes a good day yeah.

Marian: And also, a good PA so that we can play loud! As loud as we want. Yeah…

(A voice suddenly emerges from the darkness)

Ethan: Hey! How are ya’s? What are you doing?

(The drummer from Liquid Face and bassist in Love Banana drops in on us out of the dark)

Marian: Hello my friend! Welcome to jump into the questions ha-ha! We are just doing an interview.

Ethan: How was the Sunny Coast show? Huh? Oh sorry!

OB: Oh, hey Ethan! How are ya mate?

Marian: We are going to cry, a Liquid Face. Ethan they are naughty ha!

OB: I’ve interviewed Love Banana before; they are another great local band. Yeah, to answer Ethan’s question and this one, yesterday was a good day, right?

Marian: Yeah, yesterday was fun, so fun playing with Drunk Mums was…

Giuli: Yeah man, they are very cool.

Marian: Very cool, very, very cool man.

OB:  Love the Drunkies. Well, I hope today/tonight is fun too.

Giuli: The second part… is a hard one, I don’t know.

OB: What a bad day is?

Marian: Oof! A bad day is coming back home after a tour and opening all the letters and bills!

Giuli: Oh yeah, that is a bad day.

OB: And ending those bonds that you build up with the band while on tour is like post tour blues.

Giuli: Yes.

Marian: And I mean today we are parting ways with Shauna our tour manager, which is also sad for us.

OB: Ah that’s lovely. We will give her a nice shout out, that she made it a great tour, and so many good days and memories for Autobahns on tour in Australia.

Giuli: Yes, a very good friend.

Marina: Yes, Shauna Boyle. She plays bass in Leatherman and drums in Lothario and Licklash.

Shoutouts to Shauna! Tour management isn’t easy, least not in Australia where you can drive a whole day and still be in the same state.

2. With song titles such as: Loss of the Rights, Oppressive Pressure, Full of Dogs, Private War Competition, Prick, Lies about Lies, I keep thinking the inspiration for these songs is a little, orange man with funny hair that sits in the White House, Washington DC, USA. Is that true? What are your thoughts on him right now?

Giuli: The orange man with funny hair that sits in the White House? (confused)

Marian: Trump.

Giuli: Oh! Yes, yeah, yeah. In general, it is society and all the politicians, and all the bad guys. I mean that’s more or less the lyrics in the old songs, in every song. Complaining about society generally.

OB: Sorry, that was a bit of a downer that question, but the next one is more fun.

3. You did a split 7″ with Frankston’s own, Elvis II, who I am busting to see perform. If you were to cover an Elvis Presley song, what would it be?

Marian: Oh, nice one!

Giuli: I would never cover Elvis Presley because there is only one King and he’s back baby!

OB: Ha-ha-ha yeah!

Marian: Well, my king is Little Richard, but if I was to cover an Elvis song I would probably cover Mystery Train.

OB: Mystery Train! Now I’ve got to hear you do that, who would have picked it? Great stuff.

Giuli: I would cover On the Motorway by the only King… which is Elvis II!

OB: Salutes to Elvis II, right?

Marian: Of course, absolutely.

OB: I am nagging them constantly to come do a show in Brisbane, I love them.

Giuli: Thank you very much! (doing his best Elvis impression).

Marian: Oh momma! (also doing his best Elvis impression).

4. What’s cooking up in Macchi’s Kitchen?

Giuli: Can’t say! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Macchi is my friend from Lugano in Switzerland and Como in Italy. He is my legend! I miss him. I miss you Macchi!

OB: What a great shout out.

Giuli: I wrote this riff up in my room one day and I decided to put it into the album as a joke.

OB: So… you were cooking up a riff!

Giuli: Oh yeah, you can say that ha-ha! This is his riff. I just stole it! Sorry Macchi!

Marian: Ah, it was repurposed.

Giuli: Yes, repurposed.

(Much more laughter ensues)

5. I love that you’ve got twelve songs on what you’ve cheekily named First LP (2024) and yet your first album is Tour Tape Singles and Demo’s with seven songs in 2022. Is this misdirection to keep fans guessing? 

(Note: I have failed my music knowledge in vinyl composition, luckily the Autobahns lads brought me up to speed).

OB: So, you’ve got twelve songs on the LP and seven on the album, right? But the first LP is after the album?

(Both lads laugh at me)

Giuli: Maybe we- I messed up.

Marian: No, I think maybe in Europe we refer to LP as LP and Album as the same thing.

Giuli: Is it long play, or long player?

Marian: Long play, yes.

OB: Exposing my ignorance here, oh I thought it was limited play?

Marian: No, it’s a long play.

OB:  I look like a complete amateur! And I’m getting schooled! Why would I doubt international professional musicians? I thought Autobahns were just switching lanes… Ha-ha! (switching tactics here) How good is the split with Elvis II? Well that’s it.

Marian: Oh really?

Giuli: That was so fast!

OB: Did you have a great time in Australia?

Marian: Yeah, absolutely. We love Australia. We had fun with very nice people.

Giuli: Yes, very much. Thank you for the talk and seeing our shows.

The Brightside gig was a rumbling party after a solid weekend of live music in SE QLD. Here’s hoping that the hospitality and attendance by Australian supporters will lure Autobahns back here to roar up and down the M1 and Bruce Highway again soon.

A massive thank you to Charlotte Jones (@c.em666) for all the shots in this article! 

You can listen to the aptly titled First LP! below: