Italian pranksters NanowaR of Steel recently gained a rave review for their new CD Made In Naples so we thought that it was high time that we had a word with them. Gatto Panceri 666 (guitar/bass) is the brains behind the band and was thrilled by our review although he stated that it's really too much for that album! I’d give it a 6.5 that's why we've limited it to 173 copies.... I think our new songs are much better!” The five-piece are about to set forth on a tour of mainland Europe and Gatto took time out to answer our questions - in a not all too serious manner.

Would you like to introduce yourself and the rest of the bandto the readers of Hardrockhouse.com?

GP - Hello readers of HardRockHouse.com. We are NanowaR Of Steel, the truest true metal band in the known universe whose name starts with an “N” and ends with “anowarOfSteel”. As some of you may not know, we've started our career back in 1982, but we've been hiding in the underground until 2005, when we released our masterofpizzapiece entitled “Other bands play, Nanowar homosexual” which was awarded as the “Best True Fag Metal Gay Album” of the century by myself.

You are a band whose influences are fairly obvious from your music. What started your love of metal? 

GP -  Osama Bin Laden did. 

What did you do before NanowaR? 

GP - I used to hang around doing anything, looking like a dumbass and barking at the moon. Yes, nothing has changed since then... 

You recently became NanowaR of Steel? Why? Is it a joke at Rhapsody of Fire’s expense? 

GP - No, no of course, we didn't mean to make fun of Rhapsody Of Fire. But, you know, someday a guy knocked at our door saying “Agent Mahone, FBI “... he just told us to change our name, I didn't ask why since I think it's always better not to ask any question in these situations... perhaps it has something to do with Bin Laden starting our love for metal. 

Not many Italian acts have crossed over into the international mainstream. What is the Italian music scene like and who should we look out for? 

GP - Italian music scene is far from being a good one, I mean, there are many good bands, but promoters, gig organizers and venue-owners seldom help you for the sake of music or for their passion, many of them just look for the money “right here, right now” and therefore rarely invest on new bands letting them play or promoting their stuff around. Anyway, I must say that most of the guys we've worked with were really great ones! Personally, I should think you should definitely check out Chaoswave (www.chaoswave.it) if you don't already know them, I think they're the best “new” band I've heard of, their debut album The White Noise Within is amazing. If you never heard of them you should definitely do it.  Then I suggest you to listen to Hour Of Penance and Eyeconoclast, which are two really cool death metal bands from Rome. 

Why have you made your new CD Made in Naples limited to only 173 copies? 

GP - Because we think it's not as good as a new album should be, if you look at the quality of the sound and so on... so we thought it could be a decent release, but not to be though as “The New NanowaR Album” or “ The Follow-Up to Other Bands Play”... it's a sort of Manowaresque mid-time release; we did it mainly to raise some money for the tour and for the new album recording sessions! 

You describe yourselves as, “The truest band in the universe.” How does this truth manifest itself? 

GP - Well, actually this truth is hidden behind our underpants. 

Your website appears to be quite an industry. Is the band a full-time occupation and would you swap to a major label if given the chance? 

GP - Well, actually we think that being 100% independent is the best thing for us, we're doing fine with promotion, gig management and sales alone so I don't think we actually need someone who tells us what to do and when who earns money on us and on our listeners...By the way, the NanowaR-project takes me a lot of time, but that's not a full-time occupation for sure; I have enough time to study and do everything else, NanowaR is just a little bit more than a hobby for me! 

Why should our readers check your music out? 

GP - Oh, no, they shouldn't. We're surely too true metal for their ears, listeners are advised! 

What is your live show like? 

GP - Eheehehe... why don't you come and see it? 

Have you had any feedback from the bands you pay homage to ie Manowar, Rhapsody of Fire etc as Manowar in particular are known for being somewhat humourless. 

GP - Well, I can only say that we haven't been sued so long, and that's a positive fact. I know that some of these bands listened to us, but their opinions are unofficial and “confidential” so I can't say anything about it. 

You give away many mp3’s on your website. I assume that you have no Metallica style issues with file sharing. Do you find that this is a good way to gain new fans? 

GP - Of course it is, I mean, file sharing is a matter of fact and labels cannot do anything with it. If you can't beat them, join them! That is another reason why I don't think major can be of any help to us... we wouldn't get any money from CD sales even if they distribute worldwide, so why should I care if you buy our stuff in a store or you get it via eMule? In any case, we try to keep our prices as low as possible, and many people who got our music from p2p actually bought the real albums directly from us! 

Do you have anything else you’d like to add for the readers of Hardrockhouse.com? GP -

Get our albums this way: Go to www.nanowar.it, but beware: THE DRAGON IS BIG!

Our thanks go to Gatto for his time and patience during the period over which the interview was set up and conducted.