Gunash
Biography
Born in Bra, Northwest Italy, in 2003, GUNASH was formed out of an idea from guitarist, singer, and composer Ivano 'Zor' Zorgniotti and drummer, percussionist, and pianist Danilo Abaldo, aka Pannico (former N.y.X and Paris-based rock band TroisFoisRien3x0).
After early activity as a cover band with various line-ups and lots of gigs, they composed an original rock-alternative repertoire, with punk, metal, grunge, stoner, and prog influences. Their main inspiration is the 90s Seattle Sound of bands such as Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, but also Foo Fighters, and Queens Of The Stone Age.
The band's name is a twist between Ganesh and the words 'gun' + 'ash', which have equal phonetics. This fusion between spirituality and the gloomy contradiction of the two Anglo-Saxon terms, reveals a concept that contains its opposite.
In 2005 they released a self-titled debut via the indie label New LM Records from Ravenna, Italy. It features six original tracks and seven revisited covers of King Crimson, Nirvana, Placebo, and Jeff Buckley. They collaborated with cellist Marco 'Cactus' Allocco, an orchestral player in several Pavarotti & Friends editions. Many gigs, various line-up changes, and the songwriting process followed until 2007. In 2008 bassist Mauro 'Marlo' Ippolito (ex Mirsie and Killer Klown) joined the band, giving it a permanent three-piece formation, with the occasional addition of Allocco.
In 2012 when the sophomore album was still a work in progress, the band started a new collaboration with LA-based musician and producer Rami Jaffee, keyboardist for Foo Fighters, founding member with Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers and winner of nine Grammy Awards with various musical projects. Jaffe recorded keyboards and Hammond B3 organ for the tracks 'Kannibal Orkids', 'Paper Dolls' and ‘Weathercock' at his Fonogenic Studios in Los Angeles. The album again features the contribution of cellist Marco Allocco. Gunash signed with the very dynamic Italian record label Go Down Records, which also has many international collaborations with artists such as Yawning Man, Karma To Burn, The Morlocks, and The Fuzztones among others. Same Old Nightmare was released in May 2014 and got many good reviews and airplay in Europe and the US. Thanks to a collaboration with the Californian Planetary Group, tracks featuring Jaffee were played on US campus radios and entered The Deli Magazine's Top 300 LA Artists. The two-year promotional tour managed by Go Down Booking and Three-Vi Booking took the band through Italy, Spain, and the US. On October 29, 2015, Gunash performed at the legendary rock club Whisky A Go-Go in West Hollywood, California. In those days the band recorded three new songs at Rami Jaffee and Ran Pink's Fonogenic Studios in the Van Nuys district of LA, which are included in the following work.
In the summer of 2016, the third album Great Expectations was recorded at Go Down Studio in Savignano Sul Rubicone, Italy, starring Rami Jaffee on keyboards and artistic production, along with Marco Allocco on cello. In those days the band performed live with the Californian musician thanks also to the support of Fabio Zaffagnini's Rockin’1000. On February 20, 2017, Gunash premiered the official video for the single "Death Comes", produced by Babylon Film, featuring more than seventy extras and Rami Jaffee as a special guest star. On the first of April, the CD of Great Expectations was released via Go Down Records, followed by the 180-gram vinyl edition on June 15. The release was well-reviewed by music press and the Italian tour included 39 gigs with visual showings curated by Babylon Film. In October 2017 Gunash shared the video of "Need To Bleed" recorded live at Whisky A Go-Go by Californian TourBusLive. In June 2018 Rolling Stone France magazine wrote an article about Gunash and Jaffee.
In July 2018 Luca Negro (Temperance, Light & Shade, Rockin'1000) became the new bass player of the threesome. This lineup shared the stage with great musicians such as Nick Oliveri, (Kyuss, QOTSA, Mondo Generator), singer John Corabi (Mötley Crüe, The Dead Daisies), singer-songwriter Jonny Kaplan (Jonny Kaplan and the Lazy Stars).
Nick Oliveri collaborated with Gunash on the song "Predators", which was performed live for the first time at the music club Le Brin de Zinc in Barberaz, France, with Oliveri himself on vocals. The song is part of the N.O. Hits At All Vol.7 collection in which Oliveri selects his best collaborations. Heavy Psych Sounds Records released it in July 2021.
Gunash signed with the international record label Golden Robot Entertainment Group for the digital edition of the fourth album and in the second half of 2021, they entered the Morphing Studio in Bologna, Italy, for recordings. The release All You Can Hit features the extraordinary participation of the US keyboardist and producer Derek Sherinian (former Dream Theater, keyboardist of Billy Idol, and Alice Cooper, founder with Mike Portnoy of Sons Of Apollo). Further highlights of the album are Nick Oliveri's vocals, Marco Allocco's cello, and Tom Harp Newton's harmonica.
All You Can Hit drops in spring 2022 via Go Down Records on vinyl and CD.
LINEUP
Ivano Zor Zorgniotti | lead vocals, guitars
Danny Pannico Abaldo | drums, percussion, screams, noises
Luca Negro | bass, backing vocals
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