Sure. NEVER OBEY AGAIN was born at the end of 2022. Me and guitarist Alessandro Tuvo have been working with music for a long time, it’s a full-time job for us. But we were doing just covers, because we used to play for a lot of private and corporate events. Since we love music so much, we really needed to express ourselves with something that really represented us, so we asked the other members to join us. We all live really close to each other so that was pretty easy. Plus, the bass player (Cristiano Trappoli) and the drummer (Marco Binda) are also members of our cover band. It’s a family.

I do know NEVER OBEY AGAIN’s debut album from last year, “The End Of An Era”. I’ve listened to it again and two things caught my attention. “Underdog” comes very close to what AD INFINITUM sound like on their new album “Abyss” and your contemporary cover version of The Cranberries hit “Zombie”.
Honestly, I know who Ad Infinitum are but I never had the chance to listen to them. I know that as a female fronted band it’s easy to think that we are trying to take inspiration from other groups like ours, but believe me if I say that we are not really into epic or symphonic metal. Everything you hear is a floor plan from our own pocket. The name NEVER OBEY AGAIN is not by chance. We just do what we want, what we like and what we feel. The “Zombie” cover was more a necessity. We thought that maybe an evergreen like this would help us to be known more quickly. Sometimes it’s easier to gain people’s trust if you take a well-known song and you cover it with your own sound.Your new album “Trust” will be out on October 18th, that’s only 13 months after “The End Of An Era” was released. Did you still have enough songs from that writing session on your shelf to fill another album?
Eh, I think we already have songs for the third one.🤣 We are in constant creation, we really need to spread our music around the world. We cannot stop.

How’s that work for NEVER OBEY AGAIN, who does what when it comes to writing new stuff?
The main heads behind the project are the two guitarists, Alessandro Tuvo and Alex Pedrotti. Ale is the leader, he’s taking care of EVERYTHING. He’s our hero. With Alex… they make an amazing couple! Alex is more into production and instrumentals, Ale into lyrics. But they work together perfectly balanced, because one complements the other. They are our producers, songwriters, video makers, social media managers and sometimes I join them for the vocal lines, of course.

Before we discuss the new album, is “Trust” an extension of the debut album? Are there matching themes on both albums?

“I would love to have trust in myself. Because my gut is my creed. My heart is my guide.”

– CAROLINA BERTELEGNI –

Hmm, I think that “Trust” is pretty different from “The End Of An Era”. It’s definitely not an extension, because this second album represents us 100%. We are happy about the first album, but “Trust” is his big brother, more mature and deep. The themes by the way are pretty the same: real life, toxic feelings, current events and thoughts. All current themes in which the listener can identify himself.The first single and video from the new album was “Never Feel, Never Fear”. A high energy modern metal track with an abundantly clear message in the title, lyrics and the video images. Can you give your comment on the video?
The songs and the video are about expectations. Parental responsibility, deadlines, never feeling enough for ourselves and others. Unfortunately, this feeling makes you feel insecure and unstable. Like you count for nothing and you are a constant delusion for those you love.

A month after that, you release a second single and video for “G.O.D. (Given Or Denied)”. Did you record those two videos at the same time? You are wearing the same clothes in both videos…
No, we recorded them in two different moments. I always wear the same clothes because for me it’s like a uniform. Since we are pretty unknown in the scene, I think that it’s easier for the listeners to recognize me. A lot of bands do have a uniform. It is their trademark.

Trust” opens with “Animal By Choice”, a very high energy track that would make a fantastic new single and at the same time also a convincing sales pitch for the album with its faster and quieter momentums.
I’m glad you like “Animal By Choice”. Unfortunately, it won’t be a single, we were very undecided. We think that it has potential, but we preferred to give space to other tracks.

“Give Me A Fucking Break” is your aversion towards plastic surgery (silicone boobs, Botox). Or is it something personal?
No, it’s a general outburst. I’m a woman and sometimes I don’t identify myself in the category: no topic to share, thinking only about money, being perfect… not my piece of cake.

They often turn to be jealous and mean, I don’t have good experiences with them. We women continue to complain that men don’t know how to look beyond, but if the only talent you show is your neckline – if you know what I mean – of course not all women are like that, luckily. And they have my full estimation, but in this social media era it looks like if you don’t post yourself naked or your face full of surgery, you are no one. But don’t listen to me, maybe I think like this because I’m always around men and I’m only interested in drinking beer and moshing. 🤣

“Lost…” is the instrumental intro for “Control”. What is the idea behind both tracks?
The peculiarity of NEVER OBEY AGAIN is to recreate landscapes in which the listener can immerse himself. The main goal of “Lost…” is to prepare the listeners’ mind for “Control”, a high energy track that talks about how we react to haters. Let me say that most of the time tracks come out very easy without an idea. We are always guided by the feelings that we want to transmit. The atmosphere of the instrumentals has always the same theme, like post-apocalyptic landscapes, dystopian future, desolation…

Most songs on the album have the subject of a broken relationship. On the other hand, title track “Trust” is about mending one that is about to shatter, but it needs changes and trust to survive. Do you feel that we will ever live in a world again where people will trust each other unconditionally?
I would love that, but I don’t think it will ever happen. We became the most individualistic people ever. The social media era ruined us. We humans just care about ourselves. I don’t believe in the other people, but I would love to have trust in myself. Because my gut is my creed. My heart is my guide.If a reviewer would write: “Trust” by NEVER OBEY AGAIN is for fans of….. Which bands would you fill in on the dotted line?
Spiritbox, Linkin Park, Bring Me The Horizon, Sleep Token, In This Moment, Evanescence and Bad Omens.

On October 25th, NEVER OBEY AGAIN will start the EU Fall Tour 2024 that will take you to Italy, Belgium, Holland and Germany. I’m pretty sure you would have loved to visit more countries. If that could happen as the support act for another band, which band(s) would you love to go on tour with?
If I can dream: Spiritbox and Architects. Now that Linkin Park have Emily Armstrong, maybe they need an opening act with a female singer…? Let me dream! ■