Circolo Vizioso – Keeping Art and Music Alive

Kraut-inspired punk rock duo Circolo Vizioso presents ‘Choppy’, a high-octane song spawned from of a bout of depression brought on by a failed love story.

This is the first taste of their debut album ‘Verrueckt’ (out March 1), following their 5-track ‘Isolation’ EP (2020). Here they offer a potent taste of their unique brand of high-intensity, lyric-driven punk, created mainly with electric violin, guitar and drums.

Hailing from Berlin, Circolo Vizioso is made up of Tony Scafidi (guitar, bass, drum, hi-hat, vocals) and Paul Geigerzaehler (violin, snare drum, vocals). The band plays abrasive, groovy punk music that is influenced, on the one hand, by the sound of 1990s New York, Chicago and Washington embodied in such bands as Fugazi, Blonde Redhead and Sonic Youth, and by the sound of early 80’s and 90’s Eastern German and Eastern European punk bands like Dezerter, Sandow and Schleimkeim on the other.

“I’d had a severe break up and the song went out as a sort of persistent beat, prolonging an apex point that hardly makes it out of the main riff, opening up only at the very yet repeating it self only faster,” says Tony Scafidi.

“Metaphorically, it’s kind of like when a couple try to sort things out and get back together, but then fail due to continued use of old commuication tools for a completely new situation they can no longer manage. At the time, I was also listening to The Black Angels a lot and having sleeping problems. There’s a weird cocktail here.”

 

Formed in March 2020 on a balcony in Friedrichshain, Berlin during the first Covid-19 lock-down, Circolo Vizioso was born as an attempt to keep art and music alive and to provide support to their neighbours during a time when no concerts were happening and no cinemas, museums or galleries were open.

In spirit, Circolo Vizioso is a last ditch effort to resist the isolation and the lack of social and human contact, as well as the hunger for music and art during this unusual time.