INTERVIEW MONSTRE: LISA BEAT AND THE LIARS "To us, France is a nation of ‘cousins’ "
La scène italienne foisonne de groupes enthousiasmants. Lisa Beat And The Liars nous ont conquis avec leur série de disques sortis chez Chaputa Records. Après Thee Wops , ils ont, eux aussi, accepté de répondre à nos questions. Nous en leur sommes reconnaissants.
Taste question: Which artists have influenced you the most, and can you tell us examples about this influence? Who is the artist you dislike and why will he/she never influence you?
We’re heavily influenced by the whole Merseybeat scene — The Beatles above all, but also groups like The Searchers, whose harmonies and chiming guitars shaped our sound. The British Invasion gave us that tight, energetic feel we love, while the Italian and French beat scenes taught us the charm of catchy melodies with a raw, youthful spirit. What we don’t take inspiration from is over-polished, factory-made pop — music without grit or heart could never influence us.
Intellectual question: Which non-musical artist (filmmaker, writer, painter...) played an important role in the way the band evolved…
We’ve always been inspired by 60s cinema and visual movements like op art, which shaped our sense of style and atmosphere as much as music did. If you watch our videos on YouTube, you’ll see how much we love films like Barbarella or La Decima Vittima — their colors, their playful futurism, their bold graphic worlds. That mix of retro imagination and visual punch has been a big part of how the band evolved.
We formed in 2016, starting out as a party band playing covers from the golden era of beat music. Over time we felt the urge to write our own songs, which led us to release four 7” records — the first ones in Italian on the label Area Pirata, and the next two with Chaputa! Records. That journey from vintage covers to our own beat-inspired originals pretty much sums up our life as a group.
Champollion question: What is the meaning of the band's name?
Our name is pretty straightforward: Lisa is our singer, and Beat is the music we play. ‘The Liars’ is a nod to all those young 60s bands — Italian, French, Spanish and beyond — who covered American and British hits by translating the lyrics into their own language. Audiences often thought those songs were originals. A famous Italian example is Caterina Caselli’s “Sono bugiarda”, a cover of The Monkees’ I’m a Believer that became a worldwide hit.
Buddy question: Who has helped you most in your band's adventure and without whom you wouldn't have had the same evolution?
Well, definitely the determination of Steve Martini — our producer as well as our guitarist and organist — has been essential. But also all our friends who support us at shows, and the label Chaputa! Records, which has been doing an amazing job for us. They believe in the music we make and are helping us reach listeners all over the world. We can’t thank them enough.
Spinal Tap question: What's the most stupid thing that's ever happened to you?
One time a promoter booked us to play right before a techno party. The crowd was there to get wild on techno, and we were completely out of place — they looked at us like we were aliens. We felt truly stupid in that moment.
Question Happy Few: What's the biggest benefit you've derived from your band, and can you tell us about it?
We’re not professionals and we don’t make any economic profit from this project. But we get to keep the most important things: the human connections we build with people during live shows and recordings, and all the moments we share together during rehearsals and on the road. That’s the real benefit for us.
Art question: What book, film, record and current band do you really like?
Book: "Seventh Victim" by Robert Sheckley (1957)
Film: “The Girl With The Gun” (“La ragazza con la pistola” 1968) starring Monica Vitti
Record: Los Straitjackets - Sing Along with Los Straitjackets (2001)
Funny question. What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you?
At the Porto airport, the security staff didn’t want to let us take our instruments into the cabin, even though we had paid for the service. We tried to explain, but the problem was that we don’t speak Portuguese and they didn’t speak English. So, like good Italians, we started talking with our hands and gesturing wildly, which made everyone around us burst out laughing
Camembert question: What's France to you, apart from the land of wine and cheese? (you're allowed to Google it, the theme is rock and underground culture).
To us, France is a nation of ‘cousins’ — along with Portugal and Spain — because we share so much more than we usually admit. Even our languages have countless words in common. In the 60s and 70s, many artists were part of a shared cultural heritage between Italy and France: Nino Ferrer had dual citizenship, Catherine Deneuve married Marcello Mastroianni and speaks perfect Italian, and artists like Sylvie Vartan, France Gall, Antoine, and Claude François were hugely popular on both sides of the Alps. And then there are all the co-produced films, like Marco Ferreri’s La Grande Bouffe. That mix of cultural exchange is what France means to us.
Sponsorship question: Who can you sponsor for Les Monstres Sacrés, and how can you convince us to talk about them?
Staying in the Merseybeat world, why not talk about the Scottish band The Kaisers — the number one group in this genre? They’re absolutely incredible, and we adore them.
Patriotic question: Make the list (between 5 & 10) of the top records made par artists of our country.
We deeply love the entire discography of the French YéYé era and all the artists who draw inspiration from this genre, in particular: France Gall, Sylvie Vartan, Françoise Hardy, Jacques Dutronc, Antoine et les Problèmes, but also a lot of modern French Beat bands like Les Kitschenette's, Les Playboys, Les Terribles, French Boutik…
Patriotic question 2 : Make the list (between 5 & 10) of the top records made by artists of your country.
This is another very difficult question — so many great records were made in our country that we feel sorry to leave some out. To stay consistent, we’ll mention only those from the Beat era, mostly 45 rpm singles. Here we go:
- Caterina Caselli - Casco d'oro
- Rita Pavone - Geghegé
- I Satelliti - Finirà
- Johnny Dorelli - Arriva La Bomba
- Evy - L’Abito non fa il Beatnik
- I 5 Monelli - Balbettando
- The Rokes - Che colpa abbiamo noi
- I Profeti - Bambina sola
- Gli Scooters - Le pigne in testa
Merci Lisa Beat And The Liars !
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