Strana Officina
In the early 1970s the Cappanera brothers, Fabio and Roberto, used to play in their father's workshop with their friend Enzo Mascolo. The band, considered one of Italy's first to play heavy metal, officially started in 1977.
The name Strana Officina came from a comment made by police when called to their rehearsal space for noise complaints (on more than one occasion). When the band had been alerted that they were coming to possibly shut down their practice, they hid all of the instruments and gear by the time police arrived. The comment made by police (translated to English) was "this garage is really strange."; Strana translates to Strange, and Officina translates to Workshop/Garage.
Their former manager and great fan and friend in the 80s, was Klaus Byron (real name: Claudio Alberti, RIP 1962-2020) with his Musical Box agency, and later he became one of the main Italian rock/metal writer and editor in chief, first in Rockerilla (after some fanzines experiences) and Metal Shock, and then with Flash, being co-founder and chief in the latter for almost its entire story. He's also had a records mail order and then a rock clothing/gadgets shop.
After the death of the two Cappanera brothers, the band played some commemorative shows in 1993-1995 with Rolando "Rola" Cappanera (son of Roberto) on drums, and Dario "Kappa" Cappanera (nephew of Fabio and Roberto) on guitar.
The name Strana Officina came from a comment made by police when called to their rehearsal space for noise complaints (on more than one occasion). When the band had been alerted that they were coming to possibly shut down their practice, they hid all of the instruments and gear by the time police arrived. The comment made by police (translated to English) was "this garage is really strange."; Strana translates to Strange, and Officina translates to Workshop/Garage.
Their former manager and great fan and friend in the 80s, was Klaus Byron (real name: Claudio Alberti, RIP 1962-2020) with his Musical Box agency, and later he became one of the main Italian rock/metal writer and editor in chief, first in Rockerilla (after some fanzines experiences) and Metal Shock, and then with Flash, being co-founder and chief in the latter for almost its entire story. He's also had a records mail order and then a rock clothing/gadgets shop.
After the death of the two Cappanera brothers, the band played some commemorative shows in 1993-1995 with Rolando "Rola" Cappanera (son of Roberto) on drums, and Dario "Kappa" Cappanera (nephew of Fabio and Roberto) on guitar.
