This Side Up formed back in 1994 in Rome, Italy and ceased to exist 8 years later, after a farewell show at Forte Prenestino, Rome in 2002.
The line-up of the band was solid throughout the years with drummers changing once in 1997 (both of whom with the same name - Andrea!).
Adam - vocals, bass
PG - guitars, backing vocals
Jacopo - guitars, backing vocals
Andrea - drums, backing vocals
Their first release was the split 7" This Side Up / White Frogs released on their home label Goodwill records as well as overseas on Alarma records, ran by Lenin of Los Crudos fame. Soon afterwards a European tour followed in late 1996 to promote the 7". Played around Christmas time and New Year's eve the band hit the stage with contemporaries such as Abhinanda, Feeding The Fire, Brigthtside, Stormcore,...
In the years that followed, several short tours were taken and the band played with names such as Down By Law, Avail, Los Crudos, Integrity, Burning Heads, Strawman, Scared Of Chaka, Rhythm Collision, Overflow, Brand New Unit, Let 3,...
One of the biggest shows was the appearance at the Monte Paradiso festival in 1998 where This Side Up played to over 1,000 people in the old fort.
In 1999, This Side Up embarked on the US tour. Sharing the tour with Fire Season from New Jersey, they played about 40 shows in as many days all over the US, from one coast to the other. Places like school gyms, backyards, record stores, basements, living rooms, clubs, community centers, radios, and parks were venues for this tour that got them to play shows with Oi Polloi, Elliott, Piebald, Talk Is Poison, Unseen, Juliana Theory, Hers Never Existed, Useless ID, Violent Society, Himsa, By A Thread, 7 Days Of Samsara, Alistair, Your Mother, Thumbs Down,... One of the most memorable shows was playing (twice) Wilson Center in Washington DC, place famous for hosting Minor Threat and every other notable DC HC band back in the 80s.
The second 7" came out right after the tour, this time a split 7"EP with Doc Hopper from Massachusetts. The record came out on Vagabond Heart records out of New Jersey and contained 2 new tracks and a cover of Billy Bragg's "New England".
The album that was recorded before the US tour finally came out with over a year of delay. 12 new songs, 2 songs from their split with White Frogs and "Struggle", one of their strongest numbers that had only been released on a comp. album, composed their album "Caught By Surprise".
The album received very little touring support and shortly afterwards the band ceased to exist on mutual agreement between the band members.
The last show was played on 16th of February 2002 with PHP, Happy Noise and Rappresaglia in front of 600 friends and fans at one of the biggest European squats Forte Prenestino.
Adam quit playing music and concentrated on his label Goodwill records, teaching languages and coaching basketball. He moved to Berlin in 2009.
Jacopo quit playing and continued working for a music distributor Good Fellas. He's also the owner of a reissues labels group called Lantern editions(www.lanterneditions.com) He got married and soonafter became a proud father.
PG kept playing music. First in a Crust/Core combo called Threat Of Riot and then in a fast HC band called Anti You. He graduated college and moved to London.
Andrea kept playing music for a while in a New Wave/Punk band called Resistenza. Subsequently he started building stages for touring musicians and worked with the likes of Vasco Rossi and Eros Ramazzotti. He moved away from Rome to a little village in Umbria and is a bodybuilding champion as well as a bar owner.
Other people that played with This Side Up:
Andrea (the first drummer) - graduated university and lives and works in Rome.
Giuliano (fill in drummer when Andrea broke his arm) - played with Adam and PG in a HC combo called Home Run, then moved to London and currently works for a telecommunications company.
Adriano (fill in guitarist on the US tour) - after This Side Up he played with Strength Approach for a while. Lives and works in the movie industry in Rome.
