Collapse.Rebuild. is a post-rock band from Milan, Italy which was born in late 2012 as a divertissement for the two guitarists, Stefano and Simone.

Simone reminds the very beginning: "At that time Stefano was embarking on a Russian tour with his band to support their album. Though he was having fun, their genre was pretty much obligated, metal-core does not leave many options for sounds, arrangements, and mood, and he was looking for a vent, a place where emotions could be put into music, so we started jamming together and experimenting with pedals and sounds"

Stefano joins our discussion: "Simone was quite technical, one of those shredders who play a thousandnotes instead of the three which are really needed. But even so, he had a feeling and a vision and he was talented enough to start removing notes to let the beauty come out"

Their very first sessions were fun and the early material was pretty good, so before they even thought about it they started looking for the rest of the band. The search was not long and the first target was Paul, the bassist, who used to play (and still plays) in an "amazing indie band" (Stefano's words).

Stefano says: Whenever we shared the stage I loved Paul's timing and the way he lives the moment. Moreover he's nuts. I just had to tell him a couple of words, "freedom" and "instrumental" and he was in.

It was a bit more complicated with the drummer. Paul tells us about the role of drums, "Collapse.Rebuild. music is about dynamics: we do not walk around tonalities and don't put many chord changes, the core of our music is playing a few chords and hang around, creating a journey through different emotions and feelings. So the drummer has a huge responsibility there".

After several try-outs, they were lucky enough to meet a guy blessed with musical taste and a weird Italian accent. He had come to Milan to master in jazz just a few days before and didn't have a band yet. That guy was Peppe.

With all the pieces in position, they looked for a name. Peppe explains the name's origin: We took it from a tattoo on Stefano's right arm: a crumbled wall with a sun rising behind. On the wall, it is written COLLAPSE on one side and REBUILD on the other, a reminder that no matter what happened, you're going to get through it. Actually, he often says that he's still here and still alive, so it seems to work!