When asked to flesh out the latest single from his arty garage-rock trio Zopa, Emmy winner Michael Imperioli takes the easy way out.
“The title pretty much says it all,” he says. “The characters in the song are based on real people from long ago.”
Best known for his supporting roles in The Sopranos and, more recently, White Lotus, Imperioli has been dancing around the periphery of New York City’s underground music and arts scenes since the mid-’80s. He first connected with Olmo Tighe on the set of the 1994 film Postcards From America, where Imperioli’s hustler makes an easy mark of Tighe’s impressionable young lead character in a film based loosely on the life of artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz. More than a decade later, Imperioli got wind of Tighe’s skills on drums, and the two arranged a practice session in February 2006 with Tighe’s childhood pal, fellow native New Yorker Elijah Amtin, on bass.
Five months later, Zopa played its first show in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. The band’s debut LP, La Dolce Vita, didn’t emerge until 2021. Along the way, Zopa has shared stages with the likes of Robert Pollard, David Johansen, Tommy Stinson, Jesse Malin and Richard Butler. The trio even wrangled much-respected indie-rock workhorse John Agnello to co-produce Diamond Vehicle, a self-released effort due February 21 through BFE/The Orchard.
“Love And Other Forms Of Violence,” the album’s second track, marks the first time Imperioli has used his Death By Audio Fuzz War pedal. “It was created by our friend Oliver Ackermann of A Place To Bury Strangers, and I really love the dynamic it brought to the song,” says Imperioli. “I also dig the two different lyric/melodic lines intertwined in the chorus. The outro includes the Ārya Tārā mantra, which is known for its powerful pacifying and protective qualities.”
We’re proud to premiere Zopa’s “Love And Other Forms Of Violence.”
—Hobart Rowland
