Doomed Confessionary: Frank the Doc, Red Frank, Frank Real Tube, Frank the Door & Lord J. Frank (Rhino)

Rhino is a heavy stoner rock band rising from the sulphuric city of Catania (Italy), on the slopes of the Etna volcano, where the five members play a mix of stoner/desert rock from the ’90s and 2000 blended with the deep psychedelia of the ’70, resolving in an attitude built around a riff-driven composition, a megalithic wall of fuzz and tons of watts. Rhino was born in 2012 by an idea of the bassist Frank the Door and the guitarist Red Frank, briefly joined afterward by the drummer Lord J. Frank. Following the guitarist Francesco Cucinotta opting out of the band, the lineup was completed by Frank the Doc on vocal duties and Frank Real Tube on guitar. The lineup stood the same since then.

Rhino’s sophomore full-length album »Human Farm« was just released on February 23rd, 2024 via Argonauta Records.

Can you say a few words about your band?
First of all, we are friends that have fun by making music together. We also share the same fascination about 90’s desert stoner rock, we love in particular the monolithic fuzzy sounds that distinguishes it.

What was the biggest challenge for the band last year?
Undoubtedly, the biggest challenge of 2023 was the production of our new full-length »Human Farm«, due in early 2024 through Argonauta Records, that we really want to thank for producing a record of ours for the second time. We’ve been very busy with the studio sessions and with all the other aspect of the production, we were really meticulous about every aspect of this release!

What can you be most proud of last year?
Apart from the new album production of course, we are extremely proud of »Gentle Sound Of The Knife« videoclip, out on December 22nd as second excerpt from »Human Farm«.
We had a lot of fun playing the characters of the videoclip. Anyway, we don’t want to reveal too much, just check it out because we are pretty sure (but and we hope!) you’ll enjoy the videoclip as much as we do!

What was your biggest regret?
Maybe the biggest one is to not having played many gigs in 2023, due to the album production.

What was the best concert/tour last year and why?
The best gig we had this year was fore sure as opening act for El Perro. We played at sunset on a big stage built upon the beach, really magic you know. The crowd was very responsive and we had a lot of fun.

What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Diving into the past, one of the best rock moment ever for us was Dave Grohl playing drums in QOTSA’s »Songs For The Deaf«; no one at that time would expect such a thing and knowing that one of our favorite musician was playing with one of our favorite band was midblowing.
Talking about the contemporary scene, we’d like to mention two of our favorite Italian bands: Messa (that also played an amazing gig here in our hometown Catania) and psychedelic doom overlords Ufomammut.

Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We are booking some shows around Italy right in this period, hope to catch you off stage very soon. We’ll keep you posted, no worries 😉

What are your plans for this year as a band? What do you personally want the most?
Our goal for the next year is one and only one: playing shows! We always have a lot of fun playing shows and we want to share some good vibes with our people.
If you’re a promoter from Italy/EU and you’re reading this, send us a message at out social pages or email, wherever you are we can discuss playing a show!

What are your New Year’s Eve activities like?
Usually we spend New Year’s Eve together with friends, listening to good music and dancing all night long.

How can people best support your band?
Surely you can support us by coming to the shows, buying merch directly at the shows or from our shop or the label shop, but you can also support us by listening and talking about our music, it’s also free! We also enjoy very much your feedbacks, we listen to our community.

Do you have any message for your listeners?
We’d like to recommend to everyone to sit back and relax so you can properly carefully listen to »Human Farm«. We hope to let you feel all the dedication, care and effort we put into the album. See you on the road!

Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well