SFist HATEs cell phones. While cell phones allow us to chat with bands on the road, we are chatting with them on well, a cell phone. Interviews with a band on tour are fraught with peril. It’s pretty much a sure thing that reception will be fuzzy, and that the quality of the reception changes approximately ever 23 seconds. You end up feeling lucky just to have finally explained that you’re from SFist and that you’re about to do an interview.

Luckily, Marco Fasolo from Italy’s Jennifer Gentle (on Sub Pop) couldn’t have been nicer about the persistent fuzz on the line. We caught up with Marco as the band was heading down to LA after a stint at Bottom of the hill, and an appearance at Amoeba. Even though Marco is definitely the most patient rocker we’ve encountered, we weren’t able to ask all the questions we would have liked. If the interview seems short, chalk it up to technical difficulties—we’ll spend more time with Jennifer Gentle next time they come to San Francisco.

If for some perverse reason, you want to recreate the actual interview, take the text below and paste it into Word. Now insert the phrases “Wait, I can’t hear you” and “Umm.. please repeat that” randomly throughout the interview, making sure at least one or the other (if not both) appear at least every two sentences. We’ve taken the liberty of cleaning up most of the interruptions for your reading pleasure.

Photo of Jennfier Gentle by Jennifer Gentle

How much time have you spent in the Bay Area?
A couple of days.

Favorite website
I don’t go on the web very often.

What I'm currently Reading
Don’t read too many magazines. MoJo. Very good for the biography for the 50’s 60’s… very good picture and biographies

What is your favorite Movie?
My favorite movies? I like old movies by Dario Argento such as Electsteria. Also the Texas Chainsaw Massacre…because it’s full of great ideas, lots of humor and greatly entertaining, and cool. I like the approach the director had with the movie. It’s very close to our [Jennifer Gentle’s] music. Very funny and cool, but at the same time dark, but with lots of humor in the inside. I like Alice in Wonderland. I love a lot of stuff.

What sorts of music have you been you listening to lately?
I like almost everything from the 50’s from the 60’s. But at the same time, I like classical music, from the middle ages. Sun Ra : Good production. Pretty much everything he made. I love how he recorded them, the way he used tapes as well. He’s one of my favorite. I love Pink Floyd, the Beatles.

What did you think of San Francisco?
I’d been there six years ago and I loved it. But now, I like it more. You know, it’s a very nice city. I like the weather, the people, and the buildings. I love San Francisco.

If you could take one thing from Italy and bring it to San Francisco, what would it be?
It’s a hard question. Italy and the US are very different. I like the historical roots of Italy. When you take a walk in Rome you feel you are in Italy. Very historical. I love New York. San Francisco is more quiet and sunny. I like San Francisco and New York very much.

Best venue that you’ve played in?
I had so fun much in Austin at South by Southwest. The most beautiful venue is the Mercury Lounge in New York. Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco is very nice. I liked the venues in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco the best so far.

What is the best thing about being on tour?
Oh, I think it is playing everyday. And evolving our way of playing, so that other people listen to our music. But I have fun and am getting better, everyone one of us is getting better through playing. It is very beautiful for a musician to play everyday. Being in the van every day, a different city--it’s very exciting.

And with that SFist ceded defeat to the Gods of Cell Phone reception. Although Marco didn't say that the best thing about being on tour was our interview, SFist likes to think that, deep down, it was.