Jennifer Gentle was formed by Marco Fasolo and Alessio Gastaldello in early 2000, after the breakup of Marco’s previous band, Carcers. Later, these two young men hooked up with guitarist Isacco Maretto and bassist Nick Crivellari, which would complete the early stage of this Northern Italian rock group. Jennifer Gentle mimicked the influence of 60s psychedelic rock icon Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd), and recorded their first album I Am You Are in their own basement (Silly Boy Entertainment 2001). However, it wasn’t until their second basement-recording, Funny Creatures Lane (2002), that they began to gain attention from radio stations across the US and Britain. They began touring with Acid Mothers Temple’s Kawabata Makoto and cut a session with WFMU, releasing the tour on a live album, The Wrong Cage in 2002. When Crivellari left Jennifer Gentle, Paolo Mioni (bass and guitar) and Liviano Mos (keyboards) were welcomed into the band as live stage members. In February 2004, Jennifer Gentle became the first Italian band to be signed to Sub Pop records. They released their third studio album, Valende, which was recorded in the same basement on the outskirts of Padova, Italy, in 2004. Marco and Alessio are responsible for all instrumentation and vocals on their albums. This Italian duo is known to have incorporated instruments such as kazoos, cow bells, toy glockenspiel, bowed guitars, old Bontempi air organs, plastic flutes, chains and clocks, and deflating balloons (“I Do Dream You”, Valende).
