Radio Days’ new record Rave On! contains 10 pure Power Pop songs.

Very, very good.

Very, very catchy.

Dario Persi explains to Sweet Sweet Music that he, Mattia Baretta and Paco Orsi are always looking for the ultimate Power Pop song. They succeeded 10 times.

How did this record come together?

We stopped playing live shows at the end of 2018 and focused on writing new songs in 2019. We spent all the year writing songs and recording demos in our rehearsal room. I wrote all the songs at home with my acoustic guitar and we arranged them altogether during the rehearsal.

We care a lot about the melody and the quality of the songwriting. We are not a band that writes songs during rehearsals. Our songs do not arise from improvisations or during jam sessions.

We are very happy with the results and I think “Rave On!” is our best album! The goal was to release the album in May 2020 but we all know what happened and we postponed it to May 2021.

You can pick 3 co-writers to write new songs with. Who? … and Why?

I’d say I would love to write a song with Paul McCartney cause he is the best living songwriter in the world.

It would be great to write a song with Elvis Costello too so he could sing it and I wouldn’t have to worry about keeping the melody simple enough for my vocal range!

As third, I would say, Paul Collins. I love his music, we are good friends and we toured together many times but we never had the chance to write something together.

What’s the gig you will always remember? And why?

There are a few that comes to my mind.

One in Osaka, Japan, in a small crowded club full of enthusiastic fans. It was unbelievable to be so far from home and play such a great show to people who loved our songs.

Our first sold-out show in Madrid, Spain too, and our first time at Purple Weekend Festival in Leon, Spain were amazing.

When was the last time you thought ‘I just wrote a hit!’?

I think about it nearly every time I write a new song and I keep asking myself, why am I not rich and famous?

Cassettes are back. Which 5 five songs would make your first mixtape?

1. Paul Collins Beat – Rock’n’Roll Girl

2. The Rubinoos – I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

3. The Keys – I Don’t Wanna Cry

4. Badfinger – No Matter What

5. Bram Tchaikovsky – Girl Of My Dreams

Recording music. What’s all the fun about?

Recording can be difficult and frustrating but I love it.

We have been working with our good friend Marco Matti at his Casemate Recording Studio, a vintage-oriented home studio where we were able to work in a relaxed way. It allowed us to spend a lot of time trying different sounds and different instruments.

I think “Rave On!” has got the perfect Power Pop sound, especially “I Got a Love”.

I’m really proud of how it turned out!