Here’s the essay I co-authored with Lorenzo Pedrini about the social logic behind the chants of Brescia 1911 football supporters. The essay has been published in the book “Le Strade della Teppa”, RedStar Press, 2022. Note: for now, the essay is available only in Italian.
keyword - football supporters’ sound culture
TOWARDS A SOCIOLOGY OF ULTRAS’ CHANTING
Here’s an essay I co-authored with sociologist Lorenzo Pedrini summarizing the main findings of my field research project with the ultras group Brescia 1911. Note: for now, the essay is available only in Italian.
ULTRAS KARAOKE
Ultras Karaoke is the karaoke version of a series of football supporters’ chants. The lyrics of the supporters are superimposed with a midi-track of the original songs the chants are based on. The chants that appear in this work are sung by non professional singers. Their voices have been recorded in informal studio settings, far from football stadiums. The audio work is the continuation of the homonymous video project that you can find here
recordings & mixing: Davide Tidoni
design: Davide Tidoni
silkscreen: Ilana Pichon
number of copies: 50
year: 2019
orders: write to baitabaita AT riseup DOT net
ULTRAS MASHUP
Ultras Mashup consists of a series of audio tracks in which football chants’ recordings are mixed with the “original” songs they are based on. The work reflects on the musical aspects of football supporters’ culture and supporters’ practice of creation through appropriation.
The work includes football supporters’ repurposed versions of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera theme Aida, Jewish traditional song from psalm 23 Gam Gam, Marcella Bella’s 1972 Sanremo Festival success Montagne Verdi, Walt Disney’s whistling theme from Robin Hood, northern italian folk song La Mula de Parensio, Coca-Cola jingle Buy the World a Coke, Dean Martin’s signature song That’s Amore, and Righeira’s 80’s summer hit L’Estate Sta Finendo.
The football chants used in the tracks have been recorded at the stadium and on away matches as part of my involvement with the ultras group Brescia 1911 (2001 – ongoing).
recordings & mixing: Davide Tidoni
design: Davide Tidoni & Marzia Dalfini
silkscreen: l’Appât
publisher: SARU Oxford Brookes University
number of copies: 200
year: 2018
orders: write to baitabaita AT riseup DOT net
FORGET THE THEATER – GO TO THE STADIUM
Forget the Theater – Go to the Stadium documents all of the times that the italian word “dai” (in english “c’mon”) was used by the leaders of the ultras group BRESCIA 1911 during Brescia vs. Catania, 2015. The word “dai” is commonly used as an exhortation to urge the group to participate in the chanting.
ULTRAS KARAOKE
Ultras Karaoke is the karaoke version of a series of football supporters’ chants. The lyrics of supporters are superimposed with a midi-track of the original songs the chants are based on.
THE SOUND OF NORMALISATION
The Sound of Normalisation is a collection of audio recordings that documents the sound culture of the Ultras group BRESCIA 1911 in relation to modern football and the wave of repressive measures targeted at organized supporters groups. The recordings were taken over a period of 15 years and cover: 1) creation, uses and meanings of the chants 2) group principles and collective identity 3) audience participation and the process of social exclusion from the stadium 4) police repression and the political implications of the chants 5) the evolution of the drumming in relation to the drums ban-order of 2007. Each recording comes with a short introductory text and is presented as a video with subtitles. The work has been published in 2018 by SARU, Oxford Brookes University.
Since early 2000 I’ve been researching football supporter subculture, audience participation and crowd regulation. The overall research concerns the nexus of public space, social performance and surveillance in contemporary Italian football. — The aim of the research is to trace mechanisms of social interaction and aesthetic creation in football supporters’ subculture via an examination of the sound practices shared by the group Brescia 1911. Relations between sound production and space construction are investigated especially in the light of dynamics of social control adopted in football grounds in the last years. — The research contributes to a better understanding of sound’s function in group formation and collective identity as well as how sound performance and social repertoire evolve in relation to public security measures and space control.
In 2015, a first concrete materialization of the project has been exhibited at ARGOS, centre for art and media, Brussels. In 2018, the final version of the project has been presented at GET SOME CHALK ON YOUR BOOTS! an exhibition and conference organized by SARU at Oxford Brookes University.
audio recordings, videos, & texts: Davide Tidoni
design: Marzia Dalfini & Davide Tidoni
offset printing
binding: thread sewn, open spine binding with glued on boards
pages: 60
dimensions: 15×21x1cm
publisher: SARU Oxford Brookes University
number of copies: 300
year: 2018
orders: write to baitabaita AT riseup DOT net
THE STADIUM AS I WANT IT
The Stadium as I Want It is a 10 points critical manifesto about the spatial design of the stadium and how it influences the way supporters sing and organise themselves.
GET SOME CHALK ON YOUR BOOTS
Here’s the interview I made on the occasion of the exhibition Get Some Chalk On Your Boots!. The interview briefly sums up the points laying at the core of my field research project The Sound of Normalisation investigating the sound culture of the ultras group BRESCIA 1911.