Vanilla Sky

In 2002, four musicians united by an affinity for California pop-punk formed Vanilla Sky in Rome, Italy. Luca Alesandrelli played drums, Francesco Sarsano handled bass, and both Vincenzo Mario Christi and Daniele Brian Autore covered vocals and guitars; each had already performed in other local groups. Working inside a cramped garage, they cut their own five-song demo, Play It If You Can't Say It, then circulated it. The release sold out quickly while the band played frequent headline shows, prompting Wynona Records, the Genoa indie label, to sign them in January 2003.

Interest soon spread beyond Italy to other parts of Europe and to Japan after Wynona licensed one of its split releases there. Throughout summer 2003 the quartet toured nonstop across Italy and the rest of the continent. Following months on the road they spent eight weeks recording Waiting for Something, issued by Wynona in 2004. Festival bills alongside Flogging Molly and Coheed and Cambria followed, and Wynona re-pressed the long-unavailable demo with three additional tracks to meet demand. The year 2005 brought a first appearance on German national television, debut concerts in Japan, the headlining Punk Is Dead tour, and support dates for every show on the Offspring’s German run.

With those accomplishments behind them, Vanilla Sky began another full-length after nearly a year of pre-production, only to lose the tapes in a studio accident; the band therefore re-recorded everything from scratch before launching the 2006 Punk Is Dead tour. They also introduced Vanilla Sky Television, Italy’s first video podcast. Larger labels soon expressed interest, leading to a 2007 contract with Universal International. Changes appeared on June 22, 2007. Lead single “Break It Off” entered the MTV Italy charts, and the band’s punk-rock cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” paired with its low-budget video, spread rapidly online. Changes was later reissued with “Umbrella” added as a bonus track.