Sneaky Toy Reinvigorates The Italian Punk Scene

The Birth Of A Punk Band

The story of Sneaky Toy begins in the Italian city of Trieste with two members of My Space Invaders, a historical local band. Guitarists and singers Andrea Zanolla and Simone Stocheli were ready to try something new and different. They wanted to focus on playing their instruments and letting a charismatic singer take over vocal duties. Although their time in My Space Invaders was a wonderful experience allowing them to “grow as musicians and introduced us to a wonderful world made of crazy nights, strong emotions and a lot of friends who shared the same passion for music. They are like our second family and we thank them a lot for all.” However, it was time to move on. Their goal was a simple one, to form a new kind of punk band with a powerful female voice. “Me and Andrea always envisioned a band with a female singer, mostly because of out musical taste. We really enjoyed female voiced pop and pop-punk bands such as Paramore or the early 2000 Avril Lavigne and I also really liked Courtney Love and Brody Dalle’ s voices… the ultimate crush came in 2017 when at Punk Rock Holiday in Tolmin I saw “Not On Tour” performing live. They are a band from Israel and the singer’s energy and naturalness really left me speechless. That was when I realized our band needed a female singer. We really think women have a lot to say and for a long time they have been victims of an unfair society and have been underestimated. This is the right historical moment for them to free their voices and be finally heard and kick everybody’s asses.”

In a fortunate twist of fate, they met up with singer Leo Bugatta at a local pub and asked him to be a part of their new project to which Leo said yes. They then inquired if Leo knew any good female singers and guess what? Leo pointed to the girl standing right next to him and the rest as they say is history. Vocalist Laura Mandich is a powerhouse and exactly what Simone and Andrea were looking for. There was instant musical chemistry between the band members. “we all knew we were like the perfect ingredients for the most delicious recipe. We immediately clicked, it’s hard to explain. Even the first songs we wrote together really show how easily we could explain our feelings, all while having a lot of fun.”

The next question facing the young punkers was what to call themselves. After putting over forty names in a hat and coming up with choices like The Frijoles and Beer Stealers, it was Laura who came up with Sneaky Toy and it just seemed right. With influences from NOFX to The Offspring and The Misfits, coming up with song ideas was the next project to tackle. The band’s sound is fierce, kind of a pop-punk with hard-hitting guitars and lyrics that condemn societal injustices and bigotry but also show a light-hearted side that focuses on good times. Sneaky Toy would record six tracks at Track Terminal Studio for their debut EP Dino Sour, playing gigs as often as they could to support the release.

In 2018, Leo was offered and opportunity to study at an arts and movie school in Rome and opted to leave the band. He was replaced by and old friend of his and former band mate Manuel Vascotto on bass guitar. In January of 2019, the brand new lineup would play their first gig at All In Bar in Villa Viclentina. The band has released a humorous video for the single “You Should” and stays busy working on new music. Stay tuned as Sneaky Toy is definitely a band you’ll want to keep an eye on!

Sneaky Toy Is:

Laura Mandich-Vocals

Andrea Zanolla-Drums

Simone Stocheli-Guitar

Manuel Vascotto-Bass