Zen Circus

Zen Circus
Background information
OriginPisa, Italy
Genres
Years active1994–present
Labels
  • La Tempesta
  • Iceforeveryone Records
Members
  • Andrea Appino
  • Massimiliano "Ufo" Schiavelli
  • Karim Qqru
  • Francesco "Il Maestro" Pellegrini
Websitethezencircus.it

Zen Circus is an Italian rock band founded in 1994 by Andrea Appino and Marcello Bruzzi in Pisa.[1] As of 2019, in addition to founding member, lead singer, guitarist and harmonica player Appino, the band consists of Massimiliano "Ufo" Schiavelli (bass guitar and backing vocals), Karim Qqru (drums and backing vocals), and Francesco "Il Maestro" Pellegrini (guitar, backing vocals).[2]

After releasing the self-produced album About Thieves, Farmers, Tramps and Policemen in 1998 as The Zen, the band changed its name to Zen Circus, a mashup between the titles of the albums Zen Arcade and Metal Circus by American rock band Hüsker Dü.[3]

Their first official album, titled Visited by the Ghost of Blind Willie Lemon Juice Namington IV, was released in 2001 by Iceforeveryone Records.[1] As of 2019, they released eight additional albums, reaching the top ten of the FIMI Albums Chart with Canzoni contro la natura (2014), La terza guerra mondiale (2016) and Il fuoco in una stanza (2018).[4]

  1. ^ a b "The Zen Circus". Rolling Stone (in Italian). Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  2. ^ Alessandro Alicandri (20 December 2018). "Zen Circus a Sanremo 2019: conosciamoli meglio". TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (in Italian). Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Zen Circus: esce l'Ep Metal arcade vol. 1 e prosegue il Busking Tour" (in Italian). Rockol.it. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Italian Charts - Zen Circus - Albums". Italiancharts.com. Hung Medien.