BAR ITALIA JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN
In the thick of a sweat-soaked room, two people are passionately tearing at each other’s clothes to a backdrop of loud music. Sounds like Berlin? It’s Bermondsey. And the source of music isn’t a thudding techno DJ, it’s the experimental rock-pop band Bar Italia. “It was a tiny room, I don't know how they were managing to do that,” ponders Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, one-third of the group alongside Sam Fenton and Nina Cristante, who sit beside him as we talk in late 2023.
THE END OF AN ERA: ACCESS VIRUS TI2 DISCONTINUED
Developer Christoph Kemper has confirmed that production ceased several months ago as the company shifts its focus towards the popular Profiler amps under the sister brand Kemper. The Access Virus TI2, part of the esteemed Virus series, debuted in 2009 and enjoyed an unusually long and successful production run for a synthesizer. Born out of the first wave of virtual-analogue synths in 1997, the Virus series became a cornerstone in synthesizers, with the TI2 as its pinnacle.