We finally had a chance to chat with Astrid Dante, lead singer and mastermind behind Italy quartet Miss Chain & The Broken Heels.

We’ve already gushed about her candy-coated, fun, nostalgic power pop tunes that feel like pure  energy in a bottle, without all the fancy effects. The group was even voted MTV Iggy’s Artist of the Week earlier this month!

Fresh from recording their debut album On A Bittersweet Ride, Astrid shared her thoughts on American pizza, her imaginary villa in Japan, and why she just can’t keep her high heels intact.

Photo Credit:MySpace.com/Antonio Campanella

What’s the power pop/garage scene like in Italy? What kind of bands do you usually play with?

There’s a fizzy garage power pop scene in Italy. There are so many good bands such as Mojomatics, Love Boat, Vermillion Sand, Remington, Industries, Assyrians, Radio Days, Movie Star Junkies, Tunas, Riccobellis…We usually like playing with bands that, even if they aren’t “power poppish”, they have the same attitude as we have and focus on having fun. One of our fav is Il Buio. Great band, great people.

Miss Chain, how did you meet the Broken Heels?

I was feeling very lonely and sad like an oyster’s pearl covered in mud. I had a bunch of poppy songs that I used to play alone in my bedroom and one day I decided to record them with a friend of mine, just for fun, while drinking wine and eating Italian cheese. We were s***-talking about creating a ghost band, and we wanted to make people think I was playing with a group of old guys as backing band. After we recorded four songs, and we put them on the MySpace, Sonic Jett Records offered to release a 7″.

Suddenly I realized I wanted to play these songs live and I found the right brothers to start the adventure: Silva and the two brothers, Franz and Bruno. I already knew them for a long time and I had the feeling we could work out something good. I was right!

Why the band name? Do you have a lot of busted shoes?

I have a lot of problems, in particular with high heels. I try and I try and I try and I try, I really try to wear high heels but most of the time I fail. The name of the band came from one night in particular while I was dancing, and after ten minutes I broke my heels and I had to spend the whole night trying to stand up and not to look as a f***ing drunk.

How did you learn to write a perfect pop song? What does it take?

I learned by refusing to learn how to play guitar properly. This may not be a thing to be proud of, but I see that this way, the songs I compose come out smoothly in a very spontaneous way. I just follow my heart and my animal instinct. And again, I’m right… Uh, and I listen to a lot of good bubblegum, pop, french pop, soul pop, rock pop, and paisley pop music.

Did you try any American style pizza while you were on tour? What did you think? Are there other countries besides Italy that have good pizza?

Of course!!! I adore American pizza! I am probably the only Italian who thinks this, but it’s the Truth. American pizza and its toppings are very tasty. Of course it’s completely taken from Italian pizza, and of course I prefer the Italian one, but American is good too. You know what, other countries have problems with the quality of the ingredients. You need f***ing mozzarella for a great pizza, and real tomato sauce made by fresh tomatoes, not ketchup! Anyway, for sure I don’t like kebab pizza. That’s what they call pizza in Sweden: some kind of bread covered with stuff, kebab and yogurt sauce. Gross. By the way, I love you Sweden. As you may notice, I prefer to talk about food above everything else.

When you guys are big stars, what city are you going to move to? Will you stay where you are? Where are you?

We live in the middle of nowhere. Me and Silva live at the feet of the mountains in a small town while Franz and Bruno live in another small town by a very cute small lake.

When I become a huge pop star, I’ll simply buy different villas all around the world. The first one will be in San Francisco on a cliff. The second one will be in Cortina D’Ampezzo, a really fancy place. The third one will be in Japan and I will have servants that will bring me sakè and sushi every morning for breakfast. And so on and so on…

And then, I will buy an island and name it after me: Astrid Island!!!

Miss Chain, on your Facebook page it says people either love you or hate you? How could anyone ever hate you?

By reading all the answers above, you will get the answer to this question. I know I’m kind of egocentric but people that don’t like me don’t see my irony and sarcasm. Oh, wait, most of the times it’s me not liking other people and shutting them out. You know, I am an Aquarius, and it’s motto is:  great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds!

What was your main goal while working on your debut album On A Bittersweet Ride? Is there a concept to the album?

On A Bittersweet Ride sounds to us like a run on a roller coaster going up and down. It’s a little something like my mood, I guess. If you pay attention to the songs, they taste very different. There’s some sort of gloominess, then some kind of hope, and so on. Good things take turns with sad things. I dare say, this came out very spontaneously from us. We didn’t spend too much time working on the songs to make them sound in some particular way. Everything came out really immediate. This is what we wanted and this is the concept of the album: simplicity and themes of our daily life. The entire album reflects who we are and what we are every day: FUN!

Who is your biggest inspiration for rocking out?

Machete!

Your dream collaboration, living or dead?

I would like to do a duet with Sam Cooke, write a song with Gram Parsons under a starry sky at Joshua Tree, sing a ballad with Gene Clark, and have Francois Hardy and Doris Troy singing one of my hits! Of course, I’d like to play drums with the Kinks! I’d like to write a song for an advertisement with Joey Levine and create a musical with The Equals.

Why do you sing in English? Would your songs be different if you wrote them in Italian?

I don’t know why I sing in English. I feel it’s right this way. Of course they would be different in Italian. We want to do an Italian ’60s beat cover and we’re working on it.

What’s your biggest pop music guilty pleasure?

ABBA and Rubettes.

What’s next for Miss Chain and her Broken Heels?

We really don’t know what’s next. I think we will keep on playing as much as we can and once we will have made enough money we will start buying estates. I just wanna play around so I can discover food from all around the world.