Three Italian stallions, two Tauro tapes and one shared astrological star sign. Meet Pava, Maximilian and Prince! Friends since the womb, three ragazzini from Rome who decided to start a boy band in high school. Several years later, they have produced three hit albums, are touring around Italy to perform to their beloved fans and still managing to maintain a strong brotherly bond between themselves. Read here about their future plans with the Tauro boys and their new album Alpha Centauri. Believe me, they’re just as charming and adorable in real life :,)

What would each of your desired career paths have been if the Tauro Boys never blew up just quite as much as it did?
Maximilian: I think the Tauro boys haven’t blown up yet, we have just started... but I guess I've always wanted to run my own restaurant, let's see, maybe I still will one day.

Yang Pava: I honestly don't think much about what I would have done without Ardu and Max. I'm sure I would have started a musical career anyway. I also have a strong passion for cinema and acting, I probably would have continued that path.

Prince: I would definitely still be making music. I probably would have continued to study, but I can tell you that we threw ourselves headlong into the project because we knew it could possibly explode. I didn't have a real B plan.

When writing lyrics, where do you usually look for inspiration? Would you say each song has a hidden message, memory or story behind it?
Maximilian: The songs come from our days and time we spend together. I often write as a stream of consciousness. That can start from a particularly sad or happy event that has happened to me and that inspires us, like "mela serpente", we met up in the studio, we gave eachother a few keywords and we took it from there!

Yang Pava: Each song has a different story; a song can be born at any time. I don't have a precise working method, it depends a lot on the beat and the first sensations I feel. Inspiration can come from anything, a movie, a book, a sentence, everything we see is we live can be taken as a font and inspiration. I would define my way of writing as a stream of consciousness where dreams and fears are intertwined with each others thoughts.

Prince: My mood determines the type of text I write, as well as influencing the choice of the beat. I find it easier to write on the road, by plane or by train, because it relaxes me, otherwise I have to be very concentrated to write in other places. The real inspiration comes when you least expect it ... a word, a phrase or a concept, I like to write down notes on my iPhone to forget anything that comes to mind.

Each of your most treasured songs from Alpha Centauri and why?
Maximilian: My favorites are "alla fine è andata bene" and "tag team", because after thousands of times listening they are the two songs that still make me emotional. When Pava and Prince leave I have the same feeling I had as a kid when I listened to a new track from one of my favorite rappers.

Yang Pava: My favorite song from Alpha Centauri is "Mela Serpente". The original sin is what makes us human.

Prince: My favorite tape is "Mela Serpente". The beat is really cool and I can't wait to sing it live this summer. The track speaks of the Garden of Eden and the apple of sin, on how easy it is today to let the Serpent convince you to sin, to take the less tiring route, to have everything at once.

How was Tauro Boys born? What’s the secret behind you three starting a boy band together?
Maximilian: We have been friends for a very long time... In high school we were in class together and we started making music for fun. Slowly we realised that it could become our thing and immediately after high school we decided to start the Tauro Boys project.

Yang Pava: We started doing rap in high school without having a precise plan. Going ahead with the years we realised that what we were doing was taking an increasingly defined shape.

Prince: It's not like we said to raise a boy band from one day to another... We have been rapping for a while... We had other friends who did it! When we felt ready, we decided to go live with the first pieces, and we never stopped.

Do you ever get nervous before your live performances? How does it feel hearing fans singing back to you the lyrics you wrote and songs you three produced together?
Maximilian: Before getting on stage, some anxiety is always there... as soon as I go up, however, it disappears and turns into energy. The public helps a lot and see that they respond by singing and with approval it loads you and encourages you. The live is the most beautiful moment ever for those who make music, it is difficult to put into words. When having a direct contact with your fans, you realise what you are creating. If you are doing a good job you only understand it with live shows.

Yang Pava: Before going on stage there is always some tension, but it is what it takes to bring you a lot of excitement. Then once you go up and see all those people there for you all the purity of the world turns into adrenaline.

Prince: The first few times I didn't feet that good. I am someone who suffers from anxiety and before the first live I just couldn't sit still. The only thing that really calmed me was to take the microphone, get up there and go on stage. As soon as the first track starts and you understand that everyone is there, everything brings you energy. Fear turns into a desire to do well, and to be honest a bit of anxiety is good for the performance. After 25/30 lives around Italy that kind of anxiety is almost gone, but returns for the big occasions. Seeing the people who sing the songs with every single word, I would say is the purpose of everything, or at least it's the thing that satisfies me the most. You can also receive 100 messages a day from fans supporting you, but it's at live performance that you realise how many people are there for your tracks.

Although you have all been friends since you were fresh out the womb, it must be hard ALWAYS being together! Do you often fight or get on each others nerves?
Maximilian: Sharing a friendship and sharing a project, there's a difference... we often need to understand when it's just friendship and when it's work. If you confuse the two things, it can start a bit of mess.

Yang Pava: Of course, like all best friends, we often discuss. But I think it's also our strength to be able to maintain our friendship, without making ourselves too paranoid. Honesty is key.

Prince: Like in any group, we must seek balance! In real life, we are not always together, Pava is always back and forth from Rome, so is quite rare to always be together. When that happens, we usually hang out as a group of friends who haven't seen each other for a long time. We don’t often argue, but it is difficult to always agree on ideas, sometimes it can be quite conflicting.

Name your three favourite things about each other ;)
Maximilian: Prince: Surgical and meticulous in his swag, always fresh, a real brother I can always count on. Pava: lyrical talent, his hair, a real brother I can always count on.

Yang Pava: We are three brothers. We will never betray ourselves.

Prince: I like Pava's sharp irony, he manages to make jokes for whole days, helps keep the group's morale high. I like his loyalty with Max. Even Maximilian knows how to make people laugh, but I envy his rigor too!

Is the support from other upcoming Italian trap artists important for you?
Maximilian: Of course, being inspirational is important. You realise that you can create an artistic movement.

Yang Pava: Well, of course there is mutual respect with the new ones on the scene, we created it.

Prince: The support from the others on the scene is always a pleasure. In some cases it makes the difference, but I don't think it's our case. There are artists with whom we relate more to than others, but surely we do not base our Clout on the re-sharing of pieces by larger artists. The big news for us was starting with featuring other artists in our songs.

Would you ever write a full album in English to widen your fan base? Or would you like to keep your music authentic and 100% Italian, with just a few English verses like ‘Argentina’?
Maximilian: Meanwhile we work to take the Italian market, then... let's see, you never know...

Yang Pava: Absolutely, we will!

Prince: Why not? Maybe an EP, but I don't know when it will be possible. Over the years I have done some experiments with 100% English lyrics, I enjoyed them. In general, the risk is that I cannot always express myself as English is not my first language, but I’m sure I can find a way.

What’s next for the Tauro Boys? Where do you hope to see yourselves in one years time?
Maximilian: At the top of the charts.

Yang Pava: In a year we will be the strongest group in Italy.

Prince: The future scares me.. luckily a year is short (not in rap) and I can make a fairly accurate prediction.. I think we'll be on tour or working on a new project!