Alla Spina were founder in 2010 by Simonne Lupinetti and then house mate Nick Patch after Nick had suggested they form a band together.

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Simonne had already decided on a band name while at University exchange in Bologna, Italy a year earlier. The name was Alla Spina meaning "To the thorn” but most commonly as a way to say, “beer on tap” or “Draught beer.”  In slang terms, it means “Charged” or “Pumped” which is the intended meaning for the band, evidenced by the use of an electric plug logo.

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The debut performance was at a Ska-BQ held at Bass player, Alisi Verenitani’s house birthday party. Alla Spina’s first line up featured Simonne Lupinetti on Guitar and vocals, Chantal Lupinetti on Keyboards, Nick Patch on Guitar, Alisi Verenitani on Bass, and Andre Gaudet on Drums. The setlist included covers of Blink 182’s ‘Dammit’ and The Go-Go’s ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ as well as two original numbers, ‘No Rest for The Wicked’ and the ska tinged ‘Tony’. From the outset Alla Spina was intent on playing fun, up tempo music with melody in the vein of The Go-Go’s, Blink 182 and No Doubt.

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2011 and 2012 were big years for Alla Spina who were now playing 2 to 3 shows a week around Brisbane’s pubs and clubs. During 2012, Andre and Nick decided to leave the band just prior to the recording of their debut 4 track EP “Tony” which was recorded by Niyi Adepoyibi. Fletcher Owens would take over on drums and friend, Andrew Nolan would fill in on Guitar for the recording. After several auditions, a new fulltime Guitarist  in the form of metal guitarist Isaac Rowe joined. With the new line up sorted Alla Spina would play their first sold out show opening for Melbourne’s The Go-Set.

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2013 saw many changes in the lineup of Alla Spina with Fletcher leaving and Olivier Piau who recently moved from Paris taking over on the drums, this changed the sound direction to a slightly heavier rock sound which led to the departure of Bassist Alisi. Gustavo Colmeneras would step in to play Bass and bring with him some funk and Columbian influences to the mix. During 2013 Alla Spina would go onto record a remix of ‘No Rest For The Wicked’ featuring Brisbane rapper Yojay Chillin, as well as recording two tracks, including a demo of ‘Tempo’ and ‘No One Know How Hard It Is To Be Mexican American’ after being selected by Brisbane University QUT for an Upcoming Bands series of recordings. These recordings were followed by a series of gigs including their first interstate shows in Byron Bay. Further changes in the line up towards the end of year, due to both changes in direction and other commitments saw Alla Spina finish the year with just Simonne.

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Simonne was later joined by partner and Alla Spina manager, Leilani Verenitani on Keyboards after a crash course in how to play given by Chantal. This led to a semi acoustic gig in Brisbane. They would be joined shortly after by Cameron Walsh on drums who reignited the punk edge and contributed the song ‘Goodbye’ which would be recorded in 2014 with sound engineer, and semi-permanent Bass player, Niyi Adepoyibi.

‘Goodbye’ saw the band record their first on location video which included local actor/director Jonathan Fang.

With the success of ‘Goodbye’ Alla Spina started to gain momentum with local shows and support slots which led to their first overseas tour of the US in 2015, touring with Isolated Victims across the states. On their return the band continued touring up and down the East Coast including shows in Sydney and Melbourne.

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In 2017 Alla Spina recorded and released ‘This Town’ which included a self produced video directed by Leilani. ‘This Town’ would prove to be Alla Spina’s biggest hit placing at #17 in Brisbane’s 4ZZZ's Hot 100 for that year. Alla Spina would also tour the US for a second time with drummer Arthur Cassin. By December, Alla Spina had a new drummer, Dave Bell as well as a stand in Bassist, Lucas de Lastic who would stand in when Niyi was unable to perform at Brisbane shows due to production work commitments.

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After supporting Strung Out in Byron Bay, Alla Spina went back to the studio to start recording on their first full length album ‘One More Thing.’ Production started at the end of 2018 at Alchemix Studio. Recording Mixing and Production was done by Niyi with mastering by German engineer Philipp Wesling at Original Mastering. The horns for the track ‘Crying’ were recorded by Eddie Casillas (Voodoo Glowskulls) and featured the horn section from Isolated Victims.

The album was completed and released in November of 2019 on Vinyl, CD and streaming platforms and was launched with a live show at the 4ZZZ carpark.

The lead single ‘Going Nowhere’ was the second single by Alla Spina to be featured on Triple J’s Short, Fast Loud. A Video was also produced by Lelani and filmed by Ern Hinchliffe paying tribute to film Noir.

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Following the release, Alla Spina went onto support UK Madness tribute band One Step Behind with two sold out shows at The Zoo, followed by support slots with The Bennies to see out 2019. The momentum continued in early 2020 opening for Mustard Plug.

Alla Spina had also secured support for The Mad Caddies later in the year. Unfortunately, as the world shut down due to Covid-19, The Mad Caddies tour was cancelled and previous plans for a European tour had also been stifled.

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The band had some recording time up their sleeve with ARIA winner Jeff Lovejoy and took the opportunity to record a bilingual version of ’99 Red Balloons in homage to their synth pop influences. The song was released in October of 2020 as a single with an accompanying Video by Jonathan Fang and the song was met with great reaction from friends and fans.

 

Due to Covid-19 the lack of live music, opportunity and momentum started to take its toll on the band. Highlighting the lack of cohesion between the current lineup and testing Simonne and Leilani’s relationship. This led to the band questioning the continued feasibility.

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Alla Spina would go onto to play one last show on the 8th of May 2021 at Greaser Bar in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane to a rousing crowd culminating in one of their best shows. They were also scheduled to play at Ska Nation Festival in Warrion, Victoria the same year but this never eventuated, as Alla Spina had decided once and for all to hang up the gloves.