RECONCILE
(Argentina)
I
only know your album "July 20th"… so it would be great if
you
could give a an introduction into the band. When did you start, which
releases have you done, where did you do tours, etc.
we
started back
in 1999. we were a straight edge band of 5 kids who wanted to play
modern styled classic hardcore. our main influences back then were the
popular bands of the time, TEN YARD FIGHT, IN MY EYES and REACH THE SKY
mainly. We released our debut CD in the end of 2000, we toured chile
and then released a split with a brazilian band called GOOD INTENTIONS
(they are still alive, check em out) and th en we toured brazil to
support that release, and it was the shittiest tour ever. then we had a
lot of line up changes, but that didnt keep us from playing lots of
shows, but it really made it hard for us to write new stuff to record.
so "july 20th" came out in 2004. now we are playing and writting more
songs and undergoing other major line up changes. i mean, how many
people you know go to hardcore shows for more than 7 years? imagine
being involved in a band all that much!
It's
not common for a Latin American band to sing English lyrics. Are you
criticised because of this? Why did you choose to sing English?
it
wasnt really
a choice, it just happened that way. and i guess there would be more
kids singing our songs at the shows if we sang in spanish, but we arent
really going to change something that we are confortable with just to
make people like us.
Sometimes
I have the feeling that Latin American SXE bands become more and more
popular in the European scene. Do you see it the same way?
i’m
not
sure about that, but i hope they are. there are lots of good bands
around here (just as everywhere else) and they deserve the recognition.
i mean, maybe years ago it was harder for kids in 3rd world countries
to have access to the right records, the right equipments and
instruments and so on... but now i can see that some bands in
southamerica or asia sound better than bands from western europe or the
US.
I've
heard rumours about an upcoming tour of Reconcile in Europe. What about
that?
i
woke up
thinking about that today. i kinda have been waking up thinking about
touring europe for the last 6 years or something. we dont have anything
planned yet, but i hope it happens sometime. we had some failed attemps
and it sucked.
In
general SXE seems to be a booming scene. (As far as I've seen it in
Chile...). Over there I've recognized some separation between new and
old school sounds. How's that in Argentina or in Buenos Aires?
i
dont think
that happens here. and yes, i’ve seen it happening A LOT in
chile. we are friends with almost everybody there, we play chile once a
year and have met lots of cool kids, but when it comes to making a show
where all kinds of bands play together... it becomes hard. i mean, not
that the kids in bands have problems with each other or anything like
that... but the crowd is pretty much divided. that doesnt happen at all
here. and i have a theory about that: the most popular hardcore style
in buenos aires since the late 80s was and still is NYHC, and NYHC is
kinda the middle between new school and old school, not exactly, I
KNOW, but kids in buenos aires are used to bands who mix heavy
breakdowns with fast hc-punk parts, so they are as tolerant to old
school bands as they are towards heavy hitting mosh bands.
What
do you think are the positive and the negative aspects of this scene?
the
positive
things are so many and so positive that i will let each one get out
there and find them. and as far as negative... tough guys. kids who are
troubled enough to think they can muscle their opinions into other
people´s head do not belong in this world, let alone this
scene.
Do
you see connections between the punk and the hardcore scene?
of
course. we
are all boys and girls living in despair trying to change the world we
live in. but still i want to emphasize the thing that we are BOYS AND
GIRLS, and not punks, or straight edgers or whatever... those concepts
come after. i mean, those connections... often i hear people saying
"hardcore and punk scenes should work together". and that´s
putting the concept before the persons envolved. it is probable that
punks and hardcore kids wont get along, for whatever reasons, and if
they dont i think it would be stupid to force them to cooperate when
they dont see eye to eye on many things and it may all end in a fight,
which is worse than having the scenes separated.
In
your lyrics you avoid all SXE topics…it's a very personal
album.
What is your message and what do you like to express with your songs?
this
is the
first interview we answer as a not-sxe-anymore-band. we have recently
asked Nikito to join Reconcile full time. he´s been our
friend
for years and he´s a great guy, he´s not straight
edge, but
even so he filled in for 2nd guitar in many shows when we couldnt find
any stable guitarrist. but then we came to think about what i said in
the last questions... concepts should go after people. so we decided we
wanted to play with nikito more than having "straight edge" under
RECONCILE on our shirts. but those lyrics you mention were written
years before, so they dont mention straight edge for other reasons. we
always thought straight edge was important for all the things it made
us feel and do, and not just for the sake of it, so we tried to
communicate the way we felt about the things we were going through and
not just singing about abstract things.
Don't
you ever feel uncomfortable to show your very personal feelings? And
don't you feel the necessity to comment the current political situation?
i
guess the
songs are the way to make it confortable for us to communicate those
intimate things. i surely would be more than uncomfortable to stand up
and pick up a mic and just say how heartbroken i feel because all my
friends went away, but if i can write a nice song about it then its ok.
and about politics, we usually talk about that between songs and some
of the new songs are more political oriented, but not that much either.
i dont know, we always thought everything is politics and most of our
songs are about sending the whole world to fuck themselves and just
stick to the ones you love, and that could be taken as political.
Was
the crisis in Argentina reflected in the underground music?
everything
is 3
times more expensive now. music production, cd manufacturing, mail,
everything! having bands tour argentina is almost impossible cause
plane tickets are 3 times more expensive. and of course, salaries arent
3 times bigger. but overall, it had a positive impact, cause imported
cds are exepensive, so kids are supporting local bands, and local bands
are being overproductive, which is good.
How
have been your very personal impressions and experiences within the
days of crisis? Did you participate in manifestations or actions? Why
or why not?
i
didnt. cause
at that time, it wasnt that clear what was happening, and still isnt.
people got killed, people were there just to cause havok cause they
were paid to, and people spontaneously demonstrated against the
government. but the thing is that they were only reclaiming their
property right. i dont know, it was a crazy week, we had 5 presidents.
and i cant say who represented me the less, if you know what i mean.
What
have been the impacts on people in general? Do you think society
learned from this experience?
not
at all.
months later they were all going into the voting booth and picking
another shitface politician to be the new president. it all means
nothing. people are weak minded, they still believe in this charade
called representative democracy and still hope for a leader to come and
take them to the top of the world. people just want to drink coke, have
a job and watch the TV when they get home.
Let's
get back to hc and underground music. How did the catastrophe of
Cromañón affect the music scene?
oh!
that was
terrible (i´m amazed how well informed you are). first and
foremost, 200 kids died at a rock and roll concert. and that alone
couldnt be any worse. but this is Argentina and it always gets worse.
the city major just went ahead and shut down every venue in the city.
so there´s practically nowhere to have a hardcore show. you
can
make concerts in big stadiums (which means big business), but self
promoted bands cant get together and jam almost anywhere. there are
only 2 or 3 little venues working right now, they hold 100 people more
or less, and they are overbooked, if you want to book a show you have
to show up with 6 months anticipation and maybe they´ll give
you
a tuesday or something. in the suburbs the situation if very different,
you can play almost anywhere and no one cares, but it gets hard for
everyone to show up because of the transportation and shit like that.
How
would you describe the hc scene of BsAs now?
overproductive.
above the crisis and the cromagnon thing, hardcore kids and bands
stayed on top of things and made their way. CDs are pressed all the
time, shows in the suburbs are becoming more and more crowded. looks
like we are heading the right way...
Have
you ever thought about living in another place? What do you like and
hate about BsAs?
i
often daydream
about living in the polinesian, by the sea, having dreadlocks, blond by
the sun, and just rent surfboards to tourists for a living. having a
wife and kids, eating cocunuts, bananas and rice everyday. i would love
that. but not now. im so into urban lifestyle right now, when we go to
the beach with guys i enjoy the first couple of days and then i want to
come back to the city. i wish i wasnt like that. but other than buenos
aires, i cant think of me living in another city.
Okay,
so what are the future plans for the band?
we
are writting
the new record, and that´s our main focus right now. once we
start recording we´ll start planning the release and touring
and
stuff. and this week our label, www.varsityhardcore.com is releasing a
CD called "YOUTH CREW 1999" which features our first 17 tracks (the
first ep and the songs from the split with GOOD INTENTIONS).
Any
final words or comments?
thanx
a lot for
the interview, hope we meet someday, we´d love to have you in
buenos aires and we´d also love to be there in germany
playing to
all the hardcore kids there.