|
Wagner from Mollotov Attack send me some records
and we have done this interview now. They come
from Brazil and that´s a country filled with
good punk and hardcore January-2018
Please tell me a little bit history of the
group?
-Mollotov Attack was born in ABC paulista, an
industrial district, where punk found a perfect
environment to develop, as a voice to the car
industries workers. ABC is the cradle to fight
for worker’s rights in Brazil. The grouphistory
begins in 2005, with Bollaxa, Didi and Madruga,
former guitarist, who left the band in December
2011. I’ve joined the band in 2012 and that’s
the line up till today. Our discography is a
demo cd in 2008, Resistência EP (2012) and the
full length ‘O homem é o que o homem faz’(2017),
besides several tributes and compilations.
Please tell me a little about every member in
the group right now, age, family, work,
interests and something bad about everyone?
Earlier bands? Other bands on the side?
-Bollaxa, the singer and bassist is 33, work as
administrative assistant and practice some
boxing. He is also AxCxBx, a hardcore band,
singer.
Didi, the drummer is 32, he is false teeth
sculptor and paint backdrop for other bands on
the side.
I ran a small auto part store and do some metal
sculptures on my spare time. My earlier band is
‘Irmã Talitha’. I’m a 38 year old.
Something bad about everyone? Well, let’s say we
like beer a lot… Too much to tell you the
truth!!
I can hear much different influences but mostly
hardcore, UK 82 and some metal etc? Favorites
from the past?
-We love some brazilian hardcore bands like
Agrotoxico, Lobotomia and Ratos de Porao. Of
course there’s also some GBH and Discharge and
some NYHC as Madball and Terror. Me and Didi are
also thrash metal fans, so you are right, and
metal comes up sometimes.
Mollotov Attack are you satisfied with the name?
How did it came up? You weren’t afraid that some
other band would be named like this?, Why an
English name when you mostly sing in portugese?
Which is the best bandname you know?
-When I arrived the name was already there, so
I’m not pretty sure about the reason it is not
in Portuguese. Attack is almost the same
word in Portuguese (ataque) and everyone know
what a molotov is anyway, so it gets really easy
to understand. There must be tons of bands with
the same name or very close to it, but we don’t
care. The most important is the idea it
represents.
There are some genius bandnames like Bad
Religion or Misfits. I like ‘No use for a name’
too.
What´s the best thing with playing live?
-Look people in the eyes and realize we believe
in the same things. We are angry for the same
reasons. That energy is amazing. There’s someone
just like yourself over there in the crowd, and
you have the honor to be his/her voice.
And where is best to play? And the worst place?
-We like a lot to travel, so best place for us
is always the next one. We love to be on the
road, and have the chance to know new places and
people. The worst place till now? Brasilia,
maybe. We didn’t have a great time over there,
but who knows what can happen next time, uh?
How is to play this sort of music in Brazil
right now? Which types of bands do you have
concerts together with?
-There’s a small public for heavy music in
Brazil when compared to the most popular
rhythms, so there’s no place in traditional
media, like radio stations or TV for it.
Hardcore and punk are and will always be an
underground culture around here.
We play with punk, hardcore, thrash metal, crust
and grindcorebands mostly.
How would you describe your music in three
words?
-Honest, aggressive and necessary.
What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or
is it a lifestyle?
-We live the punk attitude everyday. Even when
you wear black tie, punk is still inside you.
It’s in the way you think and on what you choose
to stand for.
How do you see on downloading, mp3 and that
stuff?
-It’s good. It allows your music to reach places
and ears that would be impossible through other
means. And we believe the most important thing
is the message, so…
How is it to live in Brazil right now?
Politically? Fascists, we have a lot of problem
with rascism here?
-Brazil is probably one of the most confuse
countries in the world. It’s been ruled by
corrupt politicians since the beginning. The
effects of all this robbery is a population with
no education, no knowledge about their rights,
that accept every absurd men in suits does as
natural and inevitable. And continues to vote
for the same thieves again and again, and
believe everything is gonna magically change.
Even when we talk about racism here, we are
talking about a real mess. We are a deeply mixed
population and some of us believe in racial
supremacy. And they are mixed themselves!! It
seems like a joke, but we have to fight it
everyday. It is not enough not been racist. We
got to be anti racists.
Is there any good bands from Brazil now? Is the
punkscene/hardcorescene big? How is it in your
hometown?
-Yeah, there are some excellent bands releasing
some fantastic albums, like Odiosocial and
Downhatta. We can say there’s a big scene if we
think about the country dimensions. It’s almost
a continent. But it is very small if we talk
about structure and support. Bands spend a lot
of money to keep on going.
What do you know about Sweden?
-Seems like a real good place to live. Free from
violence, with almost no poverty and full
employment. From here it looks like an excellent
example of equality. We can say it’s the exact
opposite what we experience here in Brazil.
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
-I like AntiCimex and Wolfbrigade. Also used to
listen a lot to ‘No fun at all’ and ‘Millencolin’
when I was younger, but don’t really know any of
the new stuff. I’m waiting for the package
you’ve sent me to get involved.
Your lyrics, who does them and what influences
you? Is it easier to do lyrics now or was its
easier to do it when you was younger? You did
Soldier Boy in English??
-Soldier boy was originally in portuguese, with
a small part in spanish, that I used to sing. As
I don’t speak Spanish I decided to try it in
English. And it was like: “Oh, it sounds better.
Lets do it all in English!”
Both, me and Bollaxa do the lyrics, and we are
influenced by the world around us, it’s
injustice and inequality. And we talk a lot
about friendship and moral encouragement too. I
think it become easier to write now, with more
experience, a wider view of the world and a
bigger access to music and information in
general.
Is there any subject that you never will write
anything about??
-Guess we are not the kind of band that make
love songs, but… who knows??
Serious now, we are an antifascist band, so it’s
easy to realize what kind of stuff you’ll never
hear from us. We will never support fascists,
racists, homophobics, sexism or any of their
sick ideas.
Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?
Which is your most political song?
-Music, especially in the third world is a
strong tool to help people get conscious about
their rights, about the importance of politics
in their lives, so it must go hand in hand. We
talk about politics in many lyrics, but there
ain’t no 100% politic lyrics since our first
demo, where you can find songs like ‘Caras
marcadas’ and ‘Classes exploradas’ (something
like ‘Same old faces’ and ‘Exploited class’
respectively).
Best political band/artist?
-I don’t really believe on calling something
best. It’s not a competition. I like Public
Enemy and Rage Against the Machine a lot, not
only for the lyrics, but the attitude.
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can
change anyones life, I mean people who listens
to music?
-Yes, I do. I believe every art form do have
this power. A music, a book, a movie… Any of
them can change someone’s life. It’s changed
mine.
Your cover on your CD looks really nice, is it
important to have a record cover which shows
people which type of music you play? Your
favorite recordcover? Who does your covers? And
do you have any good recordstores in your
hometown?
-Oh yeah, we don’t want no sweet grandma getting
scared for choosing the wrong CD by the cover,
right? We believe the whole work must be
connected. This art was made by a friend, a
brazilian tattoo artist called Eduardo Viriato.
We showed him the title song and it’s lyrics and
he developed the whole idea based on what he
feels about it. And we just loved it. It is just
perfect. The CD name means ‘Men is what men
does’ and the cover shows how you can be both,
victim or aggressor, good or evil. It’s up to
you to decide.
Is it important to get out physical records of
your stuff? Why or why not? Vinyl, CD, cassette,
what do you prefer if you could choose whatever
? Thanks again for the other records you sent
me…
-Oh man, it’s a pleasure to share our friends
records and know they are in good hands like
yours. We all collect records (mostly CDs and
vinyl), so we would be seriously disappointed if
we haven’t done it, even knowing a CD nowadays
is nothing but business card. Although we still
dream to release a 12” vinyl.
Please tell me a funny thing which have happened
during your career and under some gig?
-We have one, but is not that funny. Well, it
was not funny when it happened. We were in
Goiania for a gig that was canceled two days
before our flight. It became a day off, so we
went for a walk, to know the place since it was
our first time there. Here in Brazil we can
drink in public, so liquor stores put tables on
the sidewalk where you sit and drink your beer.
We were doing it when a thief came and took our
cellphones.
We were going to Brasilia that same day to
another 2 gigs and all the producers phone
numbers, addresses and etc were lost…
How does your audience look like? Which people
do you miss on your concerts? Which is the
biggest band you ever have played together with?
-They are not that young, around 30 years old,
and there’s a lot of old punks too. We miss the
younger fellows, cause we believe they are the
future of this country, and it would be
important to have them with us, fighting for a
better society. We’ve played with a lot of bands
we admire, but the biggest ones was probably
Ratos de Porao, Colera, Olho Seco, Riistetyt,
Terveet Kädet, Simbiose…
Please rank your five favorite records, five
favorite concerts and five most important things
in life?
-Records: Suicidal Tendencies - Join the army,
Cabeloduro - Tudo que a gente tem, Charles
Mingus - Blues & roots, Kreator - Outcast and
Black Alien - Babylon by Gus vol 1. But if you
ask me that again tomorrow It may change 100%.
Concerts: Suicidal tendencies, Slayer, Misfits,
Rage against the machine and Rolling Stones.
Things in life: Family, friends, music, be the
best person you can and be honest to yourself.
First, last and most expensive record ever
bought?
-Guess the first record I bought myself was
Metallica’s Master of puppets cd. The last was a
vinyl, Spin Doctors’ Pocket full of kryptonite.
And the most expensive was a Charles Mingus box,
with 5 albums.
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews??
-No, we are not a famous band, so there ain’t so
much interviews. It’s still funny.
If you could choose five bands from the past and
the history and nowadays and both dead and
living bands to have a concert together with
your band. Which five have you been chosen?
-Oh, Jimmy Hendrix experience, for sure. The
Ramones too. Infectious grooves would be nice as
well. I’d love to step the same stage as Mr. Son
House. And Motörhead, of course. Oh hell, I just
let Black Sabbath out…
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music??
-Yes, I’m pretty sure it is. It only depends on
what kind of music you are listening to. I
believe nowadays pop music do just the opposite.
‘Get rich or die trying’? It’s just ridiculous
that someone with that kind of exposure choose
to say this bullshit. That’s an invite to
frustration or even jail.
Which is the most odd question you ever have got
in an interview?
-Probably this one!
Which is the question you want to have but you
never get. Please ask it and answer it?
-I don’t know. I talk a lot. Maybe something
about guitars or gear, that I love.
Future plans for the band?
-We’ll meet this week to make 2018 plans. We are
looking forward to our first international tour.
We might go to Chile this year. And we also want
to go on an European tour 2019.
For yourself?
-I recently got married, so I want to be a good
husband, also want to learn a new language and
study music a little more. I’ve been really lazy
lately.
Wisdomword?
-Guess I don’t have any good one now…
Something to add?
-Would like to thanks a lot to you Peter for the
support. It’s an honor be on Skrutt Magazine
once again. Also apologize for the poor English.
I’d like to invite all your readers to listen to
‘O homem é o que o homem faz’ on Spotify, add
our page on Facebook and keep on supporting
local underground bands. You guys made the scene
strong! Cheers from Brazil!!
|