This band comes from Equador and I think it´s my
first interview with a band from Equador. They
plays a really good punk/hardcore and you must
listen to them. November 2022
Please tell me a little about the history of the
group and the members right now. Age, family,
bands before and on the side
-We started in 1996, we were students at a
public school in Quito, we were 16 years old on
average when we started as a hobby with
instruments made by ourselves, we began to
compose noise with messages against the
government and the situation of that time.
Have it been many lineup changes?
-Yes, we have been playing for 26 years now, it
is difficult to maintain a single line-up, as a
Latin people you have to work a lot sometimes in
various places to survive with your family, time
is a limitation to have a band, especially punk,
where everything is DIY.
Retaque how did that name come up? What does it
mean? You were never afraid that another band
was already called so?
-Retaque is a Colombian slang that means to ask
for money in the streets. Something similar to
begging, we were teenagers who did not have our
own instruments and we borrowed everything to be
able to continue with the band. In Ecuador there
were few punk bands so it was very difficult for
names to be repeated
Is it still important to release physical
things? Or can you feel that you have done a
record if you only release it digitally? Why a
cassette and not a record with Musica de
barrio…how can I get your earlier releases?
-We no longer have the previous versions in
stock, it is difficult to find physical
versions, we don't even have them, we like the
physical versions, we still haven't gotten used
to the digital age, that's why we decided to do
this latest work “Música de Barrio” in a
cassette, the original idea was to do it on
vinyl, but the costs are very high to do it, but
we are still looking for a label to help us with
this project.
You have never been to Sweden and played or? If
you do not have when do you come?
-No, we have never been able to play in Europe,
we want to go we are very eager to do so, but it
must be with our own money, it is difficult due
to time and above all, money, but we are
planning in two or three years to go to Europe.
Which countries have had the pleasure to be
hearing the band live?
-We have shared our music in Mexico (2 tours),
Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia (many times), Peru (2
occasions), Chile and Brazil.
When you do songs, how do you do, are you
jamming together or do someone comes with a
lyric and some with the music or how do you do
your songs?
-They are inspirations of the moment, we usually
work separately on the lyrics, in the rehearsal
we put the music and we polish the theme
It seems like your lyrics are important, is
there anything you will not write a song about?
-They are important to us, they are our
feelings, our way of fighting, our expression.
We write according to the situation and the
reality of our people. We would never write
topics with racist or discriminatory messages
Please tell me a little about the following
lyrics
-Fascismo Nunca Mas(Fascism no more) Me refugio
en el punk(I take refuge in punk) Nos quiren
callar( They want to silence us )
Fascism No More: Against Fascist Ideology and
its Indoctrination of Young People. Fascism
cannot continue to reproduce and even worse with
the people of our scene
I take refuge in punk: A song that was made in
our adolescence. Also the routine of work,
study, family problems, etc. There is always a
way out, there is always a refuge in punk
They want to silence us: What governments do
when someone wants to give their voice of
protest or is dissatisfied with something, they
simply silence or repress them. It is a sad
reality in Latin America
How is it to live in Ecuador nowadays, racists,
politics, covid etc?
-The country's situation is difficult: there is
no work, there are no opportunities. Under the
pretext of COVID, there is a lot of labor
flexibility where the rights of workers are not
respected. Migrating again is the option for
many parents who risk their lives to get to the
USA or Europe to look for work and send money to
their family. Currently Ecuador is no longer the
"island of peace" now organized crime is found
everywhere in the police, in politics, on the
street. Racism is still a problem especially
against the indigenous and Afro-descendant
population, for them it is much more difficult
to access employment, education and health.
Are you calling yourself a punkband,
hardcoreband, metalcoreband or just call you a
rockband? Is it important to mention punk at the
same time you talk about your band? What is your
thoughts about punk when you started and if you
compare with punk today?
-We are a punk band with various influences that
is very difficult to enclose in a single style,
we mix a lot with Oi, Hardcore, ska, etc. We
believe that the important thing is the lyrics
and the feeling that we put into our songs. Punk
has changed a lot. We started in 1996 where it
was a smaller group, but suddenly more united
and more emotional. Now it is more in number but
a little more conviction is missing to go more
for the ideology than just being a musical
movement
Do you have any favorite football team(I support
Arsenal(England) and a Swedish team called GAIS
myself)?
-Everyone has their preference of soccer team,
most of the boys like the sport as such but they
are not fans of a particular team. Personally (Fabri)
I am a fan of the El Nacional sports club that
this year achieved promotion to the first
division, we do not want this rivalry to spread
to the streets or concerts because we are a fan
of a soccer team. We have played for events of
various fans without having any problem and in
our shows there are fans of various teams where
the anti-fascist sentiment is unity regardless
of our colors. We believe in the union of
anti-fascist hooligans. We are also involved in
social projects with people who like and
practice other sports such as Rugby and
Wrestling.
Beer is expensive in Sweden. I have a very big
interest in beer and brew myself? Your favorite
beer style? You don´t have an own Retaque-beer?
Or maybe you are straightedge?
-Beer in Ecuador is very accessible, there are
several brands and qualities. When we turned 20
in 2016 we launched our own brand of craft beer,
it's very good we have: blond, red and black.
Then we also made our own liquors: rum, vodka,
tequila, whiskey, amaretto, it's better to get
drunk with something performed by a local band,
a very entertaining way to help self-management.
Is there any good bands from Ecuador worth
mentioning? And how is punk living on in
Ecuador?
-Descontrolados would become the pioneer band of
national punk, a band that was born at a time
when repression was very high in our country.
Now here everyone lives punk in their own way.
The important thing is to give ourselves time
for everything, to compose, do activities,
manage projects, go out with friends. In the
social and political part there are also those
who continue to be part of the resistance of
direct action in demonstrations, such as in
strikes At the front line of the riots.
What is your strength when you play live?
-We play with a lot of feeling since we express
in our lyrics what we feel, we have been lucky
enough to play in many cities, sometimes on big
stages, other times in garages, terraces, bars,
we don't care about that, we play with the same
desire and energy to that our message reaches a
receptive ear.
Which type of people comes to your concerts?
Which type of people do you miss?
-From all kinds of people, punks, skinheads,
rockers, hooligans, we have people who support
us in everything, we are all friends, we are
united with the anti-racist ideal and they enjoy
our music.
Do you buy a lot of records, or is it only
Spotify and those type of things to listen to
music?
-I have always preferred to do exchanges, when
we had the radio program on FM (People of Oi) we
received by mail, cds of punk or hardcore groups
from many countries and we put them on the air,
it was something surprising to put them on and
that people listen to groups from Indonesia or
Latin American independent bands on FM, we have
some records and cassettes at home.
Are you selling any merch on your gigs, do
people buy it? What sells best?
We have a wide variety of merch: t-shirts,
jumpers, socks, spirits, beers, hats, patches
and people collaborate a lot since we sell
almost at cost price and they are always aware
of what is new that we are going to have
Which is your own favorite song among your own
songs? And which song is the people's choice?
-I like several almost all of them, I really
like the ones from the latest work Música de
Barrio, also the first ones because they remind
me a lot of the beginnings of the band, the song
Lo Mejor also because it talks about friends and
family , I think each song has its magic. The
public really likes Me refugio en el Punk and
from the latest album Música de Barrio is the
song that is receiving the most acceptance
What´s the biggest difference when you play live
nowadays if you compare when you first started
to play in a band? Or is this your first band
maybe?
-Retaque has been my only band, the difference
between the first shows and the ones now, is
that before people went to the events regardless
of the distance, the sound quality, they got
there without having maps on the internet, they
went to enjoy and listen to the new proposals,
now it has to be done in central places with
easy transportation, I think that with the
facility of the internet the essence of the
scene has been lost a bit
Do you care about reviews? Which is the most
peculiar you ever had, with this band or any
other band you have been to?
-I really like reviews, it is a very important
way for your proposal to be known in other
places. We have appeared in several fanzines and
independent magazines in several languages. We
believe that this type of space is important to
reach more people with the message.
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?
-We have shared the stage with well-known bands
such as: Boikot and Non Servium in Bogotá and
with GBH in Manizales in Colombian festivals. I
would like to share the stage with Kaos Urbano
and play at festivals in England, Sweden,
Germany with bands from there.
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music?
-Music is the best medicine to eliminate all the
frustration, all the stress of work and of life
itself, it is the refuge that we all seek. I DO
NOT GET DISCOURAGED, I TAKE REFUGE IN PUNK
What shall a young guy do today to shock their
parents as the way we did when we were young?
They have already seen everything
?
-As parents it is scary because the dangers
continue to increase especially for Latin
American youth, the disappearances, robberies,
new drugs, new dangers have increased and one
thinks about it and tries to protect them much
more.
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews? What do you prefer Telephone
interviews, face to face or as this one via
e-mail?
-I really like answering all kinds of
interviews, it's better in person or by phone
when you can have interaction. I started
answering interviews since when they were done
through normal mail it was very fun to answer by
hand and send the answer by letter. All media
are important as a communication channel.
Future plans for the band?
-Continue promoting our work Música de Barrio,
tour Europe and/or the USA, continue in social
projects and continue writing songs in order to
do splits with bands from other latitudes.
Any Swedish bands you like?
-We have not listened to bands from there, from
now on we will start to do it 28.Wisdom word? I
don't get discouraged I take refuge in punk
Something more to add?
-Thank you very much for this opportunity, a fraternal hug, we hope to see each other soon, share music, it was a nice interview.