This interview was done with the drummer Mariano Safe sometime around summer 2006.
First we could have something about the history of the band. What, when where, with whom and why?
-Nueva Etica was started around 1997-78 by a group of good friends. We wanted to play hardcore in the style of Path of Resistance and spread very direct Vegan Straight Edge-message. At that time, Sxe had a really bad reputation in Buenos Aires and we wanted to change those negative conceptions. We have been in the scene for long and have been involved in the bands like Autocontrol, Vieja Escuela and Eternity. After all too many changes our line-up got steady. Now the band consiust of Punga, Beto and Alvarez on vocals, Iisandro and Jave on guitar, Tuku on bass and I, Mariano play drums. We have released one demotape, one cd called “La venganza de los justos” and our latest album “Inguebrantable”. Our latest release contains our feelings about Straight Edge and many other things that we have experienced during all these years.
Was your choice to sing in your native tongue a conscious one?
-To sing in Spanish is a conscious choice for us. We do respect the bands who choose to sing in English, but when it comes to Nueva Etica, we feel that its more natural for us to express ourselves with our native language. We feel it reflects best how we talk day to day and it also expresses more clearly what we say. The intensity of the lyrics is also better because of this. I am also not very good in English and I write all the lyrics, haha.
Is veganism and/or Straight Edge a big thing in your country?
-No. Argentina is well know for its wine- and meat-production and it is very had to be a vegan here. There are not too many alternatives, but you can still act according to conscience and discipline and say no to the use of alcohol and animal products!
It seems there are a lot of Vegan Straight Edge-bands coming form Southern America. Do you think there is any particular reason for that?
-In Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia and other places the people that are interested in hardcore are very active and new things reach them pretty quickly. The spreading of information between the scenes has been really active even before the time of internet. Our bands played also those kinda places where there was no scene and we strived to start activity through those concerts. Today, internet has made many things easier.
How does the hardcore/punk scene look like in Argentina and what kind of role do you think your band plays in that?
-Hardcore punk scene in Argentina is pretty ancient. It has gone though both good and bad times, depending on social climate, I think. Right now the scene is growing and there are many bands.
Our role in the scene is in my opinion to continue with the spirit of our old scene, trying to continue the legacy of bands like Autocontrol and Vieja Escuela. We have been Straight Edge for about 12-13 years and we are the foundation of this scene. Our band is old and we are among the oldest SxE people around here. We and our friends organize shows of our own, festivals and so on.
Some Vegan SxE bands like Point of No Return seem to add politics to their message as well, what is your take as a band to political issues?
-As a band, we don’t have a political view, but because we come from a country that is filled with political conflicts, we want to reflect the social problems that we have, for example in your hometown or in Latin America in general. Imperialism doesn’t give much room for better living conditions or even the basic wellbeing when it comes to third world nations. Corrupted politicians work as slaves for the imperialism, defending the rich while denying education from poor people.
Globalized politics result to a very hard reality and the onlyu weapon we have left is our knowledge of what goes on in our country and the ideas that we can use to effect the reality around us. Our lyrics reflect how we live, so some of that social environment can be found in our songs.
Do you discuss other topics in your lyrics besides veganism and Straight Edge?
-Yes. Like I said earlier, we tell about things that could happen to anybody. That’s why we talk about politics, personal things, friendship and betrayal. These all issues are dealt through our viewpoint and how they relate to our values in Vegan Straight Edge, of course.
What are your influences musically and lyrically?
-Musically HC- and metal-bands, mainly Earth Crisis, Path of Resistance, Cro-Mags and Madball among many others.
I gotta ask this; does your name come from the Earth Crisis song called ”New Ethic”?
-Yes, parly. We chose the name because in our hometown Buenos Aires, people who have chosen the Straight Edge-lifestyle are often labelled as Nazis and we wanted to put back some of that ethic of honour and respect, that these accusations had hurt. That is what we wanted to do by simply representing non-prejudicial Vegan Straight Edge-views. SxE is not fascism!
How does the future for look for Nueva Etica? I know you have got a long tour (over two months) a head of you in Europe, any expectations?
-I don’t know. I hope the tour is going to be as good or better than the last one we did in 2003. We had no expectations for that tour and the reaction was unbelievable, people were very kind and many of my pre-assumptions were proven wrong and that was really positive.
We hope that the future tour goes well. We go to represent our latest record and we are very enthusiastic to play both our new and old songs and we want to make each show a very good party.
Time for the last question; what are the main goals you would like to achieve as a band and what goals have you already reached?
-One of the main goals that we have achieved is to stay friends and so we have did for almost 15 years. As a band we feel that we are slowly starting to achieve some things that used to feel very distant. For example, we would have never dreamt of getting to go to play to Europe so soon and that wish came true. We are very grateful and lucky to have been able to see these things that are happening to us as a band. One big achievement was our last album. We recorded it at the studio of the drummer from the band A.N.I.M.A.L., Martin Carrizo and it was mixed by Tue Madsen. These are all very unbelievable things. European tour is a culmination point of a very arduerous time of work for our band and we are very satisfied, but we are also always waiting for the new opportunities.
This interview was originally done for Chambers Magazine (http://www.lammaszine.fi) and is awailable in finnish on their website.
Nueva Etica @ Myspace.
Order their cd.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti