RATOS DE PORÃO – INTERVIEW

 

 

Well, Ratos de Porão is a huge old school crossover band from Brazil which needs no long introduction to anyone, since they started their history in the unbelievable year of 1981 playing a furious hardcore punk in the city of São Paulo. From this year on, they grew a lot in the underground, became a known nme in the underground scene with their first releases, gained some metal influences some years later, especially after befriending Sepultura and several other thrash metal bands, toured the whole world and are still kicking asses up to these days, nonstop! Anywway, what is more interesting about them is that, even being a big band, all RDP’s members do not behave like rock stars and, although they travel the whole world making gigs, they still find some time to answer some questions for magazines like ours. So, we had the opportunity to talk to Boka, RDP’s drummer since 1990, about their past, present and future too and now we invite you to know alittle bit more this true legend of the crossover music!


1. Hi, Boka! It’s pretty cool to interview one of the most notable bands from the Brazilian underground scene ever! Is everything ok with you and Ratos de Porão.

BOKA – Yes, man, it’s everything ok here!

2.      How is the routine of gigs to spread your last release, “Século sinistro”? I have got the impression that, even after more than 30 years of uninterrputed activity, the band never stops, always making live shows in Brazil and in Europe too. Am I right or is it just an impression?

BOKA – Yes, for sure, the last two years were very busy for us, but this year is going to be less intense in terms of gigs, although we are going to have some gigs in Brazil, besides Argentina, Portugal, France and Mexico.


3.      Last year, you played in the well reputed Brutal Assault Fest, in Czech Republic and, according to the editor of this mag, Mr. Leszek Wojnicz, you did one of the best gigs of that Day. How was it for you to play in this big festival?

BOKA – Man, we like to play all kinds of gigs. Brutal Assault Fest was an incredible energy and we really gave our best in 40 minutes, it was really great. I like this kind of show, but I also like to play in pubs, smaller rooms and squats.


4.      Besides this gig, you also had some other dates in several European countries, like Italy, Switzerland, Germany and even in Slovenia. How is the reception to RDP in these countries. It seems to me that RDP still has a huge prestige among the European, am I right?

BOKA – Yes, the tours in general are pretty good. As we have always been doing this, the climax of each gig is different in each place and I try not to worry too much, but simply enjoy each night, especially the good things from each one. We still have lots of fans in Europe, what is very good since we do a lot of gigs over there.

5.      By the way, as you have already played in all kinds of festival and even smaller gigs, what do you prefer: playing in bigger events, with more organization, but with a bigger distance between you and the audience, or in the smaller pubs, feeling the public sweat near you?


BOKA – I like both, but when you have a professional equipment, the show gets more brutal, so it’s fucking great!

7.      Your last release is another is another RDP’s typical striking crossover, with no frills, raw, as you have done for so many years. So, when you are going to start a new album, is there any kind of discussion about how it should sound os is it a completely natural process and the songs simply sound like that, without any need to create new according to any genre or concept previsouly thought?

BOKA – Man, the songs are naturally created and reflect mostly what we are listening to at the moment. Obviously, we have a concept around the music we do and it doesn’t change, but each recording sounds different from the previous one.


8.      Well, it took almost 8 years for you to record a new album. Why did this happen?

BOKA – It was a very busy period and it was hard to gather everybody to rehearse or compose, because the band was very active doing gigs and tours and also because of dome personal issues. So, these are the reasons for such a delay.

9.      In the meantime, RDP has released some compilations/live albums and a very interesting and cool documentary – “Guidable – The true history of Ratos de Porão”. So, in your opinion, does this documentary show what the band really is?

BOKA – Yes, I found the doc very good too, but in my opinion there an exaggerated emphasis on the drug theme. Surely, the drugs were always present, but I don’t think it is such an important factor, like something present all the time.

10. Evidently, this drug thing and all the madness involved during these years of history calls the attention, because it is shown in a very realistic way. Do you think the drugs affected the band at that time? And how do you see this issue nowadays?


BOKA – Surely, they affected the band, since the drug abuse resulted in Jabá’s departure from RDP, João Gordo almost died e also we had very bad periods in our daily lives, but we got over and nowadays, each of us have his way of living. Yes, there are still drugs, but now it’s not something that can ruin our lives anymore.

11.  In Brazil, the release of “Século sinistro” was made by Voice Music. And how this album is getting to other Latin and North American countries, as well as to Europe and Asia? Do you have access to and control over the number of sellings or is this made by anyone else out of the band? What is the average selling of a RDP’s album mowadays?

BOKA – Brother, “Século sinistro” was released, as always, by Alternative Tentacles, but this time we didn’t have an European release, so the rest of the world is on their responsibility. It’s very difficult to have control, but in Brazil, for example, the pressing is numbered. I think we probably sell about 8 thousand copies of each record in its first year of release worldwide. However, our albums never stop selling, so it’s pretty difficult to give you an exact number. The ones I myself did by Pecúlio Records – my own label – sold about 5 to 6 thousand each, excluding the sales licensed outside the country.


12.  Do you think that the people buy more the new albums from the band or the old classic albums? By way, I know that there are several reissues of these old records, as the Lp version of “Descanse em paz” by the Italian FOAD. What do you think about this kind of reissue that is becoming each day more common in our scene?

BOKA – Our records must be always available, because fortunately we are a band which never will stop selling the old stuff, we cross generations. I think that, when they are released, the new albums sell more, but our old discography is always selling too. Of course, some sell better than the others, but they are always being sold worlwide.


13.  Personally, I have the impression that the CDs are still being bought by the underground freaks, at least by the older ones. How do you see this issue in the internet age? Was the impact relly huge on the Sales for the bands and small labels?

BOKA – People who buy CDs do that because they like music, this will never change. However, the one who doesn’t care about the physical stuff, like a CD or a Lp, this person will never buy anyway, it is lost case, but there always some fans to buy your stuff.

14.  Coming back to your first years in RDP, could you tell us how do you got in the band in 1990?

BOKA – Well, I got to know that they were looking for a drummer and I already knew Gordo from the gigs and stuff. So, I asked them to hear me playing, made two rehearsals and I was invited to enter the band.


15.  Before playing in RDP, you used to play in the great Psychic Possessor, with which you recorded the classic second album “Nós somos a América do Sul” (1989), released by Cogumelo, right? Does this fact of playing with them have anything to do with your entrance in RDP?

BOKA – Surely, because I didn’t come as an anonymous drummer.

16.  By the way, Psychic Possessor was also a notable band of the Brazilian scene. How was to play with them and why do you think the band got more obscure than other bands that also had releases by Cogumelo in the same period?

BOKA – The guitarist Zé Flávio, who founded the band and called us to play and record the second disc moved from Santos. As the band was his, in terms of being the composer, who did most of the contacts, who founded the band etc., we thought it would be weird to continue with the name, so we stopped. Anyway, it was a wonderful time of discovering the musical instrument, the gigs...we were a very cohesive and passionate about the music. It was a great time!


17.  In 1990, RDP was already a renowned band in the underground, right? So how was it for you to take the drummer position in a band which you probably already dug too? Did you ever think about not facing this challenge?

BOKA – I knew that if I wanted to play with Ratos, I would have to devote my time 100% for them, even because I lived in another town, so things would be difficult to reconcile. It was a challenge, for sure, and a dream that became true, since nesides being fan of the band, I always thought that one day I could live only playing drums, or at least having it as the main activity of my life. I doubted whether I would do it or not, but the heart spoke louder and I simply left the wind blow in its direction.

18.  When you joined the band, the crossover scene was already a little more established, with several heavy names giving credibility to the style or do you think there was still a certain prejudice in joining metal and punk influences?

BOKA – I think that it was already well established, because I myself was an unconditional fan of the genre at the time.


19. I’m asking this because I was reading Dan Lilker’s book (Brutal Truth, Nuclear Assault, SOD etc.) and he said that in the US, the prejudice against crossover was very large, especially for some people thought that hardcore could not be influenced by the metal scene, which was seen as a somehow stupid by some punks. How do you see this issue? Does it make sense to you?

BOKA – Yes, in the 80s there was this kind of prejudice, for sure, both here in Brazil as abroad, but as time went by, I think that the underground scene saw it was much more beneficial than previously thought.


20. RDP was one of the pioneers in this union between punks and metalheads in Brazil, especially in your relationship with Sepultura, right? At that time, did some of you think that the two bands would become so big?

BOKA – At that time, I wasn’t in RDP, but when I started playing in the band, they were already the most well-reputed band in Brazil together with Sepultura.

21.  By the way, despite all the recognition that RDP gained around the world, I have the impression that this did not affect your relationship with people, because you definitely do not act like a rock star. Does RDP members always had this attitude or was there a moment when things looked like they were going out of control?

BOKA – I don’t think so, because even though we are well known and know that there are people who admire us a lot, there was never a crowd or a frenzy around the band, especially because this type of behavior is not consistent with the underground. We have fans who often took pictures, ask for autographs in the gigs, there is something around that, but basically we are an underground band in which public and musicians are always together, they represent the same thing.


22.  At some point, have you received proposals to make the band more commercial? After all, the mainstream is always looking at bands which are successful in the underground, trying to make small and successful bands in disposable and famous products, such as it happened with the death metal scene in the early 90s and the black metal in the following years.

BOKA – Maybe in the Roadrunner years, since they implied or gave some strange ideas, but the bands always had a strong identity.


23.  Well, we all know that many changes have occurred from 1990 so far and some of them are very impressive because of the speed of the information etc., but in terms of the underground scene, how do you see all this? Among all these changes, which ones affected you most, on a personal level and as a member of the RDP?

BOKA – Man, I think that the transformation is in progress, we still do not know where it may stop, but surely the human and social relations have changed, so the underground also changes.


24.  Did internet really kill the underground, as some people say?

BOKA – No, on the contrary, it transformed the scene, but as I am not a nostalgic person, I see the good things that exist today, which we can use in our favor to strengthen the underground, do you understand? The current situation is different from what was once a Day. You can have a romantic view of those who lived the 80’s and part of the 90’s, but everything is out there in front of you, bands, concerts, lps etc. Just enjoy!

25.  Well, finally, I would like to know how things are going for RDP now and what the fans can expect for the future. Do you already have news in terms of repertoire or nothing is planned yet?

BOKA – For now we are in a kind of recess, but we should compose something new this year.

26.  Thank you for the answers and for your willingness to answer all this, Boka! The last words are yours!

BOKA – Thanks for the opportunity! I thank everyone who follow RDP worldwide, we are all in the same boat! See ya!


Interview Cristiano Passos

foto Live Brutal Assault 2015 Leszek Wojnicz-Sianożęcki

 

Poprawiony (wtorek, 26 kwietnia 2016 13:30)