PE: Who is Abuso Sonoro and what is your purpose as a band??
Angelo - Well, we're: Elaine(vocals), Arilson(guitar/vocals), Juquinha(drums), Rui(guitar) and Angelo(bass) and this our newest lineup and with that we have no stuff recorded. Since 1993 we have had a lot of changes, before I played guitar and Arilson the bass, but we resolved to change it, many drummers also passed by the band and recently our vocalist (the only original member) left us. Our purpose musically is do a kind of hard-core that we like, meet people, do friendship,... Politically speaking we're an anarchist band, our songs are points of view related to our political convictions, we want to show what we fell through our songs, we don't try to deroutinate people, the interest should start by them, we believe that the revolution starts by yourself. Of course some bands can change others behavior, it can happen when someone listens to our songs, but this isn't our intention.
Elaine - Our music, our way of thinking and acting always
make present practically since the start. What we try to pass through our
music are words of our reflections, all we live and practice is exposed
in our lyrics, many things can be far out from us (Chiapas; Hiroshima &
Nagazaki; East Timor; Sem Terra; Mumia Abu-Jamal; Black Panthers...) but
it is always present in our lives, our day-by-day. We're an internationalist
band!!!
PE: What sort of activities are you involved in outside of playing HC/ Punk music?
Angelo - 3 of us participate on anarchist groups called U.L.B.S.(/Uniåo Libertaria da Baixada Santista/Libratory Union of Baixada Santista), which is a local group that has 5 years, we develop activities, always on anarchism, put out spoken words/open talks, theatre performances, demonstrations, etc. For two years we're releasing also another project called "100% Contracultura/100% Counterculture", where we work out with lots of topics on the whole contraculture, and in this year we plan to do the 3rd one, cos it search to get people inside and outside the scene.
Besides the U.L.B.S., we have the A.C.R. project, which is an anti-racist group, developing lots of activities, it has 5 chapters around the country, and each chapter develops a campaign, it can be national or international. We work for the Mumia Abu-Jamal case along with the Såo Paulo's chapter, we tried many times to give a 4000 petition list to the American consulate in Såo Paulo, but they refused it. This consulate already has many racists attitudes, denying passport document for black people and classifying people for their look and refusing these documents.
Elaine also participates an a anarcho-feminist info circle, formed recently with the intention to make a bond between all the anarcho-feminist inside an outside the scene. Promote talkings/spoken words, public demonstrations and intensify the anarchist propaganda.
Ruy doesn't live in our area (he lives in Såo Paulo), so he participate on the scene and A.C.R. there.
I participate on a libertary net in Baixada Santista, which
is a project getting all the anarchists in the whole area and that aren't
involved directly to U.L.B.S. or A.C.R., with this we plan try to work in
a federative way and in the future it can turn on a federation, and actually
we're developing a course about anarchism during 3 months, to attract more
people into politics and to the anarchist ideal, and hope to the future
more people to fight along with us. Besides that, I run a label called
Elephant Records, which already release 10 records (among Lps and 7"
eps) with their 05 years of existence and I'm doing zine too and Elaine
runs a tape label/distro called Inner Liberation.
PE: What is the Anarchist movements influence on the political climate in Brasil??
The anarchist influence here is still too small inside the Brasilian political scenery, for each election anarchist groups start their campaigns for the null vote (vote is obligatory here!) and for vote abstention. The anarchism here was buried by dictatorship during many years, and now starts to rebirth, there are many anarchist with more than 60 years old that still fight for their ideas and frequently make chats, we always counting with their support for our activities cos they have so much to teach us. The great time for anarchism in Brazil was between 1910 and 1930, many social changes happened by anarchist blackouts, for that old journals which showed the revolution and human conditions, that sympathize directly with the anarchist cause.
Today we restart to get this space, there are many anarchist between the Sem-Terras (movement which strive for agrarian reform here), which is one of the most upcoming social movements, they get so much support from the zapatistas but they don't have a definite ideology, they just call themselves leftists, but they're not a political party, which helps a lot in approximate to try to work along with the anarchists.
Now there was also created Zapatista Supporter Committee, which participates priests, Marxists, anarchists, punks, straight edgers, common people and this movement has grown up too much by the anarchist involved that don't let it be manipulated by left parties that make part of this too.
PE: How have you seen Brasil change since the end of the most recent military dictatorship? ( was this in '92?)
The Things don't change too much, since the end of the dictatorship, we live in a fake democracy that breath airs of dictatorship, the people is obligated to vote, to get in the army and things like that, in a democracy it couldn't happen, but the government has fear to give more "liberty" for the people, because they know that few would vote or join the army, then refuse it obligating the others.
The dictatorship ended in 1986, but until now we feel the reflections of those times, the policy has the same mentality, still uses the same torture processes from those times, some cops form deathsquads to kill homeless children, prostitutes, homeless, homosexuals, etc...many recent cases were exposed on TV. It shocked the population, but nothing changed...
Unfortunately some part of the population sympathize with the dictatorship, because they believe that this was the best era for Brasil, cos there was few crimes, which isn't true, many ways of communication suffered a strong censorship and on the contrary of publish what was really happen, publish cake recipes in the place of this, many people don't have notion about it, so they believe that things are well. In that time hundreds or thousands of people were killed for being leftist/communists or for just fighting against repression, until now exist the SNI that is something similar to the American FBI, that still control activities so called "subversives", and they're certainly have their eyes turned to the anarchists. What I want to comment here is that the dictatorship received strong support from the US government and mainly from the CIA and without them, they could not have done the military coup d'etat, American militaries were sent to Brasil to teach torture tactics for the military policy, among other things.
PE: What sort of impact do you think anarco-punk music has on the general population of Brasil?
Angelo - Yes, but we don't believe that music simply would come to people and they will want to change their way because of determinated song, especially older people, I think we could reach a small part of youth population, but many would get into it only for the music and not for what it proposes. Because of that we have our political activities, which are not vinculated to the bands, are just our cultural aspect, it's the way we found to express ourselves, we could find other ways like painting, writing, etc... its our way .
Arilson - Here this kind of music is appreciated by a restricted amount of people, alternative radios are rare, it's very expensive to record stuff, we have only a few labels to make records and few places to play, it is very difficult to get sound equipment in good conditions to play, these are some of the reasons why we have such a precary divulgation .
The few that we have to make is supported by a very small scene which survives by cooperation of some people involved in it . It is very strange that the growing of a cultural demonstration which doesn't aim profits and exploitation has such difficult access . But we are working to change this.
PE: Tell
us about the current problems faced by Brasilians with police.
Angelo - The State is the strong arm of the military & civil policy (here we have two different policies acting separately to control the people), most of all cops are corrupt, you can always read about police corruption or about cops involved with assaults and all kinds of crimes. The police run away from the State control, they act like a armed and decontrolled militia. In 1993 Såo Paulo state was over with a penitentiary escape called Carandiru, and in cold blood they killed 111 prisoners (official version), and this is only one of massacres that happened in the last 5 years, which proves that the brazilian police are totally disprepared, there were other massacres, like the murder of 18 Sem Terras (official version) in Eldorado dos Carajas on 1995, where the police shot against the workers who were doing a barricade as a form of protest, they shot in the workers direction killing children, men and women. These are just two cases, but there are hundreds committed by cops during these years.
About skinheads making part of the police, we know about a lot of stories and we have signs related to both partys, and this is the perfect place to hide out cos inside the police it is easier to kill people without punishment.
Arilson - The violence is intense . Slaughters, drug dealing, prejudice and stealing are some crimes committed which involves military police .
Here there are prisons mostly like to be Nazi concentration camps, what they call "educating for social reintegration". When it doesn't costs the own prisioners life, the price is humiliation, living under threat, this kind of feeling is also shared by those who are on the streets, not literally jailed, but living afraid of those who should protect them. Other preoccupying fact is the growing number of patrimonial safety companies, which are built and armed like real militias. How can you believe in a policeman who during the free time steal cars and hides them so that in the next day, during the service, simulate the finding of the car to get the money offered by safety companies. How can you in believe in a policeman who exploits prostitutes, getting high amounts of money to protect them, and when they don't submit to pay, they are violently attacked and not allowed to work .
PE: What impact does good old U.S. imperialism have on the life of an average Brasilian??
The American way of life has a strong influence in the brazilian population, it can be middle or lower class, the American imperialism attacks all of us, because it slave us in their factories, companies, with our cheap salaries, provided by a 3rd world country used to get cents for one day of working. The American imperialism has their tentacles connected to multinationals that came to here to join for laws that have no taxes for big companies, cause they bring more jobs for the country. But the reality is very different, lots of jobs given by short time and many factories automatic themselves with the time and then fire many workers, but although they (the companies) get benefits for 25 years. Besides that the FMI and the World Bank ask us for interest, but the debt was never forgotten.
The American government tries to mold their wishes wanting that we make part of the ALCA, cos it will be easier to control our steps, they worry about how we will lead our economic politics, without their help. The American imperialism forces lots of other countries with their rules. Mexico is an example, imprisoned to NAFTA, it will be the same if we get into ALCA.
Arilson - We can see the influence on the behavior, we can give examples like the values that are not proper and restrict most of population, don't matter what be the developed country.
There is a part of society which consumes all the shitty superfluous culture and ignores their real identity, imposing to society that they try to make believe that is necessary to the formation of so desired status of modern man. We can see this kind of imperialism on a cultural aspect, and specially on the economic aspect. We absolutely don't give a shit to their free trade agreements, which are nothing more that a virtual way of slaving us. We clearly see the interest to dominate us, and by all means they put their dirty fingers where they aren't requested, they say they care about preservation of Amazonia forests and, in reality, it's nothing more than the desire of exploiting our natural resources. One example of that was the SIVAM project (Sistema de Vigilancia da AMazonia - Amazonia Vigilance System), that U.S.A. offered to patronize some time ago .
PE: Brasil seems to be a country generally based on sexism. Has the Anarchist punk community done much to change this over the past few years??
Angelo -Yes, Brazil is an extremely sexist/machoist & homophobic country and this reflects onto the whole population and a part of the scene. Today the anarchopunk scene is less felt, but there are no punks into assume the gay choice, there isn't a queer scene, for example, some people still get chocked with these ideas into that mainly street punks who think they are in the beginning of the 80's. For many people it is hard to move away from some machoist/sexist vicious, but now there are a great evolution, many girls are in the scene now and when I say that it doesn't mean that they only go to the gigs, the girls really make part of the scene, playing in bands, doing zines and meeting to change info,etc... Today there is more respect than some years ago, but unfortunately it doesn't reflect onto society. For most of the people (including women), sex appeal is just a gun to use in the right time, many pop bands use this to sell records; and there are many bands who explore image of semi-nude girls dancing. Other alternative bands that say silly things in their lyrics about women, are extremely machoist, but the population just reproduces that.
Elaine- We can say that sexism is something too much discussed
in the anarchist/punk community, but there are many mistakes related to
this. I can say that this is something very complex for many people, because
this discussion many times is a reflection of what people absorbed from
outside and not from our daily reality. The anti-machoist/sexist fight
is faced by many girls here (except for anarcho feminist/punks) for texts/examples
from American girls reflexions, very far from our reality. We live in a
stagnated, reactionary and oppressor society, so its necessary to unite
and keep in mind directely in what is related to changes.
PE: Well, add what you feel necessary to convey your message / ideas here.
Angelo - I think that the zines are the best we have to pass our ideas, and the internet is something that I appreciate a lot, cos this net is something very anarchic, no leaders and no laws, of course big companies are taking benefits from this too, but there is too much valuable info and it can be well used. Unfortunately the internet doesn't come to all the houses, few people own that, but I believe that the revolution should use all forms to expression, without it corrupting your ideas, do you know what I mean? The mass media can transform the revolution into a cheap fashion, today you see Che Guevara silk screened on t-shirts and been treated like a saint or something like that. 30 years ago the media didn't talk about him; today he was absorbed, and doesn't have a real danger. For that we have to have a big care for pass our ideas, cos we can be for any moment cloned on a shelf in a supermarket. We believe that revolution should be done for all, and not by a revolutionary vanguard, as the communist believe, but for that we had to have our own media, like the end of the century here in Brasil, there were hundreds of workers journals spreading the idea of a social revolution, and it brings people to see the reality. The actual media keeps the population blinded and alienated, for each bad new given is present a trivial thing to compensate the peoples feelings and in the end they don't remember anything that they were complaining about.
PE: Please
give us a discography of all A.S. releases.
Well, in these 05 years we put out a good quantity of stuff, until now were 5 x 7"eps and lots of songs in compilations released in 7", CD, LP formats. Our Eps so far are: Jogo Sujo 7" (Low Life Recs/Brasil), Prisøes 7" (Panx/France), Split 7" w/Detestation (Six Weeks/USA), Revolte-se 7" (Sin Fronteiras/USA) and our new 7" was released Italian label called Bomber Recs and it calls Ja Basta!. Some of them are still out in some distros, but most are not, in the USA I think its possible to find two of our eps. And we have a tape released by Sin Fronteiras, called Tortura, nunca mais!!! (which has all of our stuff, except for the new 7"). Besides the eps as I said before, we participate in a lot of compilations, and most of that material are in the Revolte-se 7". We make that cos we think that with much more people can get this stuff, as many compilations just became restricted to their countries.
Abuso Sonoro will be embarking off on a European tour in the fall. Check em out if you can!!!