.::: KaRaSu KiLLer ReCoRdS :::.

Interview: Merda
by Ricardo Tibiu (tibiu@karasukiller.com | www.chiveta.wordpress.com)
12.19.06

Godzilla’s crazy samba
Everybody knows that Merda is a band that never followed any trend, but it was hard to imagine that in “Eu Tenho Pena dos Insetos que me Picam”, [something like: “I feel sorry for the insects that bite me”] their new CD, they’d include samba within their sound. If it was crazy before, with Japanese influences, now the insanity is complete. Now that Karasu Killer released their CD in Japan, Mozine (guitar/vocals), Japa (bass/vocals) and Paulista (drums/vocals) will definitely make Godzilla dance some samba!

What are your expectations with the release of “Insetos” in Japan through Karasu Killer?
Mozine: I’d say high expectations since we were always extremely fanatic about Japanese bands and we have a lot of friends in Japan, some Brazilian, other Japanese, and now we’ll have the opportunity of promoting our band in a better and broader way. And maybe one day play in Japan.
Japa: I don’t even have expectations but I’m happy the CD is coming out there. I would really like to see some Japanese faces while they listen to this record. I don’t think they’ll understand anything!

What would be the best definition for Merda’s sound on this new record?
Mozine: Merda is a very free band within its hardcore purpose. We might add any kind of craziness to our sound, in this case, it was samba, as if it could have been any other style or theme. So let’s say this new CD is hardcore with samba.
Japa: The best definition would be a punk rock record. The final outcome of this record was a surprise, even for us. It was a very crazy record. At first we thought it was weird, but we had to grow used to it. And today I think it’s a fucking cool record.

Merda always has a song adressing hatred towards somebody. You’ve already recorded “Eu Te Odeio 2” [I Hate You 2], “E.M.O. (Eu me odeio)” [E.M.O. (I Hate Myself)], “Eu odeio minha escola” [I Hate My School], “Eu odeio crianças” [I Hate Children] and now on this new one, “Eu odeio animais” [I Hate Animal]. Why so much hate inside your little hearts?
Mozine: That’s all bullshit, you know we’re friendly and loving people and that deep inside our filthy hearts there’s enough caring for every cute being on our beautiful universe.
Japa: Hatred keeps us going. (laughs)

Will the next one be “Eu Odeio Odiar” [“I hate to hate”]?
Mozine: The next one will be “I hate this question”!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Japa: I hate to hate is a good one. We even thought of doing a record with only hate songs. We have loads of things to hate.

How did samba appear in Merda’s music?
Mozine: There’s no reason or explanation for the things we decide to do, sometimes an idea comes out of nowhere and everybody says “yes”. It must have been this way with Merda, I think one day, one of us drunk said “let’s make samba” and everybody said yes. I can say that everybody in Merda likes samba a lot, the original rhythm, which I learned to like from my father for instance. That’s how my childhood was, in my neighborhood and so on.
Japa: Since we knew this CD would come out overseas as well we decided to make some sambas to enter the international market. You know, sell an image, sell an image as a Brazilian band. (laughs)

Where does the idea of a samba in Japanese comes from?
Mozine: Since we are influenced by Japanese hardcore and ideas, we decided to try and mix things, and I think the outcome is pretty awesome! Shigero Sato, an old friend of mine from Japan helped me with the lyrics, I hope we’ve sung it in reasonable Japanese, because we didn’t ask anyone to teach us how to pronounce the words, we just started singing.
Japa: This came out of the disturbed mind of The Boss (Mozine).

What are Merda’s favorite Japanese bands?
Mozine: There are so many, new and old, hardcore and non-hardcore. Honestly, there are way too many bands, so I’m not gonna list my favorites, I’ll only name a few CDs that are on my shelf right now: Vivisick, Fuck On The Beach, Idol Punch, No Think, Razords Edge, The Blue Hearts, Teengenerate, Tomorrow and Romantic Gorilla, among many others.
Japa: I like a lot of stuff from Japan. Guitar Wolf is one of my favorite bands. What's appealing to me about Japanese bands is that they have a very strong personality and identity. You listen to this band and you just know it’s Japanese.

In “Quem quer comprar?” [Who wants to buy?] you announce you’re selling your souls, saying they’re pretty cheap and that you even offer a long-term payment plan, but you don’t tell us the price! So, what is it?
Mozine: I hope my soul is still worth something, because this body is already rotten.
Japa: Everyone has their price… and we’re just like everyone. But there are many ways of doing it. We in Merda prefer to exchange our souls. We’re trading them for sex, drugs and money! Who wants a deal?

Merda sings in Portuguese, English and Japanese, should we expect more languages in the future?
Mozine: That’s possible, something in Hungarian, a friend is teaching me, and we also sing in Spanish. Like I told you, for Merda, everything is possible.
Japa: There’s some bits of Portunhol [a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese] in some songs also. I think those languages are enough, specially because this is all a big sham… we don’t sing in Portuguese, we don’t sing in English, we don’t sing in Japanese, we don’t sing in any fucking language!! At all!!

Mozine, why is it that every band you’re a part of has something from FYP?
Mozine: Maybe because I really like the band!

If Merda was a sick musical/mathematical formula, what would it be?
Mozine: The new record would be: samba + harcore + Brazil + Japan + LSD – boredom + sarcasm = Merda.
Japa: Drugs + the devil + rock x lack of sense = Merda.

Thank you friends! Now, a message to Merda’s admirers, from Brazil, from Japan, from Mars, and from Jupiter!
Mozine: Mukeka di Rato, the other band we play in, is going to Japan. Why not Merda? We’ll see you around someday! Secret tunnel.
Japa: Yeah, there’s enough crazy people in the world to like us!!!