Interview: Perninha (Halé)
by Rafael Karasu (rafael@karasukiller.com)
originally published in DOLL (Japan) #244
11/07

Halé
When you talk about crappy hardcore, it's impossible not to think of Halé. Those who don't know the band, but like sincere and fast hardcore, don't know what sincere and fast hardcore is. Formed years ago in Rio de Janeiro the band exhales sincerity through a hardcore extracted from the pores, speed and lyrics talking about the everyday living of the survivors from the civil war which is the everyday living of the Carioca. All that with some added cleverness and good humor, so characteristic of those people.

1-Halé, first explain to our Japanese friends the meaning of this name, and introduce the members that are part of the band.
First, thank you very much for this opportunity! And the ones who read this interview until the end will get some free sake from Rafael, he'll pay!! “Halé” or “ralé” [a derogatory way of referring to poor people] is because 75% of this band lives in favelas and they're all “ralé”, two of them live right by a ditch. But “HALÉ” are the initials of the band members, in the the line-up that was supposed to be, but only lasted for one rehearsal. And the letters from the name come in the following order: vocals, guitar, bass and drums. On vocals, Herbert (currently our guitar player), on the guitar, Anderson (that's me, Perninha, current vocalist), Léo (former bass player and drummer, and currently a producer) and Edu (former drummer). Nowadays, the band has what we call the “original line-up”, because it was the line-up that began the band, and the one that played in all the shows and traveled together: Perninha (vocals), Herbert (guitar), Gustavo (bass), Maurinho (drums) and Chuchu (an extra guitar player and manager). 

2- When was the band formed, and what has made you start a hardcore band?
The band got started in 2002, with the goal of getting in shows for free (laughs). And especially for fun! The band was, and still is the reason to get friends together and drink beer. And we play hardcore because it's what we know how to do. If we were handsome and strong we would play pop music and we would be rich and die of an overdose, but we prefer beer and caipirinha… that's life. 

3- What do you do besides playing in Halé, does everybody in the band have a job? How do you manage working and playing in the band?
Herbert works as a roadie/costume designer for a band, Gustavo works in a factory that makes ink cartridges, Maurinho works in a public hospital in the administrative sector. Chuchu works in an open air market selling biscuits and I work in a real estate agency doing a little bit of everything, running errands, putting up signs, prostituting etc (laughs). It's hard to manage it, but we don't know how to live without playing hardcore, and performing live…  

4- What's the meaning of punk/hardcore in your lives? Do you consider yourselves a punk/hardcore band both musically and in your posture?
It means friendship. It's very good to travel for eight hours and meet real friends even so far from home, that are waiting for you with open arms and ice cold beer. I don't know, we've never stopped to think about this punk/hardcore “posture” definition, we admire and respect the people who do nice things, but I think good deeds have nothing to do with what you play or your sexual position, you don't have to play neither punk nor hardcore to help someone or do something that's worth something. When we promote or participate in a benefit concert, it's not about a punk/hardcore posture; it's about helping people who need our help. When we respect homosexuals or people of any race, it's not about “posture”, it's because that's the way we are. 

5- What are the band's strongest influences?
Dicró, Bezerra da Silva, Black Flag, Bad Brains, Toy Dolls, Toys That Kill, Jelliroll Rockheads, Mr. Catra, Biruleibe o quinteto, Pink Floyd, D.F.C, DEF3, Village People, Earth, Wind and Fire, Calypso, É O Tchan, R.D.P, Cidinho & Doca and all the bands from the current underground scene, be it from Rio de Janeiro, Gifu, São Paulo, Fortaleza. We listen to everything. 

6- Fast and honest hardcore, that's how I would define the band, tell me about the lyrics, what's the message you're trying to convey to the audience?
The lyrics are a good-humored view on many subjects. They are usually written on the bus and come out when something happens, like a police officer asking for a receipt for your underwear and flip-flops, to corruptly extort money from you. They are written when we see another politician running away with money in his underwear, when three people are murdered and the bodies are left in a car, in front of a crèche where kids open the car to see what's inside. We portray our reality, in the way we know how to. Here in Brazil there are many deteriorated hospitals that lack equipment and infrastructure to treat people, and that infrastructure and equipment aren't there because of constant misappropriation of public money. We've written some lyrics that are in our new record, in which we make fun of a utopian idea what would be to open a Brazilian-style steakhouse in a bankrupt hospital and cook delicacies from amputated legs roasted with potatoes etc. 

7- How's the hardcore scene in Rio de Janeiro? Tell us something about the scene down there!
In Rio de Janeiro the scene is growing more and more, and each day beautiful bands are starting, but what we lack are venues for shows and that's why we're always going after new spaces for more shows. Apart from that, here in Rio there are bands that have already toured Europe, with amazing CDs released. I think Rio de Janeiro is well represented (laughs). 

8- Tell us about Halé's releases and what we can expect from “Lixo Extraordinário” [Extraordinary Trash], the new record which will be released in Japan in October.
In 2004 we released a demo-cd called “Músicas Pra Quem Tem a Mãe na Zona” [Songs for People Who Have Their Mothers in Whorehouses] and we've just released “Lixo Extraordinário”. In this new album, you can expect some kind of musical sensuality reached within a few chords which will make you go around running naked and screaming in the streets, from Gifu to Tokyo. 

9- Which would be the best definition for Halé's sonority on this new record?
It's hardcore. Old school hardcore with influences from diverse rhythms. 

10- Does Halé play much around Brazil? Do you think about coming to Japan to play one day?
Boy, we've been playing a lot, yes, but unfortunately only around the Southeast (Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro). But that's because we don't have time and because of everyone's jobs. One of the places where we would really love to play one day is Japan. We love Jaspion and Ultraman, and we hope to be there and get drunk with sake!!!

11- Which Japanese bands do you know? What impresses you the most in Japanese bands?
The legendary Gauze, Razors Edge, Jellyroll Rockheads, Fuck On The Beach, Vivisick... what impresses me the most is the ability Japanese people have of screaming and the speed that they play in! I watched Vivisick here in Rio de Janeiro and I was impressed! Amazing! 

12- You come from a place where the culture is completely different from here, how do you imagine life in Japan?
Things in Japan must be frantic !! To get to a First World status after incidents like the Hiroshima bomb, the Japanese became more agile in their work, and the streets are always crowded with people running up and down. 

13- We know that violence is everywhere in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. What's it like to live in a place where there's much corruption, criminality, unemployment, how's life in Brazil nowadays? What do you see in the future for this country?
Rio de Janeiro is beautiful, but like everywhere else in the world, there are dangerous places which you have to know how to act, so you don't put yourself in a bad situation. I've already lived in Rocinha, the biggest favela in Latin America, and living in a favela can many times be like living in a dictatorship where the local criminal organization tells you which colors you're not allowed to wear, the time you can leave the community and the time you have to come back. Politicians who steal and misappropriate funds are bringing to an end the chance for the country to grow, taking money that was supposed to be used in schools, causing youngsters to give up on their studies to enter the world of drug dealing. 

14- Rio de Janeiro is known as “Cidade Maravilhosa” [the Wonderful City] with a lot of beaches, caipirinha and women in bikinis, which, by the way, makes me miss the country a lot! Tell us about what's good around there.
Every opportunity we have, we are at the beach and we really enjoy this city. Actually, every city is great. You just have to find the right spot in it, and the wrong ones too (laughs). But if you miss the country, just board a plane and spend some days at my house here. 

15- Do you take part in the Rio de Janeiro Carnival? Do you dance the samba along with the beautiful girls?
Once in a while we take part in it, Herbert almost died in a Carnival, and he would be very embarrassed when he arrived in heaven, because people there would realized he was dressed as a woman because of the Carnival. Someone put a gun to his head, but in the end, everything was fine. Only his underwear wasn't really fine, because of the skid marks... but it happens, right?  

16- Tell us about the tourist attractions in your city!
At favelas where there aren't leisure areas, live several Brazilians who have never been to Christ the Redeemer or Sugarloaf (I myself, have never been there) because of the high prices. At favelas, the tourist attraction is a dead body, when someone dies, children gather around the corpse with cotton candy and balloons to have fun guessing “how this guy died”. But you can go see Sugarloaf, Christ the Redeemer, the Lapa Arches among many other places! The beaches of Cabo Frio, Arraial do Cabo, museums etc… 

17- Are there many Japanese tourists there?
Man, during the Panamerican Games I've seen a lot of them, but the place where we see a lot of Japanese is in the pastry shop. In virtually every pastry shop in Rio de Janeiro there is one. It's unbelievable! 

18- Which places would you recommend for people who are going there from Japan, besides a Halé gig?
The fun will depend on how much these people will bring in their pockets. If they don't come with much money they can go and have fun at a baile funk, at the beaches etc. And what do we recommend? We recommend Zé Mendiguinho's bar, which is a bar and junkyard and sells the coldest beer in a favela called Vila Sapê. 

19- Leave a message from Halé to Japanese readers:
Japanese readers, please make a petition so we can go to your country! Only then we'll be able to go (laughs). And thank you for reading. Now ask Rafael for your free sake, because it's your right! Thank you all and see you one day, who knows.

Contacts:
www.myspace.com/hardcorehale
www.fotolog.com/bandahale
www.tramavirtual.com.br/hale