.::: KaRaSu KiLLer ReCoRdS :::.

Interview: Daniel (Presto?)
by Rafael Karasu (rafael@karasukiller.com)
originally published in DOLL (Japan) #249
2008/04

Presto?
Coming from São Paulo, their purpose was always to play fast, raw, and fussy-free hardcore. Their ultra-brutal sound, that comprises several elements from noisy music, has caught the attention of the underground audience. The band is André (bass), Carlinhos (guitar), Carioca (drums) and Daniel (vocals), who answered these questions.

1- Introduce the band to the Japanese readers, who are PRESTO? nowadays?
It's the same line-up since the beginning, except for Carioca, who joined the band in June, giving us a breath of fresh air.

2- Tell us about the band's history, when and how it began?
The band got started in the beginning of 1999, at the time it was more old school hardcore, really fast and aggressive, then it was getting heavier. In 2000 we released our first CD, “a.q.n.p.”, recorded, mixed and mastered at El Rocha Studios by Fernando Sanches and Daniel “Ganjaman”. It was very well received and it's still regarded by people like João Gordo, Thiago DJ and Penélope Nova as one of the best hardcore records of all times. In 2002, after playing many shows and a tour in the South of the country with Ratos de Porão, we recorded “Ódio Puro Concentrado” [Pure Concentrated Hate], now with lower pitch tuning and more aggressive lyrics and music. It was released by Ratos de Porão's drummer Boka, through his label, Pecúlio Discos. Our third album, “Atentado Sonoro” [Sonic Attempt] was recorded in 2004 after a lot of rehearsing and 36 songs, as opposed to the other records, where we went to the studio with 20 compositions. All the instruments were recorded with Ciero, a producer from Da Tribo Studios, responsible for producing bands like Krisiun, Claustrofobia and more. The vocals, mix and mastering were made by Bernando Pacheco, who produced the latest Ratos de Porão, “Homem Inimigo do Homem” [Man Enemy of Man]. “Atentado Sonoro” also has vocals from João Gordo (on the title track) and Marcus D'Ângelo, from Claustrofobia, on the song “Serpentes”, besides a version for Sepultura's “Arise” as a hidden track. In August of 2006 we went to Da Tribo one more time. Ciero and William were in charge of production and this is the best recorded and most mature album the band has made. Mixing grindcore and crossover in a precise way, and showing more elaborate compositions and more intelligent lyrics, the record was released in July 2007, as a split with D.F.C., from Brasília through Pecúlio Discos. In 2007, Marcelo left the drums. Thiago Carioca took his place, who, besides playing in bands like Last Mistake and Chorume, also plays with Daniel and Carlinhos in side project R.H.D. (Raça Humana Destrói) [Human Race Destroys].

3- What made you start the band?
What has driven me the most was watching live bands, one that has affected me a lot and made me seriously think about having a band (seriously just in theory, because in Brazil, playing this kind of music is more for leisure, since there's almost no monetary profit, if there is any) was a concert in April 1997 with DFL (dead fucking last), a band that I really liked then and still like, Ratos de Porão, that was releasing “Carniceria Tropical”, which is for me, one of their best albums, Dog Eat Dog, that I really didn't like much and Catapulta, a shitty band that mixed hardcore and capoeira (laughs). When you like a certain genre, if you really like that deal, you will want to have a band and evolve, nothing is really planned, we play in bands since 1995-1996, always playing something you like, and the way you think is best for you, then it's kind of natural, almost mechanical.

4- What's the meaning of “PRESTO?”?
When I came up with that name, it was more like the verb (in Portuguese, “prestar” means to function well, or to be worth something, as in a person's character), because there's a lot of people who act like they're correct, but they are really scumbags, and hypocrites. When I say correct, I don't mean politically correct, I just mean being fair, keeping your word, not fucking up other people's lives unless it's for revenge, acting correctly, you know? It's like a question, am I worth something, are you? … but later, many other versions came up like “fast” in Italian, the crazy wizard guy from the TV series Dungeons & Dragons and many other things… if people ask us about any shit they think is the reason, we'll confirm (laughs).

5- How was it to tour next to Ratos de Porão?
It was awesome!! It's been a long time already, it was in October 2001, and in “internet years”, where everything is so short-lived, it's been ages already (laughs). Back then we only had our first record, “a.q.n.p.”, I guess “Ódio Puro Concentrado” was already recorded, since May, but it wasn't out yet. Since in 2001 the airplane tickets were too expensive, RxDxPx would charter a bus and take another band with them, I remember that Nitrominds were supposed to go but since they couldn't, we ended up going… we went on this chartered bus, lots of privileges, with Ratos, a band we had been listening since 1991/1992, it was a bit surreal actually (laughs). We got to stay in hip hotels and eat excellent food playing for a larger crowd. In Porto Alegre we played in a venue called Opinião, Ratos hadn't played there for about seven years, so there was like a thousand insane fans. In Curitiba we played in a venue called Moinho São Roque I guess, Olho Seco also played on this day, and there were about three thousand people… we played in Balneário Camboriú as well, we even got to go to the beach with everybody, drinking Martinis (laughs) and we also played in Guaramirim, at the legendary Curupira Rock Bar.

6- Does everybody in the band have a job, or do you live off your music? What's the hardest part of having a band in Brazil?
André and Carioca are graphic designers, me and Carlinhos draw and tattoo. There are many difficulties. A lot of people are part of the “virtual audience”, they don't go to shows… a lot of them don't buy any records, only download songs and the artists that make millions complain about that. I don't really care that much, I know our cd isn't the easiest thing to find, and that it's much easier and cheaper to download it. But it doesn't help, the labels can't invest in the band and all that. People who really like it will buy the cd, or even the vinyl, which is a little fashionable nowadays, I've always liked vinyl, I have many, it's kind of a ritual to listen to it (laughs), there's the bigger artwork, bigger sleeve, some colored vinyl editions etc, it's like a fetish (laughs). But another thing about all this globalization on the internet is that there are many bands, so people download too much stuff and don't even listen to half of it (laughs). I myself do that sometimes (laughs).

7- What do the band members listen to nowadays?
A band I'm really listening to now is DFA (Defy False Authority), the first Bad Religion album, “How Can Hell Be Any Worse?”, and the usual: Cripple Bastards, SOD, Calibre 12, Municipal Waste, Facada, Criptic Slaughter, Disrupt, Claustrofobia, Decapitated etc… Some Bezerra da Silva once in a while is also good, Originais do Samba, João Nogueira, Dicró, Noel Rosa, Carlos Cachaça, only old school stuff… Some rap too, I really like freestyle like Marechal, Emicida, Napoli, De Leve, those guys kick ass. Some oldies too, like Johnny Rivers, Animals, Beatles, a little bit of everything. Carlinhos mostly listens to the same thing I listen to and he's really into Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, Ratos de Porão, Terrorizer… Carioca listens to Meshuggah, Pantera, Hatebreed, Endrah, Madball, Sepultura and Rotten Sound all day long, and André is really into Napalm Death, Ratos de Porão, SOD, Cannibal Corpse…

8- Brazil is a very big country, the band has been to many states and cities, tell me, what's the audience's reaction in each place? Is there a difference?
It's something that really varies. In São Paulo it's always nice playing for friends and everything, but here, most of the times, there's no headbanging in the audience. Actually, that doesn't get me down, but it's always much nicer when the crowd is excited (laughs). But there's always an exception, usually in larger events like Verdurada, or shows at Hangar 110. And outside São Paulo people are more emotional, because it's not so common to have such heavy shows, so they go crazy!

9- For a few years now, we've been seeing a new wave of punk/hardcore bands in Brazil. How do you see this renewal? Which bands do you like?
I think that nowadays, many new bands of all kinds of genres and all over the world are getting started, it really became much easier to record and promote things with the digital resources we have, but you can't just be a virtual band, you have to hit the road and show what you can do live… And as for bands, I would mention Possuído Pelo Cão, which I really like, the band is fairly new, but the members are all old men (laughs), and there's DFA, which I've already mentioned…

10- Your songs are sung in Portuguese, can you explain the content of PRESTO?'s lyrics?
The content is basically violence (laughs). And many other problems, seen when you live in São Paulo, and in Brazil, as whole. Pollution, the government's omission, police brutality, corrupted politicians, the hypocritical society, drugs, drug dealing etc… and they're also about feelings like anger, hate, envy, trust, mistrust and many others…

11- Soon, the split cd DxFxCx/PRESTO? will be distributed in Japan - hardcore from Brasília plus the sound avalanche from São Paulo - how's the response to this release in Brazil? What do you expect from the distribution here in Japan?
The cd has been recently released here (less than a month), but we've been hearing good things. People like it a lot, at the shows they already know some songs and shit… I don't know if our other cds have been available in Japan, but I'm very glad to have our split distributed there, I hope you like it.

12- What do you know about Japan? What do you admire about this country?
Well, here in Brazil, Japanese style tattooing is very popular, I have some tattoos and I also have many friends who like and study this kind of tattoo very much. I also like to go to Liberdade (São Paulo's Japanese district), I studied there in 1997 and I used to go to the bookstores, restaurants, and I watch some Japanese porn (laughs), but none of that scat shit (laughs).

13- What Japanese bands do you know? What impresses you the most about Japanese bands?
Well, there's the legendary SOB, which we've been into for a long time, to me “What's the Truth” is a fucking revolutionary record. The vocalist killed himself, right? That's a shame! Do they still play in Japan? I also really like Yellow Machine Gun, I have their vinyl with SOD, fucking incredible… Fuck On The Beach is also amazing, we listen to Youth Enrage a lot, so yes, there are many cool bands in Japan, but nowadays I'm a little uninformed about new bands here, let alone Japanese ones (laughs).

14- Is there a possibility of the band coming to tour in Japan?
We would really like it, I know that hardcore/crossover is very strong there, I've seen videos of shows there, from SOD, WHN?, and the shows are always crowded, with the fans going crazy. The guys from Mukeka di Rato told us a lot of good things about the country, and Oscar, from Calibre 12 (who went as a drummer for the band) showed us pictures from the trip, so fucking awesome, an unreal place, we really hope to play there someday.

15- Leave a message from PRESTO? to Japanese Doll readers.
Buy our record!!! (laughs). We would really like to go there and play to you all, I hope it happens. Thanks Rafael for the opportunity and cheers!