Interview: Repúdio
by Rafael Karasu (rafael@karasukiller.com)
originally published in DOLL (Japan) #261
2009/04

Repúdio!
The motto will always be Hardcore, Honesty and Fun for these Rio de Janeiro youngsters! A slow death to social climbers, whores, corrupted people, crooks and ass-kissers!! Repúdio!! Scream it out!! 

1-Repúdio, how are you guys?
We’re fine, there’s a lot of expectation because of our new album “Pra que entender?”, which is being simultaneously released in Brazil and Japan. We’re also searching for new partnerships to release it in other continents, and we can’t wait to start touring and promote this cd. 

2- Tell us a little bit about the band’s history, when and where it came to life. What was your motivation to start a band?
The band started in 2003 by founding member Zumby (lead singer), who gathered some friends for the project, with the idea of criticizing what is wrong with society and showing possible solutions. The first line-up had Zumby, Ang Lo, Felipe and Chacal, and has changed in time due to musical differences. The first release, called “Fim de Tudo” was more based in traditional punk rock and was recorded with Magno and Xurréia taking over the guitars. This line-up became well-known in the Carioca underground. After some time Xurréia and Chacal left and Dagotta took over the drums, and that became the following line-up: Zumby, Ang Lo, Magno and Dagotta. 

3- The band had many different line-ups, tell us a little bit about that, is it hard to keep the guys active in the band?
It’s very hard to live off of music here in Brazil, so all band members must have a source of fixed income, and that means a formal job. The fact that some of us sometimes couldn’t adapt to working on a formal job and having the routine of playing and rehearsing, and also some musical differences, has made the line-up change. 

3- What does punk/hardcore mean in your lives? Do you consider yourselves a punk/hardcore band both musically and in your posture?
Punk and hardcore are the bases for someone who wants to question things. Maybe because of the “genetic” heritage of this style, I consider it strong, something that can draw people’s attention to a specific subject. We consider ourselves a punk/hardcore band both musically and in our posture, exactly because we question the ancient concepts of these musical sub-genres, of politics and society as a whole. That’s why we add different musical elements to our music, we don’t dress like other punk/hardcore bands do, and there are many other things we do on our everyday life that can be regarded as weird, not only by people who “live” a punk/hardcore live, but also by people who don’t know the underground culture. In sum, sometimes we’re considered weird in any niche... (laughs). 

4- Once you told me the band has been losing ground in the midst of so many cover bands, tell us a little about that.
It really is a shame. I’m in no way opposed to cover songs, but I don’t agree with a musician who establishes his ground by copying others. Here in Rio, for instance, people would rather have an event with cover bands, considering the profit this might generate, because the youth nowadays is not searching for new music, they just listen to what the critics tell them to, in other words, most bands that are successful are probably paying for that success. But we’re resistent, we won’t give up, nor will we be subject to this, just to be fully booked. 

5- Does everybody in the band have a job? How do you handle working and playing?
Dude, it’s really hard, sometimes we have to give up shows and touring due to work, because we don’t live exclusively off of our music. And it gets worse: most events promoted in Rio de Janeiro have cover bands, and every show we can’t make is one less chance for us to perform and put our ideas out there. 

6- How is the hardcore scene in Rio de Janeiro. Is there any support?
Things are really going slow, it has been better. There was a time when we would play every week, from Thursday to Sunday, nonstop, but in the last two years, that hasn’t happened. Now we’re playing more in other states. But as always, there’s a focal point of resistance, guys like Michael Menezes (Parayba Records) and Djames (Ant-Discos) are still around, supporting the underground be it promoting events or discovering new talents. 

7- The songs are sung in Portuguese, can you explain Repúdio’s lyrical content? How is the writing process?
Every lyric is a protest of some kind, in a way that it will raise doubts and questions about the subjects, making people think. In no way do we own the truth or impose our opinion, we just have a dialog with the listeners: Do you think this is right? Do you agree with that? And we never claim that things should be like this or like that. Regarding the writing process, Zumby writes stuff daily and keeps it stored. Magno or I arrive at rehearsal with an idea for a melody and we normally write the song (instrumentally), all together. Then we adapt some of Zumby’s lyrics to it, or still, we talk about a specific subject during rehearsal and we end up writing something based on that, like we did on “Sergipano do Olho Amarelo”. 

8- Tell us about the positive and negative aspects of living in Rio de Janeiro.
Dude, I love Rio de Janeiro. It really is a wonderful city in every way - this is the positive aspect - but we have to put up with some people who don’t have even the least sense of what is ridicule. Some administrators over invoice the constructions, people only look to the “wealthy” side of the city, the police abuse their power ridiculously, education and health are extremely inadequate... Among other things I could tell you about, and it would go on over pages and more pages. But even with all that going on, it is my hometown and I will fight for it! 

9- Reality here is completely different from Brazil, what do you know about Japan? What do you admire about this country?
Well, I know many things. I’m a History student, and I’m fascinated about the history of your country. Specially wars and battles. I also really admire the traditional Japanese music, shamisen, taiko... So many beautiful things! And also, I practice Japanese martial arts. And of course, the Japanese TV shows that have played a major part on our childhood here in Brazil like Jaspion, Changeman, Jiraiya and more. 

10- Which Japanese bands do you know? What impresses you the most about Japanese bands?
Dude, I know a few... Maximun, The Hormone, God Of Shamisen, Nomares, Vivisick, Real Reggae, Guitar Wolf... And there is some more alternative stuff like Pizzicato Five, The 5, 6, 7, 8’s, Kitaro... But what I’ve been listening to right now is Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra... Actually, if anyone wants to send me one of their records, I will be thankful... (laughs). 

11- Leave a message from Repúdio to the Japanese readers.
We plan on some day landing on Japanese ground, but we have no estimated date. We hope you like our new work, because everything we did has come from our hearts, with emotion and honesty, because that’s the way we believe things must be made. “Always challenge what was imposed on you, don’t swallow anything without feeling its taste first!”. The example for all this is Repúdio! 

Contacts:
www.myspace.com/repudiohc
repudiohc@hotmail.com