South American Skaterock
Interview by Brian Brannon
Photos of Fun People provided by Nekro
Ever wonder about Skaterock in South America? Never fear my dear, it's
alive, well and spreading like wildfire. This interview with Nekro the band
Fun People in Argentina should dispel any trepitude you might have that
Skaterock might not be finding its rightful place with our South American
brothers and sisters. Read and learn how the fire burns. For more info,
check out their website at http://funpeople.com.ar
What's the skaterock scene like in Argentina?
What are some of the hot bands and why?
Tell me a little about Ugly Records.
What are some good places to skate?
How is it with cops and society there?
What's the first thing you would you do if you came to the USA?
Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Nowadays there is not a real skaterock scene and something similar is
happening concerning other scenes too, from the 90īs on many things got
very confussing at least for me.I can tell you how everything started here,
some skaters in a beach town called Mar del Plata started a band called
97A, basically they started the whole thing, then MASSCARE PALESTINA a band
from Buenos Aires started agitating a real movement bringing skater
audiencies to their concerts, they played with Thrasher flags on the back
on stage and all their attitude, flyers everything was concerning all the
skate thing. From 90's on there have been many bands which had skaters in
their line ups some of them were MINORIA ACTIVA, DELMAR, BOD, ANHESTESIA,
13 AL DIABLO. Nowadays from all these bands I have mentioned only MINORIA
ACTIVA (whose singer have always been skating and their lyrix touch topics
of this kind) ANHESTESIA is now called FUN PEOPLE and in their present line
up they have three guys who skate. There are very few championships mixed
with live music. Such makes as Vans used to sponsor some of the bands I
have mentioned but then they stopped because the marketing people of this
make in Argentina thought that music was not compatible with skateboarding, isn't
that ridiculous? Talking about skate makes, there are many which make
clothes, but the only ones who really buy the wood and work with it for
manufacturing skateboards are SLAYER, they have been here for more than 10
years investing and losing money but generating movement, building ramps.
They are the best people around here. There are other makes too, such as ONE
LOVE, CRANIUM. SLAYER also make skateboards for bands, they have started
with FUN PEOPLE. There are some skate and surf tv programmes, the one that
has the most audience is called MDQ SURF but sometimes the guys make rather
stupid comments or mix things that have nothing to do with skate or surf
for instance they present things such as bullfighing which are totally
disgusting. The best programme on tv is called GRAVEDAD ZERO.
The best skate band of all times has been MASSACRE PALESTINA, no doubt. Now
they are called MASSACRE and have evolved into a different style. From time
to time they use their old name and they play their old stuff, I haven't
been to any of these shows lately but I suppose they must be great if they
do this old stuff. The singer, Willy, has always skated but for some time
he did not practice and when he tried to come back a couple of years ago he
broke his leg, and I don't know if he still tries to skate. MINORIA ACTIVA
has always played hardcore a la New York City style if you like that thing
it's going to be Ok for you. FUN PEOPLE they, well I'm the singer in the
band and hmm, well I don't know what to say... Are you asking about skate
bands or in general? If it is in general there are a lot of good bands,
LOQUERO, SHE DEVILS, STAR LOSERS, they are a good bunch to mention.
UGLY RECORDS started around 1995, here in Argentina the independent labels
sucked and bands like us, FUN PEOPLE did not have anyone to trust, we had
to do things on our own otherwise we were going to end up being ripped off.
The label started as a self-dependent thing, and then it turned in a good
way out for other bands who rock and have an attitude to music and life in
general. Nowadays we are trying to see if we can get such bands as JFA,
Hard ons from Australia, we want to release compilations to spread their
good music. We have released records with local bands and others like G3
from Peru, LOS CRUDOS from the USA. We organized tours for them around here and
they have all all worked out OK. UGLY RECORDS is not a big company but we
are a couple of crazy guys resisting against local rubbish music.
Well, here the best places are owned by private owners, I mean, people who
skate. Anyway I think that miniramps and ramps have mostly been the places
for skaters here. I used to have a ramp at home and many guys like the
memebers of DELMAR have a ramp at home. There are not public spaces to
skate, there used to be a great skate park in Parque Sarmiento but now it
is closed down. Last weekend I went with a couple of friends to clean and
recycle an old abandoned bowl which is next to a big mall called
Carrefour. I can say that we have almost recovered it. It used to be one of
the first places for skating, we have heard that next year they are going
to put a zoo there. So let's take advantage of it before! We are going to
make a video clip of FUN PEOPLE there, and then we will tell skaters about
the recovered place to go an enjoy till the end of our lives. About street
points, the downtown called "microcentro" is the best point in Buenos
Aires.
It is a big fucking shit. Policemen are a pain in the ass. In USA they eat
McDonalds, here they eat pizza. They always try to fuck you up when you are
trying to have a good moment. They don't like people having fun or doing
something different. They get very worried when they see people who are not
correctly following the majority. Society also act in a similar way, they
are the worst thing that you have to face day by day. I am into music to be
able to face that and I skate to break that reality.
What about other South American countries?
I saw skaters even in Bolivia when we went to play there, I'm talking about
the places where we played. In Uruguay there is a strong movement and a
year ago the municipality of Montevideo (the capital city of Uruguay) built a
bowl and there was an American guy skating there. In Chile there is also
some movement, I don't know about skateparks and all that because I have
always gone there with very little time, just for playing. Here there are
good magazines such as GOSSIP and I always read about things that are going
on in Chile and a short time ago I saw something about Chilean skaters in a
Thrasher. I think that the magazine even published a poster of JUANO WALLAS, one of the best skaters from Argentina. Then there is Brazil which
is the best. Each city, each town has its skatepark and if they haven't
got it yet they are about to build one or the skaters are taking the city
over. It is the best for surfing too. There are very good bands, magazines,
fanzines, they have their own boards, trucks, clothes industry, they have
everything made there. The best magazines in Brazil are TRIBU, 100%
SKATEBOARD, they also have tv programmmes and all the stuff and the people
from there are the best too, they are incredible! Some years ago they used
to have NEGAO (an old barzilian skater) now they have a big amount of pros
ready to take the world!!
I have already toured the States three times and of course I took my
skateboard with me and I wanted to go to the places that I have always seen
in magazines. You know that when you are on tour you haven't got much time
to go around just to play and go for the next city but I could make it to
some of those places. The one that I enjoyed most was the public skate park
in Boise, Idaho. The very same day we had to play, there was a demo of
skaters and bikers against the ban of using the streets. In San Francisco I
had the chance to skate down the streets and it was incredible, I could
also enjoy some little ramps that a guy called Jack had in the back of his
house, he had a store and I could get old Alva boards at very good price as
cheap as one dollar. But I couldn't make it to the places of my dreams, I
don't know how to get there, I hope that for the next time that we are
touring the states you will tell me.
I'd like to contact with people around the world who skate, we can create a
brotherhood of skaters, and I think that this page that you are doing is a
great thing and everybody who wants to get in touch to know the places for
surfing or skating in Buenos Aires or Argentina, they can contact me at my
email: info@funpeople.com.ar. Thanks a lot.