“And just when you thought it was over…” Ahah, yes, the interviews are back in 2010.
One thing some of you may have noticed is that there is a common element in all the interviews I’ve done so far: hardcore. I’ve interviewed people that are, or were, involved with the hardcore reality, mainly cause they are more accessible for me, but also because I tend to find interesting people inside this environment, boys and girls I wanna know better and that I consider to have interesting stuff to say, and that leads me to this posts.
Not diverting from this modus operandi, this time I decided to talk with Gonçalo, the blogger from A Rage that Guides. He’s a new kid on the block when it comes to hardcore, but already trying to do his share for the “scene” with the blog and his other projects.
Why interview someone so younger and so new on this scene? Kids have the right to speak too, after all, I was once as new on the block as him, and probably lacking much more wisdom and initiative.
I leave you with the words and thoughts of Gonçalo, the blogger from A Rage that Guides:
Typical question: how did you get to know hadcore music, and what captivated you in it?
G: Since kid I grew accustomed to alternative musical genres, namely metal and hard rock from the 70’s and 80’s, thanks to my father who’s a big fan of those genres since his youth.
The problem with these genres is that few are the bands that can put content to their music and lyrics about “wizards and dragons” or lost romances, that’s definitely not for me, so around my 14th birthday I started feeling the need for something more. It was also when I started to be more conscious of what was going on around me, like politics, racism and society in general.
That’s when I discovered punk rock, which instrumentally was zero but the message that I got from it was enough for me to understand that there are simply more important things than a good guitar solo.
There’s a thin line from punk to hardcore, so all it took back then was a little research for me to get to know and understand this movement better.
What’s the latest objective you’ve accomplished? (personal, professional, whatever)
G: Right now I’m working with Freebase Records & Bookings (which will soon change it’s name, thank god! Haha), and also, after some time, I finally started working on a new zine with a friend of mine, which will be called “Voice Your Opinion”.
Those are the goals I was trying to reach for some time now, trying to give a little bit of myself to something that has given me so much already.
Best restaurant you ever ate on?
G: I was never much into restaurants because I have great cookers in my family, and even if I go out to eat I always end up not getting the idea that the food was really good or something like that, since I’m used to eat really well back at home!
Your favorite band.
G: This one is impossible for me to answer, I don’t think I have a favorite band right now, but definitely I think I end up spending the majority of my time listening to Cro-Mags, X-Acto, Wu-Tang Clan and Trial.
Why make a blog about hardcore? Did you feel that need in the Portuguese “scene”?
G: Like I said before, I try to help the Portuguese hardcore movement in different ways, no matter how small that help is.
This blog endend up being one of the ideas that occurred to me at the time to promote shows and bands, and I also keep adding some interviews whenever I can, to give it more substance and not become so boring.
Don’t you think that by limiting the theme of your blog you’re also limiting the number of people that read you? Do you have the concern, when you write, of thinking in publics or persons that may find your blog by chance, or that are just now entering the world of hardcore?
G: My blog is totally in Portuguese and I care to translate everything I write, for example, the interviews done to foreign people. My goal is not to obtain international fame but to give something simple and objective to the hardcore music fans in Portugal.
Actually I never thought of the blog as a way to reach out to the kids and help them gain interest in this thing, if that ever happened I’m really happy and I hope they stick around and learn something from it.
Recently you interviewed André on the topic of Straight Edge, an interview which I considered curious, knowing that you don’t share that “ideology” [or so I thought by the time of this interview]. Was it an interview to spread a broader knowledge on the subject to your readers, or was it also a way for you to know more about it?
G: It’s funny you mention it, cause you’re not the first to do it and people end up surprised with my answer.
The theme itself is nothing new to someone who’s in some way involved with the hardcore scene, and, personally, I was also not searching for any kind of learning with that interview, just a different point of view.
What I intended was only to give word to someone who definitely has his ideals well defined and his head in its right place, so he doesn’t “fudge” like many others. I felt the need to make that interview because hardcore and straight edge are directly connected, and even if I was bringing “more of the same” to the internet, I thought it was an interesting reading and would somehow enrich the blog, André knows his deal when it comes to talking.
Other motif for me to go at this subject was for the big respect and appreciation I have for straight edge as an ideology. Some months ago I myself made the decision of cutting with that kind of “malign substances” and live healthier. The “problem” is that I don’t find myself fitted in the straight edge way of life, even if I’m living in so many ways similar to it, because I see that way of life in a “dirty” way.
It’s great to see people trying to get rid of any kind of drugs, alcohol, etc…but if it’s just a temporary thing, why do they feel the need to state themselves as straight edge? I don’t get all the noise around the subject when it ends up being just a brief passage through a sober present.
Like André says in the interview, we live in a world where almost everything revolves around alcohol, drugs, tobacco, etc…and the worst is, that for children, who don’t yet have a clear notion of things, to drink and/or smoke is considered something “cool” and “rebel”, and that’s what worries me the most when I lay my eyes on, for example, some TV shows.
To me the true rebellion lies in opposing all of this and not belonging, in a certain way, to any of these industries (alcohol, tobacco…), that generate so much harm everyday.
It’s Sunday and there’s nothing to do, any original idea?
G: I think there is no better choice than spending time with my girl or simply having fun “checking out” my vinyl’s, CD’s, tapes and zines that I have gathered in my place and that don’t get that much attention during the week.
Name the last really good movie that you saw.
G: I haven’t seen anything “new” in the past few months; I should pay more attention to other movies instead of re-watching what I have seen so many times.
I think the last movie I saw for the first time and liked was This Is England.
Have you ever thought about forming a band? If so, why didn’t it happen?
G: It is also something I intend to start working on, it’s being arranged since last year, but it hasn’t yet started, so it will probably happen this year, I hope!
What drives you in life? (legs or means of transportation not accepted as an answer)
G: Like it’s said, if you don’t live for something you’ll die for nothing.
The more important thing is my family and friends obviously, I think that wanting to be present in their lives (and having them in mine) is what drives me. Everything else, be it things I like, desires and all that “bullshit” comes afterwards.
Feel free to express yourself, last thoughts or whatever:
G: I want to thank you for the opportunity you gave me cause it isn’t regular for 16 year old kids to be given the chance to talk, and unfortunately I understand why more every day.
Congratulations for the work with your blog, all good things and “saudinha” for you.
A RAGE THAT GUIDES BLOG
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