brazos caidos

1.) Tell us a little bit about the hardcore scene up in Jersey. Here in PR it
remains somewhat underground despite tenacious work by both bands and
promoters. Any momentum up North?
We feel the scene in NJ is one of the strongest around. You'd be amazed
how many shows there are on any given weekend. We're a pretty small state,
but we support all styles of music and support them well. The only knock I
would have is that there are too many bands. There tends to be a lot of
competition where as there should be more camaraderie. We've traveled the
whole country and Canada and we're happy to be from NJ.

2.) How did you guys link up with the Puerto Rico metal scene?
On the god of all things.... "MySpace"! Of course! ha ha

3.) I grew up in South Jersey and used to visit venues like the Stone Pony,
Joey Harrisons Surf Club, amongst others to see local acts. Where would you
point visitors from PR to see metal acts?
There really aren't many places metal bands can be heard in NJ. I mean if
you get on those big package tours your set. But for the small bands, I think
you'd have to play the bar scene. Which is ok, but bar people tend to be
more into beer rather than music. That's why we almost never play bars.
There's a cool place called Dingbats here in north jersey.

4.) Tell us a little bit about your latest release. If you could describe it in one
word what would it be? Why?
Awesome! I say that because we teamed up with 25 Ta Life and put out what
we feel are 4 truly awesome songs. We take great pride in our song writing.
Unlike many bands who get on bigger labels and then get pressured to keep
churning out cd after cd, we go for quality over quantity. And shit, if you like
25 Ta Life, your always gonna get your moneys worth out of them!

5.) What musical influences do you guys have to give an idea to the Puerto
Rican hardcore contingent that will see your show here.
I think the 5 of us have a very wide spectrum of influences. But I'm sure you
mean, what do we sound like. Well, we have been compared to the likes of:
Strife, Bane, Comeback Kid, With Honor, Terror, Sick Of It All, Ignite and
countless others. We try not to stay in one style of hardcore. Or really, one
distinct style period. Sometime we scream, sometimes we sing, we have
hardcore riffs, metal riffs, punk riffs and the drums.. all I know is when other
drummers see our guys play, they're always impressed.

6.) Your venues during your visit include Arecibo and San Sebastian.
Speaking of San Sebastian, have you guys seen local hardcore act Machete
and the fire breathing antics of frontman Flavio Diaz?

Nope, but I'm even more excited now!!
7.) What are you guys hoping to take away from your trip?
Experience and a bunch of new friends. We travel a lot and love to meet kids
from around the world. That's basically the best part about what we do.
We're not only able to see different places, but we make a point of hanging
out with as many people as we can. Most of the time it's great.

8.) Do you guys have a message for the Kelly Clarksons of the world
Not really. Even though it's easy to hate people like that, ya gotta figure, the
world is a big place. Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same?

9.) What’s in your Ipod right now?
I don't have one. ha ha, isn't that sad?!? But i did just acquire a bunch of
songs off the net. All sorts of random things: Lot's of punk cover songs,
some David Bowie, Chevelle and Freebird!

10.) Anything unusual or funny happen at a recent show that's worth
mentioning? What can local fans expect from the show?
Nothing really funny lately. we've been working out a new drummer, so we
haven't played too much. We did just play the pyramid in NYC. That place
turns into a real side show in the late hours. But we played early, didn't get to
see many whacko's!
You can always expect an energetic live show. We don't care how many
people are there, we give it our all because we love what we do. So you'll get
that and a bunch of bad jokes :)

11.) Best song from your new release.
Gold. We had another version of it on the latest sampler from Stillborn
records. But we re-did the ending for this cd and made it more dance friendly.
That song is amazing with the response we get. We played a real small place
way up north in Canada and most of the kids knew the words. at the time it
was only on our myspace page. It's so cool when shit like that happens.

12.) Any other hardcore bands worth listening to from Jersey?
The Blackout, Sutter Kane, Captives, Batter Up. All good friends, all great
bands!

13.) Sirius satellite radio and the internet - Good or bad for music? Why?
I'm not a big fan of file sharing. Even though i just did it. But in my defense I
only got a few songs from multi millionaire artists! As for me, if i like a band i
want to support them by buying their cd. We sell more t-shirts and sweatshirts
than anything, but not as many cd's. Kids these days don't really think much
about getting all their music for free and then sharing with all their friends. I
often ask people who buy our merch online if they have the cd's, most say
no. So what does that tell you? They got it for free somewhere. Taking a
song or 2 to check out a band is cool. But if you like them enough to want a t-
shirt, wouldn't you actually want to get the rest of the cd? I guess I'm just old
school in that respect. The big time artist are gonna make their money but
the small guy like us take a real beating on cd sales. and crap, don't you
want to look at the artwork, read the inside? ugh!
14.) Anything you would like to ad or thank?
I just want everyone to come out to the shows and have a good time. No
fights, no macho bs, and no rockstar attitude! Come hang with us!
and thank you for letting me voice some of my opinions. I'm doing this right
before i leave for work, so all that are reading this are lucky because i can be
real long winded if i had more time!

Hablas Espanol?
we're bringing a friend named david who is going to interpret for us.

Any surfers in the band and do you plan to catch any waves while you're
down here?
We're hoping to see and do as much as possible. Keep and eye out for 10
pasty looking dudes, that will be us. ha ha
Thanks again brother!