NEUROSIS INC.
COLOMBIA
The new recording of Neurosis Inc. "The Trial" is a split CD with the band from Bogotá Ritual. The song "Children of the Grave" from the inmortals Black Sabbath has been included in this album.
The Discipline and the love for metal is what has kept the band through all these years. I think we´ve done a good job and we have earned the support from the public with great effort. I don´t know how much more the band will last but I hope to continue many more years as this becomes a way of life.
When Neurosis was formed in 1987 you played the bass guitar and then ended up as guitarist, now you have returned to the 4 strings. In 1996 you release the best record ever made in Colombia "Verdun 1916". Explain why this change and which instrument do you prefer to play?
When the band was formed I started off playing the bass guitar but after Francisco Nieto left the band in 1993 there was the need to include a new guitarist and from all aspects, the composition is what really concerned me. Because of this, I decided to leave the bass guitar and start playing the guitar, then I started to compose the songs from there on. Now in 2001 I have decided to play bass again because of different reasons. The main reason is that I was fed up of the bass players we had in the band, they didn´t define well the sound of this instrument. You just couldn´t feel it and they didn´t play it along with the drums as it should be played according to my point of view. That´s how metal is made!!! In my opinion, there aren´t many good metal bass players in Colombia. I think I play it well, I´m not interested in being a virtuoso but only in the power and strength and that it should be really synchronized with the drums. I like both instruments but now the band sounds much better.
After the release of your third CD you started a quick Tour through the countries South of Colombia. Where did the band play and with which bands did you play?
It wasn´t a quick Tour!! It lasted almost 2 months which we did by bus back and forth. Here I give you a list of some of the bands with which we played, 47 in total, but here are some names: Criminal (Chile), Ejecución (Argentina), Subvertor and Inside the Ion (Bolivia), Crimson Death (Peru), Mutilated Christ (Ecuador). The dates were as follows:
28/05/99 - Bogotá, Colombia
29/05/99 - Bogotá, Colombia
11/06/99 - Cali, Colombia
12/06/99 - Ipiales, Colombia
19/06/99 - Quito, Ecuador
20/06/99 - Cuenca, Ecuador
24/06/99 - Cuenca, Ecuador
28/06/99 - Arequipa, Perú
01/07/99 - Cuzco, Perú
02/07/99 - Puno, Perú
03/07/99 - La Paz, Bolivia
04/07/99 - Cochabamba, Bolivia
10/07/99 - Santiago, Chile
17/07/99 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Gratifying experiences. The support from the people was absolutely brutal, I sincerely didn´t expect such a fantastic response. With the Tour we got to know at which level we really belong and that Colombian metal is at an excellent level.
¿What differences can you say that there are between the Colombian scene and of those countries that you visited?
Not many. I think that all scenes are very alike. The only thing that I didn´t really like was the great amount of cassette piracy in Peru, they will buy you just one CD and then make a lot of cassette copies from it. With this happening, I can´t see how Peruvian bands are going to improve without the real support from their fans.
What do you think about the shows you´ve done here in Ibagué?
You can feel a real special energy from the people. They really feel metal and the band in their blood, that really motivates you. When we played there back in 1998 the sound wasn´t the best but we did our best and the show finally turned out to be a real good one. In 1999 we did an improvised show with the band Estertor and it was really great, the small shows where you can have a close contact with the people are the most energetic ones and the ones which I like the most!!
Why do people leave your band?
Because when people join the band they think that as Neurosis is a very well known band, things are very easy for us. Reality is very different. We too have to face hard shit. When they realize this, they just leave or they do not respond to the band as they should, they are no longer motivated with rehearsals, etc. they only like the band when the good things come....to play at the shows, sign autographs, when people take them pictures, when they appear in interviews, etc. I always tell them one thing : if you want to laugh then you´d better learn first how to cry. It´s the sacrifice and your own will that will make you pick up the harvest of your own work...from the old musicians of my band only Luis Carlos Osorio (guitar) and Hamilton Castro (drums) are the ones that have understood this.
What have been the good and the bad things from the scene in Bogotá so far of this year 2001?
Good has been the great amount of foreign bands that have visited us so far this year, specially the Dimmu Borgir show which in my opinion is the best I´ve seen up to date. Good has been the support that local bands have been receiving, people buying the records and showing up to the shows. Good that there is going to be a metal day at the "Rock al Parque" Festival. Good the shows we have done with the band this year, I´m happy about that. Good that Universal Music signed La Pestilencia and that Sum records signed Darkness. Bad as always, the people that speak nonsense guided by jealousy towards other people or other bands. Bad is that the bands that leave Colombia think that by leaving they are better then the ones that remain here. To get on a plane and taking off to the USA doesn´t mean they are better and they want to project this to the people. They should face the truth : they just couldn´t be at the level the Colombian scene deserves. Or leave when they have done all what has to be done here.
Have you thought of living in another country that could offer better results as far as music is concerned?
Look, I have had the opportunity to visit around 30 countries in the world. The metal scenes in other countries are not very different to ours, bands too in other countries have to face hard shit!! The bands that are really doing well are the "big" bands that belong to the "big" labels such as Nuclear Blast, Century Media, etc. but apart from that all the rest of the bands are more or less facing the same thing. Furthermore, more people go here to the shows that to some of the shows in Europe or the USA, so what?? Is it that the fact to be living in Colombia is an obstacle to being signed by a foreign label? Masacre has already done it. Neurosis here is just fine and the most important thing is that you feel good with what you do...and that is how I feel, and for the moment I am not leaving Colombia. Many Colombian bands don´t like the scene here but in our case, I feel that the band is backed up by many people in our country, that really follow us, so we prefer to stay.
Is there anyone here capable of supporting the scene, producing and promoting metal bands?
I think so, but as everything it´s all a long process...
Anything else to add to this interview?
Thank you very much Alex for your support and continue supporting the metal scene because it needs people like you. Long life to our local metal scene, stay true to metal or fucking die!!!
"The Return of True Metal" show - Oct.6th/2001
