Hey Syphilites,
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Have I got a treat for you! The tour-de-force that is ska-core one-man-band Anti-Venöm has released his first full-length titled 'As Soon As there is Justice' on Riot Ska Records and it is free to download. The sound will remind you of genre-pioneers Choking Victim, mixed with great samples, and even some 80s pop-tunes sounding through in the background mix. You need to download this. (Oh and download his EP Annihilation of the Human Raze too while you are at it. Go ahead. You know you want to. Anti-Venöm wants you to have it.)
Syphilis of the brain spoke with Raz, who is Anti-Venöm, via the power of email. This is what he told us:
- Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well, my name is Armando Razo, but since everybody address me by my last name (and change it constantly), let’s say it’s just ‘Raz’. I’m 23 years old and I’m a mid class dude from Mexico city and I’ve been listening to punk rock since I was 11. It changed my life. I’ve played guitar since I was 13 or 14.
I go to college and I’m doing a Sociology degree and I also like nerdy comic books. My favorite bands are: The Clash (on top of everything), Leftöver Crack, Choking Victim, Blink-182, Morning Glory, Birdflesh, The Aquabats!, The Suicide Machines, Nofx, , The Bloodhound Gang, The Police (not sting) No Ca$h, Cyndi Lauper, Devo and many more. I don’t like to get into a specific style or genre, I love 80’s pop music but also I love grindcore and reggae, electronica, ska, but I really enjoy mixing them up, that’s why I love the crack rock stuff
- Where are you from? And can you tell us a little bit about the music scene there?
As I said before, I’m from Mexico City, and to be fair, music scene here doesn’t exist, you can be the best band over here and no one will note you unless you know someone from the television markets.
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Even in this type of music which is more underground and all, there’s no scene, people is everywhere but where the bands are. Crusty kids and hardcore dudes look down on you, punk rockers get drunk and leave, grinders want to beat you up, rude boys are dead, there’s no unity… everyone’s on their own. There are a few exceptions, you can be friends with a couple of bands and get some shows together, but the only ones that attend are your closer friends, unless you’re from another country or ‘famous’.
The scene should not be about pins, patches, spikes, vegan, xxx or whatever. It should be made out of friends and people who likes music for what it is, not for how you look, what you do or where you live
- How Long have you been playing as Anti-Venöm?
Well, the Anti-Venöm idea came up last year, but a lot of songs are from 2005-2006. I’ve been playing solo since 2005. I have another band and projects around, but I guess being a one man band or solo artist it’s been around for about five years now. But the Anti-Venöm project started in 2009
- You are a one-man-band - Do you play live by yourself as well?
Nope, that was a bit of a problem at the beginning of the recordings; since I do everything by myself I was thinking “how am I supposed to play this live?” Audio Tracks and backgrounds cannot compete with real musicians. So I team up a nice band for live shows
- Most of your music is free to download. Why have you decided to make your music freely available?
Well, music is a ‘treasure for humanity’, everywhere you go you can hear music playing even everyone can do music, just make some noise add some rhythm and that’s it. Music should be free, but to be fair artist should be paid because it’s not that easy to record and promote your music.
What I mean is that if you like a band/ artist, you should be able to listen to them every time you want, that doesn’t necessarily mean to buy a record, but I guess if you like an artist you should go to their shows, support them, maybe buy some merch and share their music, it’s not that hard. Plus if you’re in this thing for money you’re fucked up, writing music should be fun or enjoyable not that profitable as big industries make it
- What are your plans for 2011, musically and generally?
Well, I’m gonna start doing various shows here in Mexico city but also touring around the whole country. My big plan is to save some money and then tour in Europe whenever it’s possible. If anyone can book some shows in Europe and let me (us) stay at some place and give us some food that would be awesome, no money, just charity for the band (jaja)
Also I’m writing new songs for a few compilations and a EP, also some splits are in the talk right now. It’s going to be a busy year, but everything’s running awesome!
- Can you give us five names of bands we have not heard enough about and should be listening to?
Man, you gotta stick to the basics, get down and re-listen to every single record The Clash did, even Cut The Crap, everything we do is on those records! (I guess beatles fans say the same stuff, jaja)
Also you should really listen to New Zealand’s ‘Night Gaunts’, they play some mix of Ska/Rap they’re just sick, (plus I did some artwork for them)
All the amazing bands from Riot Ska Records, there’s pretty much everything you need to listen to right now, don’t forget Atrocity Solution, The Infested, and The Mad Conductor!
- And, if you know any, can you tell us about any one-man-bands we should be listening to, but have not heard about?
Well I know a few ones; they’re my mates from all over the world, awesome people and excellent musicians!
-‘No Choice Left’, awesome punk rock from Germany
-‘Army Of Ants’, England’s finest crack/80’s sound
-‘From The Cradle To the Rave’, sick dnb/ska/punk project from
Scotland
I would like to thank Anti-Venöm for speaking to us and so kicking off with the first of many interviews with one-man-bands we have not heard enough about.
Make sure you share this music with others!
If you are a one-man-band and you would like to see yourself featured on this blog email us on: syphilisofthebrain(at)gmail.com
(Even if you have more than one person in your band, I will still consider putting you on here;)
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