D-BEAT fukking rules! BESTHÖVEN is undoubtedly one of the best band from Brazil in this genre! It’s really a pity if you don’t know anything about this band. BESTHÖVEN was there in the scene since 1990 and it’s almost 30 years of existence by now! I don’t think I need to write more for this introduction because Fofäo Discrust is here talking further about BESTHÖVEN, answering all of our questions in details. – Interview by Trashnoiser [25.01.2019]
Hello Besthöven. Please introduce the band, the history and line-up? What encouraged you to form Besthöven?
Well, Besthöven was formed in the end of 1990 in a small city called Gama in the center of Brazil… it was formed with 4 members and initially I was doing only voices… with the time and with the followed years I was playing guitars and voices, bass and voices or drums and voices in some line ups in the first 4 years co’z our not concrete line up, so in 1995 I decided to keep the band alone, recording myself all instruments and voices and inviting some temporary line ups to gigs here and there, and I’m working this way since then…
I was a young punk with a cool group of friends in a small but really good and active scene that time… with some old and cool local bands also…
That time I did played guitar for a new band and also I was playing like a support bassplayer for another band… but I was trying to do my own band, so I started to compose the songs and look for friends with similar tastes… I was (and I’m still !!) addicted to old Swedish bands from the 80’s like Crude S.S., Fear of War, Anti-Cimex, Bedrövlerz, The Shitlickers and many others… so I was trying to form a band like them, the same way, the same feelings… since we we’re living in Brazil something really sad and strong co’z we was living under shadows of dictatorship and military torture when we was children… so we had that time and forever the fear of serve army and the fear of a war… and when I started to hear bands from Sweden and seeing their feelings about war it was a big identify for me personally… also bands like Crucifix and Discharge also inspired me a fucking lot to wanna have my own band and do my own music and also express my own feelings and fears about it all… these are the strongest reasons to do a band for me…
How would you describe the music and sound of Besthöven? Where did the huge influences come from?
Some part of this questions I just said in first question… since the influences are not only the music aspects… but also the lyrics… the way they are singing about these sad facts of war… but I can said about the music part that there’s a lot of influences also, specially for Swedish bands like I said in first question and also others bands from 80’s and 90’s as well like; Dischange, Bombraid, Avskum, Asocial, Bombanfall, Crudity, Mob 47, Discard… also Japanese bands like Disclose, Battle of Disarm, Iconoclast, S.D.S., Crow, etc…
Besthöven plays D-beat! but I’m try to be the most original possible I can… sometimes the songs can be more fast or more aggressive… some records can be more slow beat… more melancholic sounds or more chaotic sounds… I record many stuffs always, so I have the total freedom to be working like I want… and sometimes I can be more inspired in one or other way… but at the end is always Besthöven… and I don’t wanna change it in any way…
What sort of issues and messages have been written in most of your lyrics?
Well, the most part of themes are about war, in a general way, about the innocent victims that dying in these wars, about personal feeling sometimes when I sing about a soldier in desperate agony in battlefields… sometimes I’m writing lyrics based in facts I got in war books and war movies-documentaries…
Since I believe that WAR is the worst thing that man creates…
The man is really selfish and sucker… the man will never live in peace, co’z all this greed for power and money…
We have sad examples in historic wars… how it start and for what… every time is the same shit… and of course this shit called “religion” is always behind these fucking wars…
I never suffered anything here when I was a child co’z military and dictatorship government from the past… but we was children we was seeing all that with many peoples in TV news or newspaper… so many unbelieveable things…
So we did grew up with fucked up minds about it all… and with fear to be a victim in future…
And today we have many things to say about it all, so I can say it in my music…
By the way, I have also a small part of lyrics with some more personal themes, about depression or desilusion for example… and of course also a part of themes about Brazilian issues also… we have a big number of kids living in streets without families and with hungry… we have a lot of social problems too… you know…
Which one is the first to take into account in punk; music or lyrics?
For me was music at first! Of course! I was a child and started to hear and love rock music since I was really really young! So after the ‘common’ rock and roll bands we discovered others styles into this like punk, gothic and metal!!
So at first was music!! Really soon the way to dress too…
I can say that Ramones had influenced me a lot when I was child…
There were lot of recordings and stuffs from Besthöven since the beginning. Could you please list us 10 best / essential releases out of the band?
Uou, this is a hard question for me co’z… I’m with Besthöven more than 20 years… so each stuffs have a big importance for me in a way or in some way… I can’t say which one I like more or like less… but I will list some of them ok?
1- “Canção para uma base de míssesis” demo tape 1995 = it was great co’z, it was my first experience recording alone all instruments…
2- “Os mortos insepultos” demo tape 1996 = Another stuff I like a lot, it was a temporary line up with 3 members, and I think the true sound of band was concretizing more and more…
3- “Damn the control” comp. ep 97 = it was my first time in vinyl!! Released in Finland by Otto the drummer of Força Macabra!! I love that ep! And with bands from many different countries of world… after this ep my contacts in overseas did grow up and grow more… it was a big help for the band…
4- “Chaos of destruction vol 2” comp. lp 97 = it was my second time in vinyl, another international raw punk d-beat comp. in a double lp released in Japan by Kawakami-Disclose! I don’t have words to describe how much I love this comp…
5- “Depois de um ataque aereo-ep” 1999 = my first individual ep also… released in Finland also, by Otto again! It is a really simple recording way and many peoples love this ep… this ep made me many happy… in many ways…
Well, each record have their own history and also behind the ep have also their own “making off”… for example the second individual ep “More victims of war” = it was recorded in a studio that never worked with this kind of music… and they do not have drums there… so I get loaned a drum of friend and did carry all instruments and all drum set in small carts of supermarket pushing it all the way till the studio under a fucking hot sun!! hehehe… so is really great after all the “fight” you can got the ep released in other country in your hands and think about it all… you know? and know that people are hearing and enjoy that record! so is really good for me can know this today… every thing was great at the end… including all histories behind…
I have also my “hails” eps… when I got the chance to record my “hail to Japan” ep and my “hail to Sweden” ep also… and can be doing my tribute to the old bands that made part of my own history, part of history of my life too…
Talk something further about some of your recent / latest releases?
Just received my copies of BESTHÖVEN / DISEASE split ep. Also BESTHÖVEN / CHIKARA split cd and tape. Now are out split tape with SÖRDID DOGS. A split lp with ULTIMO GOBIERNO is also to be made soon… Hope to be doing a new full length soon also… I’m working on it now… a new ep and maybe a new lp too…
Kindly please share in brief about your live shows, gigs dan tours? How does Besthöven look like while performing on stage?
Well, I do not play many many gigs… so just few gigs… generally in the end of year for example when it is the birthday of band… or when we receive some bands friends coming to play in my city from others states or others countries…
When there’s some invitations too to play in others cities or states… hope to play more tours in others countries too soon!!
When I play live is generally a temporary line up for it… I sent the set list songs before so a band can be practicing the songs without me and when I arrives we practice together to play the shows!
It’s good in many ways… when I go alone It can be less expensive also, co’z is just one person air tickets for example…
By the way I have a band here also and few gigs I go with the full band… it depends, when and where and how the invitation comes…
What would be your next stuffs and future plans?
Well, I wanna do a full LP again… my last was in 2011… I’d like to do a full big stuff… a full length… with many new songs… since my last stuffs was only splits with few songs only… I love splits!! but now I need something really “full” you know…
And hope to be playing in overseas soon too!! I’d like a lot to be going back to tour Europe again!!
Asia is always a dream to do…
And many countries from our neighbors I’d like to visit and tour also like Perú, Chile, Colombia… etc…
Someone there can help us with touring, please, get in touch!!
How do you define punk? What is punk in your own mind?
Punk is a life style… is be different than the “commom people” is live in a different way… is create a different way of life… is not be conform with all this bullshit and greed that rules the world… is not be selfish like the most of human race is…
is think to yourself! is be original! is be strong!
is live the underground and d.i.y. ways in the deepest breathe…
is organize a gig to friend bands… is keep our way of life alive…
is be resistance against facism! against racism! against homophobia!
is be thinking about small lifes… animal life, when I do not eat meat in any way…
is be strong against all this bullshit of “commom life”…
is not be a slave of fashion… of money… of religion… like the most part of people are…
Thanks for responding. Final words please.
Thanx a lot Joehan for the space and for the cool questions dude!! Hope you like it!! the same way I enjoyed to be answering it here from Brazil to you in Malaysia!! International friendship in punk scene resist!! And to you that got a time to read it too!! Thank you! Dis and cheers!! (Fofäo Discrust).
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