Hardcore punk bands are nothing new in Uruguay, but not all of them are as vital, fresh and ferocious as Las Llagas. Let's meet them shall we?
Were you influenced by Uruguay punk bands such as Traidores, La Chancha Francisca and the Montevideo band, Motosierra?
Hirum: I haven’t listened to those bands in years. I use to go to la chancha shows when I was younger but I haven’t listened to them in like 20 years. Motosierra on the other hand, although i haven’t listened to it lately, i did go to see them live up until they broke up, and I got into some other bands thanks to them.
Naz: Other bands like Hablan por la espalda, XpurpuraX, Santacruz have influence me a lot more but fun fact I’m the stage manager of Traidores now
I hear everything from Deftones to Slayer in your sound, but who would you say have influenced the most?
Hiram: From those 2 definitely Deftones, in the early 2000 I used to listen to them ALOT, Chino’s screaming vocals were definitely a big influence on the type of screaming I like. When we started jamming and started sounding more like we are, I started to listen to stuff i hadn’t been listening to in a while, but that i can definitely see influencing what we do know, Things like: Saetia, drive like jehu, botch, ekkaia, Neurosis, Isis, fall of efrafa, los crudos… That made me start to get back to listening to heavy stff that i’d layed back on a bit in the last years, And i started listening to newer stuff like habak, lagrimas, tenue, lori, the names of our friends, infantisland, massanera, quiet fear…
How does the Uruguayan hardcore punk scene differ from other countries?
Naz: I’ve been part of the Buenos Aires HC scene for a couple of years as a photographer and “mosher” and the biggest difference is size: Bs As has a huge underground scene so punks, hardcore, straightedge, metalcore, and every other sub genre have their own scene, that`s good in one hand cause you have a lot of peers but you also miss out in cross pollination and new perspectives, thats the greatest asset of montevideo`s underground scene
Are there any punk bands in Uruguay that you feel are underrated or have had a significant impact on your music?
Le Petit Detail Qui Change Tout by hablan por la espalda is an amazing hardcore album, so is setiembreonce’s first demo. halo’s armonía para resistir. and then there were some great shorter lived bands that are a lot harder to find like: animo, tremenda bellota, conciencia…
What do you think is the most important message or theme in your music?
Naz: Our music is pretty introspective and we have no set of ideas nor guidelines for what we do, for this EP I wrote most of the lyrics and i think they reflect the hardtime im having with overpopulation, polution and climate change, but that’s me, we all don’t share the same posture towards life in general
How has the political and social climate in Uruguay shaped your music and lyrics?
Naz: Uruguayan politics are pretty mild so is not a big issue for us, socially i think this city can be a bit to dull so is good for our mental health to have a place for our raw feelings
Hiram: I think Every act is political, and i also belive everything around you shapes what you do. Playing music live is a ceremony and it creates an impact on society, therefore the way you make it and the decisions you make are extremely political. From where you play, to what price you charge, who you play with and how you organize it and how you behave with your peers. In the mid-2000s, there were many outdoor shows to raise awareness about various issues of the time, often accompanied by potlucks. These shows were a reflection of their era and the social inequality inherent in our society. So growing up going to these punk shows, and being introduced to DIY culture, fanzines and hardcore definitely shaped my perspective in how I wish to make music.
What role do you think music plays in the activism and protests in your country?
Hiram: A pretty big one, although something very particular about Uruguay is that during the last dictatorship (1973-1985) rock almost disappeared, and the role of politically charged lyrics and accompanying manifestations fell upon solely on folclore, and what’s known as “música popular uruguaya”. it wasn’t until the return to democracy in the 2nd half of the 80’s that punk rock music started being played in uruguay, so punk and post-punk arrived at pretty much the same time.
How do you feel about the relationship between punk and DIY culture in Uruguay?
It’s very intertwined, Uruguay is a small country, with a small scene, up until some years ago, there weren’t that many bands that could make a living out of being a band, not just in the underground, there were mainstream bands where everyone had their day jobs. So when you’re making non commercial music in a country with a small scene, the only way to get stuff done is by doing it yourself. I believe there’s something in knowing your not going to “make it” that makes you choose to make whatever music it is that you really want to do, striped away from thinking that if you do this or that you may be able to “make it”, and that just lets you not censor yourself, and be truer to the music your making. I feel the uruguayan alternative, or underground, or whatever you want to call it music scene is very unique and creative, there’s some really interesting bands doing stuff that you’ll probably never listen to on the radio
Are you planning to tour outside your country? How do you feel that you’ll be received?
Hiram: We’ll probably go to Argentina this year, and we’re starting to plan a trip to Chile, I don’t know if we’ll be able to do Brazil this year too, but just doing 2 of those 3 would already be great. And I hope people like our show. those countries have huge scenes compared to uruguay so it’d be great playing there!
What’s been the most memorable show that you’ve played so far?
Hiram: We did a 4 band show called pequeños estallidos de kaos, with varakosama, sociedad de la media noche and emoglobina. I think it was the show with the least amount of people, there was 40 people max. and we were playing ground level, the energy that day was amazing
Where would be your dream venue to play anywhere in the world?
Hiram: There’s not 1 specific venue for me, in my case being able to make a tour and play around different venues every week, and going from a small squat, to playing a festival all in the same month would be preatty cool.
Naz: I would love to play at Rote Flora in Hamburg and the Ieper Fest in Belgium
Can you tango?
Hiram: Jaja, no, I went to a couple of classes like 10 years ago so i knew the basics at some point, but it’s really hard!
Why the pink mask?
Hiram: I’ve had it for a couple of years now and i needed an excuse to wear it I guess. At first the idea was for it to be a sort of secret identity thing, but it’s too much work jaja.
What challenges have you faced as a hardcore punk band from Uruguay when trying to make a name for yourselves internationally?
Hiram: Not much, actually, it’s the other way around. None of the interviews we’ve done or mentions the album has gotten so far have been from local press.
How has the album (Cuanto tiempo nos queda para oler los eucaliptos?) been received so far?
The reception’s been really good, better than what i expected actually, because of being such a new band. We’re really happy with how it turned out and we’ve been hearing (or more like reading) a lot of really nice things about it.
The title of the album translates as ‘How much time do we have left to smell the eucalyptus?’ who came up with the title and can you explain why those trees important are in Uruguay? (We have none in the UK).
Hiram: nazareno came up with the lyrics for that song, i-ll let him tell the story as of why, but then one day as i was mixing the song, something clicked and i send a msg to the rest of the band asking them if they liked it as the name for the EP, it just made cense.
Naz: I was riding my bike and went by a couple of Eucaliptus trees, the smell is pretty unique and not too common on Montevideo’s downtown where i live. I felt so grateful for this human experience, being able to enjoy such a treat but at the same time i faced the finitude of this fragile life and made me wonder how much time i have left to enjoy the little things.
How difficult what is to put the songs together or did the process come naturally?
Naz: It came pretty natural, Gonzalo the other guitar player brings a riff or an idea and we run with it till it makes some sense, the order on the EP is chronological
Our favourite track from the album is 800000000, that should translate easily around the world right?
Naz: Hahaha I guess, we wrote it in numbers cause billions is another amount in spanish but i wanted to say the same as Chris Korda did and i the metric works better that way
Can you tell us about the local venues or festivals that have been pivotal in building the hardcore punk scene in Uruguay?
Naz: We can tell you about the ones currently working cause they are really cool, places like Andromeda, Ensayo Abierto, Ducon and some more do not charge the bands nor keep money from the tickets so you can bring new ideas and acts to experiment without thinking if it will work with the sales, thats such a gift!
How does your song writing process work—do you collaborate a lot, or does each member bring something unique to each song?
Naz: Gonzalo brings the first idea (he is a Riff Machine! Hahaha) then we add our points of view and then we jam til it works
What are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about hardcore punk music?
Naz: I cannot speak for others but i guess if you see it from the outside it looks violent and chaotic but as we know often is not the case
What do you want listeners to take away from your music after hearing it?
Naz: not tinnitus that’s for sure hahaha and hopefully a good time to move their head
How has your band evolved musically since your formation, and where do you see yourselves going next?
Naz: We’ve changed a lot cause we’re a pretty new band and we’re figuring out what we want.