CÓLERA - EUROPEAN TOUR '87
Interview from Yeah skatboarding magazine, 1987. Notes in italics by Pedro Carvalho.
Cólera - We were anxious about what we were going to find. Specially with the cold, because the news were saying that the temperature was about -25°C and in Brazil it was about +30°C. We were also worried about the shows. We left the country without any information. We didn’t know what we were going to find.
Yeah - How did this idea come up?
C- 3 years ago. We started to discuss touring with our correspondents, but nothing very concrete. One of the main problems was the money for the tickets and finding an infrastructure that could organize the tour. We had to struggle in order to raise this money.
Y- Who participated on the tour?
C- Pierre (26), Redson (25) and Val (22). (the band)
Y- What was the first shock when you arrived in Europe?
C- The cold.
Y- And the second?
C- The first show... it was really different than what we're used to in Brazil. We played here for 7 years for a totally different audience than the one we found in Europe. It was a super active audience, really excited, the guys would dive from the speakers, from the stage... there's no barrier between the band and the audience. If one jumps, the others hold him, it's like it's on fire.
Y-Does anyone of you speak English?
C-Me (Redson). The other 2 took a 6 months course on basic conversation.
Y-What about the non-English speaking countries?
C-There was a guy traveling with us that spoke French, a bit of Spanish, German, Dutch and a little Italian.
Y- What was it like to play for an audience that doesn't speak your language?
C- It was really cool for us. We even sang the chorus of "Pela Paz em Todo o Mundo" in French, German and English.
Y-Were everybody at the shows punk/hardcore people?
C-It was a very varied audience, but mostly hardcore.
Y-Do you think the social problems in Brazil are the same as over there?
C-No, Brazil's social problem is the economy, the lack of money. Here we don't have any unemployment insurance (welfare), there are no incentives for people who work with arts and culture; in Europe there's a lot of support for arts and culture. And especially they have "the dole". Even if you don't work, you can survive without having to rob people.
Y-Do you think this is reflected on the (European) band's lyrics?
C-Yes. Especially on the atomic war thing.
Y-Which bands did you like the most and have supported you during the tour?
C-Neagazione from Italy, Inferno from Germany, Aflict from Holand and a ton of others.
Y-What songs did you play the most, the main ones?
C-The people would ask for the old ones, like "Subúrbio Geral" and also "Pela Paz...".
Y-Do the labels there work in the same manner as Ataque Frontal does in Brazil?
C-Yes, it's all about independent labels there. Here in Brazil, for instance, major labels only values foreign artists. They never send anyone from Brazil abroad.
Y-What foods did you eat over there?
C-We ate a lot of different stuff. Pasta, which was what we would make at home. It was easier. I would go to the supermarket and get a pack of spaghetti, a can of sauce and that was it. We ate a lot of ham sandwiches... and French fries. Nothing special. It's not like in Brazil where you always have a lot of rice, beans, beef and eggs. There, the food is just that.
Y-Here in Brazil everybody drinks, it's permitted at gigs. What about there?
C-Here you have a huge variety of drinks. Cinzano, pinga (Brazil's national sugarcane liquor), vodka, cognac, campari... while in Belgium, for instance, they have 630 brands of beer, so there aren't many kinds of drinks, only beer.
Y-What about the drugs thing in Europe?
C-In Holland, drugs are legal, you can even ask a cop to light your joint.
Y-And what was the audience like in a country where drugs are legal?
C-Legal or not, people will use them anyway. In Holland you can smoke hash in the streets. There are a lot more heavy drugs in Holland than elswere because hashish is legal. In Belgium there aren't so many people doing heroin. Most of the audience in Europe is more aware about drugs. They either don't do drugs at all, or they know why they're doing it.
Y-In Brazil there's a lot of people laying down on the streets, on the floor, because they drink too much. Did you see a lot of that there also?
C-We didn't see more than 10 people like this in 5 months.
Y-Do you think that the bands that played with you there had more support?
C-There it's easier for them to buy better equipment, to get cheaper studios... Here we have a really high importation tax. Brazilian instruments are good, but not as good as imported ones. Music schools here are really expensive, while it's free there, you study music in school. There are all those developed country factors. Brazil is a really weak country in terms of culture and education.
Y-What has changed in Colera's life after this tour?
C-Now we're out of money, because we spent too much with the tickets. It sucks to spend 5 months playing all the time, every weekend, and then come back and not have any shows.
Y-Do you think that other bands that play the same style as you will want to do the same thing?
C-I think it encourages them. There's a wall there that nobody crosses, and we jumped over it, and now everybody wants to jump over it, because we did and came back.
Y-Who supported you the most before you went?
C-Kid Vinil, Antonio Bivar, Fernando Naporano (Brazilian music journalists and producers), Ataque Frontal and ourselves, who struggled for it. The guys in Disorder gave us a great support and organized 2 gigs.
Y-What about girls?
C-There, if they (the ones in the alternative circuit) want to go out with you, it doesn't matter if you have money or not. Many girls here will only go out with you if you have cash, a car, a motorcicle, an apartment or a house on the beach... because they're interested in that.
Y-Do you have any messages?
Pierre- Demand more, especially culture-wise, because that's one of the main problems in the country. We lack space, even for bigger bands, not only Colera and bands like us. Since I arrived here I haven't seen any shows by bigger bands.
Redson-Skate, 'cause it rules! Buy our new record, 'cause is great. Go to our shows, 'cause they're very pogoable and read, because it's good for you. A lot of strength and health for everyone who reads Yeah! magazine.
Val-I'd like to say, especially for the people in the alternative scene, that they should have more conscience. I'd like everyone to go to the band's shows (not only punks). To this youth that's rising now with a lot strength, I hope they always create new things: fanzines, magazines, make tapes and give them to your friends, but work for the music, do something for our music.
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