Renegados (Os Impregnantes #10)

Don’t die while you live! While you’re standing there (doing nothing much), a lot of people are taking action!

This anarcho-punk zine is the work of Armando Tomé from Curitiba (south of Brazil), with support of other punx from the Fazendinha district. “We still have pretty much the same ideals, showing that critical thinking wasn’t a passing fad. Better still: it shows that we haven’t turned into those ridiculous conservatives.” Os Impregnantes could mean something like “we, who’re full of ourselves” (see Armando’s explanation). The following issues are available online:

# 9 (1995): text about atheism, anarchist punx against racism, a presentation of ‘Crude S.S.’, columns about urban violence, squatting & military service.

#10 (’96): interviews with the Brazilian bands ‘Renegados’ (Curitiba) & ‘Mentes Ativas’ (Piracicaba), the story ‘punks del maata’ (“punks from the woods”), Viva la Pinga (“long live pints”) show, etc.

#11 (’96): interviews with Brazilian bands ‘Ação Positiva’, ‘Besthöven’ & ‘Metropolixo’; report on the Maio Negro (“black may”) gig commemorating the general strike that took place in Chicago (110 years before) in the fight for 8 hours of work per day (several anarchists were killed), news from Curitiba, and more.

#12 (’97): presentation of the band ‘Offense’ (Curitiba), report on an a fascist attack and eviction of Czech Squat, info Blitz squat infogroup (Oslo), texts written by the Impregnantes & Libertários cooperative (racist violence in Curitiba, police violence in Salvador).

#13 (’97; in Spanish): scenereport about Curitiba, an article on atheism and presentation of the band ‘L.A.I.’.

#15 (’97): interview with anarchist poet Reinaldo O. Hening, info on the centro social alternativo autogestonado (squat) Casa Encantada (Lisbon, Por), Polenta Frita punk festival VI in Caxias do Sul, talk with the band ‘F.H.C.’ (Fome, Histeria e Corrupçao; Minas Gerais, Bra), meeting with indigenous people in Joinville (Bra), chat with the ananrchopunk band ‘Resistência’ (Uruguay), Austrian scenereport, and more.

#16 (’98): edito on the punk-movement in Fazendinha with info on the Castro Alves cultural centre, reviews (concerts/tapes/zines), homebrew recipe; interviews with (cartoonist) Marião (SCAB Lomhlaba zine), ‘Difekto’ (Curitiba), ‘Sistema Criminal’ (Bilbao, Bizkaia, Euskadi) & ‘Cojoba’ (Porto Rico); Italian scenereport, Payol squat (Curitiba), etc. etc.

Armando played guitar in the anarchist HC/punk band ‘L.A.I.‘ (‘Livre Associação de Ideias’; “free association of ideas”) in the second half of the 90s. He tells me the band is still active (still the same line-up). They promote the ideas of their collective Cooperativa Impregnantes e Libertário. Members participated in other band-projects such as ‘Offense’, ‘The CO2’, ‘Tratores de Luxo’, etc. They also released Cooperativa Impregnantes e Libertário tapes. Armando also has a distro going (Attack Social Records).

Brob

I started doing the zine in 1993. The aim was to disseminate anarchist ideas and the punk ideology, writing about punk activities (shows, demonstrations, protests & meetings). There were interviews with bands from our scene and with people we were in contact with via (snail)mail around the world… The zine is in Portuguese and has always mainly been distributed in the Brazilian punk scene.

The literal meaning of ‘Impregnante’ is a sticky substance that penetrates a body or environment. In our local slang it also has a figurative meaning: an ‘impregnant’ person is someone who is overly insistent, generally uncomfortable, annoying and clingy… Referring to someone with that word is definitely not giving them a compliment.

The zine was started collectively by punks from the Fazendinha neighbourhood, the suburbs of Curitiba. Our initial idea was to disturb, to impregnate the society with our ideas. Using the resources that were available: magazine-clippings, handmade drawings and texts written on a typewriter. After the third or fourth edition I started doing it alone and there were 16 editions between 1993 and 1998. It appeared irregularly; sometimes there were three editions in a year, other times just one… The format and number of pages varied; I kept the last editions to some 20 pages.

At the time, zines were a very efficient way to promote the counterculture, to spread information that is relevant for the punk movement. With the growth of the virtual world and access to the internet, physical fanzines diminished from the 2000s onwards. Now it has gained relevance again. I think the new generation is realizing that the smartphone does everything but is not everything. It’s giving value to physical material, something that for them, digital natives, is new. Currently [spring 2024] I’m doing new editions of the zine in physical format, distributed mainly at local shows but also release them as PDF for wider dissemination. I talk about old and new scenes…

The collective produced many other zines such as: Utopia – a zine created collectively (only one issue), Já Sem Dentes (“already without teeth”) – 1998/2004, a comic zine that I made together with another Brazilian punk who had gone to live in London, Sociedade Auto Destrutiva (“self-destructive society”) – distributed widely in the early 2000s.

Nowadays I dedicate myself to digitally archive my city’s punk history from the 90s on blog impregnantes.com.br [flyers, photos, recordings, video, etc.], for entertainment and research purposes. Most of my zines are available to download. I believe all these are historical documentation, countercultural records that shouldn’t get lost. It’s voluntary work, no intention to make profit, as punk should be. No ads…

In 2020, I participated in the Feria Del Libro Punk [“punk bookfair”], where I gave a talk (in Spanish) about my zine-work in the 90s.

Stay rebel, stay anarchist, stay punk!

Armando

[Translation below; thx to Armando]

‘Renegados’ (“renegades”)

Since when does the band exist and who are the members?

We have been around since February 1995 but rehearsals only began in April. The members are: Moska (“fly”) (vocals), Elvis (guitar) and Fábio (drums).

How do you define the band’s sound?

Punk noise.

Are all the band’s members punks? What projects do you have going?

Yes. Elvis does the zines Berro HC (“HC scream”) and Ação Subversiva (“subversive action”), Moska plays in three other bands: ‘Quebra de Padrões’ (“pattern breaker”), ‘Sobreviventes da Desgraça’ (“survivors of disgrace”) and ‘Nojo Social’ (“social disgust”). He also works on the zines Berro HC and Discórdia (“discord”). Fábio also plays in the bands ‘Nojo Social’ and ‘Sobreviventes da Desgraça’.

Tell us in a few words about how the access to shows, rehearsals, etc. is?

We rehearsed at the house of a mate of ours and at Kaaza squat (play on words: casa means “house”). A space for shows is not avialable.

What is the band’s objective?

To spread and encourage punk culture, resist, annoy and be the thorn in the side of the bourgeois, the clergy, the military and all fascist parasites.

Is ‘Renegados’ influenced by other bands?

We enjoy the music of some activist punk bands but there are no direct influences.

The band is featured on the compilation-album Maldita Repressão (“danm repression”). Can you tell us about that?

It was something unexpected, it was a stimulus to continue with the band-project.

How can people contact you?

P.O. Box 1094 CEP 80.020-970 Curitiba/PR. People who think punk is a joke or a fashion shouldn’t write.

Plans for the future…?

Recording for a compilation-tape with the activist bands from Curitiba: ‘Desajustados’ (“misfits”), ‘Transgressão’ (“transgression”) and ‘Livre Associação de Ideias’ (“free association of ideas”). It will be titled Bêbados, Pobres e Contestadores (“drunks, poor and contestants”). And continue resisting and revolutionizing within the punk culture.

Any messages?

No more ‘77 punks. Fuck fake punks, death to the bourgeoisie and idols. God does not exist! Smash fascism!

Miskatonic University (Wounded Words #1)

This (Roman) HardCore zine was donated by Michele Giorgi. It’s a one-off (1996) edited by his brother ‘Josh’ Giacomo and Mattia Petrolo. The other Giorgi brothers helped out.

The intro states: >>My emotions are what make me human. My emotions are an inseparable part of me. I don’t think labels such as ’emo’ can benefit anyone but the proliferation of the term indicates that many people realize how emotional hardcore can and should be. Music without emotions is like life without feelings. Wounded Words is for this. […]<<

The 30 pages of the zine are filled with interviews with HC bands ‘Outlast’ (Linköping, Swe), ‘Growing Concern’ (Rome), ‘When Mind Reflects’ (Pescara, Ita), ‘Starkweather’ (Philadelphia), ‘Miskatonic University’ (Ravenna, Ita), ‘Ignite’ (Fountain Valley, Cal) & ‘Chemical Posse’ (Filottrano, Ita). There’s also a brief report on the Pescara scene and some reviews.

Brob

Wounded Words was the first attempt of my younger brother (a single issue, mid-90s) when he was ca. 15 years old. Me and my other brother (Jacopo) helped him and it was, If I remember well, his only experience before joining ‘Face The Fact’ [metalcore] as a singer. In the early 2000s he was in the band ‘To Kill’ [straight-edge hardcore].

Jacopo was the one who started Rrroooaaarrr with me in 80s and left us in 2004, ‘Josh’ was the youngest of us; he quit the zine because he started singing and touring kept him busy enough…

Michele Giorgi

‘Miskatonic University’ (from Ravenna) were Emiliano Lanzoni (vocals; Boundless recs – but in 94/95 Alessandro ‘Alle’ Bucci sang), Chris(topher) Angiolini (guitar), Mario Lamargese (bass) & Andrea Musetti (drums). Their music was “NY style mosh HC” (metalcore; some compared them to ‘Helmet’), others described it as “Post-Core à la Rollins”. They released their CD There Will Be Only One in ’95 (They had already 2 7”s and a demo out.).

[Translation below: Barbara ‘PD’]

answers by Christopher

You play around a lot, not just in Italy but also in Europe. Tell us about your live experiences.

Yes, it’s true, we play a lot in Italy and Europe (we’re leaving for a second European tour soon: a month in Poland & Germany). Little by little people got to known us and so things get better from both a professional point of view and audience-wise. However, we still experience huge unevenness [translator: disparities]: going from almost perfect dates to others full of problems. But to travel, meet people, play, exchange ideas remains fundamental for us… That’s why we play.

What do you think of Italian scenes? Is there any you feel particularly attached to?

I hate the word “scene”, I try to never use it, it’s all bullshit!! In Italy, scenes are nothing more than groups of jocks [translator: dudes; young people who like to show off their very trendy attire and attitude] who play at being Americans… “Scene” is a synonym for division and I don’t like that, I prefer to deal with open-minded people!

Since you run Boundless recs and release material of HC, metal and crossover bands: have you noticed the presence of barriers and prejudices between different scenes? And what do you think of this?

Again the “scenes”; yes unfortunately they exist and so do barriers. We do everything we can to break them down but it’s an unfair fight! I understand that there may be different tastes, different ideologies, but I prefer open-mindedness, discussions…spreading independent music and ideas is difficult. Regardless of what you hear or think, one plays the game with divisions [translator: some words missing?]

It’s known that you are influenced by ‘film noir’ [Brob: mostly crime-movies where the main characters live in a threatening/nihilistic world] and horror-movies/literature. What messages do you get from these influences, and what (if any) do you want to convey?

This is an issue that takes long to discuss. Yeah, we’re into pulp [Brob: refers to cheap fiction magazines]; we admit it. That means we read books by people like Ellis, Ellroy, Leavilt, Carver, Goodies. We like comics: Talk Girl, those by Miller and Alan Moore, Akira. We also go to the cinema a lot (Tarantino, The Usual Suspects, John Woo) and we don’t miss any episode of The X-Files or poster of Pamela Anderson…

As you can get: in our world there are things that are very serious and others that are much less so… Perhaps one of the messages is precisely this: knowing how to grasp the irony of things.

Tell us about your experiences regarding releasing records through Boundless recs and how it affects your lives as individuals and as a band.

I’m 50% of Boundless. To me and Emi [Emiliano] (the other 50%) it is a “vital” experience in the sense that it resuires more effort from us than anything else. As you know we take care of everything: production, distribution, promotion and mailorder; all this gives us a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of satisfaction, it allows us to immerse ourselves in an environment we want to be part of.

As a band it influences us in the sense that we’re lucky to have our backs covered and above all we have the certainty of being in control of everything that concerns us.

There are some divisions [translator: conflicts?] within HardCore like sXe, veganism and hardline. In your opinion: is this a positive or a negative thing? And do you think it can have a big impact on the scene?

If you read the previous answers, it’s obvious that for us it’s a negative fact: everyone should be free to experience/live HC and not just as they see fit; without the problem of divisions/ conflicts, small groups, elitist ‘salons’. Something should be said regarding hardline aswell but that’s a long discussion….

Your style has changed from the first album to the next: is that due to the change of singer?

Yes and no at the same time… We were already playing some tracks that one can find on the new CD with the old singer. The evolution was already underway and it has happened progressively. On the other hand, it’s obvious that Emi helped us complete this evolution.

Are there any bands in particular that inspire you?

Everyone is inspired by someone, obviously we are too. I distrust all those who play very heavy music and tell you that they’re influenced by folk and/or bossanova. We like ‘Helmet’, ‘S.O.I.A.’, ‘Die 116’, ‘Korn’, ‘Biohazard’, ‘Unsane’, and many others depending on everyone’s personal tastes… I any case, I think I can say that we have our own well-defined style, precisely because everyone brings their own inspirations.

What do you think of the diatribe between indies and majors, and of the do it yourself intransigence/tenacity many bands have?

Personally, I’m against certain intransigences on the part of D.I.Y., even though I’m a living example of it (I play, I produce my own music, I’m my own agent, I distribute my work(s), etc., etc.). I prefer indies to majors, I think it’s needless to say, but I believe that the important thing is freedom of expression and transparency (a quality that many indies don’t have): therefore I wouldn’t really be making superficial judgments, I’ld rather examine every single case seperately.

Is there any reason in particular why you prefer stagediving to pogoing?

Yes, stagediving is a fun way to take part ay a concert, I prefer it alot when I play myself aswell as when I’m in the audience. I believe that a concert should be experienced as a party during which everyone should be able to have fun: that’s why I’m against the violence of the pogo.

Do you think that ideals such as veganism and sXe are valid ones or that they’ve just become a fashion for some people?

I respect the ideas of both vegans and sXe, even if it’s obvious that some people are more taken up by the fashion of the moment than by the rest. I repeat, however, that I don’t like the intolerance that sometimes (I underline sometimes) these characters display towards those who don’t think like them.

Tell us about your projects as a band and as a label.

As a band we’re going to take part in the compilation Get The Usual Suspects Out with 19 other bands [1996]. We will release a split-mCD in the autumn (we don’t know yet with whom, maybe the Swedish band ‘Shield’). As for playing live: we’re about to go to Poland, Austria and Germany for three weeks, then to France (with ‘Crunch’) and play Italy in the weeks when we are not in Europe. So come and see us if we happen to play in your area… As for the label: we announce that we have welcomed ‘Chemical’ (formerly ‘Chemical Posse’) at our Boundless recs home: the only Italian moshing, hatecore band. Their mCD is to be released in September [1997]. Our new catalogue is also to be issued soon and it will be even juicier than the previous one. We also announce the official distribution of the German label Gain Ground that releases bands such as ‘Edgewise’, ‘Next Step Up’ & ‘Hard Response’.

Do you want to say something more?

I think I have already said a lot…anyway: support Italian bands, go to concerts, don’t create useless sectarianism and long live ninja-core!

Sabot (JoinKao #1)

1996-1998 my mate Jakob (Stig) Nielsen (from Ålborg, in the north of Denmark) did 9 issues – the first one was #0 – of JoinKao (together with Torben Nielsen, Lars Karup & Jesper Andersen). There were also a whole bunch of people contributing. I got the first isssue for possible distribution, I believe. (Number 0 was free.) Isuue 5 & 6 are also in my collection (probably a donation from a friend). The zine was in newsprint (layout resembling that of HeartAttack) and #8 was in quarter format. It was aimed at the international “scene”, its goal “to connect all kinds of punk/HC music” (emo to crust). To me it seemed like Jakob (who had done the zines Sorte Rose and The Great Enoch before) and his mates had drifted away from underground HC/punk and accepted the ‘music-biz’…

Some content…? #1 (Oct. ’96): ‘Melt-Banana’ (Jap), ‘Sixpence’ (Den), ‘Turboneger’ (Nor; a.k.a. ‘Turbonegro’) & ‘Sabot’; a variety of personal columns, a few short stories, loads of reviews.

The cover of #2 mentions ‘Envy’ (screamo from Tokyo), ‘Stalingrad’ (UK), ‘Bonescratch’ (Jap), short stories and the Czech Republic.

From reviews on the www we learn that #3 (Apr. ’97) features ‘Disgrace’, ‘Mine’, Dan Sinker of Punk Planet, ‘Counterblast’, Simon of Arnie The Anarchist comic-strips; #4 (?): ‘Frodus’ (Washington DC), ‘Stale’ (Stuttgart), ‘Dead Stool Pigeon’, Slug & Lettuce; and #7 (Summer ’98): Uge of Don’t Belong, ‘Skarnspage’ (Nor).

In #5 (Nov. ’97) there’s ‘Harsh’ (Fin), ‘Boris’ (Jap), ‘Phased 4°F’ (Swi); some columns, loads of reviews, an overview of the ‘noise’-scene, etc. #6 (Feb. ’98) features Irman Hilmi (Malaysian guitarist of the Japanese grindcore band ‘Damage Digital’), ‘Cock e.s.p.’ (noise from Minneapolis), ‘Monochrome / Dawnbreed’ collective, ‘Disappointed’ (noise from Ventura, California), ‘Damnation A.D.’ (metalcore from Rockville, Maryland); an extensive review-section, a column by ‘Blinfold’s Wim Vandekerckhove and more.

‘Sabot’ was a duo from San Francisco that settled in the Czech Republic (Tábor) where they started the CESTA project/cultural space. I witnessed them – Christopher Rankin (bass) & Hilary Binder (drums) – live at the Vort’n Vis (95-10-14); they played an instrumental mix of hardcore-punk and progressive rock/jazz. The following interview is more about their art-project than their music…