Obviously this site is dedicated to American Oi!, but let’s throw some samba in the mix and make it South-American Oi! for this interview, Brazilian Oi! to be more precise with Bronco Army, a skinhead band from the Sao Paolo area that has been working hard for the past couple of years and already got a brand new album in the works. Time to have a chat with Jaxsie that drums in the Bronco Army!
Hi Jaxsie, first of all thanks a lot for doing this interview! How is everything going?
Hello Mano and the readers of American Oi!. It's a pleasure to answer this interview. Thank you for the space on your website! Everything is fine, always fighting and marching on!
Could you introduce yourself and your band Bronco Army to our readers? What do you do in daily life etc…
Bronco Army is a three piece skinhead band from São Paulo Central region, formed by Toni on guitar/vocals, Carlo on bass and me, Jaxsie on drums/vocals. I work at a car parking lot for now, Toni is a helper at the local university and Carlo is unemployed at the moment. In our free time we like to drink with friends, watch horror movies, etc..
Can you give us a brief history of the band?
The band started its activities in 2009 with another line up from which only Toni is an original member. At this time I was playing with Bulldroogs and some time later the band split up and I joined Bronco Army. We had several members -including a saxophonist- until the current line up that is finally working fine. Since 2009 I would say there's a lot of history, with good times, bad times and lots of troubles that we managed to overcome.
So far Bronco Army released two full-lengths, a EP and a split EP with Bulldroogs and was featured on several compilations, all within a timespan of about two years! Pretty productive right?
That's right. We were very lucky to have some labels interested on us since we started. I think they noticed how seriously we were taking the band. We gave our best to record some stuff in a short period of time and we worked a lot to show the proposal of the band.
Do you like going into the studio? Or do you rather play live?
I simply love to do everything that involves the band. Having rehearsals every week, working on new songs, covering bands we like, recording in studio, sketching artworks, etc... We try to be active as much as we can, and I'm sure I can tell the same for the boys and we have a lot of fun when we are together. Of course we would like to play a lot more live and this is part of our plans for the near future.
Where do you find the inspiration to write so much music in such a short period of time? What influences you guys when it comes down to the lyrics?
Toni is the main lyricist and he has a very peculiar vision of life events. He can ably transcribe thoughts and events in an artistic way. So I think that the daily life of a skinhead is inspiration enough for the lyrics to come naturally. And I have to confess I'm his n°1 fan, haha!
And what about the music?
Well, we listen a lot of older bands and our influences are mostly French, German and British Oi! from the 80's and a pinch of glam rock. But I can't say if we sound like that because when we're composing new songs we don't think about sounding like this or like that, we just let the music flow, but always in the Bronco Army style.
The EP’s are all released on vinyl, but your full-length albums are only available on CD. Is there a reason they are not released on LP yet? Would you still be interested in getting these releases out on vinyl?
I don't know if there's a reason that some releases came on CD and others on vinyl. I think it just happened that way. All releases are very important for us but we have a true passion for vinyls. The EP's were our first dream come true and of course we'd love to have our full-lengths CDs on vinyl version, it would be great! I think our next full-length will also come out on vinyl format. I hope so!
When are you guys heading back into the studio? Anything new in the works yet?
We already have 14 new tracks for the next record that will be called Greetings from Backstreets. It'll be released by the German label Subcultural Records. For this one we're giving a special attention as it might be the first LP of the band. Bronco Army is from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
What is it like to be a skinhead and play in an Oi! band in Brazil?
The life of a skinhead can be complicated if you live in big cities like Sao Paulo main city. You have to be careful all the time 'cause there's too much violence, people fighting with guns and knives and attacking you from behind, not to mention the internet warriors. We live on a small town nearby so it's easier for us. Most of us can work using our skinhead gear without the need of hiding tattoos and disguising ourselves as normal people. Living in Brazil is hard for a skinhead, there aren't many concerts to go because they are very difficult to organize, and there aren't many bands with the same attitude/ideals to play with.
How is the current scene in Sao Paulo and Brazil?
We have ONE big problem here in Sao Paulo: people that call themselves skinheads and don't do anything else than telling gossips, spreading bullshit and boycotting whoever tries to do something honest for the scene. Some of them had personal problems with someone else in the past and just can't let it go.
So they do everything possible to harm or provoke the other, their friends and the friends of their friends and they just can't realize that by acting this way they are destroying the scene from the inside! It's insane. If they could spend all that energy and time organizing gigs, working on a fanzine, forming or supporting a band we would have the biggest and most active skinhead scene in the world, haha.
I can't say if the same happens in the whole country because Brazil is a huge place but I think so. Fortunately, there are still some good people working hard to improve the mature and decent of the scene.
As we speak the World Cup Football is going on in Brazil, are you into football? What team(s) do you support in the Brazil Série?
Definitely not. We don't support any team because for us football isn't a working class sport anymore, it's all about business. And the small teams... they just suck and we chose not to suffer, hahaha!
What do you think of the fact that the World Cup is being held in Brazil? Who will crown themselves World Champion this time you think?
I think this World Cup sucks! We pay lots of abusive taxes on products and services and we don't see this money being well spent on important things like health and education. This sick government built those luxurious stadiums with our money and I ask myself why? Is there a positive side in it? I hope so. By the way I wish Germany can be the World Champion this year! I'd be also happy if Holland wins.
Also the Olympic Games will be in Brazil in 2016, more money thrown away that could be of better use in your country, right?
The Olympic Games will never be as big or as destructive as a World Cup, because football in Brazil is used by the government as a tool for brainwashing people and the other sports will never have the same power. To be more exact, the masses don't give a damn about other sports. But I hope there will be a positive side in it as well.
Okay, I’m rounding this interview up, thanks again! If there is anything you would like to add, feel free to do so!
I would like to say thanks for the great support we've been receiving lately! It's amazing! And there's some words I'd like to add. The skinhead subculture is totally self sufficient. There are skinheads playing in bands, skinheads organizing gigs for these bands, skinheads selling gear, skinheads writing about skinheads. We don't need anyone. We can be fuckin' proud of ourselves. What I just said everyone already knows, but the point is, if you can do something for the scene, do it!
