Harakiri
Harakiri is a very interesting
and promising band from Argentina, who a few months ago released their
debut self titled album that reveals a band full of potentials that could
reign the classic hard rock genre, given the chance. So, here we have Daniel
and Varo answering to our questions...
1. HELLO GUYS! FIRST OF ALL MY CONGRATULATIONS
ON YOUR “HARAKIRI” ALBUM! IT IS VERY GOOD CLASSIC ROCK. NOW THAT IT’S READY
AND YOU LISTEN TO IT, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE OR ADD?
Hi! Well... The truth is that we´d like
to change a lot of things but, one day we decided that it was finished
and there´s no turning back when you release it. What made it a good
album (I guess) are the songs and the whole idea that the album inspires,
but of course we would have been much more satisfied if we just had better
equipment (such as microphones, amplifiers, drums, etc).
2. I THINK IT WOULD BE NICE TO GIVE US SOME INFO
ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BAND AND PRESENT THE CURRENT LINE-UP. CAN YOU
TELL US, WHICH WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND SO FAR?
Harakiri was born in the year 1998, at that
time we were all in High school. We started playing in what we call “school
weeks”, it is a king of celebration that every college has in Tucuman.
Two years later we were touring around different provinces of north Argentina.
Thank God, the line up, has always been the same as a consequence that
were are all good friends and we know each other since we were kids.
The most important moments of the band so far... mmmm. First, the day we
did the album release show, suddenly everyone knew all our songs, they
sang it along with the band... It was a kind of magic moment. Then, when
we played as the opening band in a show of Charly Garcia, who is known
as a kind of Lennon in Argentina. And, of course our tragic misery tours
with the most important rock bands of our country, that’s is a kind of
honor for a band that is not from Buenos Aires (in Argentina the great
majority of famous bands came from that spot).
3. YOU NAMED YOUR BAND “HARAKIRI”. TO TELL YOU
THE TRUTH I LIKED YOUR MUSIC AND DIDN’T MAKE ME THINK TO COMMIT SUICIDE
?. ANYWAY, HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THIS NAME AND DO YOU THINK THAT IT FITS TO
YOUR SOUND?
The truth is we feel very inspired by the
“harakiri” concept, beyond the suicidal idea, there´s an Honor code
that you must respect, if you go against it, that´s when you must
commit suicide. We used that concept and adapted it to our own ideas about
how a human being must behave (please do not think that I´m talking
about moral codes, after all, we´re a Rock Band hehehe). I think
that our sound has its depressing moments, but what really matters is the
contrast between the music and the lyrics and the idea that results of
that interaction. Once in a review from some magazine our music was qualified
as “dark from wherever you look” and maybe that’s when the harakiri concept
comes out as it is. When you hear the lyrics in some ways you realize that
they always talk about a feeling of dying from the cradle to the grave...
listen again and you’ll notice...
4. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO USE THE SPANISH LANGUAGE
IN YOUR LYRICS AND NOT ENGLISH? AREN’T YOU AFRAID THAT THIS CHOICE MIGHT
BE AN OBSTACLE FOR PEOPLE THAT DON’T KNOW YOUR LANGUAGE TO LISTEN TO YOUR
ALBUM?
As you must have noticed by now, none of us
speaks English very well. And there´s also the fact that we have
our own roots, so if I like something in English, I learn the language
or I look up for a translation of the lyrics (As it happened to me with
Rammstein). We expect no less than that of an eventual audience in other
country. Yes, it´s true, it would be easier to give them our music
in English, but what we say can only be said in our own codes. Of course
it´ll be an obstacle but, I don´t think we have a choice. Anyways
what really matters is the music itself... (Varo says: I think you have
to be proud of who you are, bro).
5. IN MY REVIEW I MENTIONED AS YOUR INFLUENCES
CARLOS SANTANA AND JIMI HENDRIX. DO YOU AGREE? WHICH OTHER MUSICIANS AND
ARTISTS HAVE INFLUENCED YOU? CAN YOU NAME 5 OF YOUR ALL TIME FAVORITE ROCK
ALBUMS?
Alright! I wish I played half as Jimi did...
Sadly, the answer is no, I don’t agree. We ´ve been influenced by
Argentinian bands and music from all over the world. When we were teenagers
we couldn´t escape from the Guns n´ Roses world hysteria, neither
from Metallica, Nirvana or Aerosmith. Some of us love Queen, our
singer likes Skid Row a lot. We all agree that nowadays Audioslave is one
of the greatest Rock bands (specially their first album) along with The
Mars Volta. And, of course, we couldn´t avoid the rock bible
that The Beatles are. Don’t forget zeppelin, brother!! Yeah...
6. LET’S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LYRICS. ABOUT
WHAT KIND OF THINGS DO YOU LIKE TO TALK IN YOUR LYRICS? CAN YOU TELL US
IN A FEW WORDS WHICH THE THEME OF EACH SONG THAT YOU HAVE INCLUDED IN TO
YOUR NEW ALBUM IS?
We talk a lot about human emotions, about
how you feel deep inside, how our souls understand this strange thing we
call life, and how love (not only the love you feel for woman, but the
force that works as our engine to keep going).
I´ll try to explain the themes... With
my lousy English:
1.- Atrapados entre agujas (Trapped
between needles): This song is about the rithm of life that kills our perception,
running all the time without knowing were we are going... “And at the end
of the race, death can´t stop laughing”.
2.- Prestame tus alas (Borrow me your
wings): It might be one of our oldest songs... that’s why we still feel
surprised about its message... it talks about the sensation of being unable
to go on without the “Other” that every people symbolizes... “I’m lost
between the seven heavens, maybe my place is hell... I would leave a signal
for you not to suffer anymore”.
3.- Sasha: looks like a classic love
song, but maybe more than that... expresses the feeling of nor needing
to talk or explain anything when you are before your lover’s eyes. “When
you listen this song I will have fallen from your skin... there will be
nothing to believe... there will be nothing to say”.
4.- Alfiles en cruz (Crossed bishops):
A real surreal song hiding some secrets that yet today we don’t discover
at all. A real singing to life... “I think time has no reason to be...
The light protects you like a love ray.-. mean while the soul knows...
mean while the soul opens out”.
5.- (Hasta aquí) toda mi alma (till
here) All my soul: A real depressive day re-checking old wounds and bleeding
words like “One more day I see the sun... One less day, what do I know?...)
It doesn’t decides between a rock ballad or a sad blues...
6.- Lo que sé (what I know):
More experimental... at this heights of the album appears the first madness
indicator. A very strange song with pop and rock influences… in the lyrics,
a call for light and “selfishness”.
7.- Después de tus ojos (After
your eyes): When you hear it, the inevitable love song feeling invades
you, but it’s more an ode to loneliness. Starts describing a melancholic
landscape, then the band explodes with… (“I feel we are so far away… and
I feel we are so lonely…”)
8. – Tormenta cerebral (Brainstorm):
A definition from our stage manager… from our point of view, the first
of a trilogy, this songs tells a story of deep confusion inside one’s mind.
The sensation of eternal struggle so in the inside as in the outside… just
knowing Love is the only thing that keeps you burning (“I will lay and
pretend I’m dying of pity, no one else will know that I’m dying for love”).
9.- Tu infierno (your hell): Love is
a current topic in our songs, but is worth explaining that we barely talk
about a boy and a girl… we are not talking exactly about god either… it
has some of both, but we are always talking about the feeling itself… love
for everything or anything. This song makes a good resonance about the
emotional crisis that love causes us. The song is like “love you” “hate
you” and you can sing it to a girl, to god or to anyone. One of our favourites.
(“you are the curse for my soul and my salvation”).
10.- Nada (nothing): The perfect conclusive
song for our journey… thoughts about how everything is relative in life…
how nothing has a real sense… and a little light of hope always at the
end. (“Nothing’s lost, nothing’s so bad, if I go on and survive the path
I will find… Nothing’s a sin, nothing will kill, if a heal the wounds and
breathe one more time”).
7. YOU HAVE RECENTLY DONE A VIDEO CLIP. SINCE,
I HAVEN’T CHECKED OUT YOUR SITE, CAN YOU TELL US WHICH SONG YOU CHOSE TO
VISUALIZE AND WHY? WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE VIDEO-CLIP SHOW?
Well… you’ll see. Since we edited our album,
we acted like we had to sell and show our very commercial side… we were
never taught on how to show our music… so our first tracks released on
radio followed that way of thinking… the people came to our shows and helped
us grow… when time to edit a video clip came, we decided to work with songs
we really had affection for… things we really believed… so we chose TU
INFIERNO (your hell). For the video we developed millions of ideas till
we left everything in the director’s hand (we were pretty burned up of
thinking) and he decided to show the band playing as it is with live effects
and the less digital possible… we drove to an abandoned factory and carried
the most spectacular illumination set we could afford, and then it all
came out… Whatever I can tell you is just a little… you should check the
video in our web to make a better review… but, you know… the band playing
in a terminator-like location…
8. IMAGINE THAT YOU HAVE A LOT OF MONEY TO DO
A BIG BUDGET VIDEO – CLIP. HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT AND WITH WHICH FAMOUS
DIRECTOR WOULD YOU LIKE TO COOPERATE?
Oh… jelly!!! I don’t know… I’m tempted to
make my own wishes true (by the way, I’m Varo, the singer, and I continued
writing questions ago when Daniel gave up). Remembering everything
I talked with the guys, I think we would try something more artistic in
animation. About the image style, I wouldn’t know… some of us are inclined
to dark things and some other to brighter things… what I know for sure
is that we would all choose Tim Burton (and he would know how to burn darkness
and brightness together… as always)…
9. YOU PLAY ROCK, BUT SINCE BEHIND THE VEIL IS
A METAL WEBZINE, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF HEAVY METAL MUSIC.
IS THERE ANY HEAVY METAL BAND THAT YOU LIKE A LOT? IS IT TRUE THAT IN THE
PAST YOU HAVE ALSO PLAYED HEAVY METAL? DID YOU DO THAT IN DIFFERENT BANDS
OR AS HARAKIRI?
Heavy metal influence is all over our work,
not as the only one, but yes as the most in our new songs for the upcoming
album… We are big fans of Metallica (the black album as a crossroad for
the 5 of us) . Our drummer listens to several heavy bands and is an underground
lover. Our guitarists (guitar and bass) passed the whole last rehearsal
out playing Hermetica. But in general we like any kind of music made with
blood (and distortion). By my side, I dislike a little (just a little)
of classic metal (twin guitars, etc.)… it’s not a matter of taste… it’s
a matter of time… A lot of years listening to the same sounds makes you
want something new… don’t you think? Anyway we are wide open to a lot of
styles, and heavy metal is a great inspiration in whatever we do.
10. YOU ARE FROM ARGENTINA AND I WOULD LIKE TO
KNOW, WHICH THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS THAT A ROCK/METAL BAND FROM YOUR COUNTRY
HAS TO CONFRONT IN ORDER TO EARN A DISSENT CONTRACT WITH A LABEL ARE.
I don’t know about how things in your country
are, but they might be the same… contacts… money… talent… the only different
thing I could talk about is the enormous inclination “Buenos Aires” (our
freakin’ capital city) has for Latin rhythms and political topics… do you
hate Shakira and Ricky Martin? You don’t know what do we have to suffer
here… there’s no way I can explain to you to understand… our “national
rock” (that’s called) is unique in the world (pure trash)… yes… you can
find rock in the bottom, but it’s the very bottom…the thing is that rock
and heavy metal in their pure essence are not very popular here… that’s
one problem… the other is poverty or something like that… there’s not too
much demand for new bands because labels are not willing to invest in everything…
well that makes the hard job worth saving…
11. I WANT YOU TO TELL ME ONE OF YOUR ALL TIME
FAVORITE ROCK LYRICS AND EXPLAIN US THE REASON WHY…
“There´s a feeling I get when I look
to the west and my spirit is crying for leaving…”. Here you killed me…
I’ll only have to talk about me cause I’m alone now… I would say “stairway
to heaven” from zeppelin… I love that lyric! I think you all know it …
pure poetry… pure feeling… pure wisdom… and Plant sings it the best way
it could be sang… I like the idea of “the tune will come to you at last
when all are one and one is all”… Amazing man!!! It shakes my soul! I think
you can talk about anything you want in your lyrics… but when you achieve
to embrace so much concepts and feelings in one song,… man, you deserve
to live forever in everyone’s memory… rock n roll baby! (should I have
said Bohemian Rhapsody? I’ll ask later)
12. I WISH YOU TO HAVE GREAT HOLIDAYS AND ALSO
THE NEW YEAR TO BRING SUCCESS TO YOUR BAND AND PERSONAL LIVES. THE LAST
LINES OF THIS INTERVIEW BELONGS TO YOU…
Wish you so… thanx to the people…all we can
say is we are honored to be listened, watched or read by anyone… we all
start playing with a dream and when it starts to come true you realize
it’s more than you expected… I used to dream about same old clichés
about girls and money and blah blah… but one day I stared at lots of people
and heard them singing to me… watched them see through me and I could see
through them… I love to sing for them and for everyone willing to feel
the deepest emotions… I think my 4 brothers would say the same, and that’s
all I really want to say about us, them, you, and rock n roll… Wish you
all peace and success… Bye.
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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