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First of all - can you introduce yourself and your band to us?
Hi to everybody at Industrialized Metal and everybody out there who's taking a time to read this special edition. We would like to thank this e-magazine for making this possible, for supporting us, all the way from the beginning, and for the support to every independent band out there who takes a good reason to make music and cross any borders. Physically and mentally. We are DRONES - an independent band and producers since 2003 in Minneapolis, MN. Not "The Drones" from Melbourne or The Drones from London... with all respect. We started as a band in 2003 in Minnesota US, but the 3 original DRONES members knew each other since 1992, playing in different projects and bands till they got together in "OFTALMUS" - an acid punk rock local band from Hermosillo, Sonora, México. Migration process put us back together in a different place, in a different time, far away from everything we knew, far away from familiar faces... Our personal evolution and experiences affected our music, this time more aggressive, darker, angrier, disillusioned and raw in both lyrics and melodies. We couldn't find a reliable drummer (the good ones were involved in may projects already) so we said "fuck it" let's do it as it is: "Flako" Rodríguez on voice, keys and drum programming, Fernando "Fer" Hurtado on guitars and backing vocals and "Moyo" Soto on bass and back vocals.
Could you describe your opinion and/or views on racism within 1-5 words?
Racism is ignorance about "the other"...
What are your views on your own country when it comes to racism? Bad? Worse? Not thát bad? Please explain.
We would say is the same as in other countries. Everybody judges you if your skinny, tall, fat, from the skin color, etc.. We came from Mexico, and this a very special case - Mexico is a mix of cultures, languages and identities. We had flourish civilizations back in the day, native nations Yaquis, Mayos, Seris, Papagos, in the north Mayas, Toltecas, Tlaxcaltecas, Zapotecas, Aztecas... México was an European colony, from Spain till the 1810 independece war; in 1848 we "lost" a third of territory to the US; then we had a "revolution" war in 1910 from there we had one party in power for more than 75 years, then again in 1994 the Zapatista's revolution catch the global media eye claiming respect to the rights of "Pueblos nativos" (native people); our governments have had oppressed the masses ever since the creation of the Mexican state. Mexico is known as The US' "backyard", there are lots of journalist killings, corruption, etc. Mexico is a unique place. Racism is within our society as a consequence of all these social process, we would say it's bad. It's hard to explain, a very complex matter, but its there, and there's much to do. Now in the US... Racism is an everyday situation. Almost hate. Intolerance. Of course rich people would say is not the case, but it's in the same history - first it was "religion", then it became "communism", then "terrorism", now "immigrants", "China", "Venezuela" "the Middle East"... At some point we felt like we were in a fascist state, thinking different from the US almost became a crime. There's always "the other" as the cause of hate, an impossibility to re-define ourselves... and identity problem.
It seems some kind of sick ´trend´ these days to bring racism into alternative music, referring to terms such as 'nazi-punk', 'NSBM' and 'right-winged electro'. What are your views on this? Do you think it will become dangerous?
We respect everybody's free speech. We also believe that non inclusive movements won't have much success. Not more dangerous than video games or TV...
Did you witness any racist things during local gigs, festivals, etc? Would you reject an offer to play a show together with an outspoken right-winged band?
Some people would tell us that they didn't understand a word we said, but they liked the show... We took that as ignorance of the language but not racism. we didn't witness anything wrong during a show. So far people in Minnesota has treated us fairly good. There's a mutual feeling of love and respect. We wouldn't reject an offer to play with any band, but of course we would made clear our position and point of view.
You're people with a Latin American origin living in the States. Have you ever had a personal share of racism? Could you give us an example?
Moyo is used to get a lot of shit from many people, because he looks like a "white boy". Once some "Afro-Americans" were saying stuff to him and they referred to him as a "crack head", "cracker" and he replied: "if you want to be a moron, be a moron but get your shit straight!". We are Mexicans. Not personally but as people from elsewhere we face racism daily in the US. As people from other origin. We believe the situation is similar from people immigrating to Europe from Africa, India, or the Middle East. There are probably lots of books describing the North-South Conflict, there's 2 we recommend: "Year 501, the conquest continues" (1993 by Noam Chomsky) and "Guns, Germs and Steel" (1997 by Jared Diamond).
On the 'Vortice' album we find a song named 'Diversify' - which is pretty much about this subject. Why did you decide to write a song on it? Do you think music is a good platform for this? Did you recieve any replies specially related to this track?
This song was written by "Moyo" (no longer in this band). It is "his" as he claims... but we all share the same feeling on the subject. The US is a very diverse country, lots of people from different origins, different countries, languages, culture - sharing the same place and time. Why then hate remains? The most open society is contradictorily the most exclusive. We believe because the culture of fear they live in. Fear to the unknown, to the other, to the alien. Music is our way to share feelings, positions, points of view, etc. If people like our music and the message, then our job is done. Share and connect. We don't know if tomorrow we'll be here, so let's enjoy each other.
Got any final words?
We would like to use this opportunity to thank all the people, fans, friends and family and the bands who had been very supportive of DRONES - even they don't speak a word of Spanish... Phil Kramer at rockwatch.org, Bill Berry, Chad Liljegren, Stephen Wresh, Chris Langer, everybody in Minnesota! Thanks again to Gerardo and everybody at Industrialized Metal, to all their readers-supporters in Holland and all over the world! Racism = ignorance; please get informed! Salud!
Interview by: Gerardo
Answered by: Fer (guitars and backing vocals)
Listen to Drones at www.myspace.com/drones
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