Hocico

Chain D.L.K.: So, first off, it’s your first time in America. How are you liking it so far, and how would you compare it to your home, Mexico City?
Hocico: Well I’ve like the first impression was “fucking assholes” wants to be done here, met a lot of nice people. A lot of the opinions about America has changed. The tour has been great. It’s been kind of different, well you see money here everywhere. There are alot of cleaner places in America. There’s a big difference. It’s what I like. There is big difference what can I say?

Chain D.L.K.: What inspires the rage and anger in your music?
Hocico: We deal with a lot of violence. Sometimes you walk in Mexico City you see a lot of it. It’s about where we live and things that happen to us. We’d explode without the music

Chain D.L.K.: Does your environment in Mexico City inspire that anger at all? If so, what keeps you there?
Hocico: It’s home. We like it as it is, it’s hell but we like it. It’s important in our music, trying to find something to say. It’d be different if we were happy.

Chain D.L.K.: Why the title “Signos De Abberacion” (Signs of Hatred)?
Hocico: Well it’s about showing the ‘abberacion’ around us when making the album. Many friends went down, involved in a lot of fucking drugs. Degrading themselves, but a lot of happiness in their lives. It’s about expressing the ‘abberacion’ around us.

Chain D.L.K.: There also seems to be no songs sung in Spanish on this one. Why the change to English?
Hocico: It was the time to do it, it was to be understood, the easiest way to do it. We wrote more personal stuff in English. It was more in the direct way. We want to sing more Spanish on the next CD.

Chain D.L.K.: How would you compare singing in the two languages, and which one do you say is more emotional?
Hocico: Well it’s different. A lot like the songs in Spanish, it has another feeling. Both languages have their own mood. English is to be more understood. We spoke special issues around us, why we wrote it in Spanish. More about issues like rage and compassion.

Chain D.L.K.: I read once where you said where your logo, a spider with an H in the abdomen, is a symbol of something small that can kill something very large. Do you feel Hocico has done just that in a day and age ruled by synthpop retreads and manufactured music even in the underground?
Hocico: It’s our expression. with synthpop, it’s tendency is more to, I dunno, I think it’s time for them to go. It was a fashion. Not bad music, it’s just something that can only stay so long. Our music is our feeling, not to try to fit a category.

Chain D.L.K.: With a lot of the music being imported from Mexico like Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony, a lot of the music fails to reflect any of Mexico’s problems like Hocico’s music does very candidly. How does that make you feel that a lot of Mexico’s problems go unrealized due to this fact?
Hocico: For sure it’s not a proper. . thing I mean. It doesn’t mean where it comes from. I want to represent Mexico playing Mexican music, to find our musical expression, to find a special mark. To present your past and future, The latin pop is just about selling records. Talking about this fucking bullshit extraordinary love.

Chain D.L.K.: Where did the art for Signos De Abberacion come from? It is very interesting artwork, like an ancient pueblo!
Hocico: It’s a series of pictures my brother took in my father’s (who passed away a while ago) house. We went to his old house in the town he used to live, we wanted to put it on the album. It’s an old chair in the corner. It means something special to us.

Chain D.L.K.: Does it make it difficult to do such a high aggression live show on days when you’re more calm? Or does it just come out with the music?
Hocico: No most of the shows I am like this, get into the music and remember what I’m singing about. It’s something I like giving all my energy. That counts.

Chain D.L.K.: I’m guessing the song “Wounds” is about the revolution slowly taking place in Mexico with the political rebels taking over the popular vote there (I saw this on Telemundo a year ago), vastly more popular and powerful than President Fox. Am I right on this?
Hocico: Exactly! We quote all our songs about rebellion, it was time to do it again. Things haven’t changed at all there. No body can take the problems away. All we can do is sing about it. We help by sending food and clothing to those in need. None of the last presidents have taken this part of the country. They have not had time to do anything. It fucking sucks, it’s really bad no one can really do anything about it. I hope somebody can take care of them.

Chain D.L.K.: Ok fun question before you play: “Amores Perros” or “Y Tu Mama Tambien”, which do you say is better?
Hocico: “Y Tu” was very funny. We had a lot of fun. laughing the whole time. Good thing is they stated things in there the real way, the real way we Mexicans speak. When you’re seeing it you remember a lot of things that happen to you. They’re really close to the reality of Mexico City. I liked it. Without censorship as it really happened, in the last few years it has changed, to talk about our society without censorship. Amores Perros is one of my faves, it’s from Riosit is a masterpiece. We used to live close there, with the illegal dogfights we watched as kids. What he put in was very very real. I love the movie.

[interviewed by Shaun Hamilton] [proofreading by Erica Breyer]