COBRA
Interview mit Sänger Harry El Sucio
Hi Harry, nice to hear from you! Can you tell us first about the history of COBRA. How did you all come together?
Hails Michael and everyone who is reading this interview! COBRA was born in 2005, when Nito and Pochuck decided to start a heavy metal band with a strong, rough and aggressive attittude. Nito, Pochuck and Augusto knew each other since schooltimes. Because Nito and Pochuck didn’t have a bass player, they recruited Augusto as a support bassist. In 2006 Nito was looking for a vocalist and found me in a music school we both (and Andrés too) were attending. After a few rehearsals I was in the band and Andrés entered in December of 2006. Since 2007, when Pochuck returned to the drums, we are the same five bastards making this filthy noise.
How hard was it for you to do all the Demos until you could record your first full-length record?
Each demo and release has been the right step in order to achive everything we have nowadays. Is vital for a band to work on their composition and songwritting, so demos are the correct way to show this to the headbangers. I don’t know why bands nowadays release a full-length-album without having enough rehearsal-time as a band. Maybe because they just want „to make it“ and do not focus on making solid songs.
How did you feel after finishing the first record?
It was very exciting, like taking the next natural step in this path we chose. It was a motivation to continue doing this music.
Did you have a idol in music?
I certainly admire a lot of artists and my admiration comes of how they assimilated everything they listen to make an interpretation of their own view of music. I think that’s the most inspirational thing for me.
What are the influences of your own music?
The big and vast spectrum of metal and rock and roll. From AC/DC to BATHORY, stepping through HENDRIX and SARCÓFAGO. Real music.
The NWoBHM didn’t influence you that much?
I like a lot NWoBHM-Stuff, but I can’t say, that this is our main influence.
The Seventies?
The Seventies were the best decade for music and for art in general, I think, so… yes!
Who is the main songwriter in the band?
We all five participate in composing and creating music but we have been working better doing it separately, fewer times together. We don’t try to force that, we just let it flow.
Why do you sing in english and not in your mother tongue spanish?
Most of the music we hear is in english, so we never really thought about that. We really like bands who sing in spanish, but it’s a difficult langauge to make it sound aggressive and fluent with metal music.
Was it your vision for COBRA? More than keeping „old school“ metal alive?
COBRA IS heavy metal. Old school is such a cliché tag to describe bands with a traditional sound. We reject this stupid tags.
Can you tell us something about the lyrics?
Our lyrics are varied. We write about rock and roll, heavy metal, death, also some stories we base on and other we create. Our guide is that this lyrics need to be capted in an aggressive sense.
How successful were the two albums until now?
´Lethal Strike´ had a poor distribution so the album never reached any goal. For ´To Hell´ we didn’t want to repeat the same, so we took in charge of most of the proccesses with the label. All the dedication and sacrifice during this period has started to bring us results such as reviews, the re-edition of both albums with Ván Records, the invitation to Keep It True festival and that.
How famous is COBRA in Peru?
In a massive way, we are most unknown so everything is ok with that. In the metal scene, we have got a place as a solid and passionate band that always has something aggressive to make.
What can you tell us about the future of the band?
We are planning to make a tour over Europe next year. Also we’ll continue writting new songs for further releases. That’s our work in the band: create, play, record.
What goals do you want to achieve?
Become a solid demolition machine such as AC/DC and continue writting aggresssive heavy metal as long as we can.
Is COBRA more than just a hobby?
Yes, it’s not a hobby but neither it is a full time job. It’s a passion!
How big is the Metal-Scene in Peru?
Perú is mostly known for it’s extreme-metal-scene. So our metal scene is very passionate and extreme. We don’t have tons of bands here but there are really good ones in every genre of metal. The bad thing is, that there is no support here for rock and metal music and independent labels, promoters, zines are not so constant with their job because of money issues. Also some concerts tend to be unorganized so usually a gig starts at 11 pm and ends at 4 am, with everyone wasted. It is a different habit from other South American countries or from Europe.
And in your own area?
We live in Lima, the capital city of Peru. We can say Lima has the “biggest“ scene because of the centralism of our country, but I found more solid and compromised bangers in other cities like Arequipa, Ayacucho or Juliaca.
How often do you play concerts?
We really try to play every time we have the opportunity to. A band’s potential should be shown live. Travelling outside Peru is more difficult because of distances and our jobs.
What do you think of newer metal bands like ENFORCER, STRIKER or SKULL FIST?
Of course we know a lot of these bands making this kind of music. We like some of them but we also dislike most of this new bands because they seem to be more focused on what shoes or shirts they wear, or how “retro“ they are instead of focusing in making honest and solid music.
Which records do you hear at the moment?
I listen to the records I like, I don’t care if they are old artists or contemporary ones. Right now I’m into UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS ´Volume 1´, THE DEAD END ALLEY BAND ´Whispers Of The Night´ (this is a new psychedelic band from Peru which really sound like the sixties), the first BATHORY album, ANAL VOMIT ´From Peruvian Hell´ and RUNNING WILD’s ´Branded And Exiled´.
Can you name the best five traditional metal-albums of Peru?
This is kind of strange for me because the albums of the old bands, that made traditional heavy metal, can’t be in a “best five“ list. But I can give you my top five Peruvian releases:
From Peruvian Hell (EP) – ANAL VOMIT
Steel Metal (demo) – MANDRÁGORA
Sex, Alcohol, Rock & Roll (demo) – STONEHEAD
Heavy Metal Stone (demo) – STONEHEAD
Goat Semen (demo) – GOAT SEMEN
How did you get the record deal with VAN RECORDS?
Sven from Ván Records wrote, that he’s interested in releasing ´To Hell´, so we put him in contact with Austral Holocaust because they have the rights for the music. They switched some e-mails and Ván Records released ´To Hell´ as a Digipack and both albums in Vinyl.
Is this a new worldwide record deal or only for europe?
It’s a deal for a european distribution, I think.
Some last questions: give an answer, which one do you prefer …
NWoBHM or US METAL?
NWOBHM
IRON MAIDEN or JUDAS PRIEST?
JUDAS PRIEST
AC/DC or ROSE TATTOO?
AC/DC
You play at KEEP IT TRUE in 2015! What do you know about this Festival?
We’ve been putting an eye on Keep It True since 2007, so this is a big goal we had. It’s an honour for us to go there and have the opportunity to share the stage with such great acts as EXCITER and RIOT. Also it’s a big chance to show you all European headbangers all of the energy we have to discharge when we play live.
What are your expectations?
This is going to be our biggest and most important show until now, so we’re gonna take it in the only way we know how to do things, play furious heavy metal!
Thank you very much!
Thanks, Michael, for this interview and all of the maniacs who read this lines. We are preparing ourselves to invade Europe and strike every city we can with hellish heavy metal!
