Def with Two, a pioneering band and banner of Latin American rap metal returns to our country. Prior to his arrival in Aztec lands, we had the opportunity to discuss a link from Madrid with Cesar "Strawberry”, Vocalist and leader of the group, and who has suffered firsthand the consequences of belonging to a band that is silent.
"#Trende distopic" is an album with a mix of sounds ranging from the most metal with songs like "Dación en pogo" to some very rap like "I'm in shock". A very varied album. Was it intentional to mix so many rhythms into one album?
SB: If it was intentional. We wanted to make an album that had songs of all kinds, from the rhythms most similar to the first albums of the band or from the time we released “Armas al Pueblo”. We also put in much more rap metal which is something that our fans like which in the end gave the album a lot of variety. We cared about it being a product that our fans liked.
With almost 3 decades in the industry, how have they managed to remain so original and fresh and always surprise us with something innovative on each album and not only recycle themselves as many bands do?
SB: Man, thanks for the compliment! The basis of all this for me is in never believing success or failure as such. Play for love of what is done and keep that illusion of playing music intact as if it were the first years. It is also important to be faithful to what you feel and want to express and that this is reflected in your material. Something very important is to never believe or feel better than anyone and work with humility like when you started.
One of the most common themes in Def con Dos songs is freedom of expression. What has been the time in your life that you have felt most violated your right to express yourself freely?
SB: Without hesitation on May 15, 2005 when out of nowhere 5 police officers arrested me on the charge of promoting terrorism on twitter. I was arrested for a tweet you understand! It is stupid. I was sentenced to one year in prison and although I have my process released as the antecedent is already marked. They have been 3 years of constant hunting and persecution even in our shows and in fact in many parts of our album we hint and even challenge these acts. No one is going to be able to shut us up. Maybe if we were younger but we are already old people who have lived well and we are not afraid to continue expressing what we think.
Mexico is one of the countries particularly at the journalistic level where the right of expression can cost you blood. What does it take to change things and that one can express oneself without fear of reprisals or even death?
SB: I am aware of the sad situation of the rosary of deaths that afflicts your country. In addition to the deaths linked to organized crime, there are also countless attacks on journalists and informants. The problem is terrible when repression is ordered or allowed from the highest spheres of power, there can be no democracy without freedom of expression. What I think it takes to change things is always to start with yourself, individual behavior. Martyrs and people who have given up their lives for an ideal are the ones that inspire. Living quietly or dying to the scream is up to everyone, but the great ones, those who have changed history, belong to the second group.
Imagine that you can change 2 laws: Eliminate one that you consider useless and create one that you consider necessary for the world: What would they be?
SB: We are music lovers. For example, we are fans of the Beastie Boys although we have lasted longer than them (laughs). What I'm going for is that if you play punk or lyrics outside of the established you are persecuted, so without a doubt all the laws that seek to punish the right to have fun and go to a punk music concert would disappear. Punk culture is finally also culture and there are very wise people in it like the leader of Bad Religion who is quite an anthropologist; It is wrong that such a culture can be persecuted only because some believe that it violates their interests. As for the second law that you mention, it would be a universal law in favor of women's rights. Since the 90's we have spoken in favor of it in topics such as "Grouping of violent women" from our album "Ultramemia". Throughout the world, women should be allowed easier access to positions of power without discrimination and with parity of wages and opportunities. We have already had a world dominated by men for a long time, why not give them a chance now?
Relaxing a bit, Def con Dos not only talks about politics and repression, but also has very funny and satirical subjects such as "Right to orgasm" or "I am still heterosexual", where they caricature in a very comic way issues such as sex or fixation by the male body. Who comes up with these ideas and where does this creativity come from?
SB: (Laughter) I am the lyricist of the band, although for a time Juan Hernández was also of the band “Siniestro Total”, a cult band here in Spain and that although little, is still in activity; He was my teacher and from him I learned everything I know. I have always been very ironic and I love to turn things around. Def con Dos is not a group faithful to an ideology or that is married to a line in their songs. We are rather a very eclectic group that thrives on everything that surrounds it including stupidity. In this life, you either take your own stupid things with irony and laugh at your mistakes, or you end up committing suicide if you take everything to heart. Not all seriously or all joking, but a little of each.
Public Enemy or Cypress Hill?
SB: Public Enemy without a doubt. Do I have to say why? (Laughs) I'd rather leave it like that
Okay let's leave it at that. Finally, Def con Dos returns to Mexico. What are the fans going to find and what do they have in store for this return?
ST: We have not been here for 5 years and you should know that despite being veterans we always leave everything on stage with a selection of very varied themes between the recent and the historical and leaving our skin on each one. With luck and you even have to witness the heart attack of one of us! (Laughs) We love to see them doing pogo, in fact we do it on stage too, so we go with all the attitude of a great show. We send a thank you to all the people in Mexico who follow Def with Dos and we are very eager to see them.
