Cabestro

by Kenneth Fury

Photo provided by Cabestro, edited by Emily Ham

Continuing to search through Bandcamp for heavy bands from parts of the world that I have never been to, I stumbled upon an album that floored me in the way only a devastatingly heavy album can. Hailing from Barcelona, Spain, Cabestro have released one of the heaviest and worthwhile albums, not only in the vein of grindcore but metal as a whole. Cabestro’s album ¿Crónica de Sucesos? is not only powerful, but catchy, memorable and ultimately definitive of what makes metal great. Their influences are diverse and as a result, I hear a lot of what I love from other genres. Cabestro are one those metal bands that could throw down with anyone. Their energy is incredibly punk and I can’t help but think they’d obliterate at a hardcore show. The lyrics are in Spanish, which is a nice change from the primarily English media I consume. Though I do not speak or read Spanish, I always felt as though the vocals were up there with the absolute best. The vocals add a complimentary layer to all the riffing and make the band sound bigger and more memorable while being sonically assaulted for 22 and a half minutes. When it came to translating the lyrics, I appreciated them all the more. Raging about religion, politics, sex, folklore and social issues, the veterans of Barcelona scene come together to release what can only be described as a rager. The 10 track album is a must If you like grindcore or metal as a whole. If you’re a hardcore kid hoping to throw down, these are still absolutely your guys. This band is everything I love about heavy music and I have no issue recommending it to anyone in the underground world. After listening to the album for a few weeks, I was curious about the aspects of the scene that birthed them. Spain is not a place I can claim to know a lot about, much less their underground metal scene. Not only did I want to contact this band and tell them I adored them, but I wanted a peek at the Barcelona scene and a little more about the band themself. Cabestro, in their musical and personal glory, graciously gave me both. They were lovely enough to do an interview with a strange and seemingly overexcited man from Canada. The Yer Scene team cobbled together questions we thought might provide a decent introduction and overview from the band. From there, my love of the album took over and I had burning questions, such as gear related issues, that once answered, made me love the band all the more. You can find the album at https://cabestro.bandcamp.com/album/cr-nica-de-sucesos and read what Cabestros had to say below. Favourite Track: Rezuma Mugre

What kind of venues do you play? Bars? A basement?

In our case, with the different bands we have been in or are involved in, we have been lucky to play from the smaller bar or disco-bar, to the biggest venue on the regular live circuit here in Barcelona. If we speak in terms of Catalonia, there are places managed by associations all over the country. Same in the rest of Spain. You could separate what is the big circuit, mostly locating gigs in venues from the underground and self managed level, closer to program live shows at the pubs, squads or similar. It’s rare to see bands playing at a basement as 20 or 30 years ago that could easily happen. The decrease of audience, the way people get to and want to consume music, neighbours or laws about noise in the cities have changed the whole landscape from what we grew up with.

Is it easy to get to venues? Are the venues in the middle of the cities or fairly remote?

Barcelona has always had a large offering of all type of venues. Most of the usual venues are located in a couple of points easy to reach and are related with night parties, whether it’s drinking or dancing or whatever you want. Also... from a- let’s say new regulation- appeared here from the council a couple of years ago, it’s that all bars or pubs are granted to program live music without the problems there were in the past because the noise. So, except some venues which due to the decrease of live show attendants (something happening all around the world) have been left a bit out of the centrally-based places and so from the typical circuit here, we might say this is easy for everybody to reach the live shows area here in Barcelona, by walking or by public transport, as most of them are close to the city center.

Is there show traditions? For example, we have a local diner near our venue that we always go to after.

Connected to the previous question, I sadly must say, no there is no longer much tradition. There still are some places where you can go and have some beers with friends where usually you can find a band playing, but this is not the usual thing. Have we ever had this tradition? In fact I don’t think so, but it’s true that Spain in general has changed a lot from what it used to be a couple or three decades ago. I can compare it to Germany, where the music, metal or even mixed genre tradition allows places to often program whatever you want, knowing there will be people attending no matter what for. I myself am too far from what the youth today is consuming in terms of metal. I don’t like festivals, and I do prefer a thousand more times a small and packed venue or bar than a big field with no good sound conditions and too much people to enjoy what’s happening. So... in terms of metal, or hardcore, or post hardcore, someone realizes that there’s no age renovation but the same old faces you are used to seeing. You only see old lads with their sons when it comes to the big festivals for these neverending nightmares; Guns ‘n Roses, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest... big stadiums packed with people paying lots of Euros for remembering when they were young. I cannot blame them... but metal music and its derivatives is dying, and no one is conscious about that.

Do bands have joint practice spaces?

I guess I can speak on behalf the rest of Cabestro’s lads... we have always shared the rehearsal room with other bands. From the very beginning and having in mind the different bands we all have played in, I cannot count the number of practice spaces we have been playing in and the bands we have shared them with. Old factories, communal city music spaces, and old basements… or even an abandoned farm transformed into a recording studio with rehearsal rooms. I have had a keyboard stolen once... and we get mad at our partners many times... from everything you learn, that’s the key. I must say that after almost 30 years playing in bands, I’m now enjoying of a practice room all for ourselves where the most important problem is just the high moisture because of the lack of ventilation. But it’s priceless how relaxed you are when arriving and enjoying your own space.

Album artwork provided by Cabestro

How often are there shows in your scene?

If you are asking for our shows, I must say that Cabestro has never played a single live show yet. Keep in mind it is the project of old time friends joining forces to remind what they used to hear back 20 or 30 years ago. Regarding shows here in Barcelona or surroundings, there is a gig of your interest once per week or so all the year. Too much offering when it comes to the money your pocket allows you to spend... but there’s enough considering the city is a big hub of things here in the south of Europe. Would be awesome if all these gigs could be from our own bands... I mean, the local scene having its space and getting people’s response... But I must say that there’s a big difference in terms of attendees when it comes to local bands or international bands.

Like I said earlier, we have some traditions in my scene that are largely loosely followed. Do you guys have any? What do they center around?

The biggest tradition I could imagine is when there’s a gig in the city, and depending the venue... the pubs or diners you see people gathering themselves to prepare the night or just closing it after. This is not a tradition because of the day of the week, or so... but, at least, you know where to go and who you will find when there’s a gig in the city. There are some small festivals across the country, which are nice meeting point and a sort of tradition every year beyond the lineup itself. Move Your Fucking Brain Extreme Fest gathers the best and worst of the metal scene here before every summer. I think it is like the yearly party we all want to have with friends, whoever is playing there. A way to put all the season memories in common, get perspective and prepare yourselves for the upcoming new season. Actitud Fest is something similar in terms of Hardcore, Punk and other subgenres... It happens out of Barcelona, but has become a nice tradition for many of us as the best season closure.

Are shows on mixed-genre bills or is there metal shows and it’s left at that?

Probably this is the worst thing here compared to two or three decades ago. And this is not a problem because of the distance between metal and punk scene or so... it’s even a problem among subgenres within each language. Black metal not attending death metal shows... viking, prog, post-punk, gothic... all these subgenres have helped kill the health of live music. When it comes to hardcore, crust, grind, there still is a certain hunger for a common genre... but metal here has nothing to do with what happens in Germany for example. I do know very well the scene there, and even how the crust/punk scene has mixed and joined forces with extreme metal in many cities there, from Dresden to Leipzig, Hamburg... This is something clever, interesting and wise when it comes to renovate the spirit of music from the underground. It has let appear new forms of music, festivals and attitude which can offer a new way to create and consume music from the crowd to the bands and the places where these things happening. Crossing my fingers for seeing something similar happening here soon enough.

Is there any political/social activism in your scene? If so, where does it come from?

Are you talking related to music? In general terms, metal or hardcore/punk scenes have always been left wing but it’s not common to see music related to a political or social speech. There was the “straight edge” movement many years ago, but I’m not sure it should be called activism. Not even now you can recognize political movements far from single names clearly related to social improvements or against the Spanish establishment, always related to the right wing and against the freedom of speech of people. Cabestro is far from a political/social band as it should be considered, but has a strong flavor on criticizing all the bad manners the Spanish society has. You can see it clearly now when freedom of speech is back to levels close to pre-democratic periods with artists being judged because of their lyrics or satirical cartoons, politics jailed because of their thoughts, and so on. Cabestro claims an activism from the day to day and own silence, one by one, trying to make people better and not to repeat what here seems a joke, but indeed are the foundations of the Spanish behaviour.

Does nature have an effect on your art?

I have been myself involved with black metal and dark ambient bands for more than 20 years. Nature still is one of the biggest sources of inspiration. In my case, I must say that humanism and how the city affects human behavior has been my topic for the last few years in my other bands. Even now with Cabestro, it’s lyrics come from the grime this country has to offer or used to offer to the world. Anyway, someone cannot detach the topics and sources of inspiration as easy as he wants. We are sons of many experiences and colours. From dark nature to the luminous one, our fears come from the unknown, and there’s no better unknown than nature to feel how small we are. Nature is the perfect reminder of what is truly important in our life when the daily shit covers you.

Photo provided by Cabestro

With Cabestros and your veteran status in your scene, what do you feel some of the biggest differences are in scene culture and shows from your start to now?

The second one is part of the first. At least, in the way we have always conceived the scene to be, different agents should take care of different things in a balance, and shows have its own. Of course, if there are no bands or music, no press might exist, neither venues, booking agents, management. Sometimes I do feel that music and bands are in a lower position compared to their importance. Someone could say that with no infrastructure, contacts or capital, a band couldn’t move much forward than the rehearsal room. I do value a lot the balance in this ecosystem. Someone controls the infrastructure, bands bring the foundations with music and creativity and then, there’s the audience who makes everything work out and exist. Shows are capital to approach the rest of the ecosystem to the audience, although people have lately proved that the consuming mannerisms have changed a lot, and live shows perhaps are not necessary anymore (not now, but the dynamism shows a dark future). On the other hand, as the industry has suffered from all digital conversion, live shows and direct merch sales are key for the bands surviving. Although shows were and are part of the scene culture, they have turned into the key element to allow many agents keep on surviving. Think about festivals, merch, and so on. To me, festivals are killing music while letting it survive. As if it could be understood as a new form of consuming music, a vacations for people who are not in the right mood for moving their asses to weekly shows anymore. I still believe that a balance among all of them is the key, but we must admit that music industry and the scene as it was 20 years ago, have changed forever. So, the industry still needs to find a new balance and equation, but sadly doesn’t depend only on itself. Only the braves and entrepreneurs are going to keep walking.

For the record, I’m a big gear nerd. What gear was rather prominent on the recording process? For example, if a specific pedal was used consistently.

Let me think… considering the album was recorded 6 years ago, I need to get the info from my band mates- For the guitars, both were recorded using a Bogner Ecstasy 2x12, even the bass in fact. Diezel Herbert on one side and Sunn Model T for the heads, while Sunn 300T for the bass with a Boss Overdrive. Guitars are ESP Eclipse 1998 and Ibanez Ar300 with Seymour Duncan on pick ups, and bass Musicman Stingray 5. For vocals our guitar player Gorka, who did the recording, mixing and mastering at his own The Room Studios in Barcelona, used a Brauner VM1 microphone through a Neve 1073 preamp. We used double tracking for vocals.

You released the album this year and mention you haven’t played any shows due to the fact that it’s a passion project before anything, what would make your band want to play some shows?

The point is that we all know what to be fully active with a band means. We would love to play live, we have always been into music for the rehearsing and live experience, but we also would like to make things easy. Considering the time to jump into a live band requires in terms of management, booking and of course rehearsing... and the fact that most of us are involved in fully active bands or with other priorities, we decided to initially leave Cabestro as the studio band it has been. We achieved an awesome ten tracks on this album and even made a behavior summary about our country in the lyrics. After releasing it digitally last January just for the sake of having it public, we received at least ten offers from labels to release or co-release the album, which made us feel overwhelmed and absolutely confident that the right path to follow would be the step by step one. If things must happen, will happen. So, now, with an album being moved organically out there, reaching far countries as Japan or USA without pushing it consciously, we would love to do some gigs, but it must come naturally at some point next year, after having the album visible enough for getting concrete plans and working the most efficient schedule possible. It’s the only way to manage things among bands, family, jobs and five guys with such different lives who luckily managed to join forces and spit out this piece of shit.

If you were to play shows, do you think you would stick to Spain or play outside the area in another country?

In my case, considering the different bands I’m involved in, I can say that I spend almost half of my live experiences out of Spain. I have learnt a lot playing out there, because there’s way more music culture and tradition in countries like Germany, France or the UK than here. From the squads in Germany, to the small associations in France filling almost the whole country and its small towns, there’s a lot of road to drive out here.

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