Interview with RPG-7

Chat with RPG-7, a hardcore punk band from Madrid

Active on the Madrid and international scene for several years now, Madrid-based band RPG-7 have released several albums and just recently released ‘Cuatro’, their new album of 11 powerful, angry tracks with strong political and social themes. We saw them live in Bologna some time ago and immediately found them devastating, and we haven’t stopped listening. Let’s get to know them a little better in this interview with RPG-7!

Radio Punk: Hi guys and welcome to our webzine. Tell us a bit about yourselves. When and where did you form, and what was social and historical context? Did you have previous experience in other bands?

RPG-7: We are a band formed in September 2007 in the neighbourhood of Vallekas (Madrid). In 2010 we released our first album “Un paso de un largo camino” with which we played 40 concerts: 35 in Spain, 3 in France and 2 in Italy. In 2012 we released the second album “En tu ciudad” doing 38 concerts, 2 in Italy, 2 in France and 4 in Germany. In 2016 we released the third album “Vuelta al barrio” with which we did 39 concerts, 8 in Germany, 4 in Italy and 1 in France. And now in January 2022 we released our fourth album “Cuatro”. We had already closed the first concert of the tour in Germany, but it was recently cancelled due to the high number of contagions in that country. So now we will have the official presentation on April 2 in Madrid. All our works are self-produced through concerts and merchandising. Some of our works have been published by labels in Canada, Germany, Russia, Italy and France. All the band members have played in other bands before, but since we formed RPG7 our priority and all our work has been for this band, that’s why we are not playing in any other band. During all these years there have been line-up changes, due to work, fatigue or personal reasons, but we still have a good relationship with the former members, and they still come to our gigs.

RP: Some time ago you sent us an article with some considerations about the Spanish scene, particularly about booking agencies. What can you tell us about the Madrid scene and the Spanish scene in general? Are there some social centres, squats, alternative clubs, labels, distros that are working in the anti-fascist and DIY fields?

RPG-7: As we told you in that article, the essence of punk in our opinion is dead, and we saw this in the middle of the pandemic when punk bands played concerts for seated people. There are too many promoters and too many big festivals, where the same bands play all the time. A lot of these bands basically don’t do venues, just festivals, they go and play for an hour in front of a lot of people and get paid more money than they would in a venue gig. It’s very difficult for smaller bands to create a niche for themselves, because you have to compete with all those festivals, and when your gig coincides with one of them, unfortunately you have to cancel it. We’ve always believed in self-management, and we do everything ourselves, nobody pays us anything, no recording, no CD or LP releases, no merch. We’ve made four albums so far, we’ve toured half the country and played gigs in Europe, always in modest places, but that’s what we like, being in contact with people. As for social hubs and clubs, there are less and less of them (except in the Basque Country), social centres in other cities unfortunately appear and disappear and there is a lot of demand to play, but it has to be through an organisation, and there are few places for 100-200 people and there is also a big demand, sometimes you have to book several months in advance. There are a lot of distributors, but because people also buy little music, very little is sold. We send the vinyl to Chile and Germany, which is where some distributors asked us and here in Madrid Potencial Hardcore, the rest we do by selling it at concerts or through social networks.

RP: How is the health emergency and the management of the pandemic in Spain? Have there been many closures? Do you manage to organise concerts and have sociality or is everything closed and repressed?

RPG-7: During the hardest part of the pandemic, all the concerts were cancelled, and the venues closed, which meant that a lot of people who made a living from performing were left without work, which was very difficult for them. Later, venues were opened for concerts, but with restrictions on capacity and movement. There were groups that wanted to start playing, and today, depending on the city, there are some restrictions or others. Here in Madrid, there are currently no restrictions, except for the use of masks, and you can play without any problem. During all this time we took the chance and released new songs, recorded an album and rehearsed so that when the time came we would be ready. And that time has come. Because we categorically refused to play concerts with limited capacity and seated people.

RP: Your latest album ‘Cuatro’ was recently released. Would you like to tell us a bit about it? Which labels has this album been released for in the world? What do you think “Cuatro” has in comparison to your other works?

RPG-7: This new album is called Cuatro because it’s the fourth one, we didn’t think too much about it. We liked it to be something simple and strong, both the name and the cover and lyrics. As we said in the previous answer, we wrote it during the pandemic and without seeing each other, each from home and using music programs, so that when the time came to see each other we could go with the task done, and that’s how it was. It’s a more hardcore sounding album, where we included a DJ who gives it a different sound to what we do nowadays. This DJ is another member of the band and in the live shows he does the same as on the album, we didn’t want to do the album in one way and then the live show in another one. Also, he has his moments during the concert while the rest of us are tuning. It’s set up so that for an hour there’s not a single second’s break. It’s a very elaborate album.

RP: You have played all over the world. What is one scene that you admire and enjoy very much?

RPG-7: Every place has something special, it’s true that the language does a lot, because here in Spain people know all the songs and can sing them, and that always motivates a lot. In Germany they have a very good organisation in everything, we never had problems with accommodation, food or sound, everything is very professional, but people are more serious, and in Italy the truth is that people are very similar to here in everything, even with the language we can understand each other, and this makes us laugh a lot, so you feel very comfortable. In fact, Livorno and Florence are some of the places where we had the most fun, we have some photos that we would rather not show ahahah. As for the organisation and the social centres, we were really surprised because they’re very good, at least in the places we went.

RP: Also in your article, you told us that everything was more real in the 80s and 90s. Would you like to explain what you meant by that?

RPG-7: In the 80s almost no one, (not to say no one), made a living from music, people put together bands as a hobby and because through music they could give a message, it was all more underground, there was no internet and music was passed from hand to hand on recorded tapes, when there was a concert in the squats, people went to listen to live music, meet people, new bands and have fun, a lot of people came together.
Today it’s the opposite. We see that from one day to the next a band comes out and a promoter asks thousands of euros to play, and every time they ask for more exaggerated amounts of money to play, the clubs ask you for money to play, even if you fill the room and make a lot of money with drinks. With digital platforms the same thing happens, if you don’t know a band that is going to play at a concert, you listen to a song on Spotify and if you don’t like it you go to the next one, and you decide whether to go and see it or stay in the park and drink with your friends. Socialising in certain spaces is also being lost. This has changed a lot between the eighties, nineties and today.

RP: How much does the political and DIY aspect matter to you? What are the most important struggles for you?

RPG-7: We think it’s very important to give political messages in the songs, and for people to become aware of them. We are very happy when a young person comes up to us and tells us that they have become politically aware by listening to us, if there is only one person like that, it’s a triumph. Music is about giving messages, and you can give good, bad or useless messages. We have as an example the vast majority of reggaeton lyrics, lyrics without a message and most of which are machista, which makes kids think it’s a good thing. For us today the trade union struggle is a priority. There are many people who claim to be antifa or anti-Nazi and don’t come out of there, don’t go to demonstrations, don’t militate and do little to change the system. We as workers believe that through the trade union struggle in our workplaces we can raise workers’ awareness, and if we raise workers’ awareness of who they are and who the enemy is, we have a lot to gain. Because if workers become aware and decide to stop, the world stops. We are the engine.

RP: You have a lot of different influences in you, there seems to be some Brutal oi! made in Non Servium, some metal, some street punk, some beatdown/rap. What music do you usually listen to? Would you like to tell us which are the historical bands/artists that are fundamental for you, and which are the ones we should absolutely listen to and with whom you find it great to collaborate both for political and musical vision?

RPG-7: We listen to all kinds of music, we love music and we feed on it, our DJ for example is a rap master, he has hundreds of rap vinyls from all over the world. The drummer loves death metal, the bassist loves brit pop… We listen to all kinds of music, rap, flamenco, trash metal, punk, Cuban music etc. If the music is good, we listen to it. There are many groups that have left their musical mark on us, Kortatu, Banda Bassotti, Negu Gorriak, Hechos contra el decoro, La polla, etc. Today there are very good groups like Brigade Loco, Bake Faltsua, Boot Boys, Eterns, In Your Face, which musically and politically offer different things from what other groups offer.

RP: Often, when we make playlists on Spotify, we struggle to find all the punk bands we are interested in. In fact, in our scene there are those who prefer not to use this platform for political reasons. What do you think about it? Is it used by bands in Spain? Do you see Spotify as a resource or does it risk taking away the market from physical formats? More generally, how do you disseminate your music?

RPG-7: We understand people who don’t want to use this platform and we respect them completely. Unfortunately, today we live in a capitalist system in which we are trapped, and it is almost impossible to live outside of it. You cannot use Spotify and feel that you’re not collaborating with capitalist corporations, but then you drink three litres of Coca Cola, or go to McDonald’s for dinner. We put all our albums on pretty much every digital platform so that people who want to listen to them there can listen to them, and people who don’t want to listen to them there and prefer to buy a cd or an EP can buy them or download them for free. As we said, we are a self-managed group and the money that comes from selling the music both physically and from listening to it on the digital platforms, helps us to move forward, and those who can’t or don’t want to collaborate in that way have the possibility to download it for free without problems. It helps us reach more people, especially outside of Spain, which is the only way they can listen to us. Unfortunately, less and less physical music is sold, and we were considering not releasing anything physical for this last album, but we decided to take the risk and release it, because we like having it and for the people who buy it.

RP: Let’s end on a high note, with an amarcord moment! What was the most beautiful and the most absurd concert you played in? Thank you very much, and good luck with “Cuatro”!

RPG-7: Fortunately and unfortunately, we had a lot of good gigs and some bad ones. Places like Gasteiz, Zumaia, Ponferrada, are places we love to go to, because of the dedication of the people, it’s incredible. In cp 21 in Livorno it was something very special for us, the dedication of the people was brutal and after the gig it was spectacular how much fun we had with the people until 8am, we still remember that. We’ve also had concerts to forget, where we didn’t get paid, or when we got to the venue they didn’t have a place to do the gig, or in Paris, when we arrived at the airport at 11pm we were told by the organisation that they couldn’t pick us up and we had to find a way to get out of the airport and find a place to sleep, paying for our accommodation and the taxi. But well, you learn from the bad things, and you don’t forget the good things even if the years go by. We have very good friendships with people we know through music and travelling to other cities, in Italy we have a very good relationship with people from Livorno and Florence for example.
Thank you very much again for interviewing us, for spreading our music and we hope we can come to Italy soon to present the album.

Reminder:

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