Artist description One of the most popular punk bands in Chile , four LPS and a great DIY attitude

Music Style Melodic hardcore Punk

Musical Influences Bad religion, Mierdaster, ALL, Descendents

Similar Artists Bad religion, Lag Wagon, Ten Foot Pole, ALL, Descendents

Artist History BBS Paranoicos was formed in March 1991 in Santiago de Chile by Pedro, Alex, Juan and Carlos after their own bands split.At the beginning it was very hard to make music and rehearse, because the band didn’t have it’s own instruments, using for that home stereosystems and –boxes, and home made electric and bassguitars….In 1991 the band recorded it’s first demotape, "Dulces BBS Paranoicos" (Sweet Paranoid Children), never released because of the bad sound. But in 1993 they recorded their first LP, "Incierto Final" (Uncertain End), 13 songs by Alerce Records, a local recordcompany. After this the band was able to buy it’s own instruments.The band became very wellknown and got the support of a lot of people who enjoyed the music and the messages in the lyrics about human being, the relation between mankind, society and government, feelings and ideas. In this year BBS played with the Spanish band NeguGorriak.The band began to play in several cities across the country and recorded in 1995 it’s second LP, "Fabricas Mágicas" (Magical Factories), by Toxic Records. After this they crossed the Andes to play several gigs in Argentina. In 1997 the third LP, "Hardcore para Señoritas" (Hardcore for Ladies), was published by Denifer Records (under license of Ta Ke Sale!, BBS’ small label). This cd got the band a great support from all over! The German label Schwarze 7 Tontrager published a comp 7", called Standart Situationen, with bands like Snuff, Those Who Survived the Plague, Radioactive Toys, and others. At the same time several compilations and samplers used BBS Paranoicos-songs!In 1998 BBS played a lot of shows in Chile with bands like the Misfits (USA), Fun People, Loquero, Dos Minutos, Flema (Argentina), Brigada Flores Magón (France) and others. In 1999 BBS published a new LP "Collage", with 7 songs in studio and 13 songs live taken at the Misfits show. This album had a great acceptance by crowd and press. In this year vocalist Alex left the band for personal reasons, vocals were taken over by Carlos and Omar. In April 2000 the band recorded a new EP, "El Ensayo" (The Experiment/The Test?), with Carlos and Omar singing this time. The band is working very hard on a new LP for September this year, at the same time they’re recording a few songs for compilations. At the moment the line-up is Juan (drums), Oman (guitar/vocals), Carlos (bass/vocals), Pedro (guitar) and Cedric (guitar).

Group Members Carlos : bass and vocals Omar Guitar and vocals Juan: DrumsPedro: Guitar

Instruments bass, guitar, drums

Albums Incierto final (1993); Fabricas mágicas(1995), Hardcore para señoritas(1997); Collage (1999); El ENsayo EP (2000)

Press Reviews PARANOIA ZINE, AUSTRIA MARCH 2000. When I was looking for Southamerican bands for the "Even if we can’t change…."-sampler, I came across BBS Paranoicos. Christian from Jurassic Punk Rec. told me about these Chileans and gave me short time later a home made cd, with two LP’s and a demo on it. This cd blew me away to such an extent, unbelievable! Spectacular hardcore with mad melodies, not superficial but always intensive and aggressive! BBS Paranoicos is so much better then many American and European bands, but still they’re not wellknown here. But when you’re gonna look for Southamerican punk and hardcore, in no time you’re gonna find out how many jewels are floating around on the other side of the world…. Anyway, here an interview with Cedric I had by email.By the way, a small delicacy is expected soon in the form of a BBS Paranoicos/Desperate Cry Split 7" by Jurassic Punk Rec.!How big is the punkscene in Chile and what sort of people are there floating around in this scene?The punkscene has grown bigger and bigger the last few years. I remember that the scene in the early 90’s was far more underground then nowadays. You still can’t speak of a big punkscene, but at least nowadays there are more and more shops who sell punkcd’s and there are far more concerts then a few years ago. For example bands like Bad Religion, the Misfits and Down by Law played in Chile a short time ago; things like that were absolutely impossible a few years ago. Nowadays we also have more Chilean punkbands. But Chilean kids are almost always more interested in the metalscene, the big "alternative" scene in Chile. Are punks in Chile more political then European punks? I think you find the same sort of people here and over there, OI!-punks, skaters, skins…. Some of them just think it’s "cool", some of them take a great interest in social-political things.Is it possible to be punk in public in Chile? Or do people not look so typical punk there?It is possible, but harder then in Europe. Cops here can be violent, only because you wear a punkoutfit (Leather jacket, boots….). I think it’s not really necessary to mention that this was much worse in the period of Pinochet. But nowadays you still can be ran in when you look punk. And yes, Southamerican punks love leather jackets, boots, Mohawks, safetypins etc. I really believe everyone has his own fashion, even punks.How do concerts take place? Are there good facilities for so far? Where do you get your cd’s, LP’s and stuff?Concerts take place in several places, for example bars, sheds and even small stages.But there’s not a good structure. Very often it’s hard to organize gigs. There are a few Indy-labels here who publish cd’s, but most bands have to pay for their own recordings.Is it possible to work together with "traditional" political faction during gigs or so?My answer is no, but that’s for so far as we are concerned! But friends of us, a band called "Fiskales Ad-Hok" is gonna tour through Europe soon and gets sponsored by Amnesty International.What was your motivation to start a punkband?I think love for music. But also bands like the Descendents and Bad Religion.What’s your social background?I would say my family is more upperclass, while the others come from middleclasses.What did your parents do during the Pinochet-period and how was it in those days?I was very young back then but ofcourse it was totally shit! You merely have to picture a rightwinged radical dictator, with politics based on (un-)morality of an ultracapitalistic economy. I can recall that censorship was absolutely everywhere, there was no life possible behind the barriers. More then 3000 people were killed by this dictator.Can you try to explain why still so many people support this nationalism? I don’t know, that’s a tough question. I think that’s more or less the same as the people who support Le Pen in France, Blocher in Switzerland or Haider in Austria. I think you can find back the same fear in all of them. Fear for "other" people (cultural, ethnical etc….), fear for unemployment or an economical crisis, fear for differences etc…. Intolerance and being small minded are together with economical unsteadiness maybe an important underlying cause. But why so many? That’s another question, but I don’t think anyone can answer that.What are your lyrics about?Though you can call us a punkband, our lyrics don’t deal that much with politics or social matters. Why not? I don’t know, but the guys who write the lyrics (Carlos and Pedro), are more influenced by personal happenings then protestthemes. We got two or three political tinted songs, but most of them are not.You released three albums (or more?). How would you describe your position (I know that sounds very stupid, sorry) in the Southamerican punkscene? Yes, we did release three albums and an EP and live stuff. Our position. I think in our country Chile we are quite wellknown, but we really don’t know much people in countries like Argentina, Peru or Brazil. That is because we don’t have an "independent distributor" for the whole of South-America. It’s so hard to cross borders for independent/alternative music, as long as you don’t have a clip on MTV or a majordeal, which is not our business ofcourse.How would you describe your music to people who haven’t heard it yet? What influences marked your sound?I think you can call it Latin melodic hardcore (hahaha!!!) Our big influences are bands like Bad Religion, the Descendents/All, NOFX, Lagwagon, but we sing false and in Spanish, so we do not really have a Californiasound!Can we get your albums in Europe?I don’t think that’s possible.What do you do beside the band? Maybe soccer or something….?We’re no soccerfans (except for Carlos, supporter or a bad eleven named "Universidad Catolica", not really punk). Some of us play in other bands, but I think music is the most important thing for us.Something in conclusion?Apologies, if my answers are shit or seem incomplete, but it’s not really simple to answer questions in writing.

Location Santiago, Santiago deChile - Chile

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