São Paulo's City Centre - Rock Gallery

There's a place at Sampa's city centre that's called "Galeria do Rock" (Rock Gallery). It's a 5 floor building where a bunch of stores sell CDs, vinils, t-shirts. In the past it was all about rock, nowadays there stores which sell other kind of music and stuff.

When I was 14, I went to the Rock Gallery with my father and a very good friend of mine (Dezesseis' drummer). I had saved some money to buy everything I could, so did my friend.

My father was driving and he parked in a car park close to the Rock Gallery. Right in front of the car park there was a broken pipe, which was being used as a shower by a beggar. He was completelly naked, using a plastic cup get the wather from the gap of the sidewalk. It was a very warm day and I have never seen someone as happy as him when taking a shower!

After that, we went shopping and bought everythin we wanted. It's wasn't much, because we didn't have much money. My friend bought a CD by Sepultura, and he openned it when we were in the car... sadly, it was falsified.

One of my goods, the only one I can remember, was Insomniac by Green Day. This CD had been reaaally criticised by the audience, but for me, it's as good as the others (even Dookie).

Song number two, Stuck With Me, is my favorite, and we used to play it in Dezesseis. Some say, that it's name is wrong, and had been exchanged with a song called Do da da (From Stuck With Me Single), which says repeatedly "Stuck With Me" in the chorus. It's an unfortune that this song is not part of the main CD, because would definetely be one of the best songs of the album!

Band: Green Day

Song: Stuck With Me

Album: Insomniac

Release: 1995

Band: Green Day
Song: Do da da
Album: Stuck With Me (single)
Release: 1995

(Sorry about the video)

My First Band and My First Song Ever

Once upon a time, there were three youngster from the south of São Paulo. They were only friends until one day when things changed!

They were "having fun" in a "party" of a "friend" when they first suggested to start a band. Well, the guitar player wasn't good, the bass player (myself) neither, but the most important was that the drummer wasn't actually a drummer, he had never played a drum before that day. However, it was only a small detail: what's the problem about starting a band without a drumset? Easy, anyone can do it! To make things even better, my friends decided to name the band as Porca Loka (I have always hated that name, I was against it, from the beginning, I swear!)

Ok, we finally bought a drum and started playing (or pretending). I still have some tapes of or rehearsals, so disgraceful! Well, it wasn't good as music, but it was awesome as friendiship and good fun!

How can a band be a punk rock band if its first song is not from the Ramones? So, the first song that comes to my head when I remember things from that time is "I wanna be your boyfriend". How dare we play it so badly? Jesus...

The funniest thing is the sound of the drumplates, that were actually demonstration plates, what means, plates to be shown in the front of the store with the drums, but not to be sold with it! Holy shit, it had been better if we used pans, traffic signs or something else!

Very, very good times! I really miss it, thanks to my old Friends Dan and Surf (he loves his nickname =o).

Song: I wanna be your boyfriend

Band: Ramones

Album: Ramones

Release: 1976

If there´s No Substance, it goes to the bin!

Well, last week I told you the story of the first song I learned to play in the bass and this song reminds me another story... It didn't happen to me, but it bothered me a lot at that time. I was fourteen or fifteen...

When Bad Religion was the best and almost my only band to hear, one of my friends was listening to it and he finally bought CD.

Few days later, he came to me to say he threw the CD away. The reason: his mother read through the lyrics and found out what they were about. For those who are not informed or are too orthodox, the lyrics can be misunderstood as something anti-Christ.

I was shocked, I had that CD and I cound't imagine that someone could ever do that. Months later, my friend came to me once again and asked my CD for him to make a copy...

There's no specific song that reminds me this story, then, my favourite song in this CD will do!

Music: Shades of Truth

Band: Bad Religion

Album: No Substance

Release: 1998

First Song in the Bass

I think I'll write a series of posts based on my "firsts". I have already writen about the first music I liked in the Pop Blues style, the first I liked by Sister Hazel, and so on.

It´s a variation of the same subject, thats the first song I ever played in the bass. It happened in the year 2000 when my big friend Edu Giansante came back to our village. He brought his drums, guitar e and bass with him.

I was only a begginer with the guitar but I wanted to learn to play the bass. I showed him some songs I liked, and he learned by ear one by Bad Religion that started with the bass, and taught me!

Then, this song, far away from my favourites, but still a good song, draws a division line in my "musical life".

Music: Shades of Truth

Band: Bad Religion

Album: No Substance

Release: 1998

Lowering my Self Steem...

Well, nothing is perfect. It´s a brazilian saying that can be said and understood in any language! 

Once upon a time, there was a band, my band, called Dezesseis (Sixteen). Once upon the same time, there was going to be an event in my school... Well, it can be seen as an oppotunitty, can´t it? 

Well, we talked to the principal and she allowed us to play in the event, bad luck day, I have to say...

We rehersed some new songs, trying to get the most most popular but still in our style, Punk Rock / Hard Core. We played few songs, 4 or 5... One of ours, and the others were covers... I could remind any song we played, but for some reason, any reason, I remind Offspring - Sefl Steem. 

The sound equalization was awful. They plugged the microphones in speakers that were located metres away from the band, we could barely listen to it, and the audience could hear only it! That was a disaster in its perfection! One of my worst shows ever, possibly the worst!

Artist: Offspring
Music: Self Steem
Album: Smash
Released: 1994

Time of Your Life

"This is the "most punk" song we've ever released!" That's what Mike Dirnt, Green Day's bass player thinks about Billie Joe's song. Probably because it's completely different to everything Green Day done before.

This song has a differente appeal and talks about a decision point when thinks change in your life and you need to move on! In that case, to Billie Joe, the reason was the end of a relationship that, for him, shouldn't have ended.

It's one of the most popular of Green Day songs, it's possibly as famous as Basket Case, the classic. When this song reached the top of the charts I was discovering Green Day. I used to listen to the radio everyday just to listen this song wishing really hard that Time of Your Life was in the top... but, unfortunetelly, it never happend, at least not in the main rock radio station of that time.

All the days I listened to the radio, I'll never forget, the most voted was The Unforgiven II, by Metallica, which I liked, but which I wasn't supporting.

Good times, when I went out to play on the streets with my friends having two other bigger friends: the radio, and the earphones.

Artist: Green Day
Music: Good Riddance (Time of your Life)
Album: Nimrod
Released: 1997

Jesus supporting the War

In my opinion, one of the most important punk rock songs ever. That's the way I classify this song.

There are few reasons for that:

1 - the song was released in 1993, the before the "new punk" explosion, when Green Day, Offspring and many other punk bands came up and stroke the radios and conquered millions of listeners / followers

2 - the lyrics are about the Gulf War, when the first president of the bastard family Bush said they will win the war because was by their sides. Ironic, isn't it? (It's a pity that none proper punk movement raised back from the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the USA).

I don't really remember the song when it was released, but only from my fist English classes when I was trying to understand lyrics of songs I liked, and American Jesus was one of the first, or maybe the first.

American Jesus, possibly my best punk rock song. Bad Religion, probably my best punk band.

Unfortunately, Bad Religion is not a great video clip producers, but, we can stick to the music, what is already enough.

Band: Bad Religion
Music: American Jesus
Album: Recipe For Hate
Released: 1993