Rockezine.com interview with Agresión on Jul 20, 2002

with Jasper Dankaart, Alejandro Londono and Juan Manuel De Ferrari on Jul 20, 2002

With their latest release, Cultura 3, Agresión launch themselves as the 3rd World answer to nu-metal. The band has already conquered The Netherlands and is ready to expand to the rest of the world.
		In 1995 you decided to come to The Netherlands. Why did you choose The Netherlands and not another country? We admire the Netherlands for the Dynamo Festival, Roadrunner Records and for a band called Pestilence. But actually it was our intention to go to Sweden, but we stayed in the Netherlands and we like it here a lot. We are here since 1995 and we’re already considered to be a Dutch band. This is our home now.
		What possibilities does The Netherlands have for a band like Agresión? Well, The Netherlands is actually suffocation for us right now (laughs). The Netherlands is great for showcases, festivals, but sadly enough there’s a monopoly here right now. If you’re not part of this monopoly you get stuck somewhere. There’s no healthy competition. Sadly enough the Dutch media has too great an influence on the music scene. The kids believe everything they say. That’s why we’d like to expand to other countries and try somewhere else. But we’ll always be a Dutch band and the Netherlands will always be our home.
		Which bands inspired you to start making music? Metallica (And Justice For All), Biohazard and other old school hardcore bands like Agnostic Front and Sick Of It All.
		Recently you’ve gone back to South America to do a couple of shows. Can you share some experiences of that with our readers? It was great! We stayed for 2 months in South America and we played 25 shows in Venezuela and Columbia (Rock Al Parque festival in Bogota). We did 2 shows on the Rock Al Parque festival. The first gig was for 25.000 people and the second gig was for 70.000 people! The crowd was very enthusiastic and went loco when they saw us play. The difference between the audiences here in the Netherlands and in South America is that for those people it doesn’t matter how popular a band is. The Dutch audience is a bit spoiled and only goes loco on popular bands.
		What do you think of the Dutch music scene? Are there any bands that we certainly need to check out? The media ruins the Dutch music scene, because the media decides what’s hot and what’s not and the kids believe everything the media says. That’s why we want to expand to other countries where the kids aren’t ruined by the media. My favorite bands from the Netherlands are Brainshake, Green Lizard, Beef and Driven.
		You’ve recently released a new album called “Cultura 3”. Can you tell me something more about this album title and the concept of this album? The title is a strong statement in Spanish. It’s also an interpretation of the 3rd World only spelled in another way. The album is a concept album and is a showcase for the contrast between the 3rd World and the USA/ Europe.
		What are your expectations of the new album? We think it’s a good album and it will certainly please our fan base. That was our first concern. Our second concern was to expand to foreign countries. We have big expectations of the new album to be picked up outside The Netherlands.
		Can you tell me what the inspiration for this new album was? The 3rd World inspired us to write this record. Just watch CNN for 30 minutes and you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s so depressing to see so much poverty and sickness. If we don’t do anything about it we’ll be leading ourselves to hell.
		If you had to sum up the album in one sentence, which sentence would that be? (After a few minutes) Left-winger rage… No sorry we can’t sum up this album in just one sentence. Just listen to our record and you’ll have your answer.
		4Tune Records released the album. Is this record company your initiative? Yes. We started this label, because a lot of record companies were afraid to release albums that don’t guarantee a lot of money. So we started a label to dare.
		If you’d be asked to cover 3 bands of your choice, which three would that be? Portishead, Sepultura and Rage Against The Machine.
		How do you say: “Thank you for the interview and good luck with your new album” in Spanish? “Gracias por la entrevista y mucha suerte con el nuevo cd. Puntos asquerosos.”
		(Dennis van den Berg)