What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.
I’m a text book, special ed, artwank, Punk, bastard. Art and music are 2 things I am vaguely good at.
The first bands I was proper obsessed with as a kid were the Sex Pistols and Jane’s Addiction. I got guitar lessons quite young, but I was also painfully shy. So just kept it all to myself with books full of lyrics I daren’t show anyone.
In my later teens/early 20s I was going raving more than seeing bands and bought my first set of turntables and mixer and taught myself to mix jungle, drum and bass and old skool rave stuff mostly.
I had a lot more confidence with this, and in early 2000s moved back to London and did a music design course, with the idea of getting work with sound design, but also learn how to use Cubase and make my own drum and bass. But very quickly I learnt how very useless I am with computers. I met a bassist on the course and ended up in a punk band instead !!
After almost a decade, London life got in the way of the band continuing. But I kept writing and basically pulled in some favours from some very talented musicians to help me record the first Bruxa Maria album.
Provide us with some info about your latest release…
We are working on our second album at the moment. Hopefully that will be out in Autumn.
At the moment though we have a split single with the amazing 3 piece Norwegian band MoE.
It’s part of ‘singles club 4’ on Godunknown records.
I met Guro from MoE through driving Arabrot on tour. Later I drove MoE as well, and was so inspired by them. I remember thinking in my head, that when I get the first Bruxa album done, I want to send it to them and if they like it, I would LOVE to do a split with MoE. And so it came to pass.
I am so, so happy about this latest release. Proper proud. Jason Stoll (Godunknown) gave it a good old push by getting the Bruxa tune ‘Purple Aki’ played on Gideon Coe’s show on BBC Radio 6 a few times too. Which was great.
The MoE side, properly out punks us LOL. It is like the perfect punk 7inch.
Just buy it and listen.
I’m so chuffed with this release.
We have done a mini UK tour with MoE already. MoE will be playing the festival Supernormal this year, which should be blinding, coz they went down a storm at Raw Power this year.
Bruxa and MoE have Brighton gig just before then too, so check the face book for details.
Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?
Good people, bad people, the state of the world today…
Musically at the moment (to avoid the obvious list of old skool bands and musicians):
MoE, The Body, Deaf kids, UKAEA,…. Ray Keith always perks up my day and makes me smile too…
Bless his heart and his big white beard..
In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?
I was just calling our band a ‘punk’ band. It just int punk by numbers. I understand we descriptively fit with the term ‘noise rock’ better. So then came the term ‘noise punk’ which describes Bruxa a little better I think.
I’d say we are as aggressively sounding as punk needs to be these days. And we are what we have lived also. So there is industrial noise in there as well more subtle elements of dynamics that can come from heavy dance music rather than constantly needing to be weird or unexpected. Like if your gonna fuck with people with art wank, then at least reward them with riffs right?
That’s my theory anyways.
Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…
Trick baby by Iceberg Slim
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
(can I cheat and chose a graphic novel LOL) – Love and Rockets – preferably the Gilbert Hernandez stories. But Jaimie also owns.. Both transport you to an amazing world.
Records:
It takes a nation of millions to hold us back – Public Enemy
Nothings Shocking – Jane’s Addiction
This tape I had in my first car as a teen – I think it was DJ Ratty, and Randall
Movies:
Babylon
Weird Science
Long Good Friday
Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?
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Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?
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Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?
I think the track Human Condition stands out as different to the rest of the record. Maybe people were expecting the whole record to sound like that as it was the title track. But it did us no harm and maybe even brought different people in to listening to our stuff that may not have initially been interested with out that track.
I am well up for doing more noise stuff. I enjoy being able to perform and not have to worry about the guitar.
Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?
We are finishing our next album at the moment and hope to have that released in Autumn. Hominid Sounds are releasing it, which is great.
We have an amazing charity gig to play on June 28th at the Victoria, Queensbridge road, London E8 3AS. With Modern Technology, Lump Hammer, C. Nosnibor.
The night is called Human Worth and is to raise money for the charities ‘Mind’ and ‘Shelter’.
So I am super chuffed we were asked to play.
We play with MoE in Brighton August 1st,
We have a free show at Shackwell Arms that is being recorded on August 15th.
Margate weekender ‘It Came from the Sea’ we play on Aug 25th.
We also have a gig in Manchester on October 26th at the Peer Hat, which we will add gig dates too.
So keep an eye on the Bruxa facebook for details.
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Photo credits: Kinky Star (Ghent)
Curated by: Christos Doukakis
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