SPINE will be released later this month. estatetheir third and best album to date.
For the uninitiated, the Kansas City, Missouri-based quartet’s sound leans primarily toward the power violence corner of the hardcore sound spectrum, and the band has been around for over a decade. But as strong as their early work (on labels like Bridge Nine and Bad Teeth Recordings) was, estate It perfectly describes their approach, both musically and lyrically.
Tracked in a steel storage unit that SPINE converted into a practice space, estate Move forward with speed and ferocity. But it’s vocalist Antonio Marquez’s lyrics that are decisive here. On this album, the singer writes through the lens of Cuban-American growing up and his view of the world. It’s a remarkable and compelling piece of lyric card (especially since Antonio sings in both English and Spanish).
I talked with Antonio about estatethe influence of his father’s record collection, and his experience growing up as a Latino kid in the hardcore scene.
When did you start listening to heavy music? How did your parents react to it? From my experience (Colombian father, Ecuadorian mother) they never liked it but it didn’t really interfere with it.
I started listening to heavy music at an early age. I started listening to a lot of nu metal and ‘regular’ heavy music at the time. It led me down two paths. One was more industrial/goth music (via Pigface, NIN, Cleopatra Records, etc.) and the other was finding something that inspired everything I liked at the time. It was also around this time that I discovered my father’s record collection, which included Agnostic Front records. Cause of alarmand praised.
When I was younger (late 90s/early 2000s), my thoughts on skinheads were quite different (I only touched on things like: American history X). I was so confused by this that I didn’t listen to it.
A few years later Napster started to take off and my dad downloaded Cro-Mags, SOD and Agnostic Front songs. By this time, I was starting to put things together and it was starting to click for me. Nu-metal wasn’t that interesting to me, so metalcore and hardcore really fascinated me. Having those tracks as a foundation taught me a lot about what I ended up working on.
Needless to say, my father was fine with that. Originally from West New York, New Jersey in the ’80s (first stop was Cuba), he met a childhood friend, Willy Medina, who eventually played in several SFLA hardcore bands, La Vieja. ) touched on a lot of cool stuff at the time. Guardia is one of them).
By the time he got to Kansas City, he thought it didn’t exist anymore and went down the path of listening to more “normal” music. I think he was really interested in the fact that I was once into a band that he loved. What about the rest of the family?yes, that didn’t fly at all [laughs]. “Devil’s music!”
Your family is from Cuba, has politics always existed in your home since you were a child? Did they tell you about such things as a child, or did they protect you from it until you were old enough to understand it?
The day I was born was all about politics. Constant reminders of why we are here and what we had to go through to get here. Let me tell you, this didn’t really hit me until middle school. As I outlined earlier, I was interested in music, especially alternative/nu metal, from a young age. Whatever was considered “heavy” at the time.
One of the biggest bands of the 90’s was Rage Against the Machine. I purchased a RATM shirt (by mailing a money order to the Rockabilia catalogue). This particular design meant nothing but cool design to me at the time. Even now, I don’t know if that image is Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, or someone else. But when people wore it to family gatherings, they went completely insane.
I think all my older cousins pulled me aside, asked me questions about shirts, and told me about the importance of understanding what you’re wearing on your body. I had no idea. But it was then that I realized not only how sensitive a subject it was, but how wrong people could be about this. I even felt, “Why would you want someone to wear a shirt with that person on it?” I couldn’t understand how something like this could exist, and how people would wear it without regard for its significance.
I later found out about the typical Che shirt that Reiji wore, and it was just that shirt. [laughs]. Being proud to be Cuban and living in America has always been the norm. To this day, family gatherings always consist of current turmoil in Cuba and updates with family members still in Cuba. The one thing that always sticks in everyone’s mind is never forgetting and hoping to come back one day.
What was your family’s reaction when you told them about it? estate And the whole concept around it?
When I was brainstorming ideas for an image for this record, I decided to include an old photo that I thought was interesting and would contrast with the music on the record. No one in my family knew about the images or the songs on the record until we announced it a few weeks ago. His father immediately called me and asked why he was putting his picture on the record.
The uncles asked about the cut video they were in. A few cousins contacted me about photos from the first single, including a photo of her grandmother and two of her siblings riding horses in Cuba. That was cool, especially since they don’t understand what’s going on musically. However, they appreciated the concept and its content.
There are works they haven’t seen or heard of yet (and many more photographs and audio recordings) that will be available when the record comes out. It will be a real test of how they feel about it (laughs)!
Did going through the Kansas City hardcore scene really make you feel accepted as a Latino kid? Tell us about that aspect of your experience before and after starting SPINE in that community.
I felt included, but not seen as Latinx. They just saw me as Antonio and when I was in hardcore it was different than it was the last 8-10 years. Uniformity seemed to be the way the scene was at the time. It’s not that people aren’t individuals, but who you are wasn’t as much a consideration as what you liked (musically).
When I started SPINE, I really wanted to write music in Spanish. But I didn’t think people would resonate with it, so I finally waited until the first LP had a song (“Se Acabe”). One of the biggest driving factors was the fact that I was seen as nothing but Antonio. But it’s also important for you to see me as a proud Latino, Cuban American. It was important to put that flag on myself, especially given all the problems and misunderstandings that arise when trying to rationalize what is happening in Cuba right now.
There are not many people in our field, not many people who are interested in speaking up. But I wanted to confirm what I said in this matter.”estate’ He cared less about Cuba and was more open to Latino issues. I think there are many commonalities that face many Latinos in the United States that are worth deciphering. I am proud to be Cuban American, but I am equally proud to be Latino. That means it’s important to support and stand in solidarity with fellow Latinos, especially in the scene.
Will Spine be ready to play in Cuba if the opportunity presents itself?
I would love to play in Cuba someday. I would be happy if I could take my children and show them where my family is from. I am happy to see the family I still have on a regular basis. But I couldn’t go to Cuba and play music until the government changed. And a serious commitment to not restricting freedom of speech and expression, the right to leave the country at will, and significant improvements in human rights.
I know it means a lot to my Cuban friends and brings a lot of hope, but I also know it will only put money in the pockets of their oppressors. I couldn’t do that. I have done and will continue to do so to deliver supplies to my family.
But it can be hard to do anything for “fun” when you can’t bring your loved ones home. But I hope someday.
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License It will be released on June 30th via Convulse Records (pre order).
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