ZAGORO MOJA
Ante Tešija
Hrvoje Bubić; RENATO SPADINI JUNIOR INTERVIEW
Hrvoje Bubić
Renato Spadini Júnior je bas gitarist benda Grinding Proces. Za Solin Live govori o sebi, svome bendu, kao i o brazilskoj rock sceni
Can you introduce yourself and tell us something about yourself?
My name is Renato Spadini Júnior, I’m 47 years old, I’m a bass player and the only remaining founding member of the band. I’m a history teacher and Andreas and Sofia’s father!!!
How did you meet and come up with the idea of a band?
The Band was founded in 2000 in the city of Diadema, in the ABC Paulista region, formed by: JM (vocals), Hugo (guitar), Renato (bass) and Leandro (drums).
I’ve been a long-time friend of J.M., who had been playing in the Underground with Metal bands since 1989 and I invited him to start a band and he agreed and through his girlfriend at the time, we met the drummer and guitarist. I had left my previous band, Refute, because I had problems with one of the members and decided to look for a new project. And thus Grinding Reaction was born.The current lineup with me on bass, Ricardo on guitar and voice and Edilson on drums came to fruition this year with Edilson joining in February. Ricardo, on the other hand, has been in Grinding Reaction since 2011. They are experienced musicians who have been playing in the scene for a long time and we met when we were all part of the band Refute in 1999.
You are known for a specific style, so I would like to ask you to tell us more about your influences?
Grinding Reaction is basically a mixture of Thash Metal, Death Metal and Hardcore, however, we listen to many other musical styles ranging from blues to Brazilian Popular Music. Between us, we have a similar musical taste and I will mention some bands and styles, which are influences of all of us and can be easily perceived in our music. So here we go: Slayer, Anthrax, Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Madball, Agnostic Front, D.R.I., S.O.D, Biohazard, Ratos de Porão, Extreme Noise Terror, Doom, Hatebreed, Obituary, Krisiun, Napalm Death Carcass, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse and we must still remember the straight edge hardcore movement of the nineties and also nu metal.
So far you have released two EPs and two full-length albums. Could you tell us more about those albums as well as the next one?
The first EP “Opression, Negligence, Tears and Blood” was released in 2004, still with the original lineup, there are 5 songs sung in English, the lyrics are critical and reflections on Capitalism and its inconsistencies, in addition to social and political issues typical of Brazil, these themes will be found in all our works. Musically speaking, we have a more raw footprint and with a very strong presence of Hardcore. The production is modest, for reasons ranging from lack of experience to lack of money for something more sophisticated, recording songs in Brazil was very expensive at that time, you had to go to a recording studio, only there would you find the necessary equipment for a recording.
After 2005 the band will go through a big recording hiatus, many internal problems, fights, lack of commitment, drugs, led to excessive lineup changes, which makes it difficult to develop any work. Things only got back on track in 2014, with a stable formation Ricardo, voice and guitar, Victor, guitar, Weslley, drums and me on bass. With this formation we recorded the second EP, in 2015, “Tempo, Persistência e Fúria”, this work is very special it is at the same time a revision of the Demo and the EP of 2004, where the old songs were translated into Portuguese, we gave up to sing in English, and changes were made to the bases of the old songs, in addition to an unpublished song “Verdade e Utopias” which has a very different touch from the previous works, a kind of preview of what would become the album tag from 2018.
“O Caos Sera A Tua Herança” from 2018, recorded by the same lineup as “Tempo, Persistência e Fúria”, was the band’s most technical album so far, heavy, fast, with much more Metal elements, a lot of Groove, but, without losing the essence of Hardcore.
The 2020 album “Insólito 2002-2008” is a commemorative album for the 20th anniversary of Grinding Reaction, the idea was to make an unreleased album, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this was impossible, so how can you not do 20 years of band every day, we decided to make an album with rare and raw material left over from the studio and things like that, to revive the origins of the band, without major pretensions.
You shared the stage with names like Krisiun, Ratos de Porão, Nervosa, Korzus, Claustrofobia, Paura, Surra. Please tell us more about it.
Yes, all big names of the Brazilian Underground, I see it as recognition of the good work we did on the album “O Caos Sera A Tua Herança”, most of these shows were in the period of promotion of this album. Without a doubt, it was an incredible experience for an independent band like us. It was fantastic! We are very proud and learned a lot from these shows, in addition to the feeling of being among the greats.
What is the rock scene like in Brazil? What names would you like to mention?
First thing that must be said Rock and its heavier genres are in decline in Brazil, it’s been a good few years since this type of music stopped being popular in the country, however, even without much support, the Underground scene in Brazil is big and resistant, with many bands, of many styles, with fantastic potential, with a lot of quality, but without space, support or resources to develop and show their work. I prefer not to name specific bands, so as not to be unfair.
For the end, what would you say to our readers? What are your future projects?
I suggest that European people try to get to know more Brazilian bands, there is a lot of good material on digital platforms that is worth knowing. I’m sure there will be great surprises. I also want to invite readers to get to know the work of Grinding Reaction and talk to us, for that we have material on Spotify, Deezer, YouTube and other channels. And to talk to us the easiest way is Instagram, just go to the search magnifying glass and type the name of the band, and write to us, that one of us will respond.
As for future projects, it is to continue promoting the 2022 single “Falemos O Que Não Quer Ser Ouvido” and its video clip and now in the second half of the year we will record a new single and another clip. In the medium term, the idea is to record a new album and go to Europe, which we haven’t done yet. We are open to invitations and proposals!!!
And finally thank you for the space!!! And that we know that Eastern Europe is the region of the continent that most values and makes room for underground bands from all over the world! A big hug to everyone!
Možete li nam se predstaviti i reći nešto o sebi?
Moje ime je Renato Spadini Júnior, imam 47 godina, basist sam i jedini preostali izvorni član benda. Ja sam profesor povijesti i Andreasov i Sofijin otac!!!
Kako ste se upoznali i došli do ideju o bendu?
Bend je osnovan 2000. godine u gradu Diadema, u regiji ABC Paulista, a činili su ga: JM (vokal), Hugo (gitara), Renato (bas) i Leandro (bubnjevi).
Bio sam dugogodišnji prijatelj s J.M.-om, koji je svirao u undergroundu (slabo poznati javnosti, op.prev.) s metal bendovima od 1989. i pozvao sam ga da osnuje bend i on je pristao te smo preko njegove tadašnje djevojke upoznali bubnjara i gitarista.
Napustio sam svoj prethodni bend, Refute, jer sam imao problema s jednim od članova i odlučio sam potražiti novi projekt.
I tako je rođen Grinding Reaction.
Trenutačna postava sa mnom na basu, Ricardom na gitari i vokalu te Edilsonom na bubnjevima došlaa je do izražaja ove godine s Edilsonom koji se pridružio u veljači. S druge strane, Ricardo je u Grinding Reactionu od 2011. Oni su iskusni glazbenici koji već dugo sviraju na sceni, a upoznali smo se kad smo svi bili dio benda Refute 1999. godine.
Poznati ste po nekom specifičnom stilu, pa biste nas zamolili da nam kažete nešto više o svojim utjecajima?
Grinding Reaction je u osnovi mješavina Thrash Metala, Death Metala i Hardcorea, međutim, slušamo i mnoge druge glazbene stilove u rasponu od bluesa do brazilske popularne glazbe.
Među nama, imamo sličan glazbeni ukus, a ja ću spomenuti neke bendove i stilove, koji su utjecaji svih nas i lako se mogu uočiti u našoj glazbi.
Pa idemo: Slayer, Anthrax, Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Madball, Agnostic Front, D.R.I., S.O.D, Biohazard, Ratos de Porao, Extreme Noise Terror, Doom, Hatebreed, Obituary, Krisiun, Napalm Death Carcass, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse i još uvijek se moramo sjetiti straight edge hardcore pokreta devedesetih kao i nu metala.
Do sada ste izdali dva EP-a i dva dugosvirajuća albuma. Možete li nam reći nešto više o ovim albumima, kao i o sljedećem?
Prvi EP “Opression, Negligence, Tears and Blood” objavljen je 2004., još uvijek s originalnom postavom, ima 5 pjesama otpjevanih na engleskom, tekstovi su kritični i razmišljnjaju o kapitalizmu i njegovim nedosljednostima, uz društvena i politička pitanja tipične za Brazil, ove teme naći ćemo u svim našim radovima. Glazbeno govoreći, imamo siroviji otisak i vrlo jaku prisutnost Hardcorea. Produkcija je skromna, iz razloga od nedostatka iskustva do nedostatka novca za nešto sofisticiranije, snimanje pjesama u Brazilu je bilo jako skupo u to vrijeme, morali ste ići u studio za snimanje, samo tamo biste pronašli potrebnu opremu za snimka.
Nakon 2005. godine bend će proći kroz veliku pauzu u snimanju, mnoge unutarnje probleme, svađe, nedostatak angažmana, droge, doveli su do pretjeranih promjena postave, što otežava razvoj bilo kakvog rada. Stvari su se vratile na pravi put tek 2014., sa stabilnom formacijom Ricardo, vokal i gitara, Victor, gitara, Weslley, bubnjevi i ja na basu. S ovom formacijom snimili smo drugi EP, 2015., “Tempo, Persistencia e Furia”, ovaj rad je vrlo poseban, ujedno je i revizija dema i EP-a iz 2004., gdje su stare pjesme prevedene na portugalski , odustali smo od pjevanja na engleskom, a izmjene su napravljene i na bazama starih pjesama, uz neobjavljenu pjesmu “Verdade e Utopias” koja ima sasvim drugačiji ugođaj od prethodnih radova, svojevrsni pregled onoga što će postati oznaka albuma iz 2018.
“O Caos Sera A Tua Herança” iz 2018., snimljen u istoj postavi kao i “Tempo, Persistencia e Furia”, bio je najtehničkiji album benda do sada, žestok, brz, s puno više metal elemenata, puno groovea, ali , bez gubljenja suštine hardcorea.
Album iz 2020. “Insolito 2002-2008” je prigodni album za 20. godišnjicu Grinding Reactiona, ideja je bila napraviti neobjavljen album, ali zbog pandemije Covid-19 to je bilo nemoguće, pa kako ne napraviti 20 godina benda svaki dan, odlučili smo napraviti album s rijetkim i sirovim materijalom koji je ostao iz studija i sličnih stvari, oživjeti početak benda, bez velikih pretenzija.
Dijelili ste pozornicu s imenima kao što su Krisiun, Ratos de Porao, Nervosa, Korzus, Claustrofobia, Paura, Surra. Recite nam više o ovome.
Da, sva velika imena brazilskog undergrounda, vidim to kao priznanje za dobar posao koji smo napravili na albumu “O Caos Sera A Tua Herança”, većina tih nastupa bila je u razdoblju promocije ovog albuma. Bez sumnje, bilo je to nevjerojatno iskustvo za nezavisan bend poput nas. Bilo je fantastično! Jako smo ponosni i puno smo naučili iz ovih nastupa, osim osjećaja da smo među velikanima.
Kakva je rock scena u Brazilu? Koja biste imena spomenuli?
Prvo što se mora reći rock i njegovi žešći žanrovi su u padu u Brazilu, bilo je dobro prije nekoliko godina otkako je ova vrsta glazbe prestala biti popularna u zemlji, međutim, čak i bez velike podrške, underground scena u Brazilu je velika i otporan, s mnogo bendova, s mnogo stilova, s fantastičnim potencijalom, s puno kvalitete, ali bez prostora, podrške ili resursa za razvoj i pokazivanje svog rada. Radije neću imenovati određene bendove, da ne budem nepravedan.
Za kraj, što biste poručili našim čitateljima? Koji su Vaši budući projekti?
Predlažem da Europljani pokušaju upoznati više brazilskih bendova, ima mnogo dobrog materijala na digitalnim platformama koji vrijedi znati. Siguran sam da će biti velikih iznenađenja. Također želim pozvati čitatelje da se upoznaju s radom Grinding Reaction i razgovaraju s nama, za to imamo materijal na Spotifyju, Deezeru, YouTubeu i drugim kanalima. A najlakše način da razgovarate s nama je Instagram, samo idite na tražilicu i upišite ime benda, pa pišite nam, pa će se netko od nas javiti.
Što se tiče budućih projekata, to je nastavak promocije singla iz 2022. “Falemos O Que Nao Quer Ser Ouvido” i njegovog video spota, a sada u drugoj polovici godine snimit ćemo novi singl i još jedan spot. Srednjoročno gledano, ideja je snimiti novi album i otići u Europu, što još nismo dosad. Otvoreni smo za pozive i prijedloge!!!
I na kraju hvala na prostoru!!! I da znamo da je istočna Europa regija kontinenta koja najviše cijeni i ostavlja mjesta za underground bendove iz cijelog svijeta! Veliki zagrljaj svima!
