Facts About Brazilian Punk

Facts About Brazilian Punk

• Originated in the late 70's
• Influenced by bands from mainly the UK and some from the US like The Clash and Sex Pistols
• The band Restos de Nada (remains of nothing) were the first punk band to emerge in Brazil
• Between 80-85 Sao Paulo became the notable hub for punk bands in Brazil
• Mercenarias is an all female punk band
• Punk gang violence around this time influenced the bands to change their direction to post punk and also new wave
• The 'Straight Edge' movement became popular in the 90's injecting new life into the scene in Sao Paulo
• Most of these new bands in the 90's were singing English
• Punk their was initially created with young people fighting against the Brazilian military regime
• The singer of Olho Seco started a record shop in the 80's called Punk Rock Discos
• This became the meeting point for the scene for years gathering isolated gangs, bands and individuals from around the city to one place creating a proper movement
• Shortly record from the UK were bought over to the shop in unorthodox ways
• These kids couldn't afford the records so the shop made mixtures out of the best songs and sold them cheap
• UK bands like Discharge and Disorder became main influences for the movement over there and also a few others from Sweden and Finland
• Hardcore punk shows became a regular things in 1981
• The first punk band to release a record in Latin America was Ratos de Porao (Basement Rats)
• In late 1982 the first punk festival was organised called O Comeco do Fin do Mundo (The Beginning of the End of the World)
• It was recorded and released on vinyl
• Rio de Janeiro also had an emerging punk scene in the early 80's with bands such as Coquetel Molotov and Suburbana
• In 1984 police violence against punk gangs made it virtually impossible for punk bands to play
• As a reaction to this a lot of bands changed their sound to either post punk or thrash metal
• Some of these earlier punk bands that had changed their sounds had signed onto major record labels
• They would then go on to release much more commercial records
• Punk started to slide under the radar after an economic crisis
• Punk gangs, skinheads and metal heads were at a rivalry
• Murders was common at this time and punk shows were rare and dangerous
• In the 1990's there were many punk and metal sub-genres and many commercials ones at that
• Genres like grindcore and noisecore were becoming popular internationally through fanzines and tape trading
• The creation of a stronger punk scene developed in the 90's with gang violence diminishing and venues becoming busier
• This new millennium ended up having bands release their records worldwide in North America and Europe