1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Well, Pessimista was born as an idea about 9 years ago. I wanted to create a band that showed a darker side that exists in each person. At the time I was listening to a lot of bands with more depressing themes, but it wasn't exactly black metal yet. Initially it was supposed to be a power trio but unfortunately the other members and I were unable to get together to complete the creation process. I already wrote the songs and composed the arrangements but ended up not recording, not least because I had no access to equipment or recording techniques. The first song that would be released by Pessimista was a song that I ended up launching with my other Project called Tiffo, in the single “Desesperança Crônica” (https://tiffocrust.bandcamp.com/album/desesperan-a-cr-nica).
I'm from a very punk line, and I couldn't leave out my origins, so Tiffo's musical process ended up being taken that way. Tiffo was another project that I had since 2004 (in the construction of songs and lyrics but it was not yet black metal either).
Meanwhile, I continued to write “Pessimista” lyrics that refer a lot to the reality in which I lived and still live and the things that happened around me and hurt me deeply. Themes like drug abuse, suicide, alcoholism were things that were evident in my heart and those who know me know that, but on the other hand things like misery, racism, homophobia, police and state violence made me deeply sad and distressed, because despite of taking this debate with people to a level of knowledge, combat and social understanding, they continue to happen, regardless of my efforts. It depresses me a lot, to see people being taxed and treated like garbage. Which led me to sink even more into these social escapades of alcohol and drug abuse and consequently write and compose more and more.
So the Pessimista deals with these points. My pessimism as a human when I see this violence against life and self-destruction and also. But on the other hand, the search for improvement in everyone's social life, questioning each other's intimate things and opening up the debate for people's mental health.
The Pessimista is actually the sum of several factors (and influences) that explode in endless anguish and nihilism for hours, others explode in a fit of rage against my own inability to change the world.
2.So far you have released an ep and a split, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on those recordings?
I have been a very musical person since I was a child, so I had access to various musical instruments and experiments. At home I have ukulele, harmonica, flute, violin, guitars, guitar, bass, drums and I always do experiments with various things. This opened up my range of possibilities. In the musical process I end up gathering a lot of influences, trying my best not to make a copy of other existing things.
I record the same riff several times and record several riffs and short periods of time until I define what I want in a song. At that point I start recording the songs and the process can take a few months to get ready, because after recording a song, I try not to listen to it to clear my mind and later decide whether or not to enter a release.
Curiously, the songs materialize in the moments when I feel more fragile with the things that happen around me and with myself, that's why they express a lot of feelings of despair or anger. So everything ends up becoming a reflection of my feelings linking reality with art. I believe that this is felt by the listener and that is exactly what I want to happen. A synesthesia.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?
Many of the things I ended up writing in the last two works were done at a dark time in my life. I was in a deep pit of alcoholism and drug abuse. The lyrics express a lot of that. This combination, coupled with my impotence to solve the world's problems, as an individual, took me to the point of almost suicide, several times.
However, despite dealing with negative and pessimistic themes, my idea is to open the debate on mental health. I believe that talking about the problems we are fighting them head on.
I want to take this debate closer to the listener, in an upcoming work (which is already being done), I will add a zine with my considerations about mental health both for people involved in underground culture and in social struggles.
I hope that this theme will reach several people who are living this difficult moment in life and who will be able to find a healthy way to follow through the pessimism experienced daily and the search for autonomy, freedom and a dignified life and where they can achieve a balance or total abandonment of the use of substances that are negative both for them and for the people around them.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Pessimista'?
Pessimism is the feeling I have towards the world, but in a way that tries to be constructive and positive with it.
I have the constant impression that everything is going to go wrong and that I am a scam. In fact, I suffer from a disorder called Impostor Syndrome, in addition to anxiety and a lot of other social paranoias, caused by the way of life in which we have.
I believe that if we don't do an exercise in self-knowledge and start to abandon the surveillance machines that are cell phones and computers (at least we decrease the load and importance that we put them in our lives) we are basically digging our own pits. Using social networks without reflecting on what they really represent, makes us self-centered people who can only see the smartphone screen and our own navel. With each passing day, we are more buried in our own ego and in the mud that the powerful want to keep us trapped.
My pessimism is about the human being's way of life and greed. If we do not change that, the only way we will be allowed is through pain and total suffering. The worst of it is that even though we all know that we will all die someday and complete our cycle on earth, we are digging trenches full of disease for the next generations. Impossible any chance of having a dignified and equal life.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
I worked a long time making art for the market, that is, for other people to consume a product that they don't need. I ended up losing a little of the notion of creating art by art and to make questioning.
In that first work, I tried to make a composition of something that expressed what I was feeling. He is completing a year of self rehabilitation and his head is still lost and creative block.
I try to work entirely on the copy left scheme, but I try not to harm independent artists. Searching for inspiration on the Pexels website, I came across that image of the girl with her black cloak and hood on the empty beach as if she was waiting for someone or something that could take her suffering away and with a total feeling of desolation and at the time I was very touched by that photo. . At the time I knew that I needed to use that image as art for some of my projects and ended up marrying what I had just recorded. The responsible artist is Engin Akyurt who does incredible work. Since then, I rely on images from that site to develop any work. Nowadays I do a treatment, isolation and develop the art based on the pure images of the website. Many people come to tell me how surprised they were by the cover idea and the final result of the musical work with the art. As well as properly including the link for the artist's recognition, I think it is worth saying that the work is practically his total, although we don't know each other, he ended up expressing all my feelings in a single image at that moment.
6.With all of your musical projects you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
I really want to open up the works for other musicians hahaha. Unfortunately I haven't found a drummer yet to join Pessimista. I recently did a search, but to no avail. It makes me wonder if I really should open the project to include other musicians.
About the creation and recording process, I prefer to do it myself. But I would really like to be able to do shows and be able to open the space for other people, besides being able to get close to new minds and enrich some conversations and experiences. I have already had invitations to do shows in other countries, which is unfortunately not possible due to the lack of musicians in this project.
7.On your website your mentioned having some libertarian and anti fascist views, can you tell us a little bit more about what these mean to your?
Now 30 years old and looking back I can see that I was already showing signs of having a libertarian vision, when I was 10 years old I was already indignant with the situation in the country and I felt very bad when watching the wars around the world on TV. It made me extremely sad.
I was born at a time when Brazil was still crawling out of the aftermath of the dictatorship and lived in a place where there were (and still are) extermination groups that are groups composed of police officers who go out in civilian cars in the slums to carry out massacres.
Today we managed to link this racist culture directly to the slavery that our ancestors and the indigenous population suffered during the colonization period.
Being one more in the sights of the police, it is impossible to ignore this whole situation and not write about the daily life lived in the favelas of Brazil and the world. We still live in regimes that are extremely racist and genocides.
I've been an atheist since I can remember, and I think it's kind of childish to talk about Satanism. Even understanding that talking about Satanism is opposing a Christian society (as in the case of Brazil), I would not be able to write anything that was not direct about the reality in which we live. I am not criticizing bands that do, I am saying that in my position I cannot talk about things that seem distant from the reality of most people.
In the situation in which the world finds itself, I believe that even if you don't speak openly about politics in your music, you should openly state your political position. We live in a time when people hide behind their fantasies and personalities created on social media to hide their racist, homophobic and sexist inclinations.
In the case of Pessimista, I think that people may not make the link between my lyrics, because my political posture is very personal, so I think this only happens because I speak openly on which side I am.
Here in Brazil (and I believe in the rest of the world) there is a group of people who think that politics and music do not mix, but they are just hiding behind a false neutrality flag to turn a blind eye to the actions of their members and / or friendly bands.
All acts in our life are political. We are extremely social beings and even when someone raises a flag of neutrality, it is a political act, as it influences debates and the experience of the people around, leaving the possibility of knowing the real situation of the world blurred.
If what R.A.B.M is doing is a crack in the Metal subculture, then that's exactly what will happen. Let's crack this shit up so we can name and cap people and their political positions. Either you are on the side of those who fight for the individual freedom of all beings on earth or you are one more who preaches racial segregation, genocide, destruction of the planet and we are going to expose all this rot.
So for people who still don't understand what Pessimista is: Anarchy, Freedom, Veganism and Mutual Support through my pessimistic views of the world we live in.
8.Recently you where a part of a split with 'Noctilium', what are your thoughts on the other musical project that had shared the recording?
I think Noctilium is an extremely creative and incredible band. I think they mix a series of references that are not just black metal. I found folklore and popular culture references in his music.
I think Silvio from Nailed Nazarene made a great link between them and me, because in addition to being able to make this cultural exchange, from country to country we have two sides of depressed views of the world with two different languages. I hope soon to be able to hear a full album from them, as it is a band that inspires me a lot.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
Funny that question hahah. Despite having a good sense of English, Italian and Spanish, I sing on purpose in Portuguese and here in Brazil I found it difficult for people to know my projects and be able to talk to them. Perhaps the style here in Brazil is very, very underground. Perhaps even more than in the rest of the world. Or maybe, because I don't use social networks, I can't reach people where they are.
The reception of my work in other countries is much greater. I received great reviews and contacts, including invitations to shows.
Today I am able to communicate with people from all over the planet who are involved in social struggles. Now, at the end of 2019, to my surprise, I ended up being included in two lists of notable works of the year. Extremely important people and collectives for me. One is the list of guys from the old blog (http://r-a-b-m.blogspot.com/) on Reddit and also Kim Kelly (https://twitter.com/grimkim) who does an amazing job as a writer and always gives tips from amazing bands. This for me is very rewarding and even more important than the financial support for my project.
I would like to be able to open more dialogue with people from other parts of the world and even more here in Brazil.
10.Can you tell us a little bit more about your other musical projects?
As I said before, I do a lot of riffs and write a lot. I sometimes end up understanding that a certain riff or a certain song would not be legal in a certain project. In addition, each project expresses exactly what I feel at each moment.
With Pessimista I follow a lot from my punk school. Where the beginning of the project started very dirty. I recorded everything with a guitar and used distortion, nowadays I record guitars and other instruments in line which gives a slightly better and intelligible feature. Perhaps this is the most important project I have done, as it has become a school for others.
The debate here is more direct, I speak explicitly about the violence suffered by society and me, and I ended up sometimes incorporating my addiction problems that I had, including near-death experiences. (PS: in one of the covers there is something hidden that is me on a stretcher in a broken hospital hahaha)
In Lerna I express more violence and a more poetic debate, literally speaking and the historical process of domination and colonization of America. I try to open a debate about a philosophical gap between the violence of the oppressor and response violence of the oppressed. Here there is still a lot to roll hahaha.
At Auto exilio it's more of what I'm going through. For about a year and a half I have been excluding myself more and more from living with other people. This project is more experimental, since it is a synth dungeon. It is sad, but I try to express my search for self knowledge. Personal limits that I try to break and places in my mind that I haven't explored yet.
In Uz there is no lyrics, just a sound avalanche and screams of moments of extreme anguish and anger at seeing the destruction of the land. This project was born at the time of burning in the Amazon (at least those that were most publicized to the world).
There are other projects that I may be forgetting to quote hahaha.
I am still in the process of recording another project, now of Dark Folk that I will announce shortly.
11.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
Right now I'm producing some songs for Pessimist, in reality they are almost ready. I intend to launch them between the second half of February and the beginning of March. It all depends on the zine I'm writing to be ready to be able to launch them together.
I have a huge difficulty in producing full some, because I am an extremely anxious person hahaha. When I release an EP I'm already planning and composing a next one and the songs end up not talking to each other, so several times I end up releasing only EP's.
From now until the end of the year I have already planned at least one more split. This is already 90% right. I think a full album should come out in the beginning of 2021, but don't be discouraged because this year there is still a lot to happen at Pessimista and maybe this full could happen later this year.
In the future as a musician I would very much like to organize a recording workshop for the needy community here in the regions of Brazil. I am putting together a schedule and material so that I can present in areas of community assistance. Totally free! My interest is to be able to open the cultural range to children / teenagers and any other age groups. It will not be exactly and specifically about black metal, but general notions of how to set up your studio or record your music cheaply and with the materials you have in hand, which are mostly very cheap materials and equipment.
I am self-taught and if I can transmit the little knowledge I have to people who do not have access to these basic things, my career as a musician will already be complete and I will feel extremely grateful and fulfilled.
But still, I intend to release a lot of albums and I intend to do a tour with some band, be it my project or not.
12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I have always listened to different styles. My repertoire ranges from popular music to more extreme sounds.
In metal, I'm currently enchanting with bands (unfortunately) less known as the German Brache (https://brache.bandcamp.com/album/brache), the fantastic and Brazilian Ìsinkú (https://isinku.bandcamp.com/ ) and Hereticae (https://hereticae.bandcamp.com/album/new-aeon-trinity), Wolves in Throne Room, Panopticon, Etxegiña, Dakhma, Dawn Ray'd, Vazio among others.
In the Dark folk there is the Sangre de Muerdago, Crown of Asteria and Amanda Aalto and what always has in my playlist is Belchior, Daniel Viglietti, Rolando Alarcón, Cartola, Noite Ilustrada, Quinteto Armorial, Facção Central, Eduardo, M19 and many others things that are extremely incredible and important to my musical formation, but are not part of the Black Metal scene.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I would really like to thank you for the space provided and already apologize for the amount of things I wrote hahaha.
I hope to have been clear in my words and to thank the support of everyone who listened and indicated my projects, especially Silvio of Nailed Nazarene, Biano of the blog Noise Red, Kim Kelly.
I hope that we as people will overcome this advance of the extreme right in the world and will be able to increasingly create a world where many other worlds fit without sexual, racial and ethnic discrimination and that we can increasingly open our horizons to discover new cultures and conscious ways of life.
If you want tell me something, write to me pessimistacrust@gmail.com.
Health and freedom to all!
Jaketeme / Pessimista
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