The podcast traces a history of Rosario’s hardcore punk counterculture and can be heard on Spotify.
The journalist Ezequiel Clerici is in charge of reeling off a history of the hardcore punk of the city of Rosario, the countercultural epicenter of the Argentine coast and a fundamental capital for the musical map of the South American country. Gritos & Kicks has a weekly regularity and can be heard on the iVoox and Spotify.
Focusing on the first signs, training and various peaks that the hardcore punk scene achieved, Gritos & Kicks is a podcast that records several musical protagonists from the period between 1989 and 2010.
Focusing on Rosario and the region, the revisionism of the podcast expands towards the national influence achieved by groups such as Violadores, Fun People, Argies, Todos Tus Muertos and Attaque 77 and the international transcendence of Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dead Kennedys, Ramones or Heavy Metal acts like Iron Maiden, Guns and Roses, Suicidal Tendencies or Metallica. It is a story that reviews 40 years of rock culture and the different cultural subterfuges that came from the revolt of influences, actions and the urgent need to create something of our own.
The podcast comes with a fundamental contribution to reference it from the first glance: a photograph of the rebirth of time in fire from the living, taken by Cal, a legendary underground photographer. Cristian Lois – according to his real name – captured the hardcore punk scene for years with a unique look, capturing up to three generations of the scene.
Gritos & Patadas testimonials are representative of any small scene in Latin America, where social realities, constant economic (and political) crises, and a disinterested industry never manage to raise the stakes to a higher level of professionalism and sustainability.
The registry was carried out in a series of interviews that Clerici carried out in the area of the Free Faculty of Rosario during 2020, on dates when the pandemic situation was more relaxed.
In conversation with NoEsFm, Clerici, host of the podcast, reveals some details of the production and shares his own observations.
– The hardcore punk culture in the city of Rosario was very a hotbed of ideas that resulted in much more than music: we talked about fanzines, political ideas, environmental positions, photography, design and we could continue. What was the starting point when imagining the podcast? Was it difficult to cut back with so much data available?
The truth is, yes, but I think that in part this was resolved with the choice of each interviewee. I had no doubts that when analyzing issues related to self-management, fanzines and political ideas, Rodrigo Rivero, Franco Santangelo, Negro Lotetto or Miguel Mazzeo would be people who were going to speak on the basis of clear concepts. The same happened with other interviewees on the different topics that you will list and other topics that do not appear in your question.
The starting point is an invitation that always helps me to face this type of interview and that would be more less: “Tell me the story of your life.” Above all, I wanted them to tell me about their lives, from the first album they heard and that marked the roadmap that led them to end up forming a band to how those who chose that path live the experience of being parents. I think that between those two points all that appears in the middle is the emotional sustenance of the podcast.
– The recording of the podcast took place in the context of the pandemic. Undoubtedly, for many people, 2020 was presented as a period of reflection with many questions. Did any of that sneak into the interviews? Was the ground for reflection paid by the context?
And surely the second part also takes place in a pandemic … honestly it was not something that we had very present in the conversations. Since since the subject was approached but more like something of context. As I said before: each of those involved in the project wanted to talk about those years. My feeling is that everyone, in their own way, came with a long-standing introspective process. Hence, I understand, that it was so easy for me to coordinate the meetings. No one, no one, told me no or showed reluctance. It was asking if they were interested in getting together and everything said yes instantly. Afterwards, it was a bit chaotic to coordinate the meetings at the Free Faculty because there were months more complicated than others regarding the pandemic and that delayed the occasional interview.
– What was the criteria for recruiting the protagonists of the first season?
Look, the basic criterion was a personal matter: in the first cut I chose bands that gave me pleasure and happiness. As that was the engine that pushed me to walk, then I did a more journalistic exercise and I looked for there to be protagonists who represent each era.
– Each interview functioned as a reunion and review. What surprised you the most?
The mutual need to talk about the issue. In my case, that was clear to me before starting the project, but it struck me that the same thing happened to them. The generosity with which the protagonists gave themselves to the talk is something that I never tire of thanking them whenever I can. I think that those who listen to Screams & Kicks are going to find an unknown or little addressed side of each interviewee. Even those who recognize themselves as friends will discover new things. For me, each interview was a reunion and an unexpected discovery in some cases.
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