We Ride
We Ride is a hardcore-band from a small fishing-town called Vigo, which lies in the Pontevedra province of Spain. They’ve been active since 2009 and have since then released their debut album in 2010 and are releasing their upcoming album called On The Edge this Summer. In this short period of time, they’ve managed to make themselves immensely popular – going under the tag of #WRCREW which essentially is the worldwide crew. But they’ve also got their own local Vigo Crew. They like to party, they like to play and they’re here to stay. I got the opportunity to interview them about their town, touring, the new album, what they think about hardcore and much more!
What would you say is special about We Ride? What makes you stand out from the other hardcore bands out there?
Perhaps what makes us a little bit different is that a girl sings. You can find many female-fronted bands in the world of metal and punk, but in the hardcore world there’s just a few!
…it seemed that we had full control of the city! It was one of the best nights ever, and it was great to see that we don’t need anything or anyone to have a great time.
I checked your Facebook and saw that you had a book named “Meat Is Murder“, are you vegans or something? What does that lifestyle mean to you? Are you vegetarians or vegan to begin with? If so – why did you choose to live that way?
Not a book, it’s just a sticker of a brand that we support! TRUST COMES TOUGH, a clothing label dedicated to the underground and to people that strive to change the world by standing up for what they believe in! Only one of us is vegetarian, for ethical reasons.
What bands have you been sharing the stage with while on tour? What would be your best memory from your touring days?
We played with a lot of bands and many of them are our favorite bands! We’ve played and shared great moments with bands like 50 Lions, Bane, Cruel Hand, Deez Nuts, The Ghost Inside, Your Demise, No Turning Back, Rotting Out, Kingdom, Billy The Kid, All For Nothing, Risk It, The Set Up, Coldburn, This is A Standoff, Last Hope… and many many more bands but there are too many to name them all! If you don’t know any of them, we’ve name checked them.
We had incredible moments. Every day on tour is usually great, we had great times together and we could tell you many stories. One of the best stories that we always remember was in Pisa, Italy. We had a day off to visit the city, we had to sleep in the van so we went to drink something and spend some time before going to sleep. The city was completely empty at 20:00 because it was a weekday, but nevertheless we just partied all night and it seemed that we had full control of the city! It was one of the best nights ever, and it was great to see that we don’t need anything or anyone to have a great time.
You also seem to be into this Straight Edge thing, what does it mean to you? Do you incorporate it into the music you make?
We aren’t a Straight Edge band, because not all members are. But we talk about it in a song “Nothing Blinds Me” because it is a very important part and lifestyle for some of us.
What city have you been most fond of when touring in Europe? What venue has been the best to play at and what country do you believe has the best punk and hardcore-scene?
All cities have been great, every city is different from the others and each city has something special. But what we love is to tour the coast, cities with beaches and sea are top! We really liked playing at the “Tommy Weisbecker-Haus” in Berlin. It’s a self-managed collective housing, which allows self-managed life for adolescents and young adults with emergency shelter, primary care and advice on problem areas and issues of office. We love playing places like that, places that mean something to the people that live there.
Without doubt Germany and Belgium have the best scene! Or at least it looks like that from the outside. Maybe if we lived there we would think differently but through the eyes of a visitor they are the best countries.
We shout against the world, always in a positive way, if we complain it’s because there’s a solution!
Up till now you’ve released a demo and a full-length album, you’re also planning on releasing a new one this summer? In what way have you evolved since you started out, and what will the new album be all about? What kind of subjects are you taking up on this one?
Yes, June 1st we start recording our new album, we can’t wait. Every album is better than the last and on this one we are playing the kind of hardcore that we really love. The first two albums were more influenced by hardcore punk with melodic parts and some new school parts. This new one will be harder and filled with rage, strength and energy. The album deals with a lot of things. Things we love and things we hate. But the lyrics and message are always really important. We try to get people to think when they listen to it. The truth is that the lyrics are slightly more negative than on the other album, we will not cheat, but times are changing and the world is getting more fucked up!
What would you say is your main influence musically?
We are music lovers and open minded. None of us are focused on a single genre and if we brought together our iPods we would have a collection ranging from classical music and opera to death metal and rap. Our favourite hardcore bands are Comeback Kid, Down To nothing, Cruel Hand, Cold World, No Turning Back and Bitter End.
In your song Party Girls you criticizing people that visit hardcore shows thinking it’s a fashion show? Am I right? Could you tell me more about why you wrote this? Was this based on something you’ve experienced?
Yes you’re right! We talked about the “party girls” at hardcore shows, and yes it’s based on something we’ve experienced! I think it’s enough to say that some of those girls went to a Sick Of It All show in high heel shoes and miniskirts. The funniest thing is that in the end they were asked to go to backstage, haha.
What would you say is the main theme throughout your music? What subjects do you generally write about and what are you pissed off about?
We shout against politics, against the people who run our governments, against the exploitation of nature, against people who want to manage our lives and make us just one more. We shout against the world, always in a positive way, if we complain it’s because there’s a solution! We also have songs that are on the other side of the spectrum, songs that deal with the fun, hanging out with your family, party with our crew and always do what we want to do to be happy with ourselves. Life goes by so fast.
There are great places to hang out in Vigo, especially if you come with us!
Tell me more about the Vigo Crew! Is it just an abbreviation for the band, or are more people involved in this crew? Why did you choose to start a crew? Can you explain what it means to you?
We’ve got a crew here in Vigo, but WRCREW is a worldwide crew! It’s just a stupid label, but it means a lot for us. We are very grateful for all the people who support us. We can never express how grateful we are for all those people that help us, sing our songs, buy our merch, come party with us, who interview us and who book us for a show. A lot of feelings together and therefore we’ve dedicated a song on our next album to them called WR C.R.E.W.
What would you say is the best about the town of Vigo? Do you have any good local scene there? Any good places to hang out?
The best about Vigo is that everything has been achieved after a lot of hard work! It’s a working class city! We don’t have a big scene or good clubs, but everyone knows us and almost everyone are great friends! There are great places to hang out, especially if you come with us!
How is the scene in Spain? Are there many shows to check out? What’s the general attitude towards hardcore and punk down there?
The scene is growing more and more, but it is also true that people are more fucked up every time and have less money to spend on entertainment! We hope that the scene continues to grow and that the financial crisis ends soon!
When you go on stage, do you have any rituals beforehand? I mean, something you tend to do before going on and playing a great show?
Certainly not! When we tour, we just try to spend a pleasant day without stress. The minutes before we go on stage, we just warm up and say stupid things, nothing major, haha!
We arrived 30 minutes before playing, and people were so drunk that no one was inside, only four very drunk punks doing “pogo”.
Could you tell me anything about the touring you’ve done? What is the best thing about touring? What do you usually do when you are on tour and you’re not playing?
Touring is incredible. It’s a pity we can’t miss more time at college because otherwise we would be touring every month! We love discovering new cities and see the most important things in them. We also love going to the beach, rivers and related places (nature!). Unfortunately, we haven’t got enough touring time to see everything we want, but we try!
What show has been the worst you’ve ever played?
The truth is that there has only been one really bad concert. We didn’t want to go and play there but we were asked as a favor for the promoter. It was a house show with punk bands. We arrived 30 minutes before playing, and people were so drunk that no one was inside, only four very drunk punks doing “pogo”. We were angry because we knew it would be like that, that’s why we didn’t want to go and play. So just in 30 minutes Borja (guitarrist) drank a bottle of alcohol typical here (first and last time he got drunk before playing a show). Since no one seemed interested in what we were playing, he started playing ska rhythms for the punks! Back then, the rest of the band was angry with him, but nowadays we laugh a lot about it.
Could you recommend any punk or hardcore-band that you like very much?
We want to invite you to listen, if you haven’t already, to the following European bands: COLDBURN (Ger), RISK IT (Ger), FOR THE GLORY (Pt), DEVIL IN ME (Pt), CORNERED (Ned), JUNGLE FEVER (It) &BROKEN TEETH (UK).
Which bands did you meet on tour that you weren’t playing with? Also, how were the bands you’ve played with on tour?
Usually all the bands we’ve met on tour were playing at the same show, but we work at a booking agency called This World Promotions, and have worked with many bands like Terror, Death Before Dishonor, Oathbreaker, No Use For A Name, Comeback Kid (which we will be sharing the stage with in June), Hatebreed, Shai Hulud, Born From Pain, Miles Away and many more.
For this summer – what five albums would you recommend everyone to listen to?
There is nothing better than listening to Californian punk rock in summer! But if you want hardcore, this summer will be out:
EXPIRE – “Pendulum Swings”
THE BEAUTIFUL ONES – “Birth Of Desire”
RISK IT! – “Who’s Foolin’ Who”
FIRE & ICE – “Not Of This Earth”
LA COKA NOSTRA – “Masters Of the Dark Arts”
People can complain about paying 20€ for a record, but they also complain about paying 0.99 for a song in iTunes, we honestly think its ridiculous.
Where have you found your most enthusiastic fans? Do you have any story you’d like to share with us?
The people in South Asia are crazy! We haven’t got the luck of touring there yet, but we’ve got hundreds of messages from people there showing a lot of passion for our band, since the first day. One day our friend Nick (singer of Miles Away) told us that he was on tour in Malaysia and saw our shirts at his shows. We had just been together as a band for one year and had already sold t-shirts all around the world – that’s incredible!
You’ve also got some nice merchandise out there, what product is your best-seller and in what country do you sell the most merchandise?
Our best-selling t-shirt is the white crown, we sold hundreds and hundreds of them, it’s currently sold out. We have sent a lot of orders to Belgium and Germany!
What would be your dream set-up if you would headline a show and what venue would you choose for that purpose?
This is a tough question, we know we are a hardcore band from Spain and we’re only between 18 and 23 years old. We don’t have those kind of dreams. We only hope we can keep playing, all shows and bands we’ve played with were amazing. We would love to tour during the Summer playing festivals like Ieperfest or Fluff Fest!
In general – what are your thoughts on the music industry? Has it affected you in any way?
The music industry today is wrong. People don’t buy music and so many major and small record companies are going to hell. And it’s not the fault of the record labels or artists, it’s the people’s fault. People have to understand that if there are bands like us who want to distribute our music for free on the internet it’s perfectly fine, but if there are bands who want to sell their music that is also okay. People can complain about paying 20€ for a record, but they also complain about paying 0.99 for a song in iTunes, we honestly think its ridiculous. And we think the same about films. Sharing something with friends is fine, sharing something with millions of people isn’t.
What do you think is the best about the global hardcore-scene and what do you think is the worst thing about it?
The best thing is the support among the bands and people. That everyone (or almost everyone) treats us as equals and with respect. Nothing bad, just some stupid people as everywhere.
Vigo is a old town with a fishing tradition and in any restaurant near the harbor you can find the best fish and shellfish in Europe for sure!
If you had to choose a genre of music to play, and you were forbidden to choose anything hardcore or punk-related – what would you be playing then?
Maybe we could do something acoustic using the lyrics to voice a social protest. Once we tried to play WR songs acoustically and the melodies sounded really good! We are musicians and as musicians we would like to play all kinds of music like Rock, Blues, Jazz, Surf, Metal.
What do you like to do when you’re not in the studio recording new material or out touring?
We love to party, being with our friends and family, going to see the football team of our city, going to shows, playing sports. We are really, really great friends and we always do something together, but we also have different groups of friends so it would be a very long answer.
If you’re having diner anywhere in Vigo, what places would you recommend?
There is a place called “A Cova Dos Ratos” which is a cultural association, that has talks, screenings and a lot of things. They’re a small restaurant run by non-professionals with natural products and biological production, 100% vegetarian and vegan. Really good food and a good price. Vigo is a old town with a fishing tradition and in any restaurant near the harbor you can find the best fish and shellfish in Europe for sure!
When will you be embarking on a US-tour?
We hope in a not too distant future. Let’s see how things are working out with the new album and if everything goes well, we hope to earn enough money so we can buy plane tickets! All of us, except Borja, are students so it’s really difficult to earn all this money.
If you had to choose one of your albums – which one would you choose? And which songs that you’ve made do you like the most?
No doubt the new album, soon you will understand why!
When you’re in the studio recording material, what do you start with? Do you lay down the vocals first, the guitar, the bass or the drums? How do you prefer to do it?
Drums, bass, guitars, voice and chorus! Why? Experts say it’s the best way! Haha.
In the near future, what plans do you have? Where do you think you’ll be in some years from now?
Next month, we start recording our new album, and next September we want to tour Europe for at least 20 days. We’re tired of rejecting tours and offers for shows but now in Spain if you miss a class you are suspended, it’s pretty shitty. We will also be doing another tour in Spain and Portugal. This is our plan for the next 6 months of 2012.
What band do you think I should interview next and what would you want me to ask them?
Do an interview with Risk it! and ask them how the tour with 7 Seconds was!
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