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Molotov Interview
Molotov, a hard-rocking hip-hop group from Mexico City, has been recently enjoying
critical and commercial sucesss. But as the group would attest to, they are not
an overnight sensation. The members of the group were in other bands, playing for years.
Even when they hooked up and formed Molotov, they played the circuit for extended time period.
By paying their dues and gaining a following, Molotov was eventually signed to Universal Records.
Where the band goes, controversy is not far behind. The song "Gimme tha Power" upset many
in the Mexican Government. The band members were branded by some of the public for being so-called
devil worshippers, and they received some slack for the constant chant of "Puto" at their concerts.
But that doesn't slow them down, as Molotov manages to move on, play great live shows to their huge
fan base, and release more albums.
They don't pay attention too much to the rumors because basically they are
doing what they set out to do, which is to have fun. Case in point, Molotov
was nominated for a Grammy for their debut album "Donde Jugaran Las Ninas?"
Bassist Paco shrugged his shoulders and said that everyone wins a Grammy.
Whether if they admit it or not, Molotov has managed to get worldwide
attention to the growing hip-hop scene in Mexico. With two albums and a
re-mix album under their belt, they don't plan to let up. Having already
headlined the "Watcha Tour" and having toured with major acts from both sides
of the border, they will continue to expand. Not bad for a band
that formed just to have fun.
Randy "El Gringo Loco" Ebright and Paco Ayala (members of the group Molotov)
were recently interviewed by the Digital Aztlan Staff. Randy and Paco
certainly have not let success go to their head as both were very down to
earth, plus they both have a good sense of humor. BrownPride.com would like
to thank Randy and Paco for their time.
1.How did the band get started?
RANDY - The band started in Mexico City around September of 1995.
It started out like a getaway from other projects (bands) that everybody else had.
We kind of got together to have fun. There was a contest, like a battle of the
bands national contest. (We) decided to get into it. That's when we thought
of the name Molotov. We needed a name for the contest. And we ended up
winning it. The thing was, (we) made this deal, if we won the contest, we
would have to leave all the other projects and dedicate all our time to
Molotov. The (original) drummer decided to go and do something else. I met
up with the other guys. We started playing the circuit as a trio for about 4
months. I met up with Paco because there was always two bass players in the
band. The other bass player had left. That's how it got started, playing
the circuit in Mexico City for the longest time.
2. Who are the other members of Molotov?
RANDY - Paco, myself Randy, Micky who plays bass, Tito the guitarist.
Paco is the other bass player, and I am the drummer. We all kind of Bark or Rap,
whatever you want to call it. Everyone in the band raps, it's kind of a free-for-all.
3.How do you categorize your music?
RANDY - You can't really pigeonhole it to one category. We enjoy all different
types of music; Latin music, R&B, Hard Rock, metal, and Funk.
PACO - Punk
RANDY - Punk. I think the thing that it (our music) all has in common, that
ties it all together is because we have hip-hop lyrics, rapped over all these
different styles of music. So, that is what ties it together, the vocals.
4. Has being a Bilingual group helped your career?
RANDY - It's always been an advantage. It's come natural to have English and
Spanish in the songs, since there is an American in the band and the rest of the band
is from Mexico City. If we had somebody from France, then the group would have French
lyrics in the songs. We've done it (using English and Spanish) for the longest of times,
before all these other Spanish groups started rapping and singing in English.
5. What was the controversy surrounding the song "Gimme tha Power"?
RANDY - That's forbidden. You can't play that song in the radio in Mexico.
There was a letter written from the government that said if that song was
played on the radio, the radio would lose its license. Everybody (radio
DJ's) started doing different versions of the song. There was this one radio
station that played "Gimme tha Quarter Pounder" instead of Power.
6. How did you guys get into Hip-Hop and why did you start using Hip-Hop in
your music?
RANDY - There wasn't a big Hip-Hop scene in Mexico City when we started. There
was people listening to Hip-Hop at House Parties and the such, but it wasn't
happening on the stages. Micky was always into rap. I grew up with it.
Tito and Paco are into funk, so it was pretty natural for us. I was
surprised that there was a rap group in Mexico City at the time. We started
jamming, and that's when I knew that that was what I was looking for, and I
guess that's what they were looking for too.
7. Who would like to collaborate with in the future?
RANDY - Beastie Boys
PACO - Yeah, Ad Rock.
RANDY - Jurassic 5. DJ Shadow. For me being a drummer, I look up to DJ
Shadow. Even though he is a DJ, he knows how to use the turntables as a
drummer.
PACO - There's so many people we would like to work with.
written by
Richard Montes
- No Manches Mi Vida
- Karmara
- Polkas Palabras
- Step Off
- Apocalypshit
- Nero
- Kuleka's Choice
- Rastaman-dita
- Parasito
- Undertow
- Exorsimio
- Let It Roll
- El Mundo
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