Interviews    Dragonauta
by Chris Barnes

Argentina's Dragonauta are a band near and dear to my heart - not only have I always been a big fan of their brand of old school Doom, but they were very gracious hosts when my wife and I visited Buenos Aires. Their first full length Luciferatu was just released to high critical praise - a cornucopia of old school doom vibes made truly unique with the addition of jazz and progressive influences. We talk with vocalist Federico Wolman about the new album, how that album almost never came to be and much more.


Hellride Music: Dumbeta!! First, tell us what the word "Dumbeta" means in your native Buenos Aires - I love that damn word!

Federico Wolman: Hey, Viejaaa!!!!!!! It's a kind of term we started to say here joking, the Spanish version of "Doomster".

Hellride Music: The origins of Dragonauta go back a bit. It can't be easy finding other band members who also love 70's influenced doom metal ala' Sabbath and Pentagram but also influenced by lesser known vintage Argentinean bands such as Cruevo, Orion's Beethoven, and of course early Pappo's Blues (among many others). How did you guys form?

Federico: Well, I met Daniel (guitar) at the university of Buenos Aires, we started with a doom sound ala' Black Sabbath with a band called Supernalia, and Martin (bass) was playing with Ariel (batata) in another heavy/Southern band called Pata de Elefante. One day I met Martin at a park here in BA and we decided to start a new doom project with me as singer (I used to play the bass in Supernalia). I remember we started to talk at that park of all those bands you mentioned. I think that when we get involved with music, we started a kind of search, of those wild old sounds, as well as the the probably more honest, personal approach of those bands. The whole aspect goes into the noncommercial musical parameters of bands that are in the very underground. So we started to search there, in the underground of the early 70's and 60's.

After we recorded Luciferatu, we invited Hernan to join to the band as the other guitarist, he was the one who recorded the FX in Luciferatu and he also is a kind of person that has a lot of music information from the past and present.

I don´t know, there aren´t too many people who love this type of music and we know and share between us. I think that probably the same happens all around the globe, all around the scene. In many websites you´ll find not only some doom/stoner reviews, but also some old psychedelic/heavy/downer/etc bands from the past, because we love them and we love sharing those music treasures!

Hellride Music: Let's talk about those vintage underground bands for a minute. I've actually had the pleasure of sitting with you, Martin and Daniel at a restaurant in Buenos Aires while you talked about late 60's and early 70's obscure bands for 3 hours! What is it about the music from that time period that you guys like? What other bands aside from the ones I've mentioned influence Dragonauta?

Federico: Mmmm... there are so many bands...Flower Travellin´ Band, Flyed Egg, Blues Creation, etc. Black Widow, Monnument, Necromandus, Czar, Horse, Indian Summer, Bram Stoker. The more heavy rocker ones as Buffalo, May Blitz, Clear Blue Sky, first UFO. Some space as Hawkind, Tangerine Dream. Some Kraut, especially Can, Nosferatu, GAA, Lightshine, NEU. And a long etc (Freedom Children, Andromeda, Atomik Rooster, Suck -with an incredible version of Black Sabbath's "Warpigs!", Dark, Wicked Lady, Cosmic Dealer, Andromeda, Daemon, Iron Claw, Dr. Z, the Churchills, the Factory, Peacepipe, Mourning etc, etc ,etc). And of course some local heroes as Montes, Claudio Gabis, Aeroblus (with Pappo, ultraheavy stuff!), some bands from Mexico as the Dug Dug´s, El Tarro De Mostaza, la Revolucion de Emiliano Zapata, from Peru, theSaicos, PAX, Tarkus, etc,etc,etc.

Also some old and wild garage, from the Sonics to Q 65 from Holland.

Hellride Music: Amazing - I'd love to have your vinyl collection. Your full-length Luciferatu is finally out on Dias De Garage Records and what a great album! This album almost never made it out - it seemed cursed in a way because there was so much difficulty and set backs with it. Tell us about how Luciferatu came to be - and how hard it was to actually get it released.

Federico: Yes...it was really a bad nightmare for us, and still we are suffering in part. The thing was going to be released by High Beam Records more than a year ago. We entered the studio in January of 2001 (trusting in the word of High Beam Records) that the money that we had agreed on was going to be available in early February. We recruited one of the best sound engineers in this country for the recordings and we finished them in a week. Then we took another two weeks for the mixes, and the money still wasn't there. So, we stopped the process at the studio because until this moment they were working for free, and besides all the good vibes between all of us, those guys are true professionals. So, as we wanted to finish it and do the mastering we asked for the money from other people (friends) here as High Beam was still leading us on with their lies (hey- next week-tomorrow-etc). After some months, they sent us the half of the money, and when more than a year passed and they never sent the rest we said "fuck them".

Hugo Garcia is a metal journalist , a great guy and he always helped us with everything we need. So we talked as he was putting his new label, Dias de Garage, together and wanted to release Luciferatu. After the way High Beam fucked us, we wanted to do it with someone we really trusted, we know personally, and who really loves our music.

After all of this, we also have a kind of different view of all this sort of "global" thing. We are proudly from South America, English isn't even our own language, and we are really far from all the rest of the scene. And our own reality is totally different. Even if we had do it with High Beam, the people here in Argentina were never going to be able to buy an original album, because after the December-January chaos, our peso was 1 to 3 in respect to the US dollar.

All of these things were happening while we were recording (many people outside Argentina wrote us asking if we were alive!), we wanted to be there in the streets with our people, and also doing this album that we love, it was all very crazy and all the fury probably can be felt in the album.

Of course we are totally happy and glad with Hugo, he is really into the band and wants to do lot of things, such as an upcoming video, as well as making great shows where we play. The thing is that we still are in debt with the people who gave us the money for finishing the album. But, well, we hope it sells enough to recover the money and do the upcoming album, that we have already written! But, all with Spanish lyrics this time!

Hellride Music: Wow. That is some story - it's also great to hear that the next album will be recorded in your Native language. What I really love about the new album is it's progressive - and sometimes Jazz-influenced sound mixed in with the old school doom. It's a totally unique sound you guys have. Whose idea was it to add these types of elements to the music? How do you guys like the record now that it's out? It's totally analog-recorded, correct?
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Federico: Well, all those jazz and prog vibes were totally spontaneous, probably influenced by local bands as El Reloj and Crucis. Many of the more intricate ideas came from Daniel as well as from Martin and Ariel and myself (a little) and then we we put it all together. With Hernan in the band now, everything is less "cerebral", and we are changing the way of we write th tracks. One member brings a riff or something, but we never know how will it continue, it just comes!

About the recordings, we make them at a digital studio. At that time, the money we had wasn't enough to do it in the way we wanted at an analog studio. So we prefer to work with this engineer at a digital one than do it by ourselves at an analog. We then make an analog mastering with the same guy but at the other studio.

Hellride Music: Federico, you're vocals are vastly different on Luciferatu versus the early Dragonauta demo material. Why the change in approach? Was it you that felt like you wanted to change things a bit or was it the band? Or both?

Federico: UUUHHHHH!!! Yes, the vocals are really different. I can say that we recorded our first demo after three months as a band, and for me after three months as a singer. As the band was going on and changing, the same happens with the voice, and we all like this very heavy sort of voice, "bien de machos!". But of this course for all the people that isn´t here and can´t see as live it is a sort of breakpoint, but it was actually a continuous process, I first used to sing with a clear voice, but much better than in the demo (I went to singing classes!) and then I started to give them those rotten vibes, first in our rehearsals as a kind of joke (we also love old school school, the proto black metal, etc!) and finally I started to put them in our tracks. It happened in some shows a couple of years ago, that some people came after we played to say me " hey, you are really better than their first singer!" (I also had a time with short hair, and many thought that we were different persons!).

Hellride Music: HA! You've reinvented yourself! I like that fact that you added video footage as a bonus to the CD - can you tell us what to expect in the footage and whose idea it was to add it?

Federico: It was Hugo's idea, especially for the people that is outside the country. We wanted to do it as a natural thing, in the place we always do our rehearsal, the same one that you visited!!!! It didn't really cost any money and it is a cool thing I think, to make the album a bit more attractive. I don´t know...we like it, it isn't really a thing we thought out. Hugo came in one day with two cams. And we played our stuff. And that's it!

Hellride Music: Another great aspect of the new record is the amazing rhythm section of Ariel and Martin - last I saw you guys, Ariel was playing in a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band and Martin doing a Krautrock project - what else are they or the other members involved in when it comes to side projects?

Federico: Yes, Ariel was playing in a Creedence tribute band, but now he is playing with some other guys in a covers band at some local bars. Martin was and is playing with Hernan´s solo project called Compañero Asma, a great mix of kraut/space/rock, all in a nice song format. I'm working by myself with some old friends in a sort of psychedelic/folk/space thing, recording some tracks I made, with a clean voice (but all in a very relaxed way and we just feel the vibes to sit and sing or play before the tascam)!

Hellride Music: How did you guys get involved with Hugo Garcia and Dias De Garage Records anyway?

Federico: Well, we know Hugo since our first shows, he always came and helped us to promote the band, when he started with Dias de Garage, we always wanted to do something together, as I wrote you before, we really think that he is a real cool person, and he breaths the metal and live for it! So, when the things were really fucked with High Beam, Dias de Garage was the perfect home for us, and of course we love the idea of a local label getting into this sort of music.

Hellride Music: Just as impressive is watching you guys in action - how often does the band get to play live? Who do you usually play with and where? How is the scene in Argentina? Do bands like Coda still exist there?

Federico: Well, here things are a bit difficult still for playing live, the owners of the places are asking for high prices for playing or rent you their space, but we try to play once a month. This last year we didn't play too much, but we did some cool gigs. But well, now we have some good response and we know that we can play and the people will come, so we can play in many places without losing money. We also are trying to play with other kind of bands, with more extreme metal bands, and not stay just in the stoner scene. Bands as Coda, Sin Ilusiones, still are here, Sin Ilusiones just released a great album, Volumen Espacial. We also play with them. With Buffalo, of course too.

And we are showing our stuff playing with Death/black metal bands, and the people really like the Dragonauta sound. Actually our new tracks and the way we play them live, are really very very heavy!

At the moment, the scene is as always, some stoner bands, some of them really great, but still we are the only doom (non gothic) band as we know. We hope that more will start in Argentina to make a real scene!

Hellride Music: Buffalo! I forgot about those guys.... excellent band! What's next for Dragonauta anyways?

Federico: We hope to be able to make the video and to record our coming album. It will be 8 or 9 tracks of pure doom, with some old NWOBHM vibes this time, and yet much more heavy than Luciferatu and of course, PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!!!!!! !!!!

Hellride Music: Federico, thanks very much for the interview, always great to get in contact with you - is there anything else you'd like to let us know?

Federico: Yes, Thank you Chris as always for your help and interest in the band!!!! Eat Meat twice a day!!!! That is real Life!

Doom on & thanks to all the people who really support Dragonauta and fuck you to those ones who destroy the music with obscure intentions...

Purchase Luciferata at the Hellride Music Superstore

Read the Hellride Music review of Luciferata

Download an MP3 of The SuperChrist

Visit the Dragonauta website at www.dragonauta.com.ar

Copyright 2002-2004 HellrideMusic.com, LLC
Interview by Chris Barnes 1/27/04