Interview: Eduardo Carrillo(DIY Noise, Sordo, Wages of Fear, Larva)

DIY Noise are one of the sickest labels out there today! If you haven't checked them out you should, by giving them a like on their Facebook page here. Here is a short interview I did with main man Eduardo Carrillo over email.

~Andrew Lipscomb

First off, why did you start DIY Noise?

Excellent question! Haha Diy Noise started during my three month vacation from work of this year. At the time I wasn't attending school or doing much with my bands. Everyday was essentially the same, I'd wake up, take a dump, eat some cereal, walk my dog and pretty much repeat that over and over again. By July I was already bored to death and wasn't enjoying my time off from work. I can't just sit down and do nothing I have to be constantly doing something productive and positive and just keep truckin.

What is the process like for putting out a release?

It's fairly simple. Tapes are a lot easier in my opinion then cd's and vinyl. First I find a band or a band contacts me. We talk for a bit and come to the usual agreement for when it comes to DIYN releases. 50 tapes I keep around 10-20 of em. Sometimes half for Sordo or Larva splits. Afterwards all I ask for is artwork, band info and of course the music. And in a few days or weeks depending on how busy I am or how much work the release calls for I come out with the tapes ready to be sent off to the band.

Tell us about your own bands Sordo, Larva, and Wages of Fear

Sordo started about 2-3 years ago. At first it was just my brother (the singer) and myself. I would do all the instruments and he would handle vocal duties. When we first started their wasn't really a huge fastcore/pv/noise scene so we pretty much just wrote tunes and put them up online. As time went by we recruited a drummer from another band I play in (Wages of Fear) and since then we just started to network and hook up with other bands for splits and stuff. Larva is the same thing almost except with a bigger lean towards noise and shit-fi stuff haha. It's been around a bit longer then Sordo but in the beginning I had no idea about the crazy huge noise scene. I knew about Bastard Noise and The Gerogerigegege but other then them I didn't think it was such a huge thing. It wasn't until recently that I started to hookup with other cats to do noisecore splits and stuff. Wages of Fear has been around for a while I think. I use to catch their shows before I joined up. I saw them open up for the Adicts and it was pretty cool because at the end of their set they tossed a shirt into the crowd that I caught. A few months later their guitarist Marc quit and they began looking for a replacement. This was when Myspace was still up haha, they posted a bulletin and I had thought about joining just because I wasn't really doing anything with my other projects. They had actually messaged my brother asking if he knew anybody he he referred me. The next week I went for an audition (I'm pretty sure I was the only one who did haha) and the next day they asked if I would join up with them. They had just put out a cd with Give Praise and we're wanting to do another one So we started churning up some new tracks. I think about 7-8 of the tracks from the self-titled are mostly riffs that I came up with.

Let's take it way back, how did you get into music?

My family has always been into music. I can remember almost every song I've ever heard since I was a tiny version of my now self. Most of the stuff I listened to was in Spanish. Juan Gabriel, Los Bukis, Bronco, Los Tucanes etc... bunch of Ranchera and Corridos as they are called.
I also loved Michael Jackson a bunch haha. When I got older I started getting into more of the mainstream American music, nothing in particular just a bunch of different stuff here and there RHCP, RATM, SOAD, etc... My first actual band was KISS I started collecting all of the cd's when I was around 12 or so. Around that time I started to learn how to play the guitar. After my KISS phase I discovered punk music, I remember listening to Gorilla Biscuits and Crass a bunch haha but what really got me into it was The Misfits. As time progressed my idea of punk music broadened into hardcore. Minor Threat especially since they we're sober punks. Later on I got into darker heavier more extreme stuff thanks to a buddy of mine. He introduced me to Charles Bronson, Infest, Ruido etc...

If you were stuck on a desert island for the rest of your life, and could only bring 3 albums, what would you bring?

Damn haha that's tough. Ummm...
Probably Re-Opened Wound by Warsore
Somery by Descendents
and the Discography cd from Los Crudos.

Do you have a certain criteria for having a release on DIY Noise?

No, not really. I've said since the start of the label that I would release almost any band as long as they were for the DIY cause. If anything, I don't release or put out stuff with pentagrams or anything dealing with Satan.In fact when I was doing the CHULO release I noticed on their Myspace page that they used a bit of that. I asked them if they wouldn't mind altering it to keep it off and the kindly did so at my request. Nothing against other peoples beliefs or views but I frankly don't give a shit about a band that uses stuff like that. I could never understand it either. Satan represents (at least from what I know) all the evil and bad that happens in this world. All the racism, sexism, murders, hate, pedophiles, avarice. All that shit that I'm against. Don't get me wrong I'm not a fuckin bible thumper or anything haha. It's just something that I've never been fond of. I usually stray away from music like that as well. All that satanic black death metal shit. It's boring to me either way.

Why do you think tapes have made sort of a comeback in recent years?

Not too sure. I don't think they ever really died down in popularity. I love cassettes, but I can see what you mean because for the longest time I didn't really know anybody else who had tapes still. I know the underground noise scene and other punk or pv scenes still depend on tapes as a cheaper alternative to cd's or vinyl. Especially in Mexico, tapes still thrive down there from what I hear.
Do you have any upcoming releases that you are excited about?

Hell yeah! ALL OF EM! haha but seriously the one that I'm like crazy pumped for is still a ways from even being announced to anybody (I guess I'm announcing it right here though haha) but I would really like to start work on a DIY Noise Collection on an LP. Pretty much I'd like to have EVERY band that I've worked with through the label to submit short fast tracks for a huge compilation

What are some other labels that have inspired you?

Slap a Ham most def. Just cause of the stuff they put out. I think the most prolific label that really inspired me the most was Lengua Armada.

Why do you think a DIY ethic is important?

DIY is much more then just doing something yourself. It's a lifestyle, it's how people made progress and what motivates people to get out their and invent things. I know I can pay someone X amount of dollars to make some stickers or some patches or shirts. But actually learning how to do it is just an overall better experience. Now I can print up swag for other bands and labels and teach people what it really costs to make stickers or buttons. Stickers are dirt cheap to make by the way. Buttons especially. Not only that but it gives whoever is DIYing all creative control of what they're doing and what they want to do. Rather then having some asshole manager who's only interested in $$$ control you.

Who are some musicians/bands that inspire you?

Plenty of bands and musicians have inspired me to play music and perform. But in terms of the whole spectrum and not just one area I would say Los Crudos have had the biggest impact on me. I could associate with them so much being a minority male in an area negatively stereotyped by the media as the worst place to live in Ventura County. Being and living here in El Rio, and me being Mexican, typically means that I should be listening to reggaton. I also should be uneducated, undocumented, a drug user, lazy etc... I would say that I am the antithesis of what's expected of me being a young Mexican male in El Rio. After watching "Beyond The Screams" A documentary that not only focuses on the Latino hardcore scene but also shows the importance of being politically aware. It reassured me that I was doing just fine where I stood being the different shade of brown and not just another quiet sheep wandering aimlessly among the wolves.

Thanks for the interview! Anything else that you would like to add?

Yes!
Thank you Andrew for being such a rad dude! Without you man no one would know about the label. You really helped me out a bunch and this interview just goes to show your undying support.
ALL HAIL Andrew OG Lipscomb!