With the release of their third album, 'Acelero', Crizin da Z.O. have brought to maturity their musical formula, an explosive mix which of Carioca funk, rap, Pagodão Baiano, drum'n'bass, punk, tamborzão, industrial and batucada. To find out more, we contacted Cris Onofre, who is also the voice and lyricist of the Rio de Janeiro-based collective. What follows is the account of a long telematic chat.
Hello Cris and thanks for being here! Would you like to tell us how and when the Crizin da Z.O. project was born?
First of all, I want to thank you for the interview and opportunity to speak a lil more about our art (sorry for my poor english!).
In 2015 I started DJing at some parties I threw at my house (the Lavanderia collective), when I lived in the south of Brazil. Danilo (AkaDindo) and I started experimenting a lot with funk and electronic music. It was inevitable that at some point we would decide to mix this with our experience with bands, gigs, tours.
The project began as a "fictional character" and little by little it took the form of the band it has today. In the beginning it was me and Danilo, then Fiedler and João (who played with us until 2022) joined. Nowadays we have a collective format of composing albums and playing live.
Before starting the Crizin da Z.O. project, what kind of musical experiences did you have?
My musical taste has always been very broad, between carioca funk, punk music, samba, metal, eletronic music... Growing up in the suburbs of Rio you don't have much to run to, everything ends up becoming a big mess of sounds.
I understand that Z.O. stands for Zona Oeste, i.e.West Area, the one in Rio de Janeiro, which is your 'territory'. In the song “Território”, you sing: 'Tenho pensado muito sobre território / E como eu me comporto em cada território / Às vezes eu não to bolado, eu to só pensando / Mas depende muito do território', and, if I understand correctly, you are emphasising the link between the reality in which one lives and the thoughts that cross one's mind... Is that so?
Rio de Janeiro is a capital with very clear inequalities. The difference between territories is clear and this greatly incorporates the imagination of those born and raised in this city. The West Zone in particular is huge, inhabited by different social classes and a territory of conservative militiamen, which makes any kid's mind spin. When I get involved with art, I end up moving through several other territories and this has always raised reflections and questions in my head.
What does "Crizin" mean instead?
It's like “Lil Cris”. So “Crizin da Z.O.” would be like “Lil Cris from the West Area”.
Your music conveys a vision of the world that is not exactly idyllic, I would even say dystopian, which seems both to reflect the harsh social and political situation in your country (I'm thinking of the Bolsonaro years...), but also that of the whole world, where wars, climate crisis, economic systems often collapsing and so on are commonplace. There are no easy solutions, or perhaps the solution is to let everything collapse so that everything can, sooner or later, regenerate. What is your point of view?
I understand that much of what I write gives the feeling of "fuck it, the world is ending", but I believe that I am not offering this as a solution to current techno-political problems. I believe that as a South American worker I cannot afford to enjoy the end of times in a romantic and glamorous way and that is the great irony and reflection behind my lyrics. I put myself in the place of a human observer, with my contradictions and everything else, and I try to narrate what catches my attention and makes me think about this chaotic scenario.
Your mix of carioca funk, punk, rap, drum'n'bass, tamborzão, batucada, etc., has a vibrant futurist aura. Does this tension towards the future conceal an escapist desire?
To be honest, I don't think this sound is that futuristic nowadays. I believe it is modern, but the feeling of the future in it is just an idea, a concept that involuntarily develops to perhaps, then, create a new scenario where we can escape.
Is there, then, a type of sound today that you think is really futuristic? And if so, which one?
I really do not know. I believe that "futurism" in music always ends up being someone chasing an idea of what the future would be, but they usually get it wrong. But if I were to consider something that I really consider NEW, I would say that Brazilian funk and also Brazilian technobrega are the closest I can imagine to the future.
I found the title of your first Ep, 'Tudo está acontecendo ao mesmo tempo agora', which stands for 'Everything Is Happening At The Same Time Now', very interesting. Is this a reference to the 'global village' and the simultaneity of events in the age of globalisation and so on?
For sure. I grew up in the 90s and 2000s and it was an opportunity to see the phenomenon of globalization - mainly due to the arrival of the internet - transform the world around me in many ways, and of course it is always important to highlight that the globalization we experienced in America Latin is different.
Let's delve a little deeper into this issue of globalization related to Latin America...
When I say this I am referring to personal experiences, Brazil is a country with a lot of social inequality and consequently with a huge variety of artists and musical genres. I would say that those who live in outskirts and suburbs end up experiencing globalization in an unfair way, because we can have knowledge of cultures, music and arts from around the world, but have access to resources and ways of doing new things, that's another story...
How did you come into contact with Iggor Cavalera? Do you like Sepultura?
When we released the album "Alma Braba", he heard it, really liked it and got in touch with me thanks to our mutual friend Mariano (from Deaf Kids, Sarine and other bands) and there we started talking and developing a virtual friendship. Since then we've talked about someday doing something together. All of us in the band were very happy and excited about it because we obviously really enjoyed Sepultura, Petbrick and several of Iggor's other projects. When we did "O Fim Um" it was the perfect opportunity to invite him.
Why did you title your latest album “Acelero”?
"Acelero" was the word that best defined everything we wanted to express in the lyrics and sound of this album. The idea of always being on the move, faster and faster and without much or almost no opportunity to rest. I feel this way more and more in the world and I think more people feel this way too, we are collectively accelerating without knowing where. In Brazilian Portuguese "acelero" can also be slang to say that someone was accelerated by another person, in a not very gentle way. For example: "Yesterday I get an acelero by the police."
I really like the way “Acelero” was presented, i.e. as a record that wants to sing 'the ironic feeling of fantasising and announcing the end of the world as it happens'... Will irony save us from destruction?
We need our playful and subjective side to survive too. So I wouldn't say it saves us, but it is a defense...
How has your music evolved over the years, starting with the EP 'Tudo está acontecendo ao mesmo tempo agora'?
From then on, what was a project more centered on me and AkaDindo actually turned into a band, the two of us together with Fiedler began to understand much better the sound we were creating and we were able to refine it until the present moment. "Acelero" is definitely the album where we work the most on the songs within a more concrete idea of what our sound actually is.
What, apart from the reality around you, has inspired your music (literature, cinema, painting, etc.)?
All. I like to write freely, writing down ideas for verses and at one time or another making a big collage with them. That's why my lyrics seem to be so narrative at times, because in fact they are everyday notes transformed into melody, into literature... So everything is subject to falling into my scope of references, comics, films, my friendships, things I see on the street, stories they tell me... As for the instrumental part, it's all a very strong mix of inspirations that the three of us have accumulated throughout our lives, from the more obscure bands that we like to current pop music, which we also really like.
Your real first album was "Brasil buraco vinte vinte," released in April 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic... What exactly does the title mean and what do you remember from that period?
"Brazil Buraco Vinte Vinte" is like "Brazil Hole Twenty Twenty". The idea of this title was to make the album truly temporal, something that sounded like a record, a portrait of a moment in history. So the title already indicates that it is a soundtrack from that moment. During this year, we here in Brazil experienced terrible, neo-fascist management of the pandemic. It was a time of very little hope and a lot of hate.
In terms of the themes dealt with in your lyrics, what has changed, if anyhting has changed, from your first Ep to "Acelero"?
I dedicate myself to writing a lot about the moment and bringing up what comes to mind while writing, I think this makes my lyrics have an almost documentary vibe and that hasn't changed much since then. I think that nowadays I have a little more awareness of what I can do with my way of reporting the world and I'm gaining more confidence to do it in more experimental ways, whether it's singing rap, speaking words, shouting or whatever I want. . This changed a lot because in the beginning I felt stuck with the idea of "having a flow". About the lyrics, as I've said a lot in the last albums, I feel like today I'm freer to talk about more subjective feelings.
What is your relationship with the Brazilian rave scene?
I started enjoying electronic music from Rio funk, but I never had much experience with raves and such. Nowadays in Brazil I think these two scenes are finally meeting each other a lot more, which made me get closer to this. Our music is very well received when we play at raves.
The Brazilian music scene is always buzzing, although it is not easy to follow all its ramifications. Would you like to recommend some recently released records?
With pleasure: I recommend the album MIMOSA by Mbé/Leyblack/cabezadenego, I also recommend the work of Jeza da Pedra, Saskia, Deafkids, Sarine, Yantra, DJ K, DJ Ramon Sucesso, TETO PRETO, Dharma Jhaz, Prefeitura do Rio, Índio da Cuíca, Test, Slipmami...
What were the most important records for your musical education?Speaking just for myself, I remember that the first album I heard and fell in love with was the compilation "Funk Brasil" by the record label Som Livre, from 1995 and after that I remember that the one that got me was the compilation "Furacão 2000: Tornado Muito Nervoso 2 " from the Furacão 2000 team. When I was a teenager, what got me was essentially classic Brazilian punk, bands like Ratos de Porão, Cólera and non-Brazilian hardcore-punk bands like Spazz, Charles Bronson, D.R.I., etc. I also really liked Brazilian rap like Racionais MC's, Planet Hemp, Facção Central and Quinto Andar. I always liked Brazilian music more because since I was a child I liked to pay close attention to the lyrics. Nowadays in adult life I can also understand that other albums throughout my life were very important for my musical development, such as "Lado B Lado A" by O Rappa (1999), "Da Lama ao Caos" by Chico Science and Nação Zumbi (1994), "Martinho da Vila" by Martinho da Vila (1974) and "Repeater + 3 Songs" by Fugazi (1990) and a lot of other things that I always forget when giving interviews.
Have you ever been to Italy? What do you know about our music scene?I've never been, but I'd like to go and play one day. I confess that I don't know much but when I was younger I listened to Italian hardcore bands like Raein and La Quiete.
What will be your next steps? Will your next album be made by Artificial Intelligence? :)
It would be funny haha, who knows by then they'll be making better albums than us. From now on our goal is to play a lot, do shows, get to know places and people inside and outside Brasil. :)
Pinto o que dá com a paleta que tenho
coisa que eu penso que vira desenho
muita coisa, tudo muito
hoje o centro tá o mundo
foda que ele faz macete
destino de vagabundo
muito tudo tá tendo
gosto de veneno
coração tranquilo
camiseta do flamengo
Só que tem bad que é diferente
tipo quando tu sonha com dente
eles caindo na tua frente
daí tu acorda falando de repente:
"caralho, eu sonhei com dente"
Aquele dia foi um dia desses...
Tenho pensado muito sobre território
e como eu me comporto em cada território
às vezes eu não to bolado, eu to só pensando
mas depende muito do território
Queria um rolé tranquilo
no calçadão de Bangu
dia de carnaval é foda
tentação é um absurdo
gringo que cantou de galo
vacilão tomou no cu
quando eu retomei o foco
tava dentro do metrô
com cinquenta conto que ele
praticamente emprestou
(Território)
