In Rank Your Records, we talk to members of bands who have amassed substantial discographies over the years and ask them to rate their releases in order of personal preference.Legendary Mexican-American metalheads Brujeria formed at a party in 1989 when Juan Brujo, Faith No More's Billy Gould, and Dino "El Asesino" Cazares (who formed Fear Factory around the same time) decided to start a grindcore band that better reflected and represented the Latino community.
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Taking their name from the Spanish word for "witchcraft," controversy (perhaps unsurprisingly) trailed the band from the beginning. People tend to take notice when you portray yourselves as Mexican drug lords and obscure your faces with bandanas. It also helps if your songs are about Satanism, sex, and drug-smuggling. Sung in Spanish, Brujeria's songs also slammed corrupt politicians, violent cops, and racist US immigration laws."When we started out, we wanted to stand out. We wanted to be heard, so it made sense for the lyrics to be hard," explains vocalist Juan Brujo. "We wrote about stuff that we knew about. We just turned it up."The band is still turning it up. Pocho Aztlan, their first album in 16 years, continues a tirade against anti-Mexican immigration policy. During the 90s, the band targeted then-California governor Pete Wilson and his support of anti-immigrant bill Proposition 187 which inspired the band to lead off their 1995 album Raza Odiada with an anti-Wilson diatribe.The new album includes the single "Viva Presidente Trump" that's cover features a Photoshopped Donald Trump with a machete lodged in his head and the words "Fuck You Puto" branded across his eyes.We caught up with vocalist Juan to discuss their recorded album output.
Juan Brujo: Well, the first album was recorded on an 8-track machine, and the second record was on a 16-track machine, and by the time we did the third record the tape wouldn't turn and we couldn't use it anymore. So we turned to digital equipment and that probably accounts for some of the change in style.
3. Brujerizmo (2000)
Noisey: This has a slight style change to earlier releases. Was this deliberate?
Juan Brujo: Well, the first album was recorded on an 8-track machine, and the second record was on a 16-track machine, and by the time we did the third record the tape wouldn't turn and we couldn't use it anymore. So we turned to digital equipment and that probably accounts for some of the change in style.
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And you had two drummers in the band at this stage?
Yeah, it just happened that Nicolas Barker came to LA at the time we were recording. I guess Nic had a little problem breaking up with Cradle of Filth and he needed somewhere to hide so he ended up at my house for a couple of months.
Raza Odiada,__ which translates to "Hated Race," saw you up the politics.
Yeah, I was at a Hollywood Grammy party when one of our members was nominated for an award for his work in his other band. We didn't know it was a tuxedo party so I was in a leather jacket and stuff. I bumped into Peter Wilson and and his eyes lit up. He turned around to cover his wife because he thought I was going to stab her or something. I was mostly confused. Here I was making way for the Governor and next thing security are grabbing me and kicking me out. I was the only Mexican at that party.That's probably a good metaphor for the politics at the time.
Well, six months later Wilson came out with all these crazy laws that were very anti-Mexican and anti-immigration. They were later overturned after the government said that they were illegal. That's why that first song came out in such a hurry. I said, "We've gotta get this song out now before this guy tries to become President. I have to warn everybody!"
Did you realize how much controversy the cover would cause?
I knew, but the record company didn't. I guess they thought it was in Spanish so nobody would care. The day after the release, the label called and I said, "What's going on? Has it sold a million already?" They said, "No, It's been banned in 25 nations."There was lot of speculation as to whose head it was.
It was a random fellow who got busted up in something he couldn't handle and somebody left him on the tracks. The picture was from this weekly magazine down in Mexico City that put up a bunch of "the cops killed these guys" this-and-that. We called the publisher asking to use the photograph. He kept saying no but eventually asked how much we were willing to pay. I said, "I'll give you $300." He said, "I'll FedEx it right now."The image is gruesome but what also freaked people out was your anonymity. People get scared with what they can't see. Add this to your style, music, and message, and people freak out.
They were saying things like, "Get your mom to throw the record away." The whole thing worked perfectly. No names, the band look like thugs, and the title translates to "Kill the White Boy." People got offended right away. So yeah, the whole package was great.Looking back to 1993 in America, and especially California, race relations were in fairly bad condition. Some would say that things haven't improved.
Everybody hated everybody back then. If you were Mexican, they didn't want you here, and if you were Mexican born in the US and went back to Mexico, they could see that you're different and call you bad things. Back in '93, it was really bad. There was hate everywhere. Though, it's also coming back with Donald Trump. He has managed to get everybody hating again.For a young kid in '93, listening to your record must have been great. You were like the bad guys but at least you were telling the truth and you were very direct in your message.
Yeah, that's why Matando Güeros is number one on my list. Everything worked on that record. When I heard that it got banned I immediately said, "Oh, it worked."
Yeah, it just happened that Nicolas Barker came to LA at the time we were recording. I guess Nic had a little problem breaking up with Cradle of Filth and he needed somewhere to hide so he ended up at my house for a couple of months.
2. Raza Odiala (1995)
Yeah, I was at a Hollywood Grammy party when one of our members was nominated for an award for his work in his other band. We didn't know it was a tuxedo party so I was in a leather jacket and stuff. I bumped into Peter Wilson and and his eyes lit up. He turned around to cover his wife because he thought I was going to stab her or something. I was mostly confused. Here I was making way for the Governor and next thing security are grabbing me and kicking me out. I was the only Mexican at that party.That's probably a good metaphor for the politics at the time.
Well, six months later Wilson came out with all these crazy laws that were very anti-Mexican and anti-immigration. They were later overturned after the government said that they were illegal. That's why that first song came out in such a hurry. I said, "We've gotta get this song out now before this guy tries to become President. I have to warn everybody!"
1. Matando Güeros (1993)
I knew, but the record company didn't. I guess they thought it was in Spanish so nobody would care. The day after the release, the label called and I said, "What's going on? Has it sold a million already?" They said, "No, It's been banned in 25 nations."There was lot of speculation as to whose head it was.
It was a random fellow who got busted up in something he couldn't handle and somebody left him on the tracks. The picture was from this weekly magazine down in Mexico City that put up a bunch of "the cops killed these guys" this-and-that. We called the publisher asking to use the photograph. He kept saying no but eventually asked how much we were willing to pay. I said, "I'll give you $300." He said, "I'll FedEx it right now."The image is gruesome but what also freaked people out was your anonymity. People get scared with what they can't see. Add this to your style, music, and message, and people freak out.
They were saying things like, "Get your mom to throw the record away." The whole thing worked perfectly. No names, the band look like thugs, and the title translates to "Kill the White Boy." People got offended right away. So yeah, the whole package was great.Looking back to 1993 in America, and especially California, race relations were in fairly bad condition. Some would say that things haven't improved.
Everybody hated everybody back then. If you were Mexican, they didn't want you here, and if you were Mexican born in the US and went back to Mexico, they could see that you're different and call you bad things. Back in '93, it was really bad. There was hate everywhere. Though, it's also coming back with Donald Trump. He has managed to get everybody hating again.For a young kid in '93, listening to your record must have been great. You were like the bad guys but at least you were telling the truth and you were very direct in your message.
Yeah, that's why Matando Güeros is number one on my list. Everything worked on that record. When I heard that it got banned I immediately said, "Oh, it worked."