Rabia Sorda (Erk Aicrag) photo by Monica Chamorro/Bibian Blue

Erk Aicrag is already well established in the industrial scene as a member of Hocico, one of the acts that helped define the Aggrotech subgenre. This tour sees Erk play the role of front man in his fledgling project Rabia Sorda, playing support for Combichrist.  This is not just Erk playing around. Rabia Sorda is the vehicle for his emotional introspection and experimentation.

What can you tell us about Rabia Sorda? Along with the band and the sound, does the name have any significance?

Erk Aicrag: Well yeah, I mean Rabia Sorda stands for Deaf Rage and in a very personal way it means, I’m deaf to what your people think about me. Musically, well, I’m trying to create a varied band with a variety of sounds and lots of real instruments included into compositions. I mean it’s still electronic music, hard electronic music, but I’m trying to use a lot of real instruments; guitars, percussion, real drums.

In your other band, Hocico, do you use the same spectrum of instruments or are you taking a very different tack?

A different approach. It’s a totally different approach. Musically I’m mostly in charge of the lyrics and vocals, but my cousin,(Racso Agroyam) he’s the one who writes most of the music and our approach is probably electronic like, 100 percent electronic instruments. Right now its more club oriented music, but with Rabia Sorda we’re trying to make music more to listen to than dance to. Even though you can dance to my music, its not really my main purpose. My aim.

Do you find that Rabia Sorda is often judged in terms of your other band?

I would say that Hocico is a little bit darker and deals a lot more with darker sides of human aspects, human feelings. The music itself is darker as well. Rabia sorda I would say has a more industrial sound. It has a more rocky touch in it, a punky touch in it. A lot of musical literature gets its way into my music somehow, like there’s a little bit of everything no set style of music, I just do the music I want to hear. In Rabia Sorda I feel much more freedom to do the things I like.

Are there any particular kinds of music that are an inspiration to the sound of Rabia Sorda?

I would say, yeah, like rock music. I mean I haven’t listened to rock music since I was a kid though. Though 70’s rock, 80’s rock with like, Deep Purple and stuff. I don’t know if you can hear that influence in my music at all, I don’t think I rock. When I was in high school we used to listen to that music and I used to love it. I listen to a very wide range of styles of music. So I don’t know It could be either rock music where my music comes from, where I get my most influence from. I would say yeah, mainly rock music, but I’m into world music as well. The older I get, the more music styles I start liking. Like, you’re young it’s metal this, and metal heads! I mean look at my case as you get old I start liking more stuff and appreciate other sounds and cultures as well.

Some reviews have suggested that there are more melodic elements in your music following your last release, , where do you see Rabia Sorda going? Do you see its sound changing?

Well, the melodies are like the most important element in my music. It’s going to be like this on upcoming albums and releases. It’s going to be the soul of the albums music, and sonically I hope I keep evolving all the time like I get to experiment more with my vocals, with more instruments and musical influences. That’s what I like about this project, it’s very open. I don’t follow any certain style or path to make music. I all just opens up to you. I go out and make what ever I want. If it sounds good to me I will release it. I feel a lot of freedom. I don’t feel tied to anything, to anybody.

Are you currently working on anything new?

Yes. I’ve almost completed a new EP. There’s no scheduled release date yet but I hope that it gets released by the end of the year. It pictures really well where I am at this point in my life. After Noise Diary, the last album published the things that influenced me to do the song. You can still hear that stuff, but I’m showing you this fresh element, like you will hear some fresh things as I try to open up a bit more the concept of the band. Yeah I hope I’m done with that, right after we’re done with this tour, and go back and finish that, but while I’m here, just that project.

Do you have a title or a general length for the EP in mind?

No, I’m working on it. I’m working on a name, I hope to do it on tour, I mean my time on this tour I’m working on the visual concept and the song lyrics, so I’m going to finish that.

What advice would you give to somebody starting a new band?

I always say that when people come to me, when they come up and say I want to do what you do; I want to go out on tour; I want to do records, and just do what I do. I always tell them, I don’t know. Nobody ever told me how to do this. I would tell everybody that not everything is positive. There are negative parts you have to deal with, but I love it and I would tell them this: just do your own thing musically or take your idea wherever you want to take it and don’t let anyone tell you you have to do it this way, or you have to do it that way. No. Just do what ever you want to. I just do what I like and I think that’s what has brought me this far. My recommendation would be don’t follow anybody.

Do you find touring tiring, or do you feel there’s a lot of energy from beginning to end?

No actually, I mean, back then when we started touring years ago, like 10, 12 years ago, I used to party a lot and everything. Now, well of course, that really drains your energy quite a lot so like the other two don’t get it. So now I take it more easy. I do the shows. Take it easy, meet the fans and not much party like back in the day. So I keep the same amount of energy all the time, all the shows. I mean I can deal better with all the stuff now.

Is it your first time in the UK and how are you finding the country so far?

Great! I mean, Yesterday we had the day off. I mean, it’s the beginning of the tour, but we had a day off. We had a chance to see our drivers’ family, he’s from the UK, and his family has taken care of us well; they gave us food, they gave us drinks, took care of us very, very nicely. What I liked, from what I experienced, it reminded me a lot of how things are in Mexico. Where I come from in Mexico family is a very important thing. It really seemed to me yesterday in England it’s the same. They had a barbeque there and they just kept calling friends and friends, and people kept coming all the time. There are already 15 people on this tour and people drinking, doing jobs, having fun, and more and more friends from the town kept showing up. In the end there were like, 50 people and nobody knew us, they were just having a party. There were kids playing around, playing football, jumping here and there, and I don’t know. It was good, to me it was like I said; England feels like in Mexico. Family is very important. I doesn’t matter, young people, like kids or whatever, you can have fun at the same time with adults.

Do you feel like the importance of family and other traditions from Mexico play any role in your music in Rabia Sorda, or your attitudes to touring and performing?

Well I guess they should. It works for me like I try to explain like the world the way I see it at the moment, so I guess all those aspects of my life work their way into my songs too. Though I don’t see myself writing a song like ‘a family day’ or whatever.

Do you see Rabia Sorda more as a character or persona that you write through or is it more personal?

Yeah, its way, way more personal. Actually, the lyrics are one of the things that pushed the whole concept. It’s to me different to a just having a white piece of paper writing, when I somehow write the lyrics for a song, I think of personal stuff and things come out. I found myself like when I read the lyrics for Rabia Sorda, somehow more naked. With Hocico, I do describe a lot of things in this world and I swear I picture the bad things that I see going on. I don’t know, sometimes you have this distinct colour in your life. It doesn’t feel as naked as Rabia Sorda.

What do you feel is the most personal thing you’ve released so far?

That’s a hard one. I could say the two slowest songs on the last two albums. With Rabia Sorda we only have the two albums, but there’s Methods of Chaos and burning house they’re like really personal stuff there. I tried to open some wounds, Like even when I listen to it now they’re open, but I’m happy I did because that way it somehow released a lot of pain.

Do you think it helps with the energy of the performance, performing more personal songs live?

Definitely the most personal songs we write they will appreciate it more. They can feel when a song is written with the heart and soul.

Is it always a positive experience or are there times when it as you say, opens old wounds and gets too much?

Actually no. It always helps with life. It makes life just better for me. Music can help me deal with almost anything in my life. Every time I have problems or every time I don’t understand what’s going on with my life the music is still there. If you like, it’s a barrier, in a very personal way, it’s like a friend. It’s always there for you. And in that sense it has always helped me.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Thank you for interviewing me. I love being in the UK. You have great sausages.

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