Sounds of the Skatepark 6: From Brazil to Japan (and back again)

At Linda Vista Skatepark, after the Jehovah’s Witnesses have set up their brochure stand but before Clairemonsters start squaring them up, Breno skates on his lunch break. Breno is a skater and graphic designer from Brazil who appreciates good skating and good music. “—Wow, look at the way he grinds that rail!” he said, interrupting the story he was telling me, “that rail’s like 12 feet, and he did it in one fluid motion. That’s crazy, man.”

Breno grew up outside of São Paulo, skating all day and listening to music every night. “The skate scene in São Paulo is amazing. We have less skate parks, but we skate street a lot.” Growing up a skater in São Paulo, Breno credits the city with exposing him to a wide variety of musical genres.

“There’s no other music like in São Paulo,” he told me.“All over the world, people study music until they can’t anymore. I guess in Brazil they just do it MORE.” 

To Breno, skating and music exist together in an unbreakable bond. “Since skateboarding started, the relationship between music and skating is strong,” he said, interlacing his fingers. “The rap revolution, punk rock, rock n’ roll, you’ve seen skate videos right? The two are inseparable — yo, you see that guy? He just flew over that three-foot gap riding fakie, that was crazy!” 

Breno said he doesn’t just listen to music, he also studies it: “I try to study music as an expansion of the self. There was a time when humanity was learning to organize knowledge,” he said. “Classical music is beautiful because it was before industry. [Composers] were trying to explore the human mind. That said, my favorite styles of music are punk and hardcore,” he said laughing a little.

Breno pointed to the influence of American music on how his taste developed. “American music is and was everywhere, especially punk and rock. I listened to everything from Grand Funk Railroad to NOFX.” The deluge of American music, as well as his immersion in skating, is what Breno said drew him to expand his taste to international music.   

“Once I discovered there was punk rock in Brazil, I figured it was everywhere else. Osaka punk is amazing to skate to.”  

“Osaka, like Japan?” 

“Yeah, let me show you The Blue Hearts!”

The Blue Hearts, a celebrated Japanese punk band from the mid-80s, saw monumental success at home, but didn’t quite break through in the United States. Despite their confrontational attitude and being banned from Japanese TV for over a year, they are regarded as one of Japan’s most popular music acts. This creative run landed them 19th on HMV Japan’s list of “100 Best Pop Acts,” and their debut album ranks third in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time.”

Breno listens to that first self-titled album before, during, and after skating, and likes The Blue Hearts for their populist roots. “They’re a working class band, so they sing about taking the train, going to work, being fed up with it, stuff like that.” Despite not speaking the language, he can sing along to most of the words, “Mienai jiyuu ga hoshikute! / Mienai juu o uchimakuru! / Hontou no koe o kikasete okure yo!”

Released in 1987, The Blue Hearts’ first album straddles the line between 70s punk acts like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, and the sharper, 90s punk propelled by bands like Black Flag, NOFX and Bikini Kill. The vocals are bright and right up front in the mix, but they’re coated with a tasteful reverb, which helps the listener better comprehend the lyrics (presumably, I don’t know Japanese). The ferocity of the performances are reminiscent of Jagatara, a Japanese punk band from the 80s, and the contemporary hardcore punk band, Otoboke Beaver. 

“I have one more to show you,” Breno said. “This band is from Brazil, they’re called Planet Hemp.” 

“Hemp?”

“Yeah man, these guys were skaters who fought for weed legalization.”

Planet Hemp is a rock/rap group from Rio de Janeiro that Breno compares to other anti-establishment bands like Rage Against the Machine and Urban Dance Squad. “These guys combine rock, rap, samba, ragga, hapa, all sorts of stuff.” Formed in 1993, they only put out three albums before disbanding in 2001 due to creative disagreements. But their lyrics, like “I am very high on weed,” still resonate deeply into 2024. 

Breno recommended their 1995 album, “Usuário,” a ferocious record that combines first-wave ska, punk and hardcore to create an angry, yet groovy, collection of tracks. But to call them simply a ‘stoner’ band would be dismissive of the intensely political tone of their lyrics. Translated into English, the lyrics to the opening track, “Não Compre, Plante!” are saturated with anger: “You think I’m crazy for smoking weed? / she breaks my barrier, leaves me with an open mind / Who are you talking about my behavior? / Cumpadi, you have no business or knowledge / Trafficking kills more / Don’t buy it, plant it!”   

Planet Hemp reunited in 2012 and have since released two studio albums and a live album. Brazil decriminalized cannabis (up to 40g and six plants) for personal use in 2024, and have begun issuing licenses for medicinal marijuana; the world is healing. Just like weed, skateboarding and Breno, punk rock has made its way across the world and back again. Legal, but forever anti-establishment. 

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