1. Hi so at first can you introduce your band, members and tell us something about your hobbies, work and also some band history.

Hello Peddy and all the readers of Backstreet Batallion. We are Bronco Army, a skinhead band formed by me (Toni) on vocals+guitars, Koko on bass+vocals and Gustavo on drums. Just like many other skinheads around the world, our hobbies consist in having a good time with our mates, drinking loads of alcohol, going to parties, gigs, football matches, etc.

I work as an assistant in a local university, Koko works as an attendant in a transportation company and Gustavo is only studying at the moment.

I started the band as a project, with a different name, around 2008, and it took me some time until I could make it work properly as a band. I’ve been playing with Koko since the early days of Bronco Army and we had like 3 or 4 different drummers until we met Gustavo.

2. Why did you choose the name Bronco Army and what does it means?

Bronco is how horse breeders call an animal that can’t be tamed, and we totally identify ourselves with that. We see skinheads as an army of rebellious people, who can’t be tamed by society and its stupid rules.

3. Have your members some previous experience with any other bands?

Well yes. I played in Tumulto 64 and another bands and projects that didn’t last too long. Anyhow, those were valuable experiences, because they gave me the background I needed to start a more mature band.

4. You release split EP with The Bulldroogs on Shout Proud Records and 4 songs on three split with Prideful and Shaven Heads on Skinhead Beat Records...why did you chose labels from Europe and how did you come into contact with them? Are you satisfied with their work? And is this your complete discography?

We were actually very lucky to be chosen by these labels. Unfortunately we don’t have any active labels dedicated to skinhead music here nowadays, and it’s impossible to release a skinhead music record in an “indie” or “alternative” company. I’m glad we can count on European labels that enjoy and support our music. We are very satisfied with the labels we already worked with!! And actually, our discography is a little bigger, if we count the compilations in which we were included.


5. You come from Sao Paulo, which is one of the biggest cities of the world, how is the living in such big city?

We actually live in an area called SP Central, composed by a group of smaller cities. It’s in the heart of Sao Paulo state and it’s a very good place to live. It’s not so chaotic and we can wear our skinhead looks without being worried all the time. There aren’t any serious antifas or red wankers strong enough to fight against us and the police don’t bother us too much. We have a small but good skinhead scene, with good people involved and two bands, so I think it’s pretty good for now, and it tends to improve.

6. What about the skinhead scene in such a big country as Brazil is in general and in Sao Paulo? New bands, crews, pubs, zines...

The Brazilian skinhead scene is a mess! The country is too big and would be very hard to make a fair description about what’s going on with the national scene. We have our crew called Skins SP Central and we have a good relationship with most of the patriot/nationalist/traditionalist skinheads from south to north. Another serious crew is Combate Bandeirante in Sao Paulo city, with whom we can organize some events and gigs once in a while. Unfortunately there aren’t any skinhead pubs here, I heard rumours about the opening of one, and I hope it’s for real. I don’t think there are new bands around, I guess Ultima Chance, from Bahia is the most recent one formed in our country. I don’t know any active skinzines at the moment, but I think that Revolta Urbana (a great zine from the 90’s) will be published again soon.

7. South America is famous for football do you support any team and in which way?

I support our local team, Sao Carlos FC. It’s a small team but it’s pretty good for us. I’ve given up supporting bigger teams, because nowadays the professional football has become nothing but a big money-making machine.

8. What about the gigs in Brazil? Do you play live often? Are there any problems with police?

Unfortunately we don’t play live as much as we want, because the scene is so divided and there are many difficulties in organizing bigger skinhead gigs and events. We had a very good one last year, when we played with BDC, Bulldroogs and Aequitas from Rio de Janeiro. Bronco Army is gonna play this month again. Here in SP Central we are trying to keep a schedule of gigs and parties from 2 to 2 months. Our gigs are small and we try to avoid the use of forbidden symbolism, so we have no problems with the police.

9. What about the ecology it is important for you to stand against the destroying the rainforests in your country by international corporations? Can you tell us something about this from the Brazilian citizen point of view?

I think the rainforests should be preserved but our government is obviously not concerned about it. In my opinion, a much bigger problem is the meat industry, which is a filthy rich business here in Brazil, where the people is led to idolize this kind of “food” so they consume large quantities of meat to show social status, that’s really stupid.

10. Back to the music, why do you choose to sing in English and not in your native language?

We have enough bands singing in Portuguese, so I guess it was about time to have a band with lyrics in English. It’s good to be understood in most countries and I think it sounds good too.

11. Do you personally prefer CD or vinyl?

Vinyl, definitely!! We really hope we can release more stuff in this format. Labels please get in touch!!!

12. Where we can order your stuff?

I guess our split 7”ep with Bulldroogs on Shout Proud Records is already sold out, because it was limited to only 500 hand-numbered copies. We still have a few copies (which we prefer to trade instead of selling!), people can contact us to get it. You can get some Bronco Army merch and our split CD with Shaven Heads and The Prideful through Skinhead Beat Records. Hurry up and maybe you can get the digipack version!!

13. What are your musical influences? Do you prefer older or new breed bands? And do you prefer bands from South America, North America or Europe? Or Australia?

We are really addicted to skinhead music, so we listen to a lot of stuff from many different places. We prefer the classic stuff but some of the newer bands are really good too!! It’s inspiring to see that the flame is still burning!! I could say that most of our favourite bands are from UK and Germany.

13. Do you know anything about Czech Republic?

I know it’s a fucking beautiful place, with a very rich culture, history and good pilsen beer too! I wish I was more familiar to the scene though. I think Operace Artaban is a good and funny one, Saints & Sinners sound good too, even though I don’t have much information about them.

14. Plans for the future?

Record new songs and hopefully release good stuff. There are some good compilations coming this year, including also a couple of tributes. We’ll probably release our full length too. We hope we can play in good gigs, here and abroad.

15. Last words for our readers....

Thank you Peddy for contacting us and for your interest in our band. Backstreet Batallion is really great and I’m glad to take part in it. Keep skinhead and keep it proud!
Cheers from Sao Paulo.