BEST OF TIMES

Revisen este trabajo que realizó xCokex acerca de Sangre joven y Guatemala hc. Información que estará contenida en la sxe encyclopedia que Commitment Records Holanda esta trabajando alrededor del mundo.

Conozcan un poco más de gthc.

xSANGRE JOVENx

1. When was the band started (which year, and if known, month)?
The band was started in 2001.

2. Where is the band from?

Guatemala City, Guatemala

3. How did the band come about? Who was involved (full names if possible, instruments they played, any other bands the members have been/are involved in)?

Around the year 2001, late 2000 perhaps, some of us kids who were involved in the hardcore punk scene (which had perhaps almost 2 years of existence by the time) were pretty much into straight edge hardcore, we listened to the youth crew bands of North and South America and European bands as well. As a result of this four kids decided to start a straight edge band and named it Sangre Joven (Young Blood). This band was born in a time where there were other hardcore bands like Fuerza X and Bombardero where around as well, and also skateboarding was what almost everybody involved in hardcore punk was into. Since straight edge hardcore was starting to have a serious meaning to many of us the band was just perfect and many identified with it because it kind of brought the youth crew sound into the scene.

At first Sangre Joven was a four piece band. The lineup was:

- Diego Archila on vocals (who was also drumming for Fuerza X, another hardcore band which was playing at the time, and previously played drums in a band called Skunx; he then played in Lurch, Mascarita Sagrada, Nota Suicida, Eterna Convicción, Crucial and Siempre Adelante; he currently plays in a hardcore band from Barcelona called The Few).

- Andrés Orellana played guitar (he formerly sang in Fuerza X, and after Sangre Joven he did vocals for Rivalidad).

- Gustavo played bass (shit can´t remember his last name; he was in Mascarita Sagrada as well).

- Fernando Sagastume played drums (he was also involved in bands such as Diferente Expectativa, and later in Nota Suicida, Crucial and Rivalidad; he currently plays in a band called Volver).

A short time later the lineup changed and Diego left the band to focus more on his other band Fuerza X, or that´s what I remember. So Andrés moved to the singing duties, and Fernando Matzdorff (who plays now in a band called Xbalanque or something like that, I really don´t know what type of music they play) joined in on guitar. I think this new lineup lasted for about a year, so it was:

Andrés on vocals, Gustavo on bass, Fernando M. on guitar and Fernando S. on drums.

After that, in late 2002 or early 2003, I was asked to joined in on second guitar and I agreed without any question, so the band became a five piece. Now the lineup was:

- Andrés on vocals

- Gustavo on bass

- Fernando M. on guitar

- Fernando S. on drums

- Me, Jorge Garcia on guitar (I also played for Bombardero and then on Fuerza X, Diferente Expectativa, Eterna Conviccion and Crucial, sometime later I played for Rivalidad as well; right now I´m starting a straight edge band with some friends).

It remained like this for sometime. After this Fernando Matzdorff left the band and I took fully on the guitar duties. We needed a bassist and that´s how Luis Otzoy (he played in G.I. Jokes, later on Rivalidad, and currently on Venganza and Volver) joined in and we also had Alejandro Ful (no bands before or after that I can remember) on second guitar by this time. But sometime later Alejandro left the band, and Sangre Joven went back to be a four piece. This lineup (Andrés on vocals, Fernando Sagastume on drums, Luis Otzoy on bass, Jorge Garcia on guitar) was the one which played all the way to the last show.

4. Where did the band name come from? What is the meaning behind the name of the band?

This is a tough one. I was not the one who named the band, but I´m guessing it was maybe because the first lineup was pretty young, they all were 17 years old, so they had a young blood, it was a young blood in the scene as well, maybe that´s where the name of the band came from (Sangre Joven = Young Blood).

And as I said, the name might have meant the new blood coming into the scene, a young blood which had something to say and had a straight edge message that needed to be delivered, mostly since it was a transitional time when this band started because other bands were changing or calling it quits.

5. How would the band describe its sound? And did the sound of the band develop through time? If so, in what direction?

The sound was fully old school straight edge hardcore, in the vein of the classic and new youth crew bands. The sound didn´t changed or developed so much, there were just some new small things added to the songs musically, but we basically remained the same.

6. What was the main focus in the lyrics? Did this develop over time?
Songs dealt mostly with unity in the scene, people dropping out of the scene, friendship, straight edge of course, commitment, positivity, things that everyone could relate to at the time. Lyrics didn´t develop that much.

7. When and where was the first show of the band? Any special memories?
I´m not an original member, and I hope I´m accurate in this one. Sangre Joven´s first show was in 2001. It was in a small venue, which was kind of like a small restaurant or bar, I guess it was called La Tiendita (The Small Store), but I may be wrong, although I´m pretty sure this was the place where the show took place. I remember that the place where the bands played was all the way in the back. Some other bands played the show, I guess maybe Fuerza X, but I can´t remember it well. There was a billiards place nearby. I just remember we were all very young, some kids even younger than me, it was pretty fun. So few of us still remain from those days.

8. What were the most important line-up changes of the band? Why did these happen and when did these (approximately) happen?

I guess the first lineup change wasn´t that important since the band had just some months of existence. This first change was around the same year the band formed, 2001. The replacement was found quite quick and the changes weren´t that drastic. I´m pretty sure that Diego Archila left the band to focus a lot more on Fuerza X which was his other band, which I was a part of too, and we were close to make our first tour in the US, so I guess that was part of the reason. I hope my memory is accurate as possible about this events.

One of the changes that struck some of the members of the band, or at least struck me very much was when Gustavo left and then when Alejandro left as well. Maybe the effect for the band wasn´t that big because replacements and reorders in the lineup came fast and the new kids and positions in the band were a great fit. The thing is that this guys were one of the greatest persons I have ever met. When Gustavo left I felt like shit for some time because he was so committed with straight edge and hardcore, same thing as with Alejandro, so it was more a tough emotional time when they left and broke edge. It really sucked.

The next lineup change that I think was most important was when Fernando Matzdorff left. I don´t know, he was a skilled guitarist and he introduced a lot of nice things into the music, although it was Andres the one who came up with almost all the music. But still the sound was already estabilished, so the importance of this change wasn´t that big anyway, the real bad thing is that we never got to see him again as much as we did, he was a nice guy. Me and some friends bumped into him some time ago and it was great that he was pretty happy to see us again. I really don´t remember why he left, I guess maybe he was focusing on something else besides the band because I remember he didn´t come to play some shows, or he will show up, play and leave, he didn´t hung around or stayed to catch the other bands, it was kind of a weird situation.

But anyway, the last lineup was also great, we all felt so alive everytime we played, I think I speak for all of the lineup members. So maybe the changes had to happen, it´s hard for things to stay the same.

9.What is the complete discography of the band - demos (tapes/CD-R’s), EP (vinyl or CD), albums (vinyl or CD), splits (EP or CD) and compilations (tape, vinyl or CD) - please include titles of the tracks, year of release, label(s) and, if possible, line-up, studio, producer/engineer and recording date(s).

SANGRE JOVEN (Demo 2003)

Tracks:

1. Intro

2. Los Mejores Tiempos

3. Cambia Tu Actitud

4. Juventud Positiva

5. Tolerancia

6. Cuenta Conmigo

7. Convicción Estalecida

8. Sangre Joven

9. Marcate

10. La Razón

This demo was done fully DIY and was released in late 2003 or early 2004. Since it was DIY no record label was involved. The lineup was: Andrés Orellana – vocals, Fernando Matzdorff – guitar, Gustavo Figueroa – bass, Jorge Garcia – guitar, Fernando Sagastume – drums. Recording date: 7 – 11 november 2003. I can´t remember the name of the studio or the guy who recorded it and mixed it. For some reason which doesn´t come to mind I wasn´t able to record my guitar parts, so the guitar recordings were fully done by Fernando M.

SANGRE JOVEN (Juventud Positiva)

Tracks:

1. Intro

2. Los Mejores Tiempos

3. Cambia Tu Actitud

4. Juventud Positiva

5. Tolerancia

6. Cuenta Conmigo

7. Convicción Estalecida

8. Sangre Joven

9. Marcate

10. La Razón

This record has the exact same tracks as those from the 2003 demo, but was released sometime around 2004 if I´m correct. The label which did the release is Tomorrow Records (I´m pretty sure it´s a label from Peru); the guy who ran it got in contact with Andres and was nice enough to put it out, which was great because that way we could have a better chance for more kids in other countries which seemed hard to reach to listen to the band. The tracks weren´t re-recorded, changed or mastered, they were, as I pointed out, the same tracks from the 2003 demo but Tomorrow Records released them as a CD/EP sort of thing. Although the songs were recorded by the past lineup, this had changed by the time and Sangre Joven was: Andres – vocals, Jorge Garcia – guitar, Luis Otzoy – bass, Fernando Sagastume – drums.

I´m not sure whatever happened to Tomorrow Records, I have no idea if the label is still around, but if anyone wants to try here´s the website and e-mail which appear on the CD booklet (or just google it and maybe it´s still out there):

www.tomorrowrecords.tk

tomorrowrecords@gmail.com

I think this is the myspace site: www.myspace.com/tomorrowrecords

SPLIT:

Hardcore Sin Fronteras

Propia Actitud (Mexico):

1. Intro

2. Cruel Realidad

3. Mi Lucha

4. Propia Actitud

Nota Suicida (Guatemala):

5. Esperanza

6. Tan Cerca, Pero Tan Lejos

7. Suplicio

8. Nota Suicida

9. Sin Razón Para Vivir

10. Muriendo Poco A Poco

11. 29 De Febrero

12. Indiferencia

13. Como Reconstruir El Alma De Un Hombre Sin Esperanzas

14. Tristeza

Sangre Joven (Guatemala):

15. Falsa Amistad

16. Tolerancia

Eterna Conviccion (Guatemala):

17. Intro

18. Mas Que Una X

19. Rechazo A Ti Mismo

20. Reaccionar

21. Falsa Realidad

22. Acciones Fallidas

23. Depende De Vos

This was a split CD released in the year 2003, sometime around December of that year, and it was somewhat of a support for the tour the bands from Guatemala listed did in December of that same year. The release was actually made by two Mexican labels, XWARRIORMEX Records and Decision Personal Records.

There were some things about the Guatemalan bands of the split that I think are worth mentioning. All of them toured Mexico in 2003, and the bands shared many of the members. Another curious fact is that the Nota Suicida tracks, as far as remember, only appeared in this split, they were never released on any other demo or ep of any sort. The Eterna Conviccion tracks were also released as a demo in 2003 by the local, but shortlasting label, x502x Records.

Another curious thing is that the two Sangre Joven tracks only appeared on this comp, they are nowhere else to be found but here, and one of them, Falsa Amistad, was never again played at shows, I don´t know why, the song was good, but maybe it was a mutual band decision to just kill the song forever. This two songs were recorded long before the 2003 demo, actually this is a totally different recording, can´t remember where or when this songs were recorded, perhaps 2002, I was not a member of the band by the time so I can´t be totally accurate about it. From the two tracks only Tolerancia was re-recorded and included in the releases that came later. The lineup at the time of the recording of these two tracks (maybe 2002 as I pointed out) must have been: Andres – vocals, Fernando M. – guitar, Fernando S. – drums, Gustavo – bass. In the split booklet the lineup appeared as: Andres – vocals, Fernando M. – guitar, Jorge – guitar, Gustavo – bass, Fernando S. – drums. And just to make matters a bit more complicated, the year the split came out, Gustavo had already left the band, so the lineup by the time, and for the Mexican 2003 tour as well, was the same five piece, but Alejandro had replaced Gustavo on bass.

COMPILATION:

Hardcore Or Die! Compilado Hardcore Internacional

1. Fuerza De Lucha (España) - Víctimas
2. Propia Actitud (Mexico) - Volver a comenzar
3. Los Verdaderos (Argentina) - Volver
4. Fumbles In Life (Italia) - The Gift Of Forever
5. War Inside (Brasil) - Crossover 2
6. Sangre Joven (Guatemala) - Los mejores tiempos
7. Boondock 7 (Alemania) - Powertrack
8. Alhambre (Peru) - Fuerza interna
9. Sangre Y Decepción (Mexico) - No caeré
10. Hold True (Hungaria) - Dont follow the head
11. Liberación (Colombia) - Aniquilando por ignorancia
12. Tropiezo (Puerto Rico) - Idiota por conveniencia
13. Pollution (España) - ¿Evolución?
14. Rencilla (Panama) - Adrenalina
15. 720º (Argentina) - Vos elegís
16. No More Fear (Italia) - Believing
17. Doverman (Mexico) - Wake up
18. Inersia (Costa Rica) - Realidad en contra
19. Krombacher Kellerkinder (Alemania) - Take care
20. Eterna Convicción (Guatemala) - Depende de vós
21. Blind Pigs (Brasil) - Violencia
22. Dead Fall (USA) - From Beyond
23. La Armada Roja (República Dominicana) - La de barriles
24. KLH (Mexico) - Fuera de mí
25. Fuera De Juego (España) - Quiero saber
26. Desarme (Peru) - Ornitorrinkos
27. Fuerza De Voluntad (Chile) - Raíces
28. Full Of Life (Italia) - Friends
29. 5 De Menos (Colombia) - Fuerza hardcore
30. Agitación Interna (Uruguay) - Sintiéndonos fuertes

This comp was released, as far as I´m concerned, by a bunch of labels. I don´t remember which labels they were or the year of release, sorry! There´s one Sangre Joven track in this comp, I´m pretty sure it was taken out of the 2003 demo. There´s also a song from another band from Guatemala called Eterna Conviccion, which I played bass for and were nice friends with Sangre Joven as well.

10. Did the band any major tours? If yes, where and when? Any special stories to share about these tours?

The band used to go several times to El Salvador, more specifically to San Salvador which is just about 3 and a half hours away. The kids and hardcore bands over there used to invite us all the time to play shows. The place has a very hot weather, almost like a beach. We played with lots of bands there, some of the ones I remember are Firme Decision, Inhumanoiz, Perseverancia. Shows used to be really fun. At first there were not that much people at shows, but as years went by a lot more kids showed up. There´s lots of memories about those times. The “official” or regular place to go before or after the shows was any place we could eat pupusas (which is one of the most, or maybe the most, famous of El Salvador´s national foods). We once went to this place called Pupusodromo, which was like a big kind of park which had lots of different locals which sold pupusas and it was all the way on the top of a mountain. There was a legend which was told that an old big house, which actually covered a whole block, was haunted. So one night after the show this kids drove us there to check out the place. It was creepy, it had an old fence surrounding it, seemed like the grass haven´t been cut in years, and the sorroundings were very dark, but we saw nothing, although the place was truly scary. I also remember that at this one show I got a bloody nose, but that´s something that might happen when you get in a pit. And pits in El Salvador used to be very tough, lots of kicks and arms flying around. It was a nice place to go, we made lots of friends, some of which we still see from time to time when we go there or they come here. At this one show a big fight broke outside of the place where we played at, I didn´t saw much of it but afterwards we were told that even knives were pulled out. The police were arriving and we just jumped in the car and left to avoid trouble, mostly because we were foreigners. We also had a car crash just some kilometers away from El Salvador, it was a hard crash, but we were ok; but the car was in kind of a bad shape, luckily it could still be driven and we had to turn back home, it really sucked, especially since it was the other dumbass driver´s fault but he never wanted to accept his mistake, so my friend who was driving had to pay the full repair. Also there was a pretty shitty night we spent over there, well not me but some of my friends. The thing is that a friend over in El Salvador was nice enough to let us sleep on a somewhat empty apartment of his, but since there were no beds some of us slept on this thick blankets, but others had to sleep in between a couch and some chairs, they had one of the worst sleeps of their lives, and with that hot weather it was already hard to fall asleep. The next day we went to the beach I guess. I spent one of my birthdays in El Salvador since we went there to play a show.

Sangre Joven also toured Costa Rica once, I guess it was in December 2004. Some flew over there, some took a long bus trip. I did the bus trip with another friend (Julio Baeza, Venganza´s guitarist). It was like an 18 hour trip over there. I remember we got he chance to rehearse before the show at this kind of recording studio/rehearsal spot which was located near some old train tracks. It was a nice show, lots of people showed up. Bands from El Salvador also played there, and of course bands from Costa Rica also played. A band from Panama called Gran Malota was also on the bill, they were this big guys, kind of intimidating, but they were nice guys. We had records and shirts for sale that day. We went to eat pizza one night, it was this Italian place, which I remember had lots of Juventus posters and memorabilia on the walls, the woman who owned the place was hot. Actually most women over in Costa Rica were kind of pretty and attractive. We had a walk downtown one afternoon, it was a very cool place to be, lots of people walking by. We also went to these awesome vegetarian restaurant, the cool thing was that the food wasn´t so expensive and it was damn good. One of the guys who had us stay at his house took us to this club to take a dive at the pool and have a fun time, then we ate something and head back to sleep. We spent some days in Costa Rica actually. It was pretty fun. We also played a house show, it was kinda sucky, the sound was so bad, but afterwards we played a soccer game on the house yard. We also went like twice to the local mall since one of the kids over there worked there and we hung out some time on the store he worked at, which was a tattoo shop and also a goth wear shop kind of thing, kind of weird too. After all this we took the 18 hour bus trip back home, but at least for me it was all worth while. We made nice friends, and it was a great experience that just something like hardcore can give to you.

Sangre Joven also toured Mexico twice. The first one was done in December 2003, and the tour was called Hardcore Sin Fronteras (No Frontiers Hardcore). We did these tour along with our brotherly bands Eterna Conviccion (a youth crew straight edge band) and Nota Suicida (which played a more new school kind of hardcore). We toured with the local Mexican punk band KLH, which were some awesome guys and they made fucking fun of everything and everyone. Along also came the guy who set up the tour for us (we all called him Pollo, amazing guy, he was so fucking nice to all of us, and he offered us his home to sleep and fed us like if we were fucking kings or something), his girlfriend, Valmiki Das of Decision Personal Records (also his wife and his small son came with us), and two other guys who were kind of roadies. In this tour we went all over Mexico, from Distrito Federal (D.F.) all the way to Tijuana. There´s lots of memories from this tour. Most of us made a 21 hour bus trip all the way to D. F., and we had to make a transfer in Tapachula (which is a town that is about half hour away from the Guatemala/Mexico border). Before we got to this town we had to come off the bus to check at the border, which is actually hell, it´s so fucking hot there, it totally sucked, but since we were many of us coming together it was a lot more bearable. We had to take our instruments with us of course. After the neverending trip we finally got to Distrito Federal. Some of us slept on the rehearsing room which was kind of far away from the guy who carried us around everywhere and took care of us. Since the city is so damn big we had to take public transportation and the train (“El Metro”) to get to places. We visited the Zocalo (the central plaza of Distrito Federal) and the central zone of it. This was a whole new experience to say the least. These Krishna guys owned a restaurant called Vrinda, and fuck it was great food, and it was kind of cheap. The first show we played at D.F. was at a very singular place in the city called “El Chopo”, which is like the mecca of latinamerican punk rock. It´s something you just don´t see anywhere, it´s so unusual to get to see places like this. Basically El Chopo consisted of sort of small spaces in the street where people sold records, videos, clothes, shoes, books and almost anything an underground scene could have. And it had stuff for any subculture, you could find a hardcore or punk record or shirt, but there was also metal and goth stuff for example. We were amazed, it was not like anything we have seen before. The show was cool and kind of weird since it was in a total open space and lots of punk and crust kids stopped by, and also some scary people as well, so at times it felt a bit intimidating and we had a feeling of being judged or made fun of, but overall the experience was awesome, I mean playing in such a recognized place in one of the biggest cities in the world makes you feel lucky as shit. We got to this place in a rented or borrowed public bus, since we had to carry all our instruments. This was in the afternoon, and at night we played a second show at some bar in the city, and it was pretty cool. I just remember that at this show a drunk guy was approaching and hugging everyone, and of course we all made fun of him.

It was time to leave the city for a while. We went to Toluca and played in this kind of warehouse. The scene there was crusty as shit, but the food we ate was great. There was this weird band that played there which was actually a two piece. A guy from another band gave us some tapes but to be honest I didn´t liked the band at all, I guess none of us did. We got back to the D.F. and the next day headed off to Guadalajara. The show there was a good one, I remember lots of people showed up, most of them were mostly into metalcore and the new school stuff, but they supported us and that was great. Then we played a show at Mazatlan, which is basically a beach. We actually went to the beach before the show, did some bodyboarding and then headed back to the show, which kind of sucked because people just sat and didn´t even supported the local bands or us. We Guatemalan kids have to support ourselves because no one seemed to care, kind of a weird crowd they had in that place. A cool thing happened to me in Mazatlan because we were heading from the beach back to the place where the show was going to take place, and I found 200 pesos (about 20 US dollars or so) lying on the floor, and this money helped me out a lot because I didn´t had so much money to spend (later I used some of this money to buy the Eyeball “Talking Straight” CD at Monterrey, fuck yes!). We also played at Culiacan, ate a good pizza; the bad thing was that my bass was broken, can´t remember how it happened but one of the guys from KLH borrowed me his bass for the rest of the tour. Afterwards we headed to Hermosillo, and we spent a couple of days there. This show was great, I guess one of the best on the tour, people went crazy with the bands, they even lifted us up in the air while playing, it was so much fun. I guess Sangre Joven was interviewed by some guy from a local zine, but I´m not entirely sure about this. Then we went to Tijuana, and on the way we had to stop at this inmigration police station, they wanted to give us shit and the fuckers wanted some money, but we could pull it off and continue on our way. Tijuana is a very strange city, we passed along the US border, so creepy and sad, you could see lots of crosses symbolizing all the people who died or got killed trying to go past the border in an illegal way. This show really sucked, it was a total let down for everyone. There was this band from the US which sucked, the local band also sucked so bad, the show was shit, we should have never gone there, it was a total waste of time and money, and we didn´t have that much money to spend. The reason why Tijuana fucking sucked is that when we arrived we were told by the show organizers that it was so cool that we were there and that we came from so far away to play there, and we thought they were actually nice kids, but when we started playing no one was there, I mean it was only us Guatemalan kids and the Mexican kids who toured with us that were there, there was no one else, just some couple of local guys who didn´t really gave a fuck about us. Then we found out that these fuckers who booked the show, and some other local scenesters were downstairs drinking beer, so we said fuck it, picked up our stuff and got the fuck out of there. The only good thing is that Sangre Joven was interviewed for a zine. I´m pretty sure Tijuana has a nice scene, I just think we bumped with the wrong kids.

We also played in this town called Ciudad Obregon. Before the show we went to this girl´s house, who was actually the one who booked us on the show there. We played a football (soccer) game, being us Guatemalans versus the Mexicans, it was so much fun, can´t remember who won. The place we played at didn´t have any grass on it, it was so dusty, we ended up so dirty, and the girl I mentioned before was cool enough to let us take showers. We ate something and headed to the show. The place where the show took place was this space that was like a deposit for steel structures, and it was filled with crusty punks who were drinking what seemed to be home made booze and some of them were sniffing glue, totally intimidating and unclean scene, and we all wondered what the fuck we were doing there. We decided to play just to avoid a possible ass kicking. The drumset was so small, I guess it was designed for small kids to play, the sound was shit, the stage was so small you could barely fit. We didn´t even played with the original lineups, since some of my friends had bad colds, and we just played a couple songs and left. Afterwards we made fun of it all, but in the moment we felt so out of place and so endangered with the fucked up atmosphere that we decided to take off as soon as we could.

Then we went to Monterrey. It was great there. Too bad we couldn´t spend more time there. We were taken to this market were kids have hardcore stuff to sell. Then we went to eat something and later to the show. I remember there was an important football (soccer) match that day, so the local kids watched it and the show started when the match ended. The cool thing about Monterrey is that the scene was very much youth crew, old school hardcore bands played and we felt more like at home here. It was a great show. Everyone sang along. I remember the local band It´s Now played, it was a nice band. There´s a silly fact from this show: when Sangre Joven ended the set we were asked by some girls to sign the demos they had just bought, so we signed them. I remember I draw a heart right aside of my signature, it was something we laughed at afterwards. After the show there was a small house show, and some bands which weren´t booked on the first show played on this one. I remember a band played a Ten Yard Fight cover and I sang like crazy to it. Then we had to head back to D.F. in the middle of the chilly night.

We finally got back to D.F. after an eleven hour trip and played a last show there and that was it. It was time to come back home. Those were two unbelievable and unforgettable weeks. I am so grateful to have spent those days with my friends. We had to sleep on the big bus we rented for the tour, brush our teeth on the bathrooms of local malls or fast food places, take baths wherever we could, feel tired as shit, but it was all worth while.

The second tour in Mexico was done in December 2005. This time the tour lasted just about 5 or 6 days. Sangre Joven toured this time with our local brother bands Crucial and Venganza. Along came Distrito Federal´s bands Tiempo De Afrontar, Three Sixty P.M., and Stacy. Now the tour was named Youth Crew Tour, and there´s a big flyer of this tour which after all these years still hangs on my bedroom wall. This time the tour was organized by Valmiki Das of Decision Personal Records. This time the trip to Mexico was a bit different because everyone took an airplane to get there, but I had to take the killing 21 hour bus trip (because I had no money to pay for an airplane ticket) to Mexico D.F. all by myself and to make matters worse my CD player was fucked up so I had to role all the way with no music, kinda sucky, but in the end it was a big experience to go so far alone. I almost got off at the wrong bus station, but luckily someone helped me out and told me the right station in which I had to get off. I was picked up in the station and after a 30 minute drive through the city I met with all the Guatemalan kids, ate at the vegetarian place and then went to the hotel where everyone was staying for the night. I remember we almost tore the rooms apart, we fucked up the beds, went from one room to another yelling in the hallway, can´t understand how we weren´t kicked out, it was a lot of fun. After this the night came and we played the first show at the local Krishna temple which was called Prabhupada, and it had a space where the bands set up and played. It was a cool show, the place was packed and by the time some kids already knew Sangre Joven since we had been there a couple years ago. After the show we got up on the big bus which was rented for the tour, and started the long trip to Guadalajara.

We got to Guadalajara a bit before mid day, and we went to this apartment owned by the local kids, left our stuff there and went for a walk on the city. We ate something and afterwards we headed to the show, which was at some sort of bar/restaurant. I can´t remember much of that show, but there was one funny thing that happened. When Sangre Joven was playing some kids in the crowd lifted our singer Andrés up in the air and took him all the way outside of the place, nothing offensive, they were just goofing around, and we all made fun of it. I guess some of my friends kind of took a nap on the backstage. Then we just hung outside and it was time to hit the road again, because we had to be in Monterrey the next day.

The trip to Monterrey was kind of a long one. We finally got there, I guess it was sometime in the afternoon. We went to Mito´s house (singer of It´s Now), he gave us something to eat and let us all guatemalan kids take showers. Then we went to the show which took place in an open space at the back of this restaurant or something. It was a cool show that night, but again we couldn´t hang out that much time afterwards because the next day we had to be back at D.F, to play our last show.

So, we finally got to D.F. after a very long trip. The bus left us at this big mall, because the venue was actually inside of it. It was the typical mall with lots of stores and I remember it was big as shit. We actually walked all the way through it I guess. The venue was a very fancy bar and it had a big stage with blue fluorescent lights on it. The sound was great. It kind of sucked that we had to play fast because my friends had to take the plane back home that same day, and we didn´t have that much time. Only Guatemalan bands played that day because of the short time we had. During Crucial´s set the singer jumped up during a song and when he landed he broke the stage floor and opened up a hole on it, and half of his leg got stuck inside the fucking hole. He didn´t got hurt at all and we laughed it up that day and several years later we still made fun of it and laughed. Sometime later we found out that Valmiki and some of the Mexican kids who toured with us had to pay for the repair. Then everyone went to the airport and headed back home. As for me I stood on D.F. that night, and Valmiki and his wife were cool enough to let me sleep on their house and bought some pizza for dinner. The next day I started the long bus trip back home and the tour was over. It was a great experience. Thank you again straight edge hardcore.

11. If the band broke up, when did it happen (year, and if possible month) and why?

I don´t want to say that the band broke up, it just came to an end, and I guess it was the proper time for the band to call it quits. We gave it our all and it was best to come to an end when we still felt great about playing and when the things we stood for still meant everything to us. Plus the same of us kids who were in Sangre Joven where about to start another straight edge band called Rivalidad (Rivalry), with the same youth crew vein, but a bit different, a little more aggressive perhaps. The band came to an end around april 2006.

12. What was the last show the band played before breaking up? Any special memories?

The last show the band played was at an event called UG FEST (Under Ground Fest). This fest took place in two days in a row (Saturday and Sunday), April 8^th and 9^th 2006. There were lots of bands, some were great, some not so much, and some sucked, something quite normal when a lot of bands are booked on a show. The venue was actually a big parking lot. I played that show with Crucial, my other straight edge band at the time besides Sangre Joven, and our friends of Venganza also played. There were bands from El Salvador and Costa Rica as well.

So, Sangre Joven played the last show on Saturday April 8^th 2006. Fuck what a show that was, really memorable. Everyone was expecting us to play, I mean it was the last fucking show and many people knew the band and liked it a lot, even non edge kids were into the band, there was a lot of expectation, it was awesome. There were lots of kids, even a small fight broke up during Crucial´s set, but it ended as fast as it started, I guess no one was hurt, it was just some pushing over and that was it. I was nervous as shit, all of our friends were there and we couldn´t help thinking the band was ending. So finally we were up there in a very high stage, that maybe was the suckiest part of it all because we were kind of far away from the crowd, but that didn´t really matter because as soon as we started playing people went crazy. Since the stage was too high I guess there was no stage diving, it would have been suicidal. We were having so much fun. A little time after we started people started going up some stairs that led to the stage and all of a sudden there was a shitload of kids up in the stage singing along, there were so many kids we didn´t even had enough room to stand, but what the hell, it was fucking awesome. I remember we had to start over a couple of songs because we started couldn´t get to end of since it was so crazy up there and we were constantly bumped by the kids, but it didn´t matter, we could play the songs all over again if needed. This proves that hardcore can bring out so many emotions and make people a lot more happy than so many other things. Then the show was over, it was a great goodbye, one of the best shows I have ever played at in my life. Straight edge hardcore went to the top that day. Then it was time to shoot some photos, and then we hung around as we always did.

13. Did the band stay straight edge during the whole period of existence? If not, which was the period that the band was straight edge (year, month)?

The band was always straight edge, from day one until the end.

14. And what was the reason the band was no longer straight edge? Line-up changes or (one or some) members losing the edge?

15. Some other important facts about the band that should be included?
I remember sometime we were offered some kind of sponsor by a local skateboard shop, but it never happened.

Sangre Joven played a reunion show when The First Step came to play in Guatemala.

16. Can you please name five other straight edge bands from you area, or that you had contact with, or that you think should not be left out of the encyclopedia (with a link to a MySpace or website if possible)?

FUERZA X

This was a straight edge band at first, but then it wasn´t. Since this was at the time the first straight edge band in the country I think it´s proper to include it here.

It kinda sucks that there´s no myspace for this band or any other website that I know of. The demo is up for download (hope it still works) on this blog (which is actually done by Fuerza X´s drummer):

http://xmylifemyownwayx.blogspot.com/2009/09/fuerza-x-vamos-ep.html

ETERNA CONVICCION

www.myspace.com/xeternaconviccionx

CRUCIAL

This band just, which I was a member of, recorded a demo as far as I can recall. I asked the vocalist whatever happened to that demo, and he told me it sounded very shitty so that´s the reason it was never released.

www.myspace.com/xcrucialx502

TIEMPOS DUROS

www.myspace.com/tiemposd

SIEMPRE ADELANTE

www.myspace.com/siemprexadelante

RIVALIDAD

www.myspace.com/xrivalidadx

VENGANZA

This band started out being straight edge. Nowadays only 3 members are edge, but this band is great, so I guessed it was worthy of being included on the list.

Bandcamp: venganza.bandcamp.com

For more info on our scene and also interviews, downloads, videos and some more you can check out this blog: www.bestoftimesfanzine.blogspot .com. There are links to some other local and not local blogs on this site.

You can also search for downloads from this bands in the web. Some blogs do have stuff from them for download, so google it or something.

BEST OF TIMES

Friday, June 15, 2012

Friday, May 11, 2012

TRUTH THROUGH FIGHT regresa a Guatemala

Saturday, February 25, 2012

SE VOS MISMO - Empieza el cambio demo 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

REMINDER - Standing Strong & Definition

Saturday, September 10, 2011

FAMILY - Family

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Antigua se viste de Hardcore Punk

Monday, July 11, 2011

SxE Encyclopedia - Sangre Joven Guatemala Hardcore

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