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The idea that national bands lack quality is so ingrained that many people don't even question it and simply don't bother to get to know the work of these bands
by Diana 'NoWay' Ungaro Arnos
The term was coined by the "almost never controversial" Nelson Rodrigues, who said: "by 'mongrel complex' I understand the inferiority complex in which Brazilians voluntarily place themselves in relation to the rest of the world ." In other words, this Brazilian tendency to think that everything national is worthless and everything from abroad is better, and unfortunately, we end up finding traces of this complex in the Metal scene as well.
Worse: contrary to what many people imagine, it's not just the public that turns its nose up at national bands. Many bands use this complex as a crutch and end up fueling this prejudice. Starting with the behavior of the public, everyone knows someone who went to a show here by some obscure European band and was super proud, but that person rarely gets excited about going to shows by local bands and is even less interested in keeping up with the region's event schedule (and let's face it, with Facebook and so on it's become much easier, right?).
Often, people don't even judge the quality of Brazilian bands; they simply aren't interested
Often, these people don't even judge the quality of Brazilian bands; they simply aren't interested. The idea that national bands lack quality is so ingrained that many people don't even question it and simply don't bother to get to know the work of these bands. It's common for someone who hears or watches a national band perform to be surprised and say that "it sounds like a foreign band.".
Once, after playing at a large festival, we went backstage to talk to the local press. A couple came up to us, all excited, to interview us (I won't say who they were or which website they worked for, because I honestly don't remember, but they were really nice people). Among the usual questions and some compliments, one of them made the following comment while talking to me: "I thought, 'Man, this girl is imported, there's nothing like her in Brazil'." Of course, it was a compliment, but at the time I was torn between being grateful and disappointed by the perception that "there's nothing very good in Brazil".
Another situation: in a quick, small meeting where the topic was stage performance and visual presentation, someone said, "I saw some videos and photos, you guys have a really good stage presence and a cool look, like a foreign band" (I remember who this person is, but for safety reasons I prefer to omit it to avoid problems). And I had the same feeling as in the previous situation.
No, I'm not a patriot, but I'm in favor of looking around and seeing what can be salvaged, and I think prejudice against local bands is silly. After all, what we all want is to listen to some good music and have a beer (okay, you might not drink, but you'll still want to enjoy the music). So, in your city there are 2 or 3 really cool bands that put on a great show and are going to play at a rock/metal bar half an hour away by bus for 10 reais. You won't go. But when there's a show by a foreign band for 200 reais at a venue that takes 2.5 hours to get to, you'll go and then sleep outside a station until 4 am to get back home.
Let's try to be less prejudiced and also try to open the minds of those who don't believe in Brazilian Metal
Of course, there's nothing wrong with enjoying foreign bands (everyone does, me included). But why is it that when you hear about a forgotten band from Eastern Europe, you go looking for it to listen and get to know them, but if you hear about a band from the neighboring state, you don't lift a finger to listen to 3 minutes of music? Okay, many people already know and criticize this problem of underestimating the local scene. But how many people realize that many bands take advantage of this situation and use it as a crutch?
It's a fact that trying to maintain a metal band is complicated in our country. It seems that everything we try to do is always three times harder and more expensive than it would be in a place more favorable to the genre we've chosen to represent.
Unfortunately, some bands and musicians use this as an excuse to justify poor technical quality, visual quality, and sometimes even bad sound quality in their shows and recordings. After all, it's much easier to blame the environment than to admit that they need to rehearse more, study more, or carefully test different tones. "More difficult" is not the same as "impossible."
It's not hard to believe that a lousy show by a sloppy band only helps to increase prejudice. Let's try to be less prejudiced and also try to open the minds of those who don't believe in Brazilian Metal. There's no shortage of good bands to introduce to friends, and plenty of cool events in the underground scene. And you, musician, do your part: your performance should, at the very least, be worth the price of admission. But don't lower the bar 😉
PS: Just to be clear, this "foreigners are much better" thing doesn't only apply to Heavy Metal, and there are several historical and cultural factors that aren't relevant to discuss here that helped fuel this behavior. Just as an example and out of curiosity: hundreds of years ago, when the Portuguese royal family came to Brazil, there was a lice outbreak affecting everyone on the ship (remember that the voyage lasted months and was quite precarious). So all the men and women of the court shaved their heads, and the women disembarked here with cloths tied around their heads like turbans, so they wouldn't go around bald. What did Brazilian women do? They shaved their heads and started wearing cloths tied around their heads because they thought it was fashionable in Europe.
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