Pentral - I didn’t want Pentral to be a second AC/DC, so we put so many elements of influence in our music; a sound different than any American or European band is just our tool …

Brazilian progressive rock/metal trio Pentral released the debut single "Silent Trees." It was a preview of the now just released debut album, ‘What Lies Ahead of Us’. We wrote of it: ''The South American influences return in the single, but it is mostly the energetic approach that first bursts open subdued. Their musical primal power is something natural , the wonderful, beautiful landscape gets whirlwinds and eruptions to endure. So a diverse sound that brings together gentleness and extroversion."  
he full review can be read again here
We had a nice chat with vocalist and guitar player Victor Lima about that release but also politics, the concern about the Amazon and future plans of Pentral …

Who is Pentral,  how did everything start? Tell more about yourself?
When I was around 9 or 10 years old I was listening to some Led Zeppelin album. At those times Led Zeppelin were disbanded. I had some vinyl’s, in that time we used vinyl’s. I love to sing, so I started singing and started to write songs, like poetry. And I read many books too. After a while, I got interested in playing guitar and I can remember the very first ‘band’ I had I was around 14 years old.  something I've always been concerned about. I had to find my own voice. When I do that I stop listening to other artists, but you always get some influence. I know too many guys who just want to do a version of a song like it was their own. That’s not how I work .My younger brother Vagner was always a drummer, he likes to make noise (haha). But he is also a very accomplished musician. We started working together, and I was writing a lot of songs and just picked up 10 songs for this album. These songs are the very first songs I have ever written for Pentral It was about two years we were working on songs and things. And that’s where we are now.

What I find a little bit strange , if I may say so, it’s that you release your debut in the middle of this pandemic? Why not wait a little bit?
That was of course a big problem. I remember at the beginning of this pandemic I was watching some documentary on BBC and those guys just told not to worry about, It’s just a Chinese thing  it’ will be over very soon. Nobody in Brazil or even the world, had any clue how terrible it would become.  So even with all the difficulties we were living in, we decide to record the album and make some live performances too. And then there was the virus  here, and all the live venues got shut down. The only option we had was just the recording, so we did it, part because there were no other options  left. It’s a shame but Brazil has become the second-worst affected country in the world by Coronavirus, where so many people died of this virus, because of Mr. Bolsonaro  the great responsible for so many deaths, but anyway, the only thing we could do was recording the album and that’s what we did.

Also in terms of corona, your country has indeed been very hard hit, despite a president who seemed to ignore everything. Do you agree it’s part of politic fault that this happened?
You know - Brazil is in fact a young nation, just like the United States. Truth is that through the years we always had a conservative way of   government, and back in the 2000’s people decided they no longer wanted that. We had the election of left winger Lula Da Silva. From day one the right wings of conservatives never accepted that. They started a big campaign against Lula. Saying he was corrupt and things. I not say he was a Saint, I don’t believe in Saints. I believe in God.   On the work floor much things changed, but the richest people never accepted that. Then in the middle of Dilma's second term (Lula's  successor)  election he got impeached, removed from her office. So everything Lula and Dilma have done, was undone. All social, culture protection we had earned, even a little bit earlier was undone. What we have now is what happened in the US. People who deny everything, saying there is no pandemic, that we don't need vaccines.

We now talking about politics, but directly there is also the Amazon where this president don’t care about. You are very concern about that I have read
I just living in the middle of this nightmare. I live in the part of Brazil where the most part of the forest been burned down. Why they do that?  Keeping the forest intact is not so profitable, that’s the biggest problem. But they just don’t believe that this can change the world climate. And  this is because the forest is being burned down. They don’t think about the future, they just think about making money. It’s  just a way to make money, and that’s a shame. The problem in Brazil is that you do need to have that much money to have a decent living as the  State doesn't give you security, health, or good education. For everything you do, you have to pay for it. It’s an endless struggle, but for many politicians, religious ministers, entrepreneurs, big farmers, there's no limit! They're moved by endless greed!

Pity. But enough about politics . Let’s start talk about music. In terms of music style, not only do your guys go in many directions, very fascinating, but also connecting different cultures is so interesting, between Western and South-American culture. Your opinion,  is this correct?
We were always concerned to not sound like a regular American or European band, that’s what we did not want to be. I do love a lot of American and European bands, but It was just so important for me to put the Brazilian influence on my music. The two points that come to my mind  then are Harmony and rhythm. And even I’m not a drummer I write songs that refer to the rhythm. You have to know we have some great musician here in Brazil, like Tom Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Djavan, Lô Borges, Toquinho, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Ney Matogrosso to name a few, so  even if you're a rock band you don’t have to follow the same formulas the same way over and over again. We wanted to do something slide different. It’s a way to find your own public, even its small or big, but they are the reason why we here.

How is the Brazilian rock Scene? I know Sepultura and some others, but they never been recognized here. Any idea why not?
We had some classic rock band back in the 1960's and 1970's, like "Mutantes" and "Secos e Molhados", and though we sure had great rock bands in Brazil, the problem was the emptiness of pop music in Brazil, back in the day and now more than never...The artists that were supported were the ones who were making music not showing the reality, as we had since 1964 a severe military dictatorship and its censorship in Brazil, so every piece of music or movie or book had to be checked and approved before it could be released, so political or protest music could not be brought out. And sure not been shown to the world. More recently we recovered our democracy - that now is threatened again by Mr Bolsonaro. So in the 1980's Sepultura came out and they were a big breakthrough for rock music in Brazil and over the world. 

I brought up Sepultura yet. Did they have an influence on your music? In some songs I hear some of Sepultura to…
Brazilian music is essentially the result of European and African influences. We were colonized by Portuguese settlers, but there were the real owners of Brazil way before - the Indians, and we had a huge African forced migration, so the musical influences from  African people are quite strong in Brazil. We were one of the countries in the world with most African slaves, which is really disgusting..., but those African people brought the rhythm we're talking about. This kind of influences is something that Sepultura has added to rock music. They just put this influence of African music and raised the bar. Bands
in Nu-metal like KoRn, that came After Sepultura recognized that Sepultura was a high
influence on their music. And also we love that, so we put this influence in our music as well. Look when you want to be a straight rock band, you just have to do it like AC/DC, nothing wrong with that, I love AC/DC. But I didn’t want Pentral to be a second AC/DC so we put so many elements of influence in our music. Sound different than any American or European band is just our tool.

I'll just quote: ''The debut album is the search of human consciousness for the environment, peace and equality." Can you elaborate a bit more on that?
In my opinion, if you don’t have anything to share or tell to people through your music or whatever, don’t say anything then. That’ s how I believe Art should be. For example, I don't have a problem watching a Marvel movie, or a Disney movie, but just once. I'd rather to watch movies that have a deeper meaning and social message, were there is a human story been told. Same goes for books or music. So bring a little bit more time to share our stories, would be so much more interesting.  It’s important to share a message for me - making music to tell a message about our country and the whole world that’s important to me. It's not that I impose opinions or want to tell people what they should or shouldn't do, I just like sharing meaningful stories about real human suffering, dramas , and needs. If one single person been has been touched about the message, and understands and thinks about  a way to help who need it, then my work is done.

Point taken, you sure tough me in that way with the music of Pentral. For example, The music video of “Silent Trees” speaks to tragedy and loss, both through the unfolding plot, but also in a larger sense of the wonton destruction of that which keeps humanity and all other living things existing. Can you tell more about that?
When I write music, I don't have control over the writing process, it's more of a "spiritual experience". That's where the inspiration comes from and from or social reality as well. Many times comes the song ready  to my mind, and when that happens there is a lot of image coming up too. In that song, I had this  image of the spirit of the forest and the living creatures crying out for help. And an image of people sharing  their fears and the problems around them. Music is a way to put that message to a bigger audience. There is no music without an image. I did the best I could to create a cinematic thing about the story we were singing  about. There's a human story behind them, and that's the reason why Pentral has been formed.  When you listen to a song, you can see the image. That is what we wanted to
do it. So, I shared my thoughts with a  young and talented director called Roger Elarrat and He accepted to make videos out of it. I believe we have done a wonderful job.

You say you like movies. Is there a ambition to make movies with your music? Or using your music for a movie?
Definitely! I'll put the music videos in some movie festivals. I’m opened for it. My
biggest goal is to find the biggest audience for my music. So if anyone outside is interested in
using the music of Pentral for a movie, he or she would be welcomed. I would love to do that, it’s a great way to reach a wider audience. Because we're sure to have a good story for a movie.

I hope some producer read this interview and contact you than.
Something else. How where the main reactions on this debut till now?
Positive. It’s an amazing question because it’s 2021 , a lot things have been done. It’s difficult
or even impossible to create something unique these days.. Because everything that could possibly been done in music, it has been done before. You just told me there are so many elements in our music, that’s something that comes back in many reviews. This reminds me of Led Zeppelin, Rush, Metallica or anything in-between. There are positive reviews, but also some questions about what we are going to do next, and maybe the second album's reaction is going to be slightly different as the first. Those things. It  happens all the time that a band or album just got recognized many years later. That's what happened to Bohemian Rhapsody of Queen. When it came out not everyone liked it, but now it’s a classic song. I believe we will have our time. So maybe those who have doubts about this  debut will recognize it  later. I only hope this recognition will be when we still alive. We just should play alive, because people have to see it.

Talking about ‘live’ … Are there already live concerts at the moment? And what are the tour plans? Coming to Europe to?
Absolutely! I was checking the news, and for this year there are some festivals who going forward. in countries like France, Spain, Portugal, UK. Because the pandemic is much more controlled now in these countries. I'm going to be vaccinated next week! maximum, even with our crazy president's omission about that.  After we're all vaccinated we'll definitely make some live  concerts, for sure. I'd love to play in Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Italy etc. We are planning  to go on tour.

Next to live concerts, what are the future plans with the band?
I can tell we have already five songs recorded for our second album. I’m always busy thinking about working on new songs and, I can’t stand still. So I keep writing songs. I keep thinking about the next step, the next thing … over and over. Right now I’m writing more songs and we're planning to go back to the rehearsals asap. It will not take long, but I now want to promote first this debut album in many ways, like playing the songs live as well. But I can promise you, after that, we'll have a new album. Maybe next year. And a third album after that and so on.

Maybe a question separate from that, what audience do you think you can reach with your music?
I don't want Pentral to be recognized like just an ordinary metal band or some, I think there is an audience who are into Alternative rock who can appreciate our music. We will be moving through different worlds. And not stuck between the rock or metal formula. Try to find an audience that likes different sounds in rock. To put like standards on what I would pick three bands: Queen, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles. 

Are there any other projects you are working on?
I know some guys who work in four of five bands or projects. I don't have any problem with that.  I wouldn’t do that. I prefer to stand in this one project and put all my energy into it. I can only be at my best if I concentrate 100% into one single project, and that’s Pentral.

What are the ambitions with the band, and are there any end goals?
You just can't set a goal or something - "well I just have this one goal to try to be happy", as 
we are talking about art, you never know how people are going to react to your songs. Like I said before, some songs or music just have been recognized many years after their release, so we never know what’s going to happen. I'd love to bring concerts in huge arena’s but we just don’t know what’s going to happen. Even when a label recognized us and wants to bring out our music, you have to be honest with yourself and the people out there in the first place You can’t do something that you don’t like to do. You just have to be honest with your art, and you will find a niche or a public that’s interested in what you're doing. That’s the most important ambition.

That's the most important indeed. But if you get the chance to make a commercial album and conquer the world with it but you have to change your way of making music? Would you definitely not do that?
I would rather to make a different project, and make that music there than doing this with
Pentral. Pushing yourself and your public in other direction than what you'd like to be doing or listening to is not honest to yourself or to your audience, neither a nice thing to do. You can’t play with people, you have to be honest with people. So I am not going to change direction to grab a bigger attention or something, that is not fair to myself and to my audience. We just do what is meaningful, that’s what we'll be standing for.

That’s a choice you make. One example is Metallica, I like Metallica. But true all this years they more and more make it a big show, great shows. But I miss the true feeling of the beginning. But they make big money and play in big arena’s. Soo it’s a choice you make, right?
I think one of the reason why a band goes that way is that they are afraid to be forgotten by the public. This happened with a lot of bands back in the day when some new "trends" came out.  Metallica still makes good music, but good music is that one that is not made for the sake of fame.  That’s a choice, but it’s not what Pentral are going to do. Pentral want to keep
being honest with its music. That’s the most important thing.

That’s a good statement to end this interview. I hope to see you guys soon on stage, in our Country. Thanks for this nice chat