Thursday, March 14, 2013

5 questions with Carlos Li of Curriculum Mortis and Nova Lima.

Last years release of Curriculum Mortis' 'Sentencia De Muerte' sparked a global interest in a somewhat unheard of band that would go on to form the Grammy nominated Nova Lima. I figured it would be a good idea to ask founding member and bassist Carlos Li 5 questions. Curriculum Mortis have a 2nd LP coming out on Ultra-Sonido in May.June of their 2nd demo from 1989, more information to follow.




 1. What is your first memory of hearing music?
When I was a child I used to listen to my mother records of Deep Purple-Machine Head, 60's Rolling Stones, etc.. Then at 6 years old I got my first record. Kiss- Dinasty.

2. What were some of Curriculum Mortis' influences?
We had two main tendencies in the band; Heavy Metal/Trash and also Hardcore/Punk. 
Alejandro, Grimaldo, Rafael and myself were Metals and our main influences were Black Sabbath, Slayer, Exodus, Metallica, etc. After a while we started listening also to some crossover bands like DRI, Corrosion of Conformity and Cromags, and also some less known like Post Mortem. 
Mauricio, the singer, used to be the vocalist of a hardcore punk band G-3 before he formed Curriculum; he brought to the band singing styles influences from Raw Power, Suicidal Tendencies and Black Flag among others.

3. Please tell us how Curriculum Mortis formed?
Mauricio (vocalist) was part of the Hardcore punk scene in Lima. After leaving G-3, he contacted his friends from high school Grimaldo (Guitar), Cesar (Guitar)and Alejandro (drums). I (Bass), was neighbour of Grimaldo, and Cesar asked me to join the band. A little while later Cesar left the band and I introduced Rafael(1st guitar) to CM.
We were all 15 years old at that time. Our teenager lives were not very easy as we were all going through divorcing parents, and the situation of terrorism in the country was starting to cut our liberties. Music was our best way of expression and also fostered a strong friendship among all of us.

4. What is the most important hardcore record for you from South America?
In Peru, in terms of originality and meaning, I think the best ones are the 1st demos of 'Ataque Frontal', 'G-3' and 'Descontrol' which have been already released in vinyl. Another important band we liked from Brazil was 'Ratos de Porao'.


5. What are some future plans for Curriculum Mortis?
After rehearsing the whole year 2012 with Pierpa De Bernardi (drums)for a gig we organized to celebrate the release of our 1st demo " Sentencia de Muerte" in vinyl, we decided to make new recordings with all the songs from the 1st and 2nd demos in a revised style updating our music sound to this century. The band for our new recordings to be released this year, will be called "CURRICULUM" and it will be formed by Mauricio, Rafael, Pierpa and myself.
Currently we are finishing the recordings for this album and will mix it in a couple of months. We are also planning a new gig this May in Lima together with Massacre, a well known and old timer metal band from Peru.
During this gig, hopefully we will be presenting the re-release in vinyl of the 2nd demo which is currently getting ready for its release.

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