From Paradigm Fall 2021, issue 6.3 

T.I.O.S. COLUMN: Q&A

With Noize Pollute’s Victor Lopez

By JESSIE CASTRO

Jessie Castro sat down with Victor Lopez, singer of El Monte band Noize Pollute, earlier this year. The wide-ranging conversation covered the band’s 2004 start out of skate crew Rockwell Mob, protesting with their homies The Dictions to get their equipment back from the cops and always moving forward. What follows is an edited version of their conversation.

JESSIE: Tell us how it all got started. 

VICTOR: We used to have a cover band and it used to be called the RM band. Rockwell Mob. We had a little skating crew. [Rockwell’s] a street down from right here, down the block, where we started skating. We’d get together and go places to skate and that’s how we got influenced by skateboarding and then the whole backyard scene. 

Skateboarding came first and we were like, ‘Hey, we don’t really skate at night. What can we do?’ Everyone from around us knew how to play a little something, so we started a cover band. We used to do TSOL, Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Misfits….

JESSIE: So, you guys started in 2004, and then when was the band serious enough to start playing? 

VICTOR: I think in the summer of 2005 we had solid members already, and then around 2007 was when we had a different drummer. He’s the one who solidified the band. His name was Jaime. A lot of people [know] us from the drum beat. The drum beat really caught people’s attention, and he was the one who was really solid. So that’s how we got solid and that’s when we were like, ‘You know what? Let’s leave a little bit of the punk to the side and let’s mix it up,’ you know what I mean? 

JESSIE: That’s what’s up, man. And then I noticed your lyrics, I don’t know how old these songs are, I imagine some of these are OGs and then some of them are new. For example, “En Busca de Diversión,” you’re talking about going out into the streets just looking for fun. Can you talk a little bit more about that song? 

VICTOR: I think everyone’s definition of fun is a little bit different. Back then, things were a little bit different. You go [to a show], you’re having fun and there was always some dumbass there and they’ll just start shit for whatever reason. And I think that’s where I got the name of the song. It’s not that we would look for trouble, but sometimes trouble would find us. 

I think it was the first song I wrote in Spanish actually. 

JESSIE: How does it feel to write in one language and then to sing in another? 

VICTOR: I like both languages just because I’m a Spanish speaker. I’m from Mexico.

JESSIE: What part of Mexico? 

VICTOR: I’m from Oaxaca. 

JESSIE: Oh, nice. That’s like the most indigenous. 

VICTOR: Yeah, I didn’t want to leave that behind. You want to stick to your roots, and I think it’s cool. The whole scene is mainly an English[-speaking] scene, the L.A. area. For someone to bring Spanish lyrics to the scene, I think it’s pretty unique. 

I got that from Los Crudos. They’re kind of the ones that influenced me to write in Spanish a little bit more, like stick to your roots. My main thing is if I can influence someone to sing along with me, that’s what I like. That’s what gets me going. 

JESSIE: How do people react when you sing in Spanish?

VICTOR: We’ve had good reaction. I’ve never really had anyone badmouth anything I guess maybe because we’re in a scene where there’s a lot of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans. I have people that come up to me because they relate to the lyrics in Spanish. They’re like, ‘Hey, I could understand what you were saying’ and I was like, ‘That’s cool.’ That’s what I like.

JESSIE: How would you characterize Noize Pollute?

VICTOR: When we started, we were kind of like a group of desmadrosos. As a group, that’s what we liked: to have fun, skate, film, jam out, drink. I think that’s where Noize Pollute came from. Just growing up, we were friends.  That’s how I see the band: a group of friends that grew up together, got together and actually did something: Did a recording, handed it out, passed it out. Just being influenced by the scene.

JESSIE: The El Monte scene?

VICTOR: The El Monte scene was big. 

JESSIE: Around what year was that? 

VICTOR: I would say 2005 into 2008. It was really strong actually. 

JESSIE: At that time, who was playing? 

VICTOR: A lot of people would influence us, like Los Mercs. The Dictions were the ones that we would always click with. Those are our homies right there. I never saw a rivalry. It was either East L.A. or the SGV.

JESSIE: They’re separated by the hill. Did the El Monte gigs crack? 

VICTOR: The El Monte gigs used to crack before. 

JESSIE: More than East Los or about the same?

VICTOR: I would say East Los had it better just because they had a bigger scene. And I think it goes back to the city and the cops because El Monte cops are tough, dude.

They’ll come storming in. They’re like a gang. One time, we went to a gig and on my way to my homie’s pad, I was riding my bike and had my headphones on. A cop pulled me over and he gave me a ticket for that. I was like come on at least a warning. I didn’t know you couldn’t ride your bike with headphones. And then, we played that night. We had all of our equipment there. A freaking riot broke out because cops started shooting at us with rubber bullets, and I just left all my equipment there. My thing was safety, and I was trying to argue with the cop like, ‘Hey,  can I just go in there and get my equipment? This is expensive stuff.’  And the cop was like, ‘Didn’t I give you a ticket earlier?’ and I was like, ‘Ah, fuck, lates.’ I bounced.

JESSIE: Did you ever get your equipment back?

VICTOR: We got it back through a protest to the city of El Monte. We went to city hall and the police department was right there. We got together with the homies from The Dictions. We were out there protesting because we wanted our shit back, you know. And after about two hours, the chief came out and they were like, ‘What are your guys’ demands?’ And we were like, ‘We want our equipment back.’  

So, they were like, ‘All right, you guys are going to get it back,’ but they trashed it, dude. They fucking trashed it. When there’s a gig and people are running up and getting shot at, no one has time to fucking slash your drums, you know? Or, fucking boot print on the PA.

At least we won that little battle. 

JESSIE: It’s the principle. That’s what’s up man. I really enjoyed the [band’s] flyer art. Some of the things that you’re saying like, ‘There will be war,’ what is that a reference to?

VICTOR: When we get together and they fuck with one person, they’re just fucking with everyone. 

JESSIE: Ah, got you. 

VICTOR: And that’s what we’re kind of going through right now, the whole social injustice. It’s standing out more than ever and I think it’s a positive movement.

JESSIE: Some of the other things [on the flyers], ‘música de concierto ilegal.’ Illegal gig music.

VICTOR: Well, that’s what they see it as, you know? That’s what I think society sees, and it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re not messing with no one.’ We want a space to have a good time.

You know what? I kind of got influenced by the artwork of the whole Mexican scene.

JESSIE: Oh, really?

VICTOR: The Mexican punk scene I would say it’s underrated, but if you look into it further, it’s big…. Noize Pollute originally got influenced by a band called Síndrome from Mexico. That’s the band that really influenced us and got us into Spanish, like ‘let’s do a Spanish song.’ 

To me, that was our goal: like what we make and the whole Spanish-it’s not here, but we wanted to show a presence for it, you know what I mean? We’re used to looking back at old CDs from Síndrome live in L.A. and stuff like that. It’s crazy. We actually got a chance to play with them twice actually. In Maywood at the Bricks [Restaurant & Sports Bar]. 

JESSIE: What’s the future for Noize Pollute? 

VICTOR: Before the pandemic we were about to record. We were ready. We were just talking about it and then the pandemic hit and threw us back. We lost our drummer [he left the band]. 

Luckily, none of us got sick in the band. My lady, she got COVID. That’s the reality that we had to face. I’d rather not be playing or jamming out. Just don’t take the risk, you know?

But, before the pandemic, we had just started getting solid again. I think every band goes through a break and just trying to find yourselves. Maybe one member changes their style. Maybe one member wants to bring something [new] in. 

I think once we come back, we have our ideas and our mindset to just get it done, you know? That’s what we’re looking forward to.  

We went from listening to mainstream punk to [influences are] spread now. We started getting into Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd. So, our minds kind of expanded.

JESSIE: That’s what naturally happens when you keep playing. What advice would you give to a young band from Monte? 

VICTOR: If you’re going to be making music, dedicate yourself to making music. Don’t think that you need to be into alcohol. Don’t think that you need to be getting hooked onto drugs just to get something going because the reality is that a lot of that stuff, when you get older, you’re going to see that you wasted a lot of time. You could have been doing something [else] when you were out there getting drunk, doing something that you really wanted to do. 

Time is precious, dude. Time is gold and you’re not going to take it back, so the only thing you can do with your time is move it forward. Get something going, dude. 

KEEP IN TOUCH

▶ INSTAGRAM: @noize_pollute

▶ NEXT SHOW: 10/3 at West Covina Skate Park, 1615 W. Merced Ave.

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? YOU MIGHT ALSO CONSIDER:

▶ Through the Looking Glass: An Interview with The Paradoks

▶ Noteworthy: New Bands to Check Out

▶ Branded: Meet the Founders Behind These Local Labels

▶ Inflection Point: An Interview with Harbor Area Hardcore Band Deviated State

▶ Mid-City Philosophy: A Profile on Watch Out

▶ Countime Talks L.A. Hoodcore, New Album

▶ In Conversation with Know’s Brandon Cruz