Los Violadores

Los Violadores
Background information
Origin	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1981 (1981)–1992 1995–1996 (1996) 2000–2011 (2011) 2016–present (present)
Labels	CBS Leader Music
Associated acts	Attaque 77, 2 Minutos, JAS
Members	Pil Trafa Tucan Carlos "El Niño" Khayatte Sergio Gramatika Sergio Vall
Past members	Hari "B" Robert "El Polaco" Zelazek Gustavo "Stuka" Fossa Adrian Blanco Anel Paz Claudio moure (Roberto Mugre; 1980-1981 lead singer)

Los Violadores is a punk band from Argentina and the pioneers of the genre in Latin America.

History

Los Violadores ("The Violators", referring to 'breaking the law', as mentioned in one of their songs, "Violadores de la Ley") was founded in 1981 by guitarist Hari B (born Pedro Braun).^[1] The rest of the band included Stuka (bass), Pil Trafa (vocals) and Sergio Gramatika (drums). In their first years, sometimes they had to perform under the name of Los Voladores ("The Flying Ones") because the censorship of the military government did not allow the original name of "Los Violadores".

After a while, Hari left the band and Stuka took his place at the guitar, with El Polaco taking on the bass; the latter was presumably a relative or an acquaintance of Hari B's. (El Polaco is Spanish for "the Pole"—Hari was of Polish descent).

His first success was the song Represión published in his first LP Los Violadores (1983), produced by Michel Peyronel.^[2] In 1985 the band released the song "Uno, dos, ultraviolento" which immediately bought attention to them as one of the pioneer of punk rock in Argentina.

By 1985 some tension began to grow within the band, caused by differences in the band's direction between Pil Trafa and Stuka. Stuka wanted to incorporate some post-punk and gothic influences, favouring the sounds of The Cure and U2 (this materialised in the 1986 album Fuera del Sektor); Pil Trafa wanted a more straightforward punk sound, like Ramones (evidenced in the 1987 album Mercado Indio).

In 1992 he began his farewell tour with bands like Attaque 77 and 2 Minutos, to end in June of that year at the Estadio Obras Sanitarias with U.K. Subs.^[3]

In spite of the differences the band stayed together until 1992, but in late 1995 the band once again meets and since then they have reunited many times with different musicians, Pil Trafa being the only member on all of them. El "Polaco" Zelazek summon Anel Paz to become part of Los Violadores in replace of "Stuka". They recorded the album Otra Patada en los Huevos,^[4] and they perform the historic return's shows of the band at Cemento, in December 1995.

Los Violadores have recovered somewhat in popularity with their album Bajo Un Sol Feliz and then participated in the festival 30 años de Punk with Cadena Perpetua and 2 Minutos at the Estadio Obras in 2009.

In 2000 Stuka rejoined the band but in 2003 left once again. Los Violadores disbanded in May 2011, with the split announced by Pil Trafa.

Discography

See also

• Argentine punk
• Latino punk
• Dirty War

References

Further reading

Cavanna, Esteban M. El nacimiento del punk en Argentina y la historia de Los Violadores. Buenos Aires: Interpress Ediciones, 2001.

Sainz, Alfredo. "Arde Belgrano: Los Violadores in la UB, 17 de Julio de 1981." In Derrumbando la Casa Rosada: Mitos y leyendas de los primeros punks en Argentina 1978-1988, edited by Daniel Flores, 39-52. Buenos Aires: Pioloto de Tormenta, 2011.

External links

• (in Spanish) Official website
• (in Spanish) Los Violadores at rock.com.ar
• Interview with Los Violadores vocalist Pil Trafa