Interviews: Hongo Fuu

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Rock band, Hongo Fuu, from Costa Rica. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

The band started as a solo project from Félix, whose nickname is “Hongo” (“Mushroom” in Spanish), and “Fuu” comes from the Japanese ふう [風] /fū/, that added to “Mushroom” can mean “wind, method or style…”, so it’s basically self-descriptive: the Shroom Style, the Shroom’s Way…

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

We are music junkies. We all love way different types of music. And each one of us listens to a bunch of different stuff from each other. So, the band is that… Hongo Fuu is the outcome of that sum. We just want to play whatever the hell we feel like: if it is surf, black metal, hardcore or stoner, we just feel like doing it. It’s kind of… when somebody makes a joke about mixing some weird stuff – We say: “Why tf not?” And we do it. That’s the spirit of the Fuu.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

The band was a solo project by Félix, who met Ariel Uzaga and Héctor Romero when they had another band since high school. They both joined Hongo Fuu after a while, and we all decided to make it an actual “band”… Guillermo Meneses (a.k.a. Memo) joined years later, after us having lots of issues with bass players. - I guess it’s the same everywhere… - He was already a friend of us, and he’s been playing bass for +20 years in the Costa Rican Thrash Metal band “Arsenal”, so we stole him… Hahaha.

4. Each band member favourite band? 

Héctor: All-time favorite is probably Frank Zappa and all 'Mothers' iterations. Currently, Oh Sees, Sleep and Dead Meadow are among my most spun.

Félix: Erth, Barco Ebrio, Bruno Porter, Hormigas en la Pared, all them from Costa Rica. Other than that, the usual stuff…

Ariel: I listen to lots of different music… Picking one is absurd, but it would be somewhere between: “King Crimson”, “Mgła”, “Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds”, “Nacho Vegas” and the Costa Rican “Bruno Porter”.

Memo: Deep Purple, Birth Control, Testament, Mayhem and Dead Kennedys.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

The constant despair of existence. The nausea. The asphyxiating humid heath of the tropic. The homology between today and the fall of Rome.

6. Where was your last gig? 

Before all this Covid thing, back in March, we played live all the songs from our new album “Fuu”, in a venue at home, in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was kind of a teaser for the album Sliptrick is going to release next year. We hope we can play soon…

7. Where would you like to act?

Costa Rica is a small place… is great, is the Tropical Hell, you know, but is a small place. We would love touring around places, gig after gig, but here it’s hard and complicated to do so. So, of course we’re working hard – hand in hand with Sliptrick – to create our brand as a band and get to Europe, US, and I don’t know, Japan… maybe… a quest for the Fuu, I guess… Haha… We would love to play Asia, the US, the Baltics, Scandinavia and Central Europe, wherever there is a hunger for weird music and madmen waltzing.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Mike Patton, Jello Biafra, Omar Rodríguez-López, HEALTH, Dead Grips, Todd Smith… And a music video with Terence Hill recreating a kickass fight scene from his classics.

9. Whom not?

Ariel, Héctor and Félix: Definitely Morrisey.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Ariel: It isn’t as much about fright, as feeling unsettled. It takes time to grow in you being comfortable in a stage; it’s like in a funeral, that unsettling feeling of not knowing what to do with your hands…

Héctor: The only way is throwing yourself at it. Embrace it. Once that's overcome, you refocus that fright into sheer energy for every other gig the rest of your life. And that one's unavoidable. Or you could just drink it away… You know, the usual.

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

Mr. Bungle, The Mars Volta, Yob, Helmet, Ennio Morricone, Sonic Youth, HEALTH, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Dog Fashion Disco.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

A guy asking to buy official Hongo Fuu thongs with our printed faces… His idea.

13. What do you think of your fans? 

We think they have a very weird, sick, twisted, interesting and great taste in music… Haha… I mean, they could just choose any generic random kind of band out there. It’s easier, to listen to the same stuff forever… But what’s the fun of it? - So, of course we respect them f***ing lots! 

14. What do you think of our site?

You guys are doing a great work, making underground and weird bands (like us) getting out there, promoting in a really involved and sincere way… Really caring for the art and the artists. Such a fantastic work!

15. Something to add?

We are releasing our first full length album “Fuu”, via Sliptrick Records in 2021. And thank you, guys, for supporting the art.