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Ego Eris, post-punk and songs about life, death and everything in between - Interview

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Ego Eris is a post-punk act coming from Brazil with the the darkest emotions.

We all, probably know the Brazilian post-punk scene from the famous Plastique Noir. However, I would like to introduce to you and present you one of the reasons that you will love the dark, post-punk scene from this distant (to us) country.

Ego Eris is the reason. Ego Eris is a dark wave, post-punk band formed in 2016 and consists of Marc Nero (Guitar), Breno Romero (Vocals) and Astroblack (Bass). The Brazilian trio has already released an EP back in 2017, "Nocturnal", and a full length album in 2018, "Memento Mori". Both releases with great feedback from media and fans, make Ego Eris one of the hottest name not only in their country but, rapidly, around the world as well.

Ego Eris, plays an emotional, melodic post-punk with the right amount of electro elements, while the voice of Bran Romero is a deep melancholic addition to the dark ambience of their music.

I had a really interesting conversation with Marc, Breno and Atroblack about the band, the music, the past, the present and the future...

ES: Hi Ego Eris, hello guys. I am really happy that you’ve given me the chance to make this interview and introduce you to Greek audience and our readers.

Marc: Hello Achilleas! Our thanks to you and to all readers for being here with us.

ES: You are a relatively new band in the dark scene. Would you like to introduce yourselves and Ego Eris to our readers?

Marc: Hi everyone! We are a Postpunk/Darkwave band from Recife, Brazil, started in late 2016. I’m Marc Nero, Ego Eris’ guitarist.

Breno: I’m Breno Romero, vocalist.

Astroblack: I'm Astroblack, bassist.

ES: "Ego Eris". How did you end up with this name for the band? What does it mean?

Marc: Well, the name was taken from the latin saying “Tu Fui, Ego Eris”, which means “What you are, I was, and what I am, You will be”. It is mostly seen in epitaphs, as a reminder for the living of their own mortality.

ES: Your sound and music is a mix of post-punk, goth combined with some electro elements. Which are your influences music-wise? Which are the bands and artists that affects you the most?

Breno: Some bands that influence me, both musically and visually, are The Frozen Autumn, She Past Away, Information Society and A-Ha.

Marc: I’m heavily inclined towards post-punk, visual kei and darkwave music, but I also have deep influences from artists of several other genres, not only music-wise but in the artistic concept as a whole. Some of my favorite artists right now are Malice Mizer, She Past Away, Buck-Tick, Ritual Howls, Ploho, David Bowie and Mylène Farmer. Also, I’d like to mention two Greek artists that I like a lot, which are Metro Decay and Selofan.

Astroblack: In fact, we've had our first interests in some different kinds of music/genres, but we share the same passion for special groups that inspired us in the post-punk/gothic culture, and we tried to create an unique experience with these influences. In my mind, the group that changed my life was MALICE MIZER and it inspired me in my will to keep working with music.

ES: In August 2018 your first full length album "Memento Mori" came out, a year after "Nocturnal" EP. Beautiful releases with a dark mood and tone. What is the feedback on these releases so far, from the audience and media?

Marc: Thank you! In the debut EP, “Nocturnal”, we were still kind of trying to figure out who we were as a group, setting ourselves free from past projects and all. We decided to announce our debut with the music video for Nocturnal, which was a good call, cause it drew a lot of attention, leading to our filiation to our label, Deepland Records, where we started working on the album. For “Memento Mori”, we felt like we already had our identity, and this feeling was reflected into our music, which shifted a lot from what we were doing before. The result was great, the feedback improved a lot and we are really glad for everything that’s been going on.

Astroblack: After the album’s release, it was a beautiful surprise to see both people related to the scene and people unfamiliar with it come to us with supporting words. I think we, as a group, want to break the boundaries of the genre and show a new type of aesthetic to people from different artistic backgrounds, inside and outside the dark-related genres alike.

Breno: We are very satisfied with the repercussion of the album so far, we’re surprised with the audience’s reception to our music, which makes us optimistic towards the future.

ES: Can you tell us some things about "Memento Mori"? Why did you choose that name for the album? What is it about, what is the concept behind the songs?

Marc: We thought “Memento Mori” was a good fit for our debut album because it gives another take on the “Tu Fui, Ego Eris” theme that baptized us. The songs are about life and death and everything in between, different feelings we experience in our lives and in relation to the prospect of the end of said lives.

ES: What does inspire you the most while writing the lyrics?

Marc: I wrote almost all of the lyrics so far, but Breno and Astroblack are starting to take more interest in the matter, so that might change in the near future, but as for myself, I like to write about things that either bother, inspire or terrify me. Sometimes I even write about love and relationships, which kind of does the three of them at the same time for me. *laughs*

ES: Which are the future plans for Ego Eris? Any new material coming up? Concerts or something else?

Marc: Right now we’re about to have one of our songs released on a V.A. from our label, featuring several goth and goth related artists from Brazilian scene. We are also working on our next music video and have some new songs ready for an eventual second album, but no rush for the latter. As for the concerts, we’re playing for the first time in the city of Natal next Saturday, and have some other concerts in the works, but we can’t talk about them just yet.

ES: How did you all meet? How did you decide to form a dark, post-punk band and what do you think has been the most important moment, so far, for the band?

Breno: I met Marc in 2010, when I attended a concert of his old band. After that, I started admiring his work and going to all of his concerts, but it was only in 2013 that we started talking more actively. I was already friends with Astroblack since 2009, and once the three of us talked together, we saw that we had affinities, until Marc decided to invite us to start a band. I think the most important moment for the band so far was the release of “Nocturnal”’s music video.

Marc: I met Astroblack through an online forum related to Japanese rock bands, I think it was in 2007, and Breno attended a concert of an old band of mine, a few years later. We used to hang out in similar places and already had some friends in common, so I think it was something bound to happen at some point. Some years later, due to my frustration and lack of perspective regarding the projects I was involved with, I decided to drop everything and invite the two of them to start the band. It is hard to think in a single most important moment so far, so I’ll stick to the release of “Memento Mori”.

Astroblack: We met in our hometown, Recife. We had a lot of mutual friends, and the 3 of us were working with music in different projects before, and we shared the passion for music, since then we always shared particular visions about the groups we liked, like Information Society, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Bauhaus and especially between me Marc, we always loved the Japanese goth scene and visual kei and it had great influence on our relationship.

ES: Are you engaged in any other projects. Currently or in the past?

Astroblack: Since before the band started (circa 2014), I release my solo music as “Astroblack" and sometimes I appear with new music on the internet.

Breno: I have no other current music related projects.

Marc: Me neither.

ES: You are coming from Brazil. We have seen some action there recently concerning dark scene. How is the dark, goth scene in your country?

Marc: Fortunately, I’d say we are living a very promising moment for the scene down here. I mean, of course it is still a very niche market, and we’re buried deep underground (no pun intended?) but things are growing, we have a lot of great bands emerging and festivals and parties happening everywhere and all the time, so it’s been great. Since Brazil is such a huge country and we are a relatively new band, there is still a lot for us to explore and discover, so let’s hope things keep get interesting in here.

Astroblack: There is a lot of quality in the Brazilian goth scene. On the musical aspect of it, there is a band that we really love and that really inspires us, which is Plastique Noir, for me one of the best Goth bands around the world. However, since our country is living such a strange moment politically, some differences in the views of those within the alternative scene are resulting in some dispersion between people.

ES: Would you like to add or share something else with our readers?

Marc: I’d like to thank you, Achilleas, and ElektroSpank for this interview, and to all of you readers for being with us. I hope we get to play for you guys in Greece as soon as possible. Also, if you’re interested in our work, I’d like to ask you to follow on our social media.

Astroblack: I want to thank you all and wish you my best regards. I hope I can see you soon, and please stay connected with us. Check out our social media and please share our music with your friends.

Breno: For me it is a great honor to take part in this interview, thank you very much. I’m looking forward to the possibility of meeting the Greek scene.

ES: Thank you very much for this interview. I wish you all the best and success to your new release and future steps. Looking forward to see you on stage!

Ego Eris - Nocturnal (official video)