A little less than two weeks ago, Wise Up*’s video for “Ya Todos Saben” debuted here on No Echo, and while writing about it, I felt the need to talk with producer Fabian Cerdas about his experience making the music video. At the same time, the spotlight needed to stay on Wise Up*.
I’ve known Fabian for a couple of years now, and honestly, his work is pretty damn good (this dude’s a pro—see for yourself), even underrated, I might dare to say. So a thought came up: why not interview the videographer too?
Now, if you’re smart, you know where this is headed. Here’s a brief email exchange I had with my good friend Fabian about his experience balancing his 9-5 with this little thing you might be familiar with, called hardcore.
First off, what was your gateway to hardcore?
I discovered metalcore before I did hardcore. Somehow, I stumbled upon Sunrise Over a Sea of Blood by Mortal Treason on Limewire and fell deep into the metalcore rabbit hole, eventually landing on bands that are more “traditionally” hardcore, like Comeback Kid, Earth Crisis, and Casey Jones.
What drew you to start documenting the hardcore scene in Costa Rica, and what was the first show or moment that made you feel “this matters”?
I left Costa Rica to go to school over 10 years ago, and back then, I wasn't as aware of the scene. When I came back in 2020, I kept hearing all these stories about how sick the scene was back then, and that made me want to create a sort of archive that people could go back to in the future, for people like me who missed a good chunk of it.
The first show I documented was Sideways' NPCMA release party. That's not even on my channel, but it was pretty sick to start off by documenting the debut of a band that's at the forefront of the scene today.
How would you describe the Costa Rican hardcore scene to someone who’s never experienced it? What makes it different from scenes in other countries?
It's an extremely grassroots scene that currently hosts a crop of bands with very distinct sounds and styles. I've heard that in the past most local bands sounded a lot like each other, and that's definitely not the case today.
I don't know many scenes in other countries, so it’s hard to compare, but I can say that in a laughably small country where extreme music isn't all that popular, the fact that this scene is so alive and every band is putting out great music, organizing shows, shooting music videos, and so on... just demonstrates a level of perseverance that is very hardcore in nature.
When you’re shooting a show, what are you looking for—chaos, emotion, specific people, certain movements? How do you decide what’s worth capturing?
Absolute chaos. I enjoy capturing the state of disarray that some bands are able to evoke. I just let the moment dictate what to capture.
Moving on to your work in recording music videos – when did you decide you wanted to try it out?
I was actually living in Mexico when I decided to start shooting music videos. The pandemic was at its peak and I didn't know anyone in the scene there, so I started looking for bands in Costa Rica because I knew I was going back home pretty soon.
What’s some of your favorite work so far?
I really enjoyed shooting “Frustración” for Sin Caer. It was a shoot full of hard-mounted rigs. We had the camera attached to a skateboard, guitars, drumsticks, and a few other objects. It's a simple video that captures the energy of the band very well.
The other video I like a lot is “Pernicious Deed” by Living End. I've worked with Saúl ever since my first video for Dumah, and it's always been easy to understand each other. This video is much more my speed visually. It’s got chaotic lens whacking, raw energy from the band, mutilated body parts, and a sickly color and texture to it.
And finally, I must shout out “Ya Todos Saben,” the latest video for Wise Up*. This one was just really fun to shoot, and people have really liked it.
What role do you think music videos play for hardcore bands today, especially in a local scene like Costa Rica?
Honestly, I ask myself that question every day. The way social media has changed how we find music makes it hard to predict whether music videos, visualizers, or other forms of video content are the way to go for bands today.
What I do know is that there's nothing I enjoy more than helping a band get their visual identity across to people, especially for lesser-known bands deserving more eyes on them.
Any bands you’d like to work with in the near future?
Locally it has to be Trampa and Sideways. And outside my local scene, I've been dying to work with concealer., withpaperwings, and Lake Verity. If I could somehow get myself to the UK or Australia, I'd love to shoot for imissyoualready and Ends in Tragedy.
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Find him on Instagram @xfabian_cerdasx or at www.fabiancerdas.com
Tagged: recording the scene
