Geeky older brothers into metal can go one of two ways. Some turn into passive aggressive loners who hate their mums. Others school their siblings about Sepultura, form rock bands and upload their bedroom shows on to YouTube. Emilio from Argentina is one of the latter. We spoke to him and his little bro Martin (the one with the Pikachu on his mic stand) about their band The Steel Gauchos…VICE: What's the name of the band?
Emilio: Los Gauchos De Acero. In English we're called The Steel GauchosWho's in the band and how old are you?
Emilio, 14 (guitar and vocals), Martin, 10 (bass), Agustin, 11 (drums), and Carla, 4 (backing vocals).How did you start out?
This dream began two years ago. I had been learning guitar for six months when my dad, who works shifts at the Salta Municipal Computer Repairs Shop, was offered a drum kit in exchange for a used PC. So me and my brother started jamming. A couple of weeks ago we uploaded a video of us doing Sepultura's "Refuse, Resist" on YouTube so that we could show some friends. The video got like 800,000 hits and made us kinda famous. It's now, like at 2,000,000 hits.Wow. Instant fame.
Yeah, it's crazy. To give back some of the love that people show us on our messageboard we are taking the band more seriously. We've played local pubs and we once travelled to Buenos Aires to play on TV. Last week we headlined a gig – going on at 2 AM and finishing at 4 AM. We played 20 songs.Do you guys ever argue?
Yes. We sometimes fight when we're rehearsing. We clash but at the end of the day we get along really well.What other difficulties do you face?
A couple of things are working against us at the moment. My voice is breaking and Martin's voice still sounds like a kid's. Also, we can't speak English, which makes it difficult to sing Iron Maiden. Also, all our equipment is borrowed apart from the drums and my guitar. My dad is helping us, but he only makes $350 a month, so it's hard.What do your parents think about the band
Our parents are really happy with everything we do. Our old man approves. He is super into the music we make.Who are your influences?
Our musical heroes are Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Pappo, Sepultura, B.B. King and Dio.What are you plans for the future?
We can play about 30 covers and we're trying to compose our own stuff. The idea is to continue as a band, triumph as a band, record a CD, play music and perfect our skills. We know we've still got a lot to learn. Our goal is to play Argentina's biggest rock festival Cosquin Rock. So we're practising hard for that.DOM TUNON
Emilio: Los Gauchos De Acero. In English we're called The Steel Gauchos
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Emilio, 14 (guitar and vocals), Martin, 10 (bass), Agustin, 11 (drums), and Carla, 4 (backing vocals).How did you start out?
This dream began two years ago. I had been learning guitar for six months when my dad, who works shifts at the Salta Municipal Computer Repairs Shop, was offered a drum kit in exchange for a used PC. So me and my brother started jamming. A couple of weeks ago we uploaded a video of us doing Sepultura's "Refuse, Resist" on YouTube so that we could show some friends. The video got like 800,000 hits and made us kinda famous. It's now, like at 2,000,000 hits.Wow. Instant fame.
Yeah, it's crazy. To give back some of the love that people show us on our messageboard we are taking the band more seriously. We've played local pubs and we once travelled to Buenos Aires to play on TV. Last week we headlined a gig – going on at 2 AM and finishing at 4 AM. We played 20 songs.Do you guys ever argue?
Yes. We sometimes fight when we're rehearsing. We clash but at the end of the day we get along really well.What other difficulties do you face?
A couple of things are working against us at the moment. My voice is breaking and Martin's voice still sounds like a kid's. Also, we can't speak English, which makes it difficult to sing Iron Maiden. Also, all our equipment is borrowed apart from the drums and my guitar. My dad is helping us, but he only makes $350 a month, so it's hard.
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Our parents are really happy with everything we do. Our old man approves. He is super into the music we make.Who are your influences?
Our musical heroes are Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Pappo, Sepultura, B.B. King and Dio.What are you plans for the future?
We can play about 30 covers and we're trying to compose our own stuff. The idea is to continue as a band, triumph as a band, record a CD, play music and perfect our skills. We know we've still got a lot to learn. Our goal is to play Argentina's biggest rock festival Cosquin Rock. So we're practising hard for that.DOM TUNON