Achen' Hole Sinners were a band that started out in 1994.
At a time where most rock music being made in the Azores was Metal, Achen' Hole Sinners were a well accepted change in mood.
Melodramatic and Haunting but still passionate and wild like much of the younger generation during that time. Music that was heavily influenced by their peers in other parts of the world. Alternative Rock was in. This of course was at a time where it was still O.k. to like and use the term "Grunge". A time when the term hadn't yet been fully exploited to it's last drop of meaning.
There were also so many other influential pieces to the puzzle. Movies like "Pulp Fiction", "Natural Born Killers" or "The Crow" were huge in setting a tone in teenagers minds.
KIds were tired of the same old routine and needed more.

The Azores were also going through many changes. Kids were being exposed to more music, film and Art from the rest of the world at a much faster pace than ever before. More than their parents had ever been. MTV was still showing Music Videos (Can you believe that?!) and shows like Alternative Nation, 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball were on Top of a teens list of things to watch.
Nightlife in the City of Ponta Delgada was at an all time high. School wasn't a place for just learning about History but a place to create ones own.
This was the Azores of the generation X.
Although generation X was a term applied to the youth around the world during the 90's, life as an Azorean generation X'r was far different than one from the U.S.
The Azores provided the perfect blend of all the same teen angst going around but balanced with the Natural Beauty of the Islands.
It was Rock at a certain moment in the day, beaches and waterfalls the next.
It was a perfect setting for Art to exist. and Achen' Hole Sinners knew the recipe.

Actually to a boy named Sam the result of all these things was Music. Making Music to be precise.
Samuel Cabral, born in the summer of 1976 in the US was the eldest of 3 boys.
In 1985 Sam's family returned to the island of São Miguel, Azores after purchasing a farm.
They led a good life and the 3 boys grew up alongside all the other kids of the island, becoming part of the São Miguel youth.
Sam was in fact the son of a musician - Joaquim Cabral - who had played both in the Azores as well as in the U.S. in bands like "The Bats" and "Alabote".
There were always musical instruments around the house. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Beatles were always playing in the Cabral househould.
So it just made sense that eventually Sam and his brothers would follow the same love for Music as their parents had.

It was during his teenage years that Sam's love for music grew. While attending the Laranjeiras High School in Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Sam befriended Rui Almeida and together decided to form a band which consisted of the following members:
Rui (Boda) Almeida - Rhythm Guitar
Samuel Cabral - Vocals, Guitars
Paulo (Escova) Manel - Lead Guitar
Andre Coelho - Drums
Joao Pedro - Bass

After only a handful of practices (some inside old garages, some near beautiful lakes with campsite fires), the band opted in on a local Talent Show at the Laranjeiras High School.
Shortly after they entered another contest alongside many other bands held in the very well known local pub "Casa Velha".
The show was great, the path was set, people were listening and so was one of the local Radio DJ's - RDP's Herberto Quaresma.
Herberto Quaresma interviewed Samuel Cabral immediately after the show. With people still cheering in the background, Sam answered as many questions as he could.
It was during this interview that Herberto paused for a moment to retrieve some news he was just getting.
Kurt Cobain had been found dead.
Sam was still being interviewed when Herberto relayed the news to him.
"It was a strange feeling. Here I am just finishing a show at the beginning of my Musical career and I find out about the end of someone else's. Someone who was also a big influence on what we were doing at the time".

Shortly after this show, Joao Pedro opted to leave the band for personal reasons. Veríssimo Miguel, mostly known to friends as Miguelito (Lead Guitar player of Morbid Death at the time), would step in to help the band temporarily.

In order for the band to be able to progress and take things further, they needed the assistance of a manager.
This is when they enlisted the help of Herberto Quaresma. Not only was he well connected in the area, he was also a big fan of their music and very crazy at heart as well.
With his help, AHS went on to play at various events throughout São Miguel. It was around that time the band gave there first outdoor/live performance in the same village Sam's farther was brought up "Vila da Povoacao".

Since Miguelito was still just helping out, the band needed to find another bass-player.
Miguel Tavares, "Radar" to his friends, would soon fill this gap.
That band formation lasted until mid 1995.
AHS played in lots of places and were quickly becoming a favorite band amongst the Azorean teenagers.
Achen' Hole Sinners toured the islands of the Azores in hopes to expand their group of listeners.
What they didn't expect was that upon arrival to some of these other islands, they already had fully committed fans who new all of Sam Cabral's Lyrics.

In 1994 the band received the award for Best Revelation Band and singer Samuel Cabral also won the title of 1994's best vocalist.
Things were going good and moving stead for another year or so.
Songs like "Funny Bleed", "Pleasant Sorrow", "Bratty Kids Will" and "Hit Me" were on heavy radio rotation with some of the songs reaching #1 in the charts.
An Achen' Hole Sinners concert always consisted of great music, huge amounts of energy and the occasional pan flute used in a ritual performed at the end of a show. Where the band would dim down the lights and evoke more of the Animal side in not just themselves but their audiences.
"The goal was to lose ourselves, even for just a moment" - Samuel Cabral

But...like many other bands some members chose different paths in their lives.
Three members ( Paulo Manuel, Andre Coelho and Miguel Tavares ) stepped outside leaving the band with Rui Almeida and Samuel Cabral.
The reasons?... a couple, but the most important thins was that they always remained good friends.

After a break, Rui Almeida and Samuel Cabral resurected the band along with their new Lead Guitarist - Goncalo (Gadelha) Moniz ex-member of the "SentmentSeeders".
A band which had as Lead Vocalist - Daniel Cabral (Samuel's brother).
They also approached a friend of theirs, Pedro Andrade (former drummer of The Front and current drummer of Morbid Death) to join forces. He accepted the invitation bringing with him a powerful background of years in percussion.
Soon after that, the members went on another search for a bassist... spending some time and rehearsing with different players and deciding on inviting once again their good friend Miguelito who had just left another band "Yellow Stone".
Miguelito accepted the bands invitation.
The Band was once again complete... now began the second stage of Achen' Hole Sinners.
Achen' Hole Sinners, now musically more mature, returned to the stage with a much more powerful soul and sound.
Creating music that would resonate in many Azoreans minds to this date.
In 1996 they recorded their first EP entitled Red Weather with help from local producer Filipe Roque.

The final lineup in Achen' Hole Sinners was:
Samuel Cabral - Vocals, other Guitars
Rui (Boda) Almeida - Rhythm Guitar
Pedro Andrade - Drums
Goncalo (Gadelha) Moniz - Lead Guitar
Verissimo (Miguelito) Miguel - Bass

In 1996, Achen' Hole Sinners had their last show in Calheta, Ponta Delgada.
Each of the band members went on to pursue their own dreams.

Although many of Achen Hole Sinners' songs never made it to recording, the memory of this unity between art and audience remains to this day.