We went there: 8 things we learned at Festival NRMAL Costa Rica 2015

Text by Pierre Lestruhaut 

Photos by Carolina Vargas

And so it happened… Unexpectedly, Festival NRMAL expanded all the way to the capital of the small Central American nation that’s been trying to place itself as the musical bridge between contemporary North American and South American musicians with the recent efforts of Epicentro. Hosted in a single day at Centro de Eventos de Pedregal, in a typical November afternoon of rain, umbrellas, fashionable ponchos, a lot of booze and some very good music, we experienced the first edition of Festival NRMAL outside of Mexican territories. Here’s what we learned from it.

1. NRMAL lineups are never disappointing 

At least if you’re musical sensibilities are similar to our own. But it’s not only the fact that the line-ups are usually stacked with bands that we’ve constantly praised over the last few years, it’s also the ballsy decisions to avoid cash-grabbing headliners, give way to very disparate styles in a single stage, and showcase acts with barely any material released. Thus, this edition was not devoid of very-well respected independent acts (Gepe, Helado Negro, Algodón Egipcio), pioneering legends (The Sonics, aUTOPerro), and up-and-coming electronic musicians (Raido, AAAA, The Wiesengrund Project).

2. Respect your elders…

Though NRMAL and Epicentro have let it clear that they are big supporters of young and emerging Latin American artists, this festival also outlined just how much NRMAL acknowledges artists who have been keeping it real for decades. Local noise duo aUTOPerro (who were making avant-garde sonic experimentation right around the time Throbbing Gristle were experiencing their creative apex), took the main stage early in the afternoon and despite stylistically contrasting with the rest of the acts performing there, managed to get a furious roar and applause from the crowd following the climactic ending of their set. Much in the same way that 60’s pioneering garage rock band The Sonics attracted the biggest crowd of the whole afternoon, which was predictable, given the Costa Rican indie scene's still overwhelming preference for good ol' rock music over anything else.

 3. …and give credit to those who were there before you 

As expected, Buscabulla put out a very pleasant show that induced the movement of loins and played her hits from her debut EP with a few unreleased tracks and covers. If you’re not aware that Raquel Berrios started making rounds in the NYC scene as a DJ, one listen to some of her mixtapes will let you know of the deep-knowledge she has of Latin American dance music. Of course, she wasn’t shy of handing out her respects to some of her beloved artists from the past, especially when performing her tribute to Frankie Ruiz, and it’s precisely this constant awareness of the greatness of past musicians that make her music so appealing in the first place.

4. Hijos might be deserving of some pre-debut album hype and high expectations

They’ve already been praised elsewhere, and it’s about time they got praised here as well. Hijos, the solo project of Costa Rican Pablo Rojas (Monte, Florian Droids) is a solid candidate to become the next great act to come out of the small nation. There are have been couple of pop-hued tracks circling around the internet these last few months, and “La Playa,” where vocal duties are taken by Kumari Sawyers, is deserving of superlatives such as “excellent,” “blissed-out,” and other adjectives like “tropical” and “heartwarming”. Hijos put out a solid early afternoon set where their already known pop melodies stood seamlessly and successfully side-by-side with the more proggish oriented soundscapes that Rojas’ other bands were more accustomed too.

 5. Gepe is getting closer to Latino pop stardom with every album 

A strange statement to make about an artist headlining what has been one of the most underground-promoting festivals in Latin America, NRMAL Costa Rica wasn't really the platform or the audience for him to feel like a pop star yet. But it’s Gepe’s conflation of Latino pop and folk motives, his undeniable charisma, irresistible dance moves, and catchy pop idioms that make him more suitable for grand arena Latin pop. And we wouldn’t be surprised if he got there rather soon.



 6. … and “En la naturaleza” is still the greatest latino song of the last few years

Even though Estilo Libre is Gepe’s biggest effort at exploring some of Latin folk’s most danceable patterns, “En la naturaleza” is still his most accomplished effort in fusing modern dance music and Latin folk. Despite dembow being a Latin club staple for more than 10 years, Gepe’s “experimental conquest” still feels fresh, unmatched, and absolutely drives the crowd insane. As DJ deMentira, who was wearing a Discos Pegaos shirt, took over PedroPiedra’s duties as Gepe’s sideshow rapper, the realization came forward that Gepe is all the things we’ve usually admired from a musician: crowd-pleasing enough to want to be a continental star, ballsy enough to explore territories no one else in his niche would dare to, and self-conscious enough to always be aware of his indie origins.

7. 10 pm is a very early time to end a one-day music festival 

The best music festivals we’ve been are obviously the ones that extend the partying well past midnight and allow dance music lovers to keep on dancing through the night. This first edition of NRMAL Costa Rica had a very well-crafted and conceived electronic music dome stage, much in the vein of Primavera Sound’s Boiler Room tent where sets could extend for those looking for non-stop dance action. In between main stage performances, we managed to catch a small portion of each of the acts playing the dome: The Wiesengrund Project’s drone-oriented and politically charged beats and visuals, Raido’s more introspective synth-driven hip-hop, and AAAA acid and Chicago oriented sounds. The only downside: 10 pm was a very early time to shut down an overheating dome that reeked of sweat and weed, hypnotized its crowd with warping beats, and should've kept the party going longer.



8. Enrique Coyotzi is an insensitive prick 

Promises were made. Expectations were raised. But our dear dear Enrique Coyotzi was nowhere to be seen at NRMAL Costa Rica, despite those very promises that were made, those expectations that were so highly raised. We will still hold on to those memories of NRMAL 2013, of seeing him arrive midset to Fakuta’s performance at Gómez, watching him leave after hearing 10 seconds of Dustin Wong at Panamérika Stage, and swinging like a lost child amidst the hip crowd of Monterrey. Your presence was missed.

Buscabulla - "Caer"

With the blessings of Dev Hynes (Blood Orange), Buscabulla (Raquel Berrios and Luis Alfredo del Valle) have launched their highly anticipated Self-titled EP and a gorgeous video for leading track, "Caer." It's exciting to see that from our small Caribbean paradises, new artists are emerging and creating fresh sounds mixing our Caribbean roots with the rhythms of the zeitgeist. All with a charisma that winks to the 80s. In this song, Raquel's voice is like the coming together of Grimes and Angela Carrasco singing Boca Rosa,  and of course sexier than that.  In the frame, we almost get hypnotized with the lights that scroll across her silky face. The music is unfolded in such a way that it pulls us to the neon dance floor -is like a toy store saved in a music box.

We will get to publish a proper review of Buscabulla soon, but we can truly say it's a gem. It's like each song is a unique blend with the brush of Raquel's voice guiding the magic. At the moment, if I was to call a Hot Line, I wish for Raquel to be on the other side of the phone. The styling of the video is haunting. From oversized shirts and clean faces, to the distant appearance of Luis Alfredo eating a banana and playing the maracas, there's true aesthetic depth on every frame. This is psicomagic, modern witchcraft. Twice we hear the song sigh "to' lo malo se va," and you can only wonder how Buscabulla is playing with trends and yet able to sound more alternative than what's on the market today. They are keeping it real.

SXSW Entry #2: Buscabulla, La Entrevista

by Zach Lewis

In the three years I've been attending SXSW with no badge or even a music wristband I think i've developed a good idea of which events to stay away from. Ordinarily that would most certainly include The Fader Fort, but when we found out CF's artist to watch Buscabulla would be performing on the main stage we knew we had to be there. Thankfully Club Fonograma made the guest list and we were able watch as Raquel Berrios and her band brought a potentially dead ambiente to life with a mesmerizing 30 minute set. 

We caught up with Raquel later that night at a Nacional showcase, just an hour before A.J. Davila performed, for a brief chat.

Giovanni Guillén: A lot of our writers are already calling you the breakout act of 2014- but most of us know very little about you. What's your background in music? How did you get started?

Raquel Berrios: I was first a DJ. I've been a DJ ever since I got to New York in 2008. I started DJign vinyl and I kind of inherited my dad's record collection that included salsa, calypso, folk music. It was pretty varied. I also worked in a music store Tropicalia in Furs and then got even more into psychedelic latin music.

GG: Like Caetano?

RB: Caetano, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, the whole Tropicalia movement and other Brazilian stuff. And I started sort of producing stuff at home on Garage Band, really simple things and singing over it. I've always played guitar but I had never really been musically trained and it wasn't until I met my boyfriend, Luis Alfredo Del Valle, that we actually started to take those samples and the small projects I had and actually started converting them into songs and then after that I took piano, I took sort of a crash course in music theory and started to get a little more serious about the project.

GG: I'm a really big fan of your Tumblr, you have so many visual references that I think make a great introduction to Buscabulla. Then there's also a lot of older music that you post. How much of that did you inherit from your parents and how much is from your own discovery?

RB: It's half and half. The seed was planted by my parents but when I go back and I look at 70's and 80's Argentinian music that's all out of from my own discovery. Like maybe because my dad exposed me to rock that sort of made me interested in seeing what was latin rock like in the 70's and 80's. So the seed was planted by them, but definitely the digging and exploring is another thing that's happened and I guess you do see that on the Tumblr. It's mixed in with a lot of other stuff (laughs).

GG: It's pretty well known at this point that you've been working with Dev Hynes. How much of the new songs were already ready before he stepped in? What is his role really?

RB: When we got in the studio with Dev in mid February, we pretty much had three songs in demo form. We all sat down and discussed them, and he pretty much acted as an advisor both in helping us achieve a more evolved sound and filling in missing parts. He played guitar on a lot of the tracks and added his own to them. He also helped in a lot of decision making, but he definitely let us be Buscabulla. You know, he's written songs for Sky Ferreira and produced and written for Solange, but this time around he let us be who we were, and then just sort of added a touch of who he is.

GG: Yeah, that's interesting because the role of a producer is really vague. There's people like Rick Rubin who kind of lets artists just do what they do.

RB: It's funny because we kept bringing up Rick Rubin when we first started working with Dev Hynes. Everyone thinks a producer is gonna come and put his stamp on an artist's sound, but what he was really interested from the beginning was our unique sound. He acted as a great medium with his vast musical knowledge, adding touches of his own style while letting us be who we are. I guess you'll see it once it comes out. You just have to wait and see.

by Giovanni Guillén

GG: Recalling what I heard today (at the Fader Fort)- the new songs sound kind of hazy and intense. How do you describe them to people?

RB: There's a little bit of everything. The first single that we're gonna release and already made a video for is called "Caer." I love to think of that song as a midway point between "Sono" and our "Tu loco-loco" cover, you know, between samples and actually playing live. The other songs- "Temporal" which is another song from the EP is also really sample driven. I kind of did that one on my own. The demo was done at home in one night, just sat down with it. It's definitely more experimental. Sort of based on coming from the Caribbean. "Temporal" means hurricane. Then there's "Métele" which I don't really know how to describe that one. It's definitely more soul-like and Dev put a really cool touch on that one. We haven't finished mixing it so we'll just have to see.

GG: Besides older music that you're really familiar with how closely do you follow the current scene, like what's happening in Puerto Rico?

RB: Right now there's a lot of cool stuff happening, I definitely listen to everything that people are doing. Super excited about Fuete Billete. I've sort of known these guys forever, back when they were Cienca Fixión. It's really awesome how they're evolving with this new project as well as seeing Carlitos and AJ (from Davila 666) take different musical paths with their respective projects. And just the San Juan scene in general, we played a show there in November and Luis and I came back feeling really excited by the bands there. There's another group called Fantasmes that's really awesome. I think right now it's really diverse. I can totally see the influence of the internet and how it's helped people find their niche. Years back in Puerto Rico it seemed like everybody was doing the same type of music. But now it's different. It's such a small island, it's great to see a tiny indie scene doing very different projects.

GG: You mentioned how far Fuete Billete and A.J. Davila have come, where do you want to take Buscabulla? Or where do you see it going?

RB: I think a woman I always look at as an artistic example is Juana Molina. There's just something about the scale and artistic level of the project that she's built that I love. She has been very unique and even if she's not huge, people know her. She can travel the world and do intimate shows. There's something inspiring about how she's led her musical career and how it keeps going, regardless of age or looks. I think I aspire to something similar to what she's created. I really want to make cool interesting music in Spanish, you know? I want it to be accessible but also have edge. I want it to be complex.


by Giovanni Guillén

Video: Buscabulla - "Sono"

Puerto Rican designer/musician/DJ/babe Raquel Berrios has a thing with old things. As a DJ, she spins salsa, tropicalia, and funk from the '70s and '80s, to the delight of her fellow Brooklynites. As a stylish lady, she resuscitates other people’s throwaways into the hippest of outfits. And as Buscabulla, she samples obscure musical gems of yore in songs that are very much of the now.

Case in point: the wistful, hazy “Sono” and its retro-geometric Super 8 video. The track blends samples from Cuban psych outfit Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC with fuzz guitar, xylophone, '90s hip-hop beats, and Berrios’s own whispery vocals for a super-chill summery delight. The video, directed by Brooklyn-based set designer and visual artist Roy Delgado, perpetuates this blissful feel with washed out tropical scenery from the Botanic Garden Sculpture Park in San Juan, a hippy-meets-disco-era aesthetic, and occasional witchy vibes.

This is only Buscabulla’s second song so far (after last fall’s cover of Tite Curet Alonso’s “Tu Loco Loco y Yo Tranquilo”), though there are rumblings of an EP by the end of the year. To tide you over, peep the SONOSOLAR mixtape on her Soundcloud, which happens to feature “Sono.”