SXSW Entry #1: Fakuta, La Entrevista

photo by Daniela Galindo
Puras tragedias. That phrase accurately sums up my first night at SXSW. A lost wallet incident not only set me back hours of daycasing (sorry I just wrote that), but I also had to cancel a scheduled meetup with Pamela Sepúlveda a.k.a. Fakuta. And, since the Chilean Estrella would only be in town for three days (and understandably had other plans besides business), another meeting seemed difficult. My luck changed once I caught up with her at the Intolerancia showcase. After the show, Fakuta and her bandmate Felicia Morales were in a bit of hurry to attend an Austra show, but also saw no reason why we couldn't get in an interview on the way there. Here's what we talked about on our walk:

Giovanni Guillén: Al vuelo has been out since 2011. What can you tell us about your new album?

Fakuta: It's still in the early stages. I have a few songs ready but I’m the kind that likes to have a concept thought out. For me, albums should be albums. They should be a complete work like a soundtrack. My last record started out the same way—loose tracks that eventually became something. It's happening again, getting these individual tracks sorted out. Right now they're missing the consistency for me to call it an album. I am sure, however, the record's production will come out faster. I'd like to do it this year. I also want the producers to really play a part in the process. On Al vuelo I came to the studio with everything basically done. I'd like the new songs to come in bare, so that we can all contribute something. "Juntapena" was formed like that. We had a lot of fun with it, and it came out a lot quicker.

GG: You pretty much know all the big Chilean artists. Which compatriots would you like to get for the next record?

F: Many, I think. Actually, I’ve always been more about finding collaborations from the underground. There's a girl called La Entrópica who has a great electro sound with this deep voice. That'd be cool. I've thought about it. Besides Chileans, I’ve already got a collaboration with Coiffeur from Argentina. We've become good friends. We even played together at Festival Neutral a year ago.

GG: How did Neutral go for you this year?

F: Really cool. It isn't a huge festival. Everything in Chile is a lot smaller. The Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center is such a wonderful space and it got pretty packed. I'm still not that well known in Chile, but at least I got to play for a lot of new faces, as well as old friends. It was just fun. I’ve also started playing with a new band that includes Felicia Morales, Pablo Muñoz, Anita Gallardo, and my boyfriend, DJ deMentira.

GG: A lot of music in your genre typically doesn’t allow the lyrics to be so clear and so easily understood. Why is that the case for your music?

F: I think that started more as a decision from my producers. Pablo Muñoz and Milton Mahan (from Dënver) have such strong pop leanings. Back then, I was more into Nite Jewel and other artists who put effects on the vocals and I also wanted that. When I started out I had, like, zero confidence in what I was doing. Pablo and Milton really helped me out. Milton would always tell me good things about my lyrics. After a while, I started noticing how people who listen to my music got something out of the lyrics. It was either personal to them or they identified with it in that moment. That's huge for me.

GG: Plus people can sing along with you at your shows.

F: Yeah, definitely. I've also learned about myself, too. Like, how I have so much influence from Latin music and even romantic singers like Yuri. Those are things one can't escape from. I remember before making my album I used to be ashamed of all of that. I would write songs and then think, "No, I want to be in a rock band." I guess I needed time to figure out it's what I do best or what comes out more naturally.

GG: I feel like your lyrics touch on very similar themes, like the need to travel. Where does that come from?

F: It isn't necessarily a need to travel. More like a need to elevate myself. I feel like I belong in the air (laughs). I guess those themes are a little esoteric. I'm also really into things like machines and technology. For "Juntapena" I kind of imagine a road trip to the south. I also think of a childhood vacation or something like that.

GG (after having arrived at their venue): As a music fan, who are you most excited to see at SXSW?

F: I'd love to see Prince but we're not gonna be here for it. Or even Nick Cave. But this festival has always intrigued me. It's like Carnival out here. I also love that there's so many groups who are kind of like where I am, starting out without a big following. I'm not here with the expectation that I'll blow up or anything like that. Ultimately there are still a lot of cultural differences.

GG: So do you think the language barrier is still a big issue?

F: It's getting better, I think. But I feel like English speakers who listen to music in Spanish are kind of viewed as weird. I think it's great. As someone who grew up listening to music in English there's definitely another relationship with the music. One appreciates the composition and the structure. That's also important. Maybe later you learn the real meaning of the words, and it's disappointing because of how dumb it was (laughs). Still, I love how there are people who don't speak Spanish but who listen to our music. I feel in some ways it's more genuine and honest. Sometimes I even see it see as an advantage.

SXSW Entry #9: Natalia Lafourcade, LA ENTREVISTA

Photos by Daniela E. Galindo

A lot of us already know that Natalia Lafourcade will soon release the highly anticipated follow-up to Hu Hu Hu. But, up until a few weeks ago, basic details about the record felt like a complete mystery. Luckily, Club Fonograma got a chance to speak with Lafourcade about the new album following her outdoor presentation (a day performance of Torreblanca & Amigas) at Auditorium Shores. Many thanks to Lafourcade for the interview (and for the nice words about the blog) and to her manager for making it all possible.

Giovanni Guillén: How would you describe this new record?

Natalia Lafourcade: This album is going to be very different from the other ones. It’s a covers album. It’s a tribute for this artist and composer, Augustín Lara. Augustín is the inspiration for the record. And also, the artists who are collaborating with me because every artist had something to do with the way the songs sound. I have a collaborator on every song, mostly male singers.

GG: With these collaborations, would you say you're continuing to produce–like what you did with Carla Morrison and Ximena Sariñana?

NF: Yeah, I love it. I love producing people. Probably as much as I love singing and being on the stage. And it’s a thing that I just started to do, like, a year ago with Carla and Ximena. I don’t think I would do it with a project I don’t really like because you put a lot of energy–you have to focus. (Like) when we finished Carla Morrison’s first album, I was so emotionally involved that at the end I was exhausted! But in a good way. It’s just because I’m like that. I’m very passionate about things that I like.

GG: Do you know what kind of producer you are?

NF: I don’t know if I consider myself a producer yet. I love producing people but I don’t know how to do it. I just go in and tell them my opinion. I have a good team with my engineers, my studio, and some other friends and musicians that will help make the song. I remember when I was making my first album, I had this difficult time with the producers. It’s very difficult when you, as an artist, want to do something with the sound, and then the producer has another vision and they don’t let you go where you want to go. And I think that, I mean, I don’t know how to produce but my intuition tells me that you have to let the artist go where the artist needs to go. That way you build the perfect environment. To get it there, to get it right, in the end, it’s their album, not mine. When I worked with Ximena and Carla I was just giving my opinion. We could do this or go there but, in the end, the decision was taken by them.

GG: You mentioned Augustín Lara, and I know you performed at the Bicentenario. It seems to me that lately you're getting more in touch with your Mexican roots.

NF: Yeah, definitely

GG: What inspired that?

NF: The Bicentenario. Totally. Before I was more like, “Oh, yes. I want to go out of my country."

GG: Places like Canada?

NF: Well actually, Canada is a part of my heart. Definitely. I need to go back to Canada and be there for a while because I miss it a lot. But, when I was working with Alondra de la Parra on the Bicentenario, on the show, she told me, "You should go and reach some composers and writers–Mexican writers. Not just, like, José Alfredo Jiménez, the ones we all know. You should go and reach for someone that you don’t know and see if you can find a song that you want to sing." And then I went on the Internet, on YouTube, and I started searching names and I ran into Augustín Lara. I heard all the songs from the past that we know, but I also started listening to the songs that I didn’t know and I fell in love. Especially with the way he used to write. I was like, "Wow! This is so amazing!" The music, the harmonies, the lyrics, the poetry. And I was so impressed that we had that talent in our country. I also wondered if the people my age would know his music and his compositions.

GG: So, you're also trying to introduce him to another generation?

NF: Definitely. I wanted to do another thing–working on a covers project–but I didn’t want to do just any covers. I was actually thinking about Violeta Parra. La Chilena. But I also wanted to expose something from Mexico. So, when I ran into Augustín’s stuff I fell in love. Hopefully there will be someone who'll feel connected the same way that I did.

GG: I know that Augustín Lara composed a lot for films, is that something you want to do? Soundtracks and movie scores? For me, Las 4 estaciones del amor sounds like a movie soundtrack.

NF: I hope one day I can definitely do that. I imagine myself living in a small cabin in the fields, taking care of children and making music for movies, you know? (Laughs).

GG: But then where would you perform?!

NF: Well, I love performing too. But it’s in my list of dreams. It’s something that I love. To me, music, the images, and all of that come together. When I’m writing, I’m also imagining a video to the song, I’m thinking about the images. Also, when I build the concept. I guess it all comes together and, eventually, I see myself working on soundtracks.

GG: Your last album, Hu Hu Hu, was full of organic sounds. But then there was this b-side, "Lluvia que cae," which featured electronic music. Is that also something you want to experiment more with?

NF: Yeah, probably yes. Especially now I feel like I want to go there. It’s funny because this new album doesn’t have that at all–it still has this organic thing that was in Hu Hu Hu. It's as if Augustín Lara and I would’ve sat together and written the songs. It's very pretty.

SXSW Entry #6: Andrea Balency, LA ENTREVISTA

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak with the fast-rising Andrea Balency. And all it took was me buying her one beer, along with my awesome charm, of course.

Andrew Casillas: So…how does it feel to be “hot shit” right now?*

Andrea Balency: It’s kind of surprising because when I started writing music I never thought I would be where I’m at only two-three years later. Before that, I played classical music at home with my piano and I wanted to be a classical musician. But then I started writing music, saw how fun it was, and felt the need to continue doing it. My first songs didn’t sound very commercial, and I thought, “Oh, I’ll never been famous or popular.” But suddenly everything started happening, and people started coming out to concerts, and suddenly I had 300 people coming out to see me. And I’m thinking, “Who am I?” I’m just a regular person, so it’s been very surprising, but exciting, because I feel like I can make a living doing this forever.

AC: Speaking of playing with Natalia Lafourcade, Javiera Mena, and Ximena Sariñana (at the awesome Torreblanca + Amigas show earlier that day), each of them had a very different career path. Natalia started out very quirky and has progressed further into idiosyncrasy. Javiera began with a defined sound and has continued developing it to where she is THE BEST at what she does. Ximena started out as a huge pop star, and is leveraging that early success in a very ambitious attempt at English language superstardom. Of these three, which would you find most appealing as a career path?

AB: I feel like my music has to follow its own path and, thus, I don’t think about it so much. I don’t want to force things and take my music somewhere it probably shouldn’t be. Right now what I think is that I have a pretty singular sound which will continue to change. I’ve gotten into a lot of electronic music lately…

AC: Even Skrillex? (jokingly)

AB: Yes! (haha) I just love the whole universe of electronica, and I’m trying to incorporate some of these elements into my sound. I don’t know where I’m going to evolve; I’ll just let it go where it needs to be.


AC: Do you have any idea where you’re going to be in a few years? Do you think you could be like Skrillex tomorrow?

AB: I’d love to think I could. Part of what I love about music is that it’s spontaneous.

AC: Well answer this: do you want to be a pop star?

AB: Hahaha, well…

AC: I’m serious: I don’t mean pop star in the “selling out” sense. Do you want to be a star? An easy comparison would be, say, Julieta Venegas. Someone who can command his or her own career with a mass following?

AB: Credibility is important to me, so as long as I have that, I wouldn’t mind being a “star.” I wouldn’t mind not being a star so long as I’m credible. It’s the most important thing to me.

*I clarified that I meant to say “one of the biggest buzzes at SXSW,” but hot shit still sounds cooler.

SXSW Entry #2: Bam Bam, LA ENTREVISTA

On Wednesday, Club Fonograma had the pleasure of interviewing Monterrey's own Bam Bam in the alley between a crappy dive bar and a really crappy dive bar. SO DIVERSE! Anyway, the band had some great stories to tell, but here are the choices quotes we'll serve up for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Andrew Casillas: You guys have gone from a small, unknown band to one of the most credible in Mexico. Do you feel the weight of expectations from being seen as “progressive” and “cutting edge?”

Bam Bam: I guess we’re still like a small band, with the [basic] guitars and pedals. We don’t have fancy shit. We’re the same guys, basically. The only expectation is for ourselves to keep playing better. We’re our own enemies, so we have to defeat ourselves with every album and with every gig.

AC: A lot of your sound is very frantic and meticulous. You’re talking about being your own enemies, what are the main objectives you attempt to express with your music?

BB: The end of the world (haha). People ask, “Why do you make music?” Sometimes I don’t feel connected to people in general, but when I’m playing, I feel connected to this band, and it’s something [amazing].

AC: Do you guys think you’ve scratched the surface of what you can do? Do you have any idea what you’re going do from this point?

BB: We have no idea. But that’s awesome. We don’t want to think about what you’re going to like or dislike. You just make shit up [as you go]. We don’t really have a plan. We’re just going to make records. Not make some strategic marketing or merchandising plan.

AC: You guys are highly respected by critics. When you made these past two albums did you think, “People are going to LOVE this shit?”

BB: We didn’t think that a lot of people would like it. I thought that it was going to flop. [Futura Vía] is a strange album. Something so personal that there was a chance that people weren’t going to like it.

AC: You’re a very hard band to describe, sound-wise. If you have to put a quick label on your sound, what would you say?

BB: That’s hard to answer.

AC: Are you a psychedelic rock band? Prog rock? Are you pop?

BB: I don’t know what pop is. We’re a rock band. We have guitar, bass, keyboards. Everyone has their own plank, and that’s Bam Bam.

SXSW Entry #10: Gepe - La Entrevista!

Perhaps the most exciting Club Fonograma-approved presence at SXSW was Gepe, who played two phenomenal shows while he was in Austin. After his performance at the Billboard showcase, we claimed a bench on Congress Ave. and sat down for a nice chat. I’ve edited all of Gepe’s cachais out, but just imagine each of his responses ending with “cachai?” and you’ll get the gist. Cachai?



Blanca Méndez: For someone who is such a big fan of yours, I don’t really know much about you outside of your music. So let me start with a basic question: What experiences led you to start creating music and why do you keep doing it?



Gepe: I’ve made music since I was so little that I can’t remember the motive. It became serious about five years ago, and it wasn’t until very recently that I considered myself a musician.



BM: What changed that finally made you say that you’re a musician?



G: When it became my way of earning a living is when the change happened. Now I live because of and from the music.



BM: Before that, were you working outside of music?



G: No, only music. I am also a designer because I studied graphic design in college. But when I was in college, I started making a lot of music, and after I graduated, I kept making lots of music and I started going on tour and working solely on music. SometimesI still do design, though. And I also make music for movies.



BM: Very cool. What movies have you contributed music to?



G: I recorded a Leonard Cohen cover of “Hallelujah” for Sugar.

BM: How do these projects come about?



G: People call me, usually the directors. Like for Sugar, Lynn Fainchtein called me to record the Leonard Cohen cover. She knew about me through Julieta Venegas, who had passed my music along to her.

BM: How do you decide what projects to go forward with? Do you read a script?



G: Mostly I talk with the directors to get a sense of what the film is about. Sometimes I do read the script, and then make a song.



BM: Do you enjoy making music with such a specific goal andset guidelines?

G: I really like to make music not using my name and background. I love not being me. I enjoy when people give me direction and tell me what they need. I liketo put myself at the service of others and to not be Gepe. It’s a break from being me. And I love playing with other people in other bands. I play the drums with Pedropiedra, and I only follow his rules.

BM: Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. I know that you’ve worked with Pedro and Javiera Mena and a lot of other musicians in Chile. How does this way of making music differ from your solo work?

G: In Chile, we have a very close community of musicians, like Pedropiedra, Javiera Mena, Denver, Astro…they make very good music, very mature. And all of these people work with each other. I play the drums with Pedro and with Javiera, Javiera plays keyboards with me, Pedro plays guitar with me, and I play with Alex from Odisea. We are making an album together. The people who are making indie music in Chile are all very close. We’re all friends. We hang out a lot together. My girlfriend used to date another musician that’s part of our little community, so it’s like that. That close.

BM: Recently a lot of musicians in Chile are making a big mark on Latin American music. What do you think is happening in Chile right now that is so special?



G: I think it might be a generational thing. Around the year 2000 this group of musicians that I’ve been talking about started making music. What’s happening now, despite all of us sharing spaces, sharing friends, sharing girlfriends, is that we are all working on very personal projects. We all make very distinct music, each project has its own life, its own world, but at the same time there are similar qualities and all of the music is connected in some way.



BM: You mentioned that you’re working with Alex Anwandter on an album. How is that going?



G: We both have very personal projects and working together is having to cede certain things. In doing that we got to know each other more. I had never worked with someone else on lyrics and neither had Alex, and working together that closely, we’ve become even better friends. I think when you work with a certain level of trust is when work comes out better, and that kind of trust you get from friends. I’ve always worked with my friends. And this album is one that neither of us could have made on our own. It’s at the exact midpoint between the two of us, and it’s been such a wonderful process.

BM: And you can definitely tell when there’s a close bond between musicians who collaborate.

G: It’s like Animal Collective, the thing that I most love about them is the synergy between them. You can tell that they’re good friends, and there’s something special that emanates from that. Also, one of my favorite Chilean bands in the 90s, Tobias Alcayota, who were like my Beatles, had this same kind of energy. And that’s always stayed with me and influenced the way that I make music.



BM: How has your own style of making music changed over the years?



G: One of the things I like best about music and musicians is how what they do, the way in which they make the music, the way in which they dress, the attitude that they take on, changes over time. I love that the work gets enriched with time and doesn’t crystallize at any particular moment. The music that I make has evolved because what I do isnever closed. It continues to transform. What I want to do is always ahead. Like Animal Collective, what I like about them is that everything they do is a work in progress.

BM: What are you working on now, and what are you thinking about for the future?



G: Right now the album with Alex is the first priority. I’m also working on videos for Audiovision, and I have some gigs in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. I don’t know, just making songs and keep playing. To keep playing is the most important thing.



BM: What videos are you working on?



G: The video for “Alfabeto” and “12 Minerales.”



BM: Awesome! “12 Minerales” is my favorite. And the videofor “Por La Ventana” is pretty great. It looks like it was a lot of fun to make.

G: It really was!



BM: And the song is fantastic. I love the yos in it and how it inserts some humor. How did you decide to inject a little hip hop into the song?

G: I was set on including the yos somewhere, so if it hadn’t been that song it would have been another. But I think it works best in “Por La Ventana.” That song and video came about very spontaneously. I love having a good time when I work. I don’t like directing, I like letting things happen on their own.



BM: That video is very much a group experience, and I feel that your music is often about shared experiences or that a song is in itself meant to be a shared experience. When you write a song do you have in mind the kind of experience it’s going to create for people?

G: Definitely. I like for the themes of the music to be as general as possible. I’ve tried to simplify my music as much as I can for it be as general and as simple and as raw as possible, the most direct in my language. Like “12 Minerales” was exactly what I wanted to say in the most direct way that I could. The general a lot of times feels like it’s nothing and so many things at once.



BM: I think that has to a lot do with your voice, which to me is on the surface so simple and straightforward, but at the same time carries in it a lot of wisdom. A lot of your earlier music was driven by your vocals, but your last album used a lot more instrumentation. How did you decide to go that route and how important is it still to you for vocals to drive a song?



G: I’m very influenced by traditional Chilean music and that music is played with one instrument and one voice. Usually it’s the melody of the voice that makes the song and the instrument is a much less important accompaniment. John Jacob Niles did something very similar in the States, and that influenced me a lot. But with time I started listening to people like Miles Davis and with albums like Miles Ahead and Sketches of Spain became more interested in more involved instrumentals and more complex arrangements. And I think I’m going to keep going in this style of making music.

BM: Do you prefer making music in this way now?



G: What’s most important to me is for a song to work with only vocals and one instrument. Then I begin to build on that. If I feel like a song has a lot missing when I play it with just one instrument, then I don’t go forward with it.

BM: Do you remember what the first song you ever wrote was?



G: Yes, it was “Namas.”



BM: How did it come about?



G: I wrote it for a girlfriend, exactly what the song says. It’s not really a love song, it’s just talking to another human. More than writing about a relationship, it’s just something that I needed to say. In fact, it’s something that I never said to her in person.



BM: A lot of people I know really love “No te mueras tanto,” and I guess what I want to know about that song is what’s so funny?



G: What I mean by “no te mueras tanto” is don’t forget about yourself and take care of yourself. In this case I also mean “no te desesperes.” And if you do, it’s kind of funny, “muy idiota.”



BM: Why did you write that chorus in English?



G: That’s just how it happened. Since I listen to so much music in English, sometimes that’s just what comes to mind when I write. That line was the first one that I wrote, and I built everything off of that. I didn’t change anything about it. It just came out how it came out.



BM: Do you do that often? Just write songs without changing things?



G: No, that ‘s something I used to do. Now I change everything.



BM: Are you more critical of yourself?



G: Definitely. It’s like I have a lot less respect for myself and I change things over and over. The lyrics for me are always the hardest and I end up agonizing over them. Like right now I have about five songs that I’ve been trying to write lyrics for for a long time. And, like I said, I try to write as generally as possible. Not really saying anything to anybody, but at the same time speaking to everybody. It’s not important for me to say anything about myself, but I still impart something personal because it’s what I know. Sometimes I write songs with other songs in mind. Like Brian Wilson’s “Surf’s Up” helped me write “Esgrima” and “Estilo Internacional.” That song for me is paradigmatic.



BM: What do you like so much about that song?



G: The magic of the lyrics is so simple. The “columnated ruins domino” line is so beautiful to me. To me that song is perfect.



BM: I agree. The beauty of that song lies in its simplicity. Is that kind of beautiful simplicity what you try to achieve with your songs?



G: I love writing about simple things, things that won’t escape through your fingers. I do that because that’s what pop is about. The songs that I like, like Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” talk about simple things. I like doing that, writing about simple things, but giving them importance.



BM: You also mentioned earlier that you’re inspired by traditional Chilean music, which you can definitely hear listening to your songs. But also for me, your songs often sound the way I would imagine Chile to look like. Is creating a landscape with your music ever something that you do consciously?



G: I think more than creating a landscape my songs embody the Chilean people. I’ve spent all of my life in the same city, most of it in the same neighborhood and I write about what I know. And what I know is all very normal. Most Chileans are like me. We’re introverted, but we still talk a lot. We can talk a lot without saying anything. We have a certain timidity that can also be humorous. I think Chileans in that sense are similar to Mexicans. In the simplicity and the joy and the not having one ounce of European in them, and I think you can hear that in my songs. I adore my country and my people and it’s important to me to convey that in my music.



BM: Which one of your songs would you say exemplifies what you’ve just talked about?



G: I think “Alfabeto” in the way of not saying anything. The music that I like never tells a story. It’s always little bits of ideas and scenes and images, but never a story from beginning to end. And I think Chileans are like this, we never tell an entire story.

SXSW Entry #9: Las Robertas - La Entrevista!

Costa Rica's Las Robertas were one of the busiest bands at SXSW, playing more parties than I could keep track of, so I'm grateful that they could spare some time to talk to me after their set at Shangri-La. Despite the band's self-diagnosed group ADD which punctuated our conversation with waving at friends and random bursts of laughter, I enjoyed hearing about their music, their plans, and their love for their home country.



Blanca Méndez: You guys just played Festival Nrmal, right? How’d it go?



Franco Valenciano: it was crazy, lots of people.



Mercedes Oller: Mexicans are fucking crazy. They made a mosh pit.



FV: But it was awesome crazy.



MO: Yeah, totally awesome crazy. We love Mexican crowds.



BM: Was that your first time in Monterrey?



MO: Yes, it was our first time in Mexico as a band.



FV: Actually, our first time outside Costa Rica as a band. It’s very exciting.



BM: And you have a few dates elsewhere in the U.S. after this?



MO: On the east coast. We’re going to New York and Philly. Should be interesting.

BM: I know this is your first tour. Where are you most excited to play?



In unison: Everywhere!



FV: It’s like going to a playground for us. We’ve never been outside our home, and it’s like staying at your friend’s house for the night. You don’t know what’s going to happen, and you’re excited about everything.



BM: It’s great that you’re getting a chance to take your music outside of Costa Rica. What’s the music scene like there?



MO: There is no scene.



FV: We have answered that question many times, and I think we’ve answered it wrong. There’s no audience, but the bands in Costa Rica are awesome. There’s a movement and a creative process in every band that’s insane. People should take notice of Costa Rica.

BM: What Costa Rican artists should people be listening to?



FV: The Great Wilderness, Niño Koi…there are lots of bands, and they’re all really good.



MO: Also, Zopilot, which is Franco’s other band.



BM: Would you say there’s a community of musicians?



MO: We’re all friends, so, yes, in that sense there is a tight community.



FV: It’s a really big movement in our country because it’s always been the same thing musically, but now bands are doing things differently. Playing important festivals and going to Europe, that’s a big deal for us. I hope we can open doors to Latin American artists, and in particular Costa Rican artists because I know for a fact that in Costa Rica there are some great, great bands. Costa Rica is a great country in every way, musically and artistically.

BM: What about your country do you think is so special and influences what you do and what other bands are doing?



FV: Everything in Costa Rica is really special. Our country is really different because we have lots of nature, no army. We have different things on our minds that make us create music differently.



BM: I know it’s still early in the tour, but anything crazy happen yet?



FV: Mostly just people making mosh pits and getting naked.



BM: So, pretty standard stuff.



MO: And there are tons of weird people in Austin.



BM: Austin is kind of weird people mecca. The crowd just now seemed really into your set, though.



MO: We’ve gotten a really reception so far.



BM: That’s great. I think all of Cry Out Loud works really well live because it has such a great energy. What was the process like putting that album together?



MO: On that album we were discovering our sound. Now, I think we’ve nailed it. We know where to go and what we want to do. That album was more experimentation. We really like it, but we like our new songs way better.



FV: We didn’t really have an approach, we were just doing what we like to do. We were just going with whatever happened. It came from our hearts, and it was nothing pretentious about it.



MO: We’ve grown up as a band, so songs are coming out darker now, yet more upbeat.



BM: That’s an interesting contrast. Can you explain that a little bit?



MO: Like, a darker overall sound in terms of the music, but more upbeat rhythmically.



FV: We’re writing lots and lots of songs, keeping some and throwing some away. We’re just trying to do something different, something that we like.

BM: A lot of people have been comparing you to bands like Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls. How do feel about that?



MO: We love them. It’s a total compliment.



FV: They’re much better than us.



MO: Vivian Girls are, like, the best band in the world. We really admire them, but I think we’re different. Maybe it’s because we’re a three-piece that people make the comparison, but I don’t think we sound similar.



BM: You played one song in Spanish during your set. Are you writing more in Spanish now?



MO: No, actually. We made that song in Spanish because it just came out that way. Like, if I knew German or he knew French, we might write songs in those languages. We don’t care about which language we write in. When it comes, it comes.



FV: Language is just a tool - a tool and a barrier. Whether we write in English or Spanish, it’s not politically motivated or anything. They’re just words.



BM: Are there certain themes that you like to write about?



MO: We just write things about everyday, normal stuff, like our relationships, other people’s relationships. In my case, I just start to imagine different scenarios. I put myself in different situations to write songs.



BM: So, it’s more of a creative writing process than a strictly personal one?



MO: Yeah, I like being able to make things up as I go and to tell stories, whether they are mine or someone else’s or no one’s in particular.



BM: What’s next for Las Robertas?



FV: We’re recording a new album and a new 7-inch and we’re touring in Europe. We’re especially excited about playing Primavera Sound. Really, we just want to keep on enjoying ourselves and making music that we like.

SXSW Entry #4: Carla Morrison--La Entrevista!

Here's the first of Club Fonograma's set of SXSW interviews. I want to thank the lovely Carla Morrison and her people with getting this set up and their friendliness. Carla in particular was a bit of a marvel in person, and even though she considers some of my reviews long-winded and too negative (if there is anyone else who feels this way, the line forms around the corner behind the shady-looking drugstore), it was a pleasure to meet and talk with her.

Andrew Casillas: How does it feel to be you right now? You are in an interesting middle space: not completely obscure, and you haven’t quite broken through, but you’ve received plenty of accolades from all the right media types.

Carla Morrison: I’m excited to be here, but I don’t really think about it too much. I mean, it feels different to be living from this, and it feels good to travel and do stuff I like and wake up late and be in some places that I never really expected to be. It’s weird and it’s fun pero I don’t put too much thought into “wow, look where I’m at right now!”

AC: You’ve worked with plenty of musicians who have already been in this game for a long time, and who have achieved a wide variety of success. Have you received any advice from them that have provided some sense of enlightenment as you’ve been going these past few years?

CM: The only thing I’ve been told is not to sign with a label, but I already had done that. It was nice to know, though, because it reassured what I was thinking about and it made me feel [more comfortable] with how I was approaching everything. I think what I’ve learned about this business is more about how time passes by and not to think “oh I should have/should not have done that.” I think it’s more important to just go with the flow.

AC: You’ve obviously fluent in two languages, and come from an area of the world where you can access English and Spanish language music pretty easily; how did you really make the choice that you were going to sing in Spanish, and would you be open to singing in a different language?

CM: I think that when I was younger I used to like more music in English than in Spanish, because when you grow up in Tecate or on the border, we get a lot of influence from the U.S. I liked the lyrics more—how easy it was to say “sad” or “I love you,” and you can play with words a bit better. I also like how my voice sounds in English, but when I started experiencing different emotions because of maturity and [the subsequent] evolution of your spirit and your soul, I realized that the English language couldn’t translate that. I also picked Spanish because I’m more comfortable with it because it’s my first language, [but there’s also] the romance language aspect of it; you can say so many things you’re feeling with so many different words that [will likely] break you to pieces. You have all of this variety with castellano, and it’s more precious and more of a challenge. To me it’s not like “I’m gonna sing in English so I can have a [bigger audience].” No, that doesn’t matter to me. I hate the line of thinking of “well I’m gonna sing in English and Spanish so I can have two [sets of audiences].” Are you doing it for yourself and the comfort of your soul or are you doing it for the money? If you’re getting into this business, you kind of have to know that you’re probably gonna be poor for life but I’d rather be [financially] poor than poor of my soul. For me it was a quick decision, maybe it’s not for somebody else.

AC: Perhaps my personal favorite songs of yours are your cover songs. What’s your process for picking a song to cover? Do you just pick songs you really love and feel you can do something different with, or do you pick the song and then find a way to make them distinctive to yourself?

CM: Well, [when I’m choosing songs to cover], I choose songs that give me “emotional earthquakes.” There are songs that you like and you’ll always sing to yourself or at a concert, but there are songs in your life that you listen to and say “Wow.” Like, the lyric could have nothing to do with me but there’s something about that song that makes me go crazy inside. So the songs that make me feel that sort of emotion that I can’t feel with all other songs, those are the ones that I cover. And I try to make them mine because I feel like that’s the way it should be. Every time you cover a song, you can’t do it the same because then it’s not you. Whenever I cover a song I don’t think about it too much and say “OK I’m gonna do this and that so it sounds different.” No, I just put my soul into it, and work with my heart rather than my head. When you make music you shouldn’t think too much about it because then you fall into a pretentious trap.

AC: Your sound has really evolved from just you and a guitar, made on the cheap, to having a band, accolades, well-produced records, etc. What’s the next step for you?

CM: I’m not a person who thinks too much about the future, but I do know that I want to do my next album myself at home. I want to go back to basics. I don’t really think about the “formula” that everybody follows. “OK, I had a great CD, now I have to outdo that CD,” no I don’t think that’s true. I think that’s bullshit. I’m thinking I have some songs for a new CD and it’s pretty much back to basics, but they’re not gonna be exactly like Aprendiendo a Aprender but at the same time it’s not gonna be like Mientras..., it’s gonna be in the middle. I want it to be in the middle because that’s the way I want it, and I do what I want.

♫♫♫ Carla Morrison - "Paloma Negra"

♫♫♫ Carla Morrison - "Compartir"

Interview: La Bien Querida

by Juan Manuel Torreblanca
Pics by Mariel

It might have been an odd sight for Ana. Though I don’t know if there’s something to expect typically when you’re about to meet an interviewer overseas. But, I suspect that a hotel lobby invasion, with a colourful Lido Pimienta bouncing from sofa to sofa under that dark cloud of hair and speaking in that incredibly loud & high-pitched colombian melody of hers. The petite & elegantly silent gorgeousness of Mariel (in her sorta latin pin-up style). And my own strange mix of post-gig outfit with not-enough-sleep and too-much-heat scruffiness… and my nervousness, that might’ve been an odd sight.

Still I tried to be as professional as possible. I got there right on time. Even a bit before everyone else. (I must confess I’m only bragging because I almost never achieve that). Soon after we arrived (Mariel was my photographer and Lido… well, lido was just Lido.) Ana Fernandez-Villarde got there too, walking alongside David Rodríguez & a couple more persons of her crew. But she lost them at the door to greet us alone. I didn’t know whether to wait for the record label people or just to start the interview. I asked her and she wasn’t sure either. Her big black sunglasses made it impossible for me to get to her eyes. It was still early, scorching hot, a morning that one should spend in bed, and it was also the morning after her performance opening for Julieta Venegas’ big concert at Mexico City’s Teatro Metropolitan (in front of around 3,500 enthusiasts)… I didn’t want it to be a drag. And I was very curious and eager to meet this mysterious and enchanting woman and hear about her experience. I hadn’t been able to attend the show (as it was also the night of the IMAS and my band was nominated) but I had heard about La Bien Querida suffering some serious technical difficulties. So I asked if it was ok for me to record and I, then, asked if she wasn’t too tired after everything she’d been doing.

I had read a bunch of interviews to prepare myself and I was afraid she might find my questions dumb and give me icy, one-word answers. But she was very warm, generous and open. She told me everything that had happened the night before right away; basically, the guitars that were available for them that night hadn’t been properly setup and their intonation was out. I’m not a guitarist, but I understand that that is a problem that you can’t solve immediately, so (in the rush of the moment) it made it very difficult for them to enjoy the show as much as they wanted to. She was a bit sad, a bit disappointed, and she even told us that she had needed to take a pill to help herself stay calm about it afterwards.

We spoke a bit about her other gigs in Mexico City during her visit, a previous one at El Imperial (celebrating Elephant Records’ arrival to México) and a following one at Centro Cultural España. I explained a bit about my collaboration with Club Fonograma and how much the blog loves her. She was gladly surprised about it.

My Garage Band was then ready and I proceeded to begin the formal interview:

Juan Manuel Torreblanca: I heard that the gig at El Imperial was good, I actually went there but couldn’t get in.

Ana: El Imperial was a very good show! It was packed. Yes, very good.

JM: So… I wanted to ask a couple of questions that interest me as a musician first, I’m sorry if they’re a little abstract or strange.

A: Let’s see…

JM: What’s music to you? How would you define music?

A: Well, um… I believe that music is… feelings that one has inside, and one has to get out. And… that’s it.

JM: And I would also be interested in knowing, what pleases you the most: composing, the process of recording or playing live?

A: Composing. More than anything. More than anything, the songwriting is what gives you the greatest satisfaction. To make songs.

JM: Could you talk to me about some of your influences?

A: Um… well, I have so many… Songs. Traditional. Popular songs. Many within the Indie-Pop scene. Some more mainstream too. A little bit of everything. Everything interests me.

JM: And we are talking basically about songs in Spanish, or could we talk about influences in English or other languages too?

A: Well, in English… there are groups that have had a big influence on me, like los Cure or los Magnetic Fields… And… I don’t know…

JM: Yes, I feel one could say there’s a sort of similar essence there, I am a huge fan of the Magnetic Fields, I love them…

(She nods courteously after my interruption.)

A: mhm…

JM: So, moving on towards more traditional questions: what’s the future like for La Bien Querida? What’s next? In which direction would you like your music to evolve?

A: Well, the idea for the next record… mmhm… I would like to make it a little more modern, so to speak. (She smiles sweetly.) And… and a little more guitarrero, more electric. Something like that…

JM: And… I’m sensing maybe a little more aggressive, too?

A: Yes, more aggressive.

JM: Good… is there someone that you would like to collaborate with, someone that you might not have worked with yet?

A: Well I’m not really thinking about that at the moment. Because… I don’t know… with friends of mine who… like Los Planetas, that I like very much, I have already worked with, with Joe Crepusculo, with Sr. Chinarro too. I don’t think about who I will like to work with in advance, instead I just let myself go, I let things happen, and… very nice things seem to come to me. I try not to aim too high, so that anything that comes is more pleasant.

JM: I like that! I also ask this, I guess, because I think that nowadays, with the new technologies, and this constant discovery of people and projects in a more personal and immediate way; you might suddenly find friends, artists or musicians that you might feel you want to work with… you know? even if they might not be something that you’d been listening to before…

A: Yes. Of course.

JM: Well, so, before your coming to México, how close did you feel Spain’s new Indie scene was to the Latin American scene? This new breed of Spanish sung Indie (coexisting with that sung in English too), all these things that have been emerging…

A: Eehm… Well, as I understand it… here… because, el Indie in Spain has been coming… it’s a little older, no? But Indie here, in Mexico at least, from almost 6 or 7 years ago until now, its reemerging and it’s really strong, I see lots of people with many interests and an urge to do new things and such…

JM: Yes and the arrival of strong Indie labels such as Elephant is helping too…

A: Yes, something’s being born here.

JM: And, which, would you say, are the main obstacles when it comes to music making from the independent world?

A: (She sighs)… well… of course, you need money, to make a record, you know? Because… if you’re lucky you might do it at home, and you might achieve something interesting with those means; but then, it’s not only making the record, you need someone to distribute it and to make it known, because… there are plenty of interesting artists doing interesting things but still… they don’t…

JM: They don’t have that platform?

A: Yes.

JM: Well… I’ll go back to the hippy questions now.

A: Let’s see… those are harder for me.

JM: It’s just that I don’t want them to be boring… but… ok… have you ever been to a therapist?

A: No. I did it once but… no…

JM: You didn’t like it?

A: No… but, it was basically because I think that… a therapist, for example, is… well, the psychiatrist, what he does is give you pills, right? But the psychologist is the one that’s going to want you to talk, who’ll want to talk to you. And he’s just human; he’s just a person like me, so… mmh…

JM: I guess I was asking this because in a world of songs, sometimes from the listener’s point of view, you relate to them and they allow catharsis to happen and… they can be a rather therapeutic experience too… so…

A: Sure! And… no… well, the songs, I make them in a very therapeutic way, and… um… I am the character in the songs, but, at the same time, that’s not me, because… I am not as bland as the songs. And in the songs I say things that, in real life, I would not dare say. So that’s me, but that’s also not me.

So, after that one, I ended the proper interview with La Bien Querida and we just talked some about Mexico, Ana told us that she likes it so much that she’d even like to live here, she told us about her family in Mexico (who she’d come to visit in Torreon before). And we talked about how Mexican audiences are a bit warmer compared to Spanish or European audiences. It’s a personality thing, she said, and something you hear often I might add. Ana told us that she really wants to come back with her full band before the year ends.

I always get really nervous when I have to interview someone, and I noticed upon hearing the recording again and again that I unconsciously tried to keep things going at a fast pace. Ana’s answers came slow and thoughtful, while sincere and generous. And often followed by shy and intelligent smiles. I tried to avoid uncomfortable silences, but now I regret that maybe I missed a couple gems when I pushed things forward like that. She is and isn’t the character in her songs, but the same thing happens to me with her music, if I give it the time, if I let the poetry sink in slowly, it captivates me much more. And as my final note I will say that Mariel, Lido Pimienta and me, we all agreed that Ana, in person, parallel to La Bien Querida’s character, is really bien querible.