Revista The 13th N° 54 (Interviews)

AÑO: 6 | NÚMERO 54

THE 13th UN A REV I S TA I M A GI N A RI A

ASHLEY DAYOUR REV REV REV - THE RAFT - BUCKLE/VOGT YOUR 33 BLACK ANGELS - ANDY GOLDING HAIKU GARDEN - THE SPIRAL ELECTRIC SCHEMATIC SCORPIO

INDEX INTERVIEWS SCHEMATIC SCORPIO

04

HAIKU GARDEN

10

BÃœCKLE / VOGT

16

ASHLEY DAYOUR

24

DRAGON WELDING

32

THE RAFT

38

REV REV REV

44

YOUR 33 BLACK ANGELS

50

THE SPIRAL ELECTRIC

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[ Interview With Joey Perez from Schematic Scorpio by Diego Centuriรณn. ]

I'LL EVER STOP WORKING WITH MACHINES

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For a few weeks I have been listening to this album that was released this 2019 by No Devotion Records, the label of Mario Alberto Cabada, who in the previous issue we interviewed him in the Fuel For Madness project, and in this case Mario was the nexus so we can contact Joey and be able to do this interview. Schematic Scorpio is a commanded project and its only member is Joey Perez from California and his new album "Cult of the Severed Head" takes us to underworlds where everything can happen.

To get to know this project well, we communicate with Joey and this is what he told us...

Hi Joey, thank you for agreeing to do this interview and to begin...

When and how was Schematic Scorpio born?

It all started in 2016. I was getting back into programming more rhythmic stuff. I thought that the stuff I was making was pretty solid, so I just thought up the name quickly & sent a few tracks to Mario. He was pretty thrilled with them & asked if I would be interested in doing a full release. From there, I got to work.

to Wax Trax bands! What can you tell us about "Sex and Death"?

It was kind of a challenge to make. I wanted to make something that was an angry & confrontational "Fuck You" to what Industrial became. I absolutely love the genre & just see it become this watered down polished thing really pissed me off. I also noticed that power noise & rhythmic noise were kind of changing too so I just wanted to do something felt alittle old & new as well as retain the rawness of Industrial.

And how is the name of the project born? I used alot audio from recording sessions It was something I thought up of quickly. My as Flesh Vomit for synths, snare drums & astrological sign is scorpio & I have 2 tattoos whatnot. on my right arm that I drew up that are faces There's alot of noise elements in that entire that were made to look like schematics. I put album that gives it that grime.

2 & 2 together & drew up the logo right then I implemented alot of stuff I learned from noi& there. I don't think the name fits with my se as well as previous projects I did in the earlier work, but since my approach to music past. making has changed. I feel like it suits what I have created recently & where I want this pro- This work is quite different from your seject to go sonically. cond work "Cult of the Severed Head", which is much more atmospheric and Your previous work, which you mentio- more electronic, but more minimalist. ned, is the first album "Sex and Death"?

What changed in your way of composing?

Yes. I lost interest in using computers to make music & I was getting more into actual hardware If there is something that caught my at- like drum machines & synths being fed throutention on this album, it is the industrial gh fx pedals, such as distortion, delay & reload that there is. At times I felt listening verb. Alot of it was heavily inspired by the wor-

ks of Bryn Jones of Muslimgauze & Stephen Nester of Slap respectively & even T.G. I became really fascinated with older obscure dark electronic music & I wanted to create something that paid tribute to the past with a foot in the present while simultaneously being a sort of future shock piece. Cyberpunk was another influence in "Cult". I love stuff like Bladerunner, Ghost in the Shell & the whole idea of lowtech aesthetics.

mid-April. Have you noticed any change with this new album in the audience?

I noticed that the reception of the newer material has been pretty positive. I think it's due mostly to the fact that the music is being performed rather than being simply programmed.

Working in real time on your music is your present. Do you close the door to the programming as in the first album?

I don't think I'll ever stop working with machi"Cult of the Severed Head" has come out nes. They feel too natural to simply quit. At in January of this 2019 under the label No some point I see myself incorporating handDevotion Records. And we are already in made instruments alongside machines.

Going back to your last work ... Will you go to play it live?

Playing live in general was something I wasn't interested in. I just wanted to do strictly studio work but there's been some pressure to play live. If I were to play live, it would be through a laptop & that kind of defeats the purpose of what i've been trying to do as of recent. If I cave & do live performances with a laptop, then I would perform some tracks off of Sex & Death.

king on new songs?

I'm currently working on some material for an EP that will be titled "Bloodsport" that should be out sometime this year. Hopefully by late summer.

To end this interview and thank you for the time spent answering.

What plans do you have for this 2019 for the project?

No Devotion will be releasing Cult of the Severed Head on vinyl which is pretty exciSo, can we say that Schematic Scorpio is ting. I'm hoping to finish the Bloodsport EP an experimental band between four walls? in a timely manner. I will also continue to exMore like an experimental project that resides periment with sounds & begin work on a new in a cave in the middle of nowhere. full length.

This year will be a busy one & that's the way Now that the album is edited. Are you wor- I like it to be.

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9

[ Interview with Luka Flegar and Klemen Tehovnik from Haiku Garden by Benjamín York. ]

HAIKU GARDEN: IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT, GIVE OUR ALBUM A LISTEN!

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From Slovenia we get this band called Haiku Garden, which brings us their debut album and we take the opportunity to chat with them about their short but intense career. The quartet formed by Luka Flegar, Klemen Tehovnik, Anže Knez and Matevž Bitenc in October of last year have released their debut "Where if Not Now", which we have loved. The lyricists of the band are responsible for answering the questions that I dared to ask them and this is that talk...

Hi guys, Thanks for agreeing to do this interview and to tell us about it, how was the name of the band born and when was the band born?

Luka: Three out of four of the band’s current members already played in a previous project together, but we were actually playing covers.

Haiku Garden was then born in late 2014. The name came along a bit later, when we had our first gig in March 2015. It was one of those classic situations where we desperately needed a name because we were on the bill.

After a lot of brainstorming I came up with the band name because it resonated with me and our whole mentality and the sound of our music. Thankfully, I think it still very much encapsulates the band nicely.

these things. And when we weren’t having gigs we were trying to write new material. Some of it of course ended up on the new album. And we took some small breaks in between all of this work as well… Rest is important, too (:

Now they bring us their first album "Where if Not Now". What feelings do you have when listening to the finished product?

Luka: I haven’t listened to it in a while now. But when I do I always have a different perspective on this album. When we first got the masters and I sat down and listened to the whole thing I didn’t even like it that much. But that was probably because we spent almost a year on recording it and I was too preoccupied with thinking how we could have made some In 2016 they release their first EP "Waver". things different while listening. When I gave What do you feel when you hear it today, it another chance a few weeks later I had a would you have made the recordings of completely different attitude towards it. When I listen to it now, I remember all the little things those songs in another way?

Klemen: Our perspective on sound has that happened while it was being recorded certainly changed over the years and if we and I get a little nostalgic. We can’t wait to would record Waver now it would probably start recording the next one! sound different. Then again, I think a What differences do you find between recording; an album or EP is a snapshot of the past and I’m personally perfectly happy the first EP and this new album?

Klemen: We took a lot more time writing, with how it turned out. arranging, polishing and recording the newer I know you have been very busy between songs and it shows. There is also a big the release of the EP and the new album. mood shift compared to the EP at least for Tell us what you have done in these years. me. The new album is a lot more optimistic Luka: We were mostly just playing live and and colourful and tends not to stick to one going on tours and trying to get better at all of style, but incorporates our influences into one

“playlist”.

We have just started to work with a booking agent and a PR agency and that makes some Sometimes it happens that this music is aspects of our work much much easier. It’s often pigeonholed in certain styles such still pretty odd to us that the more western part as shoegaze and dream pop. How would of Europe doesn’t really take you seriously you define your music? without a manager, booking agent, pr agency Klemen: We have no problem with that. We etc… Coming more from the DIY mentality, draw from many genres of music and those it was quite a shock to us. But overall; thank adjectives are probably the closest or at least god for the internet. the ones that capture the feel our music the best. It also makes it easier for new listeners Returning to Slovenia, your country of to find us. origin, bypassing Laibach, what Slovenian bands do you recommend?

Today, social networks and independent Luka: There are a few bands we could labels have changed the way they recommend, some contemporary ones would showcase artists' music, and you, being be: Futurski, Carnaval, YGT, Nikki Louder, from a small country in Europe, think it's persons from porlock and The Canyon a great tool to access a larger audience. Observer.

How do you deal with this issue of reach to new listeners?

What plans do you have for this year?

Klemen: We are all really just learning the Klemen: We are currently in the process importance of social media for young bands. of rearranging our songs for a Slovenian

radio show called Izštekani. It’s kinda like the old Unplugged show from MTV, but focuses more on finding creative ways to present songs in a different manner. It’s been a fun experience for now and we are all interested in how it will turn out. There are some plans to tour and of course play as many shows as we can. Maybe we will start some collaborative projects as well.

Luka: We have a lot of shows planned for the

Summer and are planning a tour for Autumn.

But in the available free time, we will try to write some new material. It’s definitely been too long since we’ve last written anything!

To finish ... is there something you want to add to conclude this interview?

Luka: If you feel like it, give our album a listen! If you don’t like it, that’s ok… If you do, come to one of our shows!

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[ Interview with Philipp Bückle and Karen Vogt from Bückle / Vogt by Diego Centurión.

Photographs: Kylie Hamill ]

BÜCKLE / VOGT: WE WOULD LOVE TO FOLLOW THIS EP UP WITH AN ALBUM.

The musical universe has expanded so much in recent years thanks to technological advances. The offers of new projects have multiplied so much, that the musicians have the possibility of creating new sound structures collaborating with other musicians. We attend weekly to dozens of launches that cost to select which to give more attention. But without a doubt this new project is one of those that one listens to and cannot stop doing it for several days.

"Before We Rise" floats on smooth waves of electronic calm with elegant trip hop breezes, Karen Vogt (Heligoland) and Phillipp Bückle (Teamforest) take us hypnotically surfing towards a luminous ocean.

Hi guys, to start this interview I would like to know in what concert have you met?

Karen: I think we first met at a show in Paris that was part of a small festival organised by a mutual friend. It was in February 2008 at an old venue called La Java. We met many times after this. Often in Paris (where I am based) because Philipp would visit friends here and play shows. We also met a few times in Dortmund as I passed through with my band Heligoland or was nearby.

We had a good connection and so we always kept in touch.

How was the process of writing and recording the songs of "Before We Rise"?

Karen: Writing this EP has been really enjoyable and a wonderful learning process for me. We started our collaboration as a fun exercise to just play with some ideas in a relaxed way. It was exciting for me to receive Philipp’s files as we exchanged music and vocals throughout the writing process.

This relaxed approach allowed me to approach my vocals with a new energy.

I recorded vocals for the first 3 tracks at a studio in the East of Paris. Vocals for the last 2 tracks (I can convince myself and New to me) were recorded at my apartment. This is because by that time I had more confidence in recording my vocals at home. I had already started to learn how to use audio software, but working with Philipp in this long distance way gave me more confidence to do it. It was necessary to demonstrate an idea or propose changes. It ended up becoming a very good catalyst that got me recording my own music.

Phillipp: Didn’t we already meet when I was playing at Divan Du Monde?

This was the festival and the first time I played in Paris. We definitely met after the La Java concert but that was later and a regular two band show we were playing with a French band whose name I can’t remember now. Anyway, we met in Paris and many times after.

I was always generously invited to stay in one of Heligoland’s apartments when they were out on tour or catsitting at other places. So I started to come to Phillipp: I remember that we were Paris on a pretty regular basis and we talking about doing things together. At became good friends. some point Karen asked me in a very hiphop-way to “do some beats”. Which

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I did. I was using actual breakbeats I treated and combined with some guitar drones I had lying around. First it was all sampling music I did myself for other projects and recontextualising it. It felt easy and funny to me but Karen went all the way with it. When I got her files back I realized that I had never worked with a voice as amazing as hers before and I felt pretty lucky. But we never worked on it on a regular basis. So this became an on/off project for some years before we really decided to finish an EP.

projects?

Karen: It didn’t feel like we were consciously try to be different. It felt like a natural meeting of our sounds and we both just followed our instincts. I wanted Philipp to have total freedom with the music. This allowed me to shape my vocals around it. I remember when he first sent me the sampled loop for layers and I was so thrilled because I never had the chance to sing to anything like this before. It felt new, fresh, vibrant and just full of possibilities. I had started to get into more electronic music around Thinking about sounds, how much that time and wanted to explore different have you worked so that this project ways of singing. does not sound like your other

Philipp: I didn’t give much thought about anything beforehand. When I was sending Karen the first loops I was still working with song structures. But over the years I completely dropped them on my own releases for more textual or atmospheric approaches.

But working with Karen was always

about song structures. So for me this EP was actually about keeping in touch with my older self. I also realized that I found it amazing to give Karen’s voice a lot of room to breathe so when it was decided to finish more songs for an EP I tried to be very minimal, not giving Karen too much musical information.

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I would like you to tell us something about each tracks.

Orange Blue

Karen: My vocals feel very exposed in this song. But I think lets the lyrics be heard and be more emotionally intense. I do some speech singing in parts of this song which so really enjoyed. I also continued that theme in some other songs.

Philipp: I love the wobbly bass frequency mistake that is in it. Karen couldn’t believe that I wanted to keep it. I think this is the only song of the EP that we recorded while being in a room together. Karen was staying in Dortmund with me when we started recording this one. Since we finished the vocals they were rerecorded later on.

Before You Rise

Karen: I wanted to do a big vocal thread with layers of my vocals that could be used like an instrument.

It was lots of work for Philipp when it came to mixing the vocals because there were so many. But he did a great job with them and I love the lushness of this track.

Philipp: This was our second track. I tried to recreate the working method I used on “Layers”: sampling some of my own music I had lying around. The percussion is actually a very small portion of the live percussion I played for a 20-minute ritualistic drone piece, the guitar is from a live scoring of a silent movie I did with a cellist and so on…

Layers

Karen: I adore the harmonica towards the end of this track. I love the samples and beats in this track.

The overall vibe just feels really loose and chilled to me.

Philipp: This was the first track I quickly put together when Karen demanded some beats. I used a breakbeat and some guitar drones I chopped. I could listen to the instrumental loop forever, it’s one of those perfect loops to me.

I Can Convince Myself

Karen: This is different to the other tracks on the records. It feels dark and aboding, but if you listen close there is much optimism in there. I love the burst of the strings towards the end.

Philipp: The music is mostly consisting of textural variations. I found it absolutely amazing that Karen could deliver such a strong counterpoint to such a minimal foundation.

New to Me

Karen: This felt like a flood of sunshine when Philipp sent me the music. I just had to multi-track vocals! The idea’s for vocal melodies came quickly. I love how it’s so sweet, but short and intense.

Philipp: When I send this to Karen I wasn’t sure if might be too cheesy. It felt like a funny thing to send over to her, I didn’t think she would start to work on it. But when Karen sent back her files my mouth was open and I think I cried a little. I think we didn’t change anything. This is actually I like a beam of sunshine. It’s definitely my favourite song on the record.

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Do you plan to present the songs live?

Karen: Yes, we do. I will be playing 1 or 2 of the songs in my live solo sets. We have spoken about shows in the future. It’s just a matter of finding a good time for us both to do this.

Philipp: We already spoke about me coming to France. I have some ideas in my mind. But so far we couldn’t find a date that fitted us both.

What plans do you have for the future of this duo?

Karen: We would love to follow this EP up with an album. This feels like the next obvious step to take. Especially when you feel like there is so much more to explore. So we’ll be talking about how to do this in the coming months.

Philipp: Yes, I am thing about structuring sounds for a whole album right now. I can’t wait to work with Karen again.

Personally what plans do you each have on your side?

Karen: My band Heligoland is nearing the completion of our next album with Robin Guthrie producing again. I have been performing some live solo shows and will have some solo releases coming out later in the year. I have some more music projects, collaborations and experiments cooking right now. I have a newsletter I send out bi-monthly with all my news.

You can sign up on my website at www.karenvogtmusic.com Philipp: After a very fruitful phase of releasing music in the last couple of years I think I will take a break from it. I am also doing films and I think I will write and produce some visual work during the next year. I realised that music-wise I am most happy just sitting on the couch with an acoustic guitar these days without recording or anyone listening to me. So I will see where this will take me.

I want to thank you for the opportunity you have given me to ask you these questions.

And to finish this interview, you can close with what you want to tell our readers.

Karen: I just want to tell music lovers to keep supporting the artists you love. Little words here and there, likes, shares and going to their shows means so much to them. Keep listening, reaching out and communicating.

Philipp: Exactly!

Thank you so much!

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Artwork & design by Caro Mikalef

ASHLEY DAYOUR: "I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING FROM HERE, BUT I PROMISE IT WON'T BE BORING."

[ Interview with Ashley Dayour from Whispers in the Shadow by Diego Centuriรณn. ]

We are before one of those people who has been maintaining the flame of gothic rock for several decades. Mixing sounds between the gothic and post punk, but loading it with personality and, although we can hear certain sound references, it has always maintained a particular and distinct sound to many bands of the time, especially when Whispers In The Shadow was formed, most of them the bands pretended to emulate The Sisters of Mercy within gothic rock. The excuse to talk to Ashley is the commemoration of the first 20 years of their second album "November" and we also took the opportunity to talk about the compilation published in 2009, which celebrates its first 10 years, "Borrowed Nightmares & Forgotten Dreams". But we do not want to leave his current affairs aside so we will also talk about his present with his projects "The Devil & The Universe" and "Near Earth Orbit". So we have a review of the history of gothic rock.

Hi Ashley! Thank you for allowing us to do this interview, it is an honor for us.

To begin with, what do you think when you read that "November" celebrates twenty years since its launch?

Well it’s funny how time flies. And time is such a weird concept, isn’t it? On the one hand it feels like yesterday, on the other it feels like a lifetime away. Well no, two lifetimes.

We were still very young; I was 21 when we recorded it. So, of course I’m not that person anymore. It would be very weird if I would be. It also wasn’t exactly an easy period for the band at the time. There was some tension going on about the direction of the band. But I also have very fond memories about it, we recorded it in Switzerland in the Mountains. And it was just our second time in a studio, so things were still very exciting and we had that firm believe we are among the best bands in the world. You need to have that when you are young, otherwise you will not make it. It’s good to look back with a big smile on my face.

In the introduction I poured my opinion about the sound of those years in gothic rock, everyone wanted to emulate the sound of Sisters of Mercy, but you did not, although the electronic drums were the only thing that related them.

Did you think about it or was it just moving through another sonority?

We just wrote the music we wanted. To be honest, and let’s name the elephant in the room here, we were very much influenced by The Cure back then, and that was completely against any fashion at the time. It wasn’t like it is now, when you can hear their influence in almost every new dark band that emerges. So from the beginning we were pretty much outsiders with our more wave orientated sound. We were just lucky that we got a record deal from the get go. All happened very quickly, and before I could blink, we were in a real studio recording a real album. With “November” I wanted to do something very, very dark. And with songs like “The Green Blue Dream”, “November” and “Sleep” we actually achieved that.

Almost nobody did that kind of dark

wave sound at the time. But people seem to like it exactly because of that.

And we just kept going and kept doing what we wanted to do. I mean we came a long way, but if you listen to our albums in sequence it all makes perfect sense, at least to me it does.

Many speak about the sound of "November" as a darkwave influencedbythealbumPornography of The Cure. While I do agree with those comments, what do you think of those comparisons?

In part I already answered that question. Sure, we were very much influenced by them and by such bands alike. It would be stupid to deny it - I didn’t back then and I don’t do it now.

But I think we added something else to the table, we were way more Goth, way darker.

But of course we changed our sound

and we grew out of it. As I said we were very young back then and you have to start somewhere. We were happy to grew up in a time when a band was still allowed to do that.

What do you remember of those first years of the band?

I remember three young boys in their early twenties, one of us actually in his teens, having damn good fun, but also having big egos and taking it a bit too far out when it comes to partying. But I wouldn’t change a thing. It all had its reasons. Sometimes I look back and wonder how we actually survived all this in one piece. Maybe we didn’t hahaha.

I wrote a song about these early days of the band for the last album. It’s called Scavengers of Time. In that song I pretty much summed it all up. I’m very proud of that track, it’s one of the most

personal things I’ve ever written.

We can say that "November" is a closing to the first stage of the band. Since along with the debut "Laudanum" (1997) maintains a darker atmosphere, with much more ghostly voice and a much darker sound. What do you think of the album "November" twenty years after its publication? And do you think it's the closing of a first stage in the band?

Indeed, our sound and we as people changed very much after November.

I had the feeling I said everything I had to say with these kinds of sounds and themes. I wanted the band to become way more rock oriented, so we got ourselves a real drummer and I turned up the distortion. To be honest I haven’t been listening to November for many years. But apart from some

minor exceptions I was very happy with it at the time. It was the album I wanted to make. And Songs like Train, which became something like our first “hit”, Song for the Radio and Never Go are still on our setlists from time to time. The only real disappointment was, it was released too late because of financial troubles of the label. We recorded it in spring 98, and it was supposed be out

by November 1998, which would have made sense. But it wasn’t supposed to be. When it finally came out, we had already written most of the songs from the next album A Taste Of Decay and were aiming in a very different direction.

That was a true disappointment at the time. Because there I was, talking about and touring an album I didn’t feel a connection to anymore. But I was happy it was released at all.

After several albums, they join

Echozone and release new material and edit "Borrowed Nightmares & Forgotten Dreams", an exquisite compilation. What can you tell us about that work that celebrates its ten years of publication?

That remix/ rarities album was almost some kind of accident. After we finished 2008’s album “Into the arms of chaos”, which was in every way a new beginning for us, I asked some friends/musicians if they would like to do remixes, to my surprise they all said yes and all of a sudden we had enough material for a whole release. Plus, there was actually a whole unreleased album in the vaults which we recorded in 2005/6. So, this was the right opportunity to include some of the songs from that unreleased work. And rightly so, songs like Karma Revolution or Optimistic Day were too good to be left in the closet. It also included the reinterpretation of Train

by Lazy Schulz. We were so impressed by his version that we asked him to join the band as a guitarist, and so he did and stayed ever since.

In a very large jump in time, Solar Lodge comes to your musical life and your inspiration seems to gain much more strength. What changed when you arrived at the Solar Lodge house?

It’s not that big of a jump though. We released two albums with Echozone: Into The Arms Of Chaos (2008) and The Eternal Arcane (2010). Just two years later we released The Rites Of Passage with Solar Lodge followed by Beyond the Cycles Of Time in 2014.

So, in the period from 2008 to 2014 we released an album every two years.

All these 4 albums are connected. It is a 4-album cycle with interconnected

themes and music. It is known now as the “occult album cycle”, which actually, in a nutshell, that’s what it was. Somehow it resonated more with the audience and people seem to be more into it, and we played way more and bigger shows. So indeed, we were more present in every way.

Near Earth Orbit with the extraordinary "Artificial Intelligence" and "The Devil & The Universe" and their upcoming album "Endgame 69" are your new big projects at this stage in Solar Lodge.

Tell us how these two projects are coming.

The new NEO album just came out, and we are playing our first show with the new material at the forthcoming Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, Germany in a few weeks.

Plus there are more shows coming and already announced.

The New The Devil and The Universe album will be out at the end of June.

Presales just started and we just released our first song / video from it.

I’m very happy how that album turned out. It’s a big step for us, or that’s how it feels to me. Plus, there are many shows coming up in autumn all over Europe.

Whispers In The Shadow, The Devil & The Universe and Near Earth Orbit. Tell us how you spend your time between your three projects.

You know, people think I must be a workaholic keeping up with three bands, but honestly, I’m not. When I’m working, I’m totally into it and I emerge myself full time. But when not I’m pretty lazy. I like to read a lot, watch movies, and go for a walk and just spend time with my most favorite person in the

world, my wife. That’s all I need. I don’t go out that often.

Recently, together with Martin “Acid” Gutmann (WITS Keyboard Player), I just produced the first band which isn’t a band I’m involved in. That was a very nice experience. I might do that on a regular basis though if the opportunity presents itself, I would totally love that.

They are from Vienna and called “Laut Fragen!” It’s an interesting mixture of styles. Definitely not that kind of music which you would except me to produce.

We know there will be a show in Berlin where they will play The Devil & The Universe and Near Earth Orbit.

How do you prepare to be on stage twice? Is it the first time you do it?

I think you mean the show in Oberhausen not Berlin ;) The Solar Lodge Convention II. I did that a couple of times before and this will happen a few times this year.

It’s manageable, it’s not that any of these bands plays 2h shows. It’s about an hour each. So that’s not that big a deal. But you can ask me that again afterwards ;) There is one weekend at Castle Party Festival in Poland in July, where I will play with all three bands, that’s going to be a challenge. But hey, that’s what

I always wanted to do, even all these years back when we were working on “November”. Playing as much music as possible. And I’m doing it now. So, I’m a very happy about that. So would be my 21-year-old self. He would be surprised about that bands I’m involved in though.

"The Urgency Of Now" is the last album of Whisper in the Shadow, what are the next plans for the band?

As a matter of fact, I just started writing stuff for the next album. Can’t say more about it at this stage. If everything goes as planned it will be released in the first half of 2020. There was a 4-year gap between the last two albums. That was way too long. But I needed the time to rethink and reinvent the band. Now things are way clearer.

I would have many more questions to ask you, but I think it would be for an upcoming interview. It's a pleasure to be able to do this interview. And finally, do you want to add something for our readers?

Thanks for your time everyone! May I quote the late great David Bowie?

“I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.”

[ Interview with Andrew Golding from Dragon Welding by Benjamín York. ]

ANDREW GOLDING AND HIS ANAGRAM: DRAGON WELDING

We all know that with the great abundance of music that is published daily on the Internet it becomes almost impossible to find out about all the publications, for a person who usually listens to many new bands. But occasionally it often happens that artists with a long career in music appear and that the explosion of the internet makes us know them with some delay.

Andrew Golding is an artist who has just released his, let's say, debut album, as he hides under the nickname Dragon Welding.

So we bring you an artist who presents his album "Dragon Welding".

Hello Andrew, thank you for agreeing to interview with me today.

Although I’m sure we would talk for ages about your extensive career with The Wolfhounds, but I’d prefer to focus on what you are currently working on.

So my first question is whether Dragon Welding is your first project as a soloist?

I’ve worked on many other things outside of The Wolfhounds over the years, but this was the first time I had a group of tracks that I had written, and finished recording, that seemed to sit together as an album.

Why do you use Dragon Welding and not your name? Where does the name come from?

‘Dragon Welding’ is an anagram of ‘Andrew Golding’. I was playing about with an online anagram generator and when I saw ‘Dragon Welding’ it made me smile. My wife is an artist and I asked her if she could paint me ‘welding a dragon’. Once she showed me the painting, it just seemed like that’s what I had to call it.

them?

Some of the ideas I had been working on for ‘United Kingdom’, but they were not used or finished in time, so I just carried on working on them. I work a lot using mobile devices (iPhone and iPad) so I am always working on new music.

You’ve produced quite an eclectic debut album. When I listen to it, I feel you’ve poured all the ideas that you have been accumulating for years into this. What do you say?

Not really. The album came together naturally over a relatively short period of time, but I also have a lot of other new tracks ready to release, a lot of new tracks I am currently working on, plus a lot of new songs with Wolfhounds as well. I just need time to get them sequenced and ready for presentation.

Releasing the first ‘Dragon Welding’ album has made me realize that people might actually be interested in my music. I have a lot of new music ready to go, and some of it very different to what I have released before.

At times, this album seems hypnotic, and you wrap us up in How long has it taken you to write more psychedelic sounds. Have these songs and also to record you managed to convey what you

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had in mind in the recording?

A lot of the songs were worked on using headphones whilst travelling on trains and buses. I tried to manipulate the sounds so that they sounded fresh to my ears. Nothing is new, but a lot of the sounds were new to me, so I was trying to achieve something interesting.

how that develops. I’m not a film maker by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoying playing around with images).

Can you tell us what is happening with The Wolfhounds? I’ve heard that you will soon begin recording a new album?

We have finished recording the bulk of it and just need to finish off some overdubs. Hopefully we can start mixing in the summer so it will be ready for later in 2019 or early 2020.

It’s sounding good so far.

The album has eleven songs. Did you leave some songs off the album?

There was one more song that I was going to include, but when I played it to the band, they wanted to record it as The Wolfhounds. I left off the version I had done by myself and we have What plans do you have for the rest recorded a new version for the next of 2019?

Finishing off the Wolfhounds álbum is Wolfhounds album. the first priority. I then have an álbum of The Builders is your first video. Do songs that I have recorded with James and Alice (my children) that is mostly you plan to make more?

I’ve made a few Wolfhounds videos arranged by James with Alice singing. before (Skullface, Slide, Divide and I really want to get that out next.

Fall, Middle Aged Freak) but this was the first time that I had conceived the idea for a song and video at the same Thanks Andrew for chatting with time. I’ve got an interesting new idea for me today! a video for a song that is presently half Thank you for being interested recorded, so it will be interesting to see Andy

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THE RAFT: PHIL WILL OPEN YOUR HEART [ Interview with Phil Wilson from The Raft by Diego Centuriรณn. ]

La historia de esta entrevista comenzó como una reseña, me contacté con Phil para preguntarle para obtener unos datos sobre la producción y en ese momento en que estábamos hablando decidí por realizarle una entrevista.

The Raft, el proyecto de Phil Wilson, vuelve a lanzar un álbum nuevo con los aportes de Claire O'Neill y JPedro, quienes han colaborado en varios trabajos anteriores de The Raft. Después del adelanto “Xanadu” y del bello remix de Nax de la canción “Glad I Don't Know”. Llega el álbum Abloom, que contiene diez hermosas canciones.

La historia reciente cuenta que The Raft se unió al sello Shore Dive Records y lanzó el compilatorio “The Jellyfish EPs” en agosto del año pasado… pero mejor hablemos del álbum con Phil…

Hi Phil!

Thank you for agreeing to conduct this interview.

To get started… A few weeks ago they released "Abloom". What answers have you obtained to this day?

The response has been largely positive I'm pleased to say. I genuinely wasn't sure what people would think of this one but there's been some nice things said about it so I'm really happy about that.

How long has it taken you to write these songs and record them?

I started recording the album back in January of 2018, months before The Jellyfish EPs came out on Shoredive, and I slowly chipped away at it for about a year. There's a few songs on there like Joab and Living Without Me which are really old and a few like Xanadu and This Time that were written at the time of recording, so it's a real mixture.

From his previous work, we can say that Abloom is the one with the most pop songs. We feel a lot of optimism in your sounds. Is it really like that?

I actually didn't think it was all that poppy while I was doing it but when I listen now I think 'Oh yeah, I've done another pop record'. That

seems to be something I can't avoid when I write songs, they just come out that way!

People often comment on the optimism within the music which is a weird one for me. I spend most of my time feeling utterly perplexed by most things in life but when I write songs I feel like I get a glimpse into some sort of fantasy world where things are simpler and more romantic. I get to live there for a bit and it's great so maybe that's what's coming across? Some of the lyrics on this album are pretty dark though so I don't know what's going on.

I have to confess that when I got the information of your single "Xanadu" advance, I immediately thought, maybe by association with the name, that it could be a version of Olivia Newton John's song, something totally far from the result, but then I read that the song was inspired by another woman ... "Linger" by The Cranberries. Tell us a little about this.

What I meant by that was that structurally the song was inspired by songs like Linger by The Cranberries. If you listen to that song, the guitarist is just playing the same four chords over and over again and it's the vocal and the other instrumentation that give it its structure and make it into a pop song. I'd never written

39

that way before so I thought I'd have a go and Xanadu is what happened. JPedro, who produced the album did a great job of making sense of it. Without him, that song would probably be on the cutting room floor.

In the single he has collaborated with a remix, a great friend of the house, Nicolรกs Castello de Nax. What do you know about Latin American music?

Honestly? I don't know much about Latin American music but I think it matters less and less these days where the music is coming from. There's good stuff all over the world and luckily for us we have access to it all the time.

Nicolas is a really lovely guy and a great musician. He remixed Glad I Don't Know from the Jellyfish EPs to act as B-side to the single version of Xanadu. He did an amazing job and really threw himself into it with lots of care and love. He's one of the nicest people I've connected with since I started with Shoredive.

"Abloom" is the name of the album. Is it a flowering in your career?

When work on the album was nearing completion it did feel like it was a more mature sound and that maybe we were about to bloom or something. I don't know? Maybe that's something for other people to decide?

Speaking of stories about the songs.

Do you think you could do a Track by Track album?

Light Light These lyrics were written after a deep and meaningful conversation I had with Claire about death. I thought I'd start the album off on that cheery note!

The Boy With No Soul This is an older song, probably written about five years ago. The Boy With No Soul is me and it's about how surreal things seemed at that point in my life. They still feel like that now if I'm honest, I've just learnt to embrace it a bit better. And I no longer feel like I don't have a soul.

Open Up Your Heart This is about a friend of mine going through a break up, reaching the stage where she knew she had to open herself up to love again and feeling terrified at the prospect. It's me willing her on.

The Morning Light These are probably the most personal lyrics on the album. They're about being true to yourself, even if it seems like the most difficult option.

Joab Another old one. It's about the moment you realize a relationship needs to end and knowing you can't hide from it anymore.

Xanadu I wrote the music to this one first, which is something I never do, then wrote the lyrics and melody afterwards.

When it came to the chorus-y bit, I just started singing the word Xanadu over and over again for no reason what-so-ever. It's about the search for paradise, which works quite well with the title. This was a co write with my friend, Claire O'Neill.

Living Without Me In contrast to the poppyness of Xanadu this one is much darker, which is why they're next to each other on the album. It was written at a particularly sad time in my life and I wanted the music to sound scary and chaotic to highlight how anxious I felt at the time. There's a guitar solo by Jeremy Llewellyn on this track which fits it perfectly and Claire repeating the word 'gone' over and over works really well too. I got that idea from a song by The Coral.

She Floats Another dark one. It's about feeling shit about your life then having your spirits lifted by seeing someone you fancy. I was told it sounds like it's about a witch, but it's not. She floats refers to beautiful, graceful movement.

Louie And Julie I occasionally write songs that are complete fiction, and this is one of those. Louie and Julie are made up characters who are in love with each other and are clumsily getting round to sorting their lives out together. I wasn't sure whether or not to include it on the album because it sounds like me ten years ago. I'm glad I did though, it came out really well.

This Time This is me having a bit of a spiritual moment. It's about those rare times when you feel still and completely aware..... It was a weird one for me this. It just kind of came out and I decided to let myself go with it.

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At what time in your life does Abloom arrive?

At a strange time to be honest. There seems to be a lot of change going on at the moment.

Some good and some bad. My personal life has been a bit frantic but in a weird way it feels like I'm growing, which kind of fits into the whole blossoming, spring time theme of the album. That whole thing seems to have taken on a life of its own so I'm just going with it at the moment.

What plans do you have for this 2019?

I'm planning to release an E.P. of some more experimental stuff later this year and I'm about half way through recording the next

album. By the sounds of it so far, it's going to be a simpler, more stripped back affair.

To finish and thanking you for the answers, what do you want to add that I did not ask?

The only thing I'd like to add is how amazing it was to work with JPedro as producer again.

He's a musical genius and a really nice, patient guy. He worked so hard on these songs and I'm eternally grateful to him...‌ Oh, and thanks to everyone who's bought the album, it really is very much appreciated. Cheers!

Thanks Phil and congratulations for such a wonderful album.

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[ Interview with Laura Iacuzzio and Sebastian Lugli from Rev Rev Rev by Diego Centuriรณn.

Photographs: Dario Vinazzani. ]

REV REV REV: KYKEON AWAITS LAUNCH

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We are very close to the release of a new album by one of the best Italian shoegaze bands. Although Italy gives us a lot of music, in our pages always the Italian shoegaze predominates or as it is also called Italogaze. It is a band, with such a strange name that they no longer look for a meaning, but leave it in the hands of the listener's imagination, although this is not a crucial point, we can interpret it as a repetition of Reverb Reverb Reverb, One of the effects what to use in abundance. But beyond the name we find a powerful band with layers of instruments that form an impenetrable wall where the misty melodies make the songs a delicious journey.

Hi guys, thanks for agreeing to do this interview.

To begin we will make a brief review of its beginnings ... When and how Rev Rev Rev was born?

Laura: Hi Diego, thank you for the opportunity!

Rev Rev Rev first came together in 2012; Sebastian and I had already played together in a darkwave / psych band, but in that period we wanted to form a band more in the vein of shoegaze so we started Rev Rev Rev. I played the bass at the time and we had a different singer and drummer. In 2013 I started singing and we took on board a new bassist and drummer. Finally, our bassist Andrea and drummer Greta joined the band in 2014.

In the introduction I spoke about the name of the band and I have read that before this question they do not have an established answer about the meaning, but if I am interested (by mere curiosity), how was the name born?

Laura: I think Sebastian proposed the name, referring to the reverse (gated) reverb, which is a particular kind of reverb which he was using a lot in our songs. We liked it to be repeated three times, so we assigned the third “Rev” to the French word for dream,

rêve, even if we decided to drop the final E and the accent to keep it simple. We feel that our music has a strong dreamlike atmosphere so it seemed appropriate. Moreover, the verb “to rev” means to step on the gas, and we thought it would fit as, along with the dreamlike atmosphere, sometimes our music is very loud and noisy.

Sebastian: There was a meme about this, it's funny because time after time we came to realise so many possible references that we hadn't thought of initially. Artists and/ or albums we're totally into, like Martin Rev, Reverence (JaMC), Rev (album from Ultra Vivid Scene); and also a reference to revolution – as a political wish and also as the planets revolution, hence alluding to cosmic rock; recurrence - the word “rev” is sort of looped, therefore the band Loop can be mentioned as well, 3 words of 3 letters each therefore some theosophic meaning I can't mention because it's esoteric (and probably I don't know it either) and/or Spacemen 3, each letter recalls the 3rd letter of a great album title (Perfect Prescription, The Velvet Underground and Nico, Loveless). If you're still listening to me, chances are you're a weird guy indeed...

I know that they have worked with musicians from Italian shoegaze bands and I have read that they often ask about the Italian shoegaze or nugaze scene and the answer is always that there is no shoegaze scene in Italy, but there is the term Italogaze. What do you think is missing for the scene to flourish?

Laura: In Italy there are a number of really great shoegaze bands actually- Stella Diana, In Her Eye, Clustersun, The Gluts, Be Forest, La casa al mare, Red Mishima just to name a few. The problem is that there isn't much interest for shoegaze music, most people only listen to Italian pop music which has little to do with what we do and most of them haven't even heard of our biggest idols, let alone pay attention to small indie bands doing a lot of noise. Plus we are all scattered over the country so it's hard to build a community and support each other. But in recent years things are changing, more and more music connoisseurs are aware of “Italogaze� and interest is slowly growing in the audience,

also thanks to events like In a State of Flux, the first Italian shoegaze festival, the fourth edition of which will take place on 24th May in Milan.

Sebastian: I fully endorse what Laura said, awesome bands indeed. Re: your question on what's missing: well, somebody told that you have a scene when people go to shows without knowing who's on the bill; and that's something I've often seen in other countries, but rarely in Italy. It happens somewhere, but that's not the norm. Honestly I don't fully understand why, probably many factors are involved and it's not so easy to explain.

Their self-titled debut album and their second album "Des fleurs magiques bourdonnaient" are quite different sonorously. How much do you feel that they grew musically between one album and another?

Sebastian: Rev Rev Rev is our debut, and as it happens we're not totally happy with how

it turned out. Lack of studio experience etc., it's quite a common story isn't it? Still it features some songs that we often include in our live sets. DFMB on the other hand is an album that fully represents us - as we were at that particular stage at least. Alessio and Fabio of Wax Studio fully got what we were looking for. Now some advertising: it's hypnotic, fuzzy, dreamy, punk, psychedelic. It features Indian tanpura drones and isochronic beats, alongside the guitar reverie. 12 hallucinations declined in 12 short genuine noise tableaus.

You know you want it...

And actually they're not new to shoegaze, they released several records influenced by shoegaze like A Place To Bury Strangers, The Telescopes, The Gluts, The Myrrors etc...

Fuzz Club publishes the single advance of its new album, What differences find working next to Fuzz Club? Beyond the unconditional contribution of Kool Things Promotion.

Laura: Fuzz Club support has been great so far. They have a lot of fans that trust the label's taste and will check out the music even if they haven't heard of us so far, and that's This year they sign with Fuzz Club pretty awesome, as it is the core of why it's Records. What does it mean to you as a worth to be on a certain label. band the support of such an important We agreed to release the single right before label within the psychedelic scene and our SXSW participation, to help promoting it. now opening its borders to the shoegaze?

We're utterly over the moon to join the Fuzz From what I've heard on the single Club family. Since we started the band, we've "Clutching The Blade", they've become been looking at the bands of Fuzz Club as more furious and louder, more noise. an inspiration, and now it's awesome to be "Kykeon" the new album comes in that label mates with many of our favourite bands. line of more aggressive songs?

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Sebastian: You're right, Kykeon is quite different from our previous work, though I wouldn't say aggressive – Clutching The Blade is quite an outlier w/r/t this -, maybe more obscure. I once told that it's a ritual descent to the underworld, but also a flight through the cold spaces amid the stars. Guitars are no longer center stage. As opposed to the first two albums, this time I've started doing programmed drums and bass lines, and only later added the guitars – and also some vintage synths, for the first time.

Anyway, we love how the album turned out and that's especially thanks to the great work of Sergio Pomante (Ulan Bator, Lay Llamas, Sudoku Killer) who played and recorded the drums, and of James Aparicio who recorded, mixed and produced the whole album - and not satisfied with this, he topped it playing some genius percussions!.

In what state is the new disc? Is there something ready or missing? On what

date do you plan to edit it?

Laura: It's almost done, we should have masters ready shortly. Then we just need to take care of the graphic parts – the artwork will feature a real piece of art - and wait for test pressings. We haven't set a release date yet, late summer probably.

To finish and appreciating the possibility of allowing me to interview them.

What plans do you have for this 2019?

Laura: We have a couple of shows in Italy in May, two nice festivals that we didn't want to miss even if we're not touring now.

Besides this we're just going to get ready for the release, arranging new songs for the live show, shooting a video, and so on. Then we're touring Europe in October, and we have one more festival in November- not announced yet, more news soon.

Thanks guys!

Thank you Diego, it's been a pleasure!

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[ Interview with Your 33 Black Angels by Benjamín York.

Photographs: Winnie Cheung and Helena Wolfenson. ]

YOUR 33 BLACK ANGELS: THIS IS A RIDE THROUGH OUR MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE.

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Your 33 Black Angels were formed in 2003 in New York, named after a phrase from a song dating back to the band’s beginnings. Today we anticipate the imminent release of their new album "Eternities I".

Let’s get to know this band, whose sound changes like the skin of a chameleon. We spoke to Josh Westfal and Dan Rosato.

Thank you for chatting with us today.

To begin with, the first question has to do with your beginnings and the present.

Which band members have been with the band since your first formed Your 33 Black Angels?

We don’t know because we don’t know when the band started. We think it coagulated in 2003 with some songs from JW & Tim Mumford. But then there were the other 2030 people involved since then, some of whom were massive noise-and-mischief makers.

Let's talk a little about the "Grasshoppers" singles. From what I can tell on your Bandcamp, they have been edited throughout your career. And they are songs that are not found in any album.

What can you tell us about these singles?

They form a stand-alone series of songs. We like them all, but found them to be unrelated to the LPs. Your first album is "Lonely Street" (2007).

What do you remember of those first years of the band?

Well, the main thing about that record is the fact that it was the quickest recordings ever, I think it took four to six days to record. Hence the non-tweaky, warm continuity of sound.

I prefer the tweaky, disjointed sound for us.

Well, maybe both for different purposes.

“Lonely Street" is more of a Sunday morning makeout record isn’t it? Do people make out on Sunday mornings? Has making out been

banned yet by the new robo-McCarthyites?

Have people been phased out? Keep us posted…

Then you released several works: "Tales of my Pop-Rock Love Life" (2008), "Songs from the Near Bleak Future" (2010), "Moon and Morning Star" (2012) and "Glamour" (2015). What can you tell us about these albums?

There is little that links them. Although aside from DR & JW, most share a cast of guitar & drum freaks. I like the covers…my favorite cover is “Glamour”.

This year you mark your first decade since releasing your third album 'Pagan Princess' (2009) What do you feel like when realizing that a full ten years have passed?

Free. 2019 is much better. A one is better than a zero. Therefore, when a decimal adds a one, the result is improvement.

Four years flew by since you released Glamour", perhaps your longest gap between albums. What did you get up to with the band in this time?

More recordings than ever. A European tour, touring with friends… But a lot of shopping trips to ye ol' instrument store. We have lots of toys. But it made for long days in the studio.

Each album is, musically, a new experiment, which makes it difficult for

you to easily process it all upon first listen.

For those who decide to listen to Your 33 Black Angels for the first time, where should they start?

Start with “Eternities I” and move backwards.

We understand that you have been coming to South America to tour several times already. Can you tell us about your experiences and will you be coming back soon?

We did Brasil last January, which was great.

There is a lot of great new music coming out of there. There are some great clubs like 98 Graus in Curitiba, Digi Club in Mogi das Cruzes. The NCSSR youth center in Juiz de Fora is great. Viva Minas!

We want to come back, but maybe for a festival in Argentina. Make us an offer, che!

The new work is coming – "Eternities I". From what I heard of your band, your sound is mutating with each album. What will listeners find on this album?

This is a ride through our memories of the future. We brought back weird alien rhythms and opera singers from hell. There are a few nods to sounds we dig, but mostly this is the up-to-date sound of RIGHT NOW! It’s What are you planning for the remainder very upbeat but also has some surprisingly of 2019 and into 2020? heady moments. No spoilers, just clear your Playing limited engagements in the EEUU schedule, it’s an hour long and be prepared and Canada to start and some more ambitious to shake your tail and then cry. touring at the end of the year. Yeah, maybe South America, why the hell not?

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[ Interview with Clay Andrews and Matías Drago from The Spiral Electric by Diego Centurión. ]

THE SPIRAL ELECTRIC: DREAMS DON’T INTERSECT WITH REALITY WITHOUT WORK.

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The Spiral Electric has been appearing in our pages for a long time, this band from San Francisco, California, originally formed by the guitarists Clay Andrews and Nicolas Percey. After several recordings and changes in its formation, the quartet has released its third self-titled album a few weeks ago. In addition to the duo of guitars are added the Argentine Matías Drago on drums and bassist Michael Summers, although now he was replaced by Cedar Wingate. We are pleased to talk with this band that we had pending for a few numbers ago. I have been talking with Matías before this interview who told us that he is a native of Lomas de Zamora and that now established in San Francisco he misses the landscapes of Buenos Aires.

Hi guys, thanks for agreeing to do this interview.

To start with the questions, let's start with your new job.

In times where everything has become ephemeral and you go from one job to another within months, you risk everything and create a double album. What is the conceptual bet to release a double disc in these times?

Clay: A double album is pretty out-of-place in today’s market or whatever, but so what?

I think it’s only fitting to follow a couple of 5-6 song releases with a double album. I’m already itching to get back into the studio to record the next one!

Matías: The songs were all part of a collection, and we decided that despite being a bit daring and costly, it was more important to not compromise ourselves for the sake of some safer formula, We believed in being able to achieve it, and we knew that the effort would be worthwhile.

So we made the album that we wanted to record, our purest truth.

previous works?

Matías: As I see it, the older recordings are brighter, with a more crystalline sound. The new album, despite sounding a little more "live", is actually more elaborate. It also has a more weather-worn sound, with rounded edges and a bit of rust appearing under the paint. Partly due to Nicolas maturing as a guitarrist, and also to the techniques of Steve Kille (producer).

Clay: This album was definitely heavier, no doubt about it. And we spent a lot more time layering and overdubbing and adding little sounds all over the place, which is really closer to how I usually work in the studio. Yet, there are also tracks that very raw… I’m not into consistency, haha.

What has changed in the way of writing music since that single "Envy" of 2012 until today, aside from the personnel changes?

Clay: Well, “Envy” was really a musical promise of good things to come. And yet, from my perspective, “Drown My Sorrows” on the new album is exactly the same kind of song, written in the same way—it’s mostly a riff, with "The Spiral Electric" is your third album, a single line of lyric in the chorus, and the rest what differences do you find with your is instrumental. It’s in a much heavier style,

of course, but I see those two songs as being variations on the same idea. Sometimes I have a lot to say, as a lyricist, or a lot to sing, as a vocalist—other times, less is more.

Maybe the songs have grown more complex, but I think really what may have changed is really more just what songs of ours we’re focusing on. It’s not that we’ve changed how we write or record, as it is that we’ve more than doubled the amount of finished/released music. It’s probably more apparent now that we move around a lot, musically.

more complex, but they have also acquired greater strength. What has changed in the recording process?

Matías: Michael. A formidable beast on the bass, gave me the luxury of being able to entirely throw myself in, eyes closed, not doubting whether he could support my whole weight. For example, "Swamp Type Thing".

But all the same he could emanate soft and melodic passages, as in "Marbles".

Clay: It’s not as though we were rushed on our previous albums, but for those I showed Matías: That variety is very wide. There are up with pages of stuff where I’d written and days that we freely improvise, and no matter diagrammed what instruments went where— which style, it always sounds like Spiral. We for this album, I sometimes showed up with have many interests, and there is still a lot of a bag full of experiments-- wind chimes, toy musical ground to cover. With these brothers drums, little bells, etc and we did overdubs I will never get bored. of me dragging random objects up and down the strings of a guitar or randomly vocalizing, In this album the songs have become etc. Steve Kille was very patient and open

57 to letting me work stuff out. I know halfway through take one if something is going to work or not, though, so it’s not like we spent hours recording a bouzouki part and then trashed it—or did we?? I don’t remember.

This kind of thing showed up on our previous albums, most notably in “Take the Drop” and “Live For Love”, which have layers of overdubs tucked into them. This time we did that on a bunch of songs, instead of just one or two.

England, France. Haha. It’s really incredible.

Matías has told me how important it is to him to play Latin America and especially Argentina. Is it a dream shared with all the members?

Matías: No doubt.

Clay: Absolutely! I have never been anywhere in Latin America and so it’s a big wide-open adventure to me. I wasn’t expecting Today, the internet is the most used the response we’ve gotten in places like mode of promotion for a band. How do you Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, all of which do this advertising work for the band? are in the top ten places where people are Clay: It ain’t easy! I spend a gigantic amount listening on Spotify. I want to tour all of those of my time emailing, posting, tagging, and countries, and more! otherwise promoting and managing the band.

I’ve been on-call 24/7 for years now. It’s worth What can you tell us about the songs of it if you really care about your music reaching this new album? people. Every day I get up and bang the drum Clay: These are definitely heavier songs all day, every day. Dreams don’t intersect with than on our previous albums, although those reality without work. had cuts like “So Far Gone”, “Ghost in the Machine”, and “Loose Ends”—it’s just that Matías: Huge stamina. Clay’s sacrifices are this time, instead of the majority of the songs incredible. I support our efforts on the internet, being more psychedelic and jangly with a and also in person all over the bay area. It is couple of heavier stoner tracks thrown in, it’s impossible to be everywhere at once, but we the opposite-- heavier rock with a couple of try to be present in the local scene, supporting lighter moments here and there. It just felt right other bands, music clubs, etc. I prefer to have this time, with this lineup, and with Steve Kille a drink in places with live music than in a at the helm, to go in that direction. I love the sports bar. previous albums, but I wanted to take things a lot further this time.

Matías you are Argentine what happens when you see that someone from your Matías: Clearly. And actually, all three of country connects with you? them threw themselves onto me. With full Matías: At first it is a bit astonishing, and weight, and with longer songs. then simply joyous. I came here at age 11, and I miss so much --I have family and childhood Are there songs that were left out of the friends. And it is a small miracle to learn album that will be used for other editions that someone new in the other hemisphere of the release? discovered your music, thanks to today's Clay: Yes, there’s a much longer version of technology. Not only in Argentina, now I have the interludes titled “Episode I-III”, it lasts over new Paruvian, Chilean and Mexican friends, 5 minutes. for example. And not always in their countries of origin, sometimes they live in Australia, What plans do you have for 2019?

Matías: Throw ourselves into the void with closed eyes, expecting to fly.

Clay: A lot of touring, we’ll be going east to Chicago at some point this summer. We’ll be trying to raise the funds for, or find a label to press, the double-vinyl version of this album. We may head back into the studio to record another single. Everything’s up in the air right now, especially with the sudden attention we’re getting as a result of this release.

Is there anything you have not asked that you want to say to the readers?

Matías: We are amazed and grateful for the attention. We hope to continue this odyssey and grow as musicians. Perhaps travel south and play some music.

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