Desolate Noise : An Interview with La Terminal

Peruvian post punk/noise rock outfit La Terminal offer up 10 high energy tracks of blistering rock n roll on their debut self titled album. The band made up of Raúl Guzman (bass guitar), Diego Pinto (drums), Mauricio Valdivia (lead guitar) and José María Málaga (lead singer and rhythm guitar) create a sound that draws from the spirits of early Jesus And Mary Chain, Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth but with a haunting twist that adds touches of early death rock and industrial. I got together with Jose to talk about the formation of the band, the writing and recording process of their debut album and the underground music scene in Peru.

CMM-How did La Terminal form and what were the main influences that went into developing you all's sound?

Jose-The band started as a power trio with Luis Cueto, Raul Guzman and me (Jose Maria Málaga) in the last months of 2007. In the beginning the band had a strong influence of peruvian post punk mixed with grunge and indie guitars. After that the band moved in a new direction that focused more on alienation. Guido Nuñez became our new drummer (Luis cueto left the band), and he gave to us a strong rhythm and attitude on the stage, that with Mauricio Valdivia’s guitars, gave us a more novel sound that we brought to the recording of this album. You can also clearly recognize that we have been influenced by grunge, punk, shoegaze and noise rock. And now with the addition of yet another new drummer Diego Pinto, the influences are open again and the possibilities are exciting for us.

CMM-What was the writing and recording process for the debut album like? What are the songs about? Any particular gear that you all used?

Jose-The songs were written over a 10 year period. The first and the last song of the album were written when I lived in Mexico City and I had a long list of questions about my life. In fact all the songs talk about that dark background that plays between questions and answers within my relation with life, time, aging, losing people, death, failure, idealization of exits, anxiety. All of these are things that we share between members and when one of us talks about this, we are all talking at the same time.We use distortions, fuzz and different types of reverbs (big muff, Satorisonic Fuzz, RAT, Marshall Reflector, Whammy, Digiverb of Digitech) and a delay mix with reverb in the voice (sometimes)

CMM-What music made the biggest impact on you as a child?

Jose-The alternative explosion in the beginning of 90's and the dichotomy "Guns n' Roses / Nirvana"

CMM-If the band were able to do a soundtrack for a film director of your choice who would it be and what would the film be about?

Jose-We think Gregg Araki or Gus Van Sant. And perhaps it would be a murky surreal voyage, like "Valerie and her Week of Wonders" but with "boys" of 33 years old. He he.

CMM-What is the underground scene like in Peru? Any other bands that you all recommend.

Jose-In Peru we have rock bands since the 50's, but we start to have more underground bands in the early 80's with the "Rock Subterraneo" explosion in Lima. Although during the years there were activities in other province cities, it was always centralized in the capital, production and media. This has led to the formation of "alternative circuits" linking provincial cities, joining bands not only from Peru, but also linking some of the Peruvian south with northern of Chile. Here you can find today many different manifestations that break the barriers of rock and enriching our underground with harsh noise, electronica, fusion, psychedelia and shoegaze, etc. I would like to recommend paying attention to bands and projects such as Stonearth, Warida Libre, _Bas, Asteroide, Ruidosfera, Quilluya, LLasaq, Los Death Monkeys, Vertigo, Zio Vila, Orquidea, La Muka, Hombre del Espacio, Los Morts, Registros Akasicos, 3AM, El Aire and from the north of Chile Desfound, Kalasasaya, Waldo Ponz and Vortex.

CMM-Any future plans for the band?

Jose-We now have a new alignment, with which we are working in new rhythmic structures. This opens up to us even more areas for experimentation and these new compositions will form part of a forthcoming album. We will be recording the demos in April and start the live performances of the album on May 27th in Arica, Chile, within the ESPORA FESTIVAL. We hope to take the band on tour to Argentina at the end of 2017.

"Samba In The Dark" An interview with Alessandro Vitaloni of Shining Dust

Shining Dust is an Electropop project founded by musician Alessandro Vitalon in Milan in 2013. His debut album "Mirror" (available now from Seahorse Recordings (www.seahorserecordings.com) mixes electro-pop, and trip hop with elements of 80's inspired new wave. We sat down with Alessandro to talk about his early musical influences, how Shining Dust started and the writing and recording process of "Mirror".

CMM-What are your first musical memories and what bands/artists made the biggest impact on your musical style?

Ale-I remember my first concert in Milan! It was the Glass Spider Tour by David Bowie in the 1987! I was 14 years old and thanks to David I learned what makes a perfect live show and how I should play on stage and last but not least that a live concert is first of all a big show for people watching you…not only a show for yourself! I remember “The Joshua Three” by U2 as a beautiful album that introduced me to the New Wave music genre that still today represents the roots of my music style. I also remember when I listened to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the first time and I said to myself “wow…such an amazing sound and energy like nothing I have ever heard before!!!”. I think Grunge was the last music revolution around the world because of its message and social impact.

CMM-When did the band form and who makes up the current line up?

Ale-Shining Dust was born in 2013 as the natural evolution of my first dark wave band Aqusha. I was the founder, singer, guitarist and bassist of Aqusha with which I played in some popular Live Club in Milan like Tunnel and Alcatraz. When I finished my music experience with Aqusha I started Shining Dust as a one man band.

CMM-What was the song writing and recording process of your new album "Mirror" like? Any particular inspiration for the songs?

Ale-I record my songs in my home studio. My song writing process usually starts with a new sound I create with my DAW and with a very simple chord sequence I can play with a keyboard or my guitar. Another way is when I listen to a beat loop or bass chords in my mind and I quickly record them with an ipad or my DAW. Once I have some of the instruments recorded I start to listen to the instrumental base and try to sing over it with some melodies and lyrics inspired by the music. The main inspirations for my music are some of my favourite genres like electropop, trip hop and new wave. My lyrics are inspired to Shining Dust Philosophy: only through the full consciousness of our dusty condition as human beings in the universe can one reach the shining or the happiness. You can read the details of Shining Dust Philosophy on my WebSite: www.shiningdust.com.

CMM-Any particular gear you all used in making the album?

Ale-Most of the songs were made recording audio tracks like bass, guitar and voice and recording MIDI tracks like keyboards, sound FX and drum machine. Some songs like Magic and LIgereza were all made and recorded with my iPad inspired by some special trip around the world.

CMM-If you could do a a film score for any film director who would it be?

Ale-David Lynch, Wim Wenders, David Cronenberg just to mention three of them.

CMM-What is the music scene like in Italy right now?

Ale-It's a very difficult scenario for independent musicians in Italy right now because it’s very hard to have visibility, promotion and some chance to play live if you make your own music! The Major Labels are leading the music industry in a very strong and monopolistic way spreading around the country only q few artists playing mainstream pop music. There are many great indie artists offering great electronic music but they don’t have any chance to become popular and or reach many people.

CMM-Any touring or shows planned for the coming months? 8. What else does the band have planned for the future?

Ale-No touring or shows planned for the coming months because up to now this is not my priority. Currently I’m working on promoting “Mirror” around the world on the web through Radio, Blogs and Magazines and I'm studying audio engineering to become a good music producer. I've been producing some very interesting US artists right now. I'm also starting to compose some soundtracks for fashion parade here in Milan and next year I’m going to start working on the new album.

"Garage Psych Mayhem" An Interview with Lazy Queen

Brooklyn based band Lazy Queen combine elements of shoegaze and psych with garage and punk sounds to create a vibrant blend of reverb drenched rock n roll. We sat down with Vocalist/Guitarist Henrik Soeberg, Guitarist Reyson Morales and Bassist Julian S to discuss the formation of the band, the making of their debut E.P. "Drift", and their recent tour of Puerto Rico. You can pick up all of the bands music at lazyqueen.bandcamp.com

CMM-How did Lazy Queen get together and who all makes up the band?

H: Well, Reyson moved to New York from Puerto Rico about six months before I met him. I had moved to the city from Norway a couple years before for school. We started playing together a little over two years ago. In the beginning we treated it more as a recording project where we’d play and record all the instruments ourselves in Reyson’s Harlem apartment. But when our music started getting around and we were offered gigs, we found ourselves in need of either a cloning devise or some actual band members. The technology just wasn’t there so we settled with band mates. Starting with Julian…

J: I came in as a temporary replacement, but quickly set up camp in their hearts, and I’ve stayed there ever since.

H: Currently our friend Duke Taylor finds himself behind the drum kit, and we’re happy to have him there.

CMM-You all draw influences from shoegaze, to 90's alterna-rock to punk. What bands did you all really get into growing up and who made the biggest impression on you all as players and songwriters?

J: John Frusciante really got me into home recordings and songwriting, as well as experimenting with instruments. I'm not very dexterous but I think I like to play around with different sounds like slides and strums on the bass that I think if it weren't for a lot of the post-punk bands I used to listen to, and John Frusciante, I wouldn't even care to try out.

R: I mostly grew up listening to punk and metal bands in my early youth ‘cause that's what most of my friends were listening to in PR. But later on I discovered British post punk and new wave bands like Jesus and Marry Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen and was captivated by the intricate guitar lines, atmospheric noise and melodies. Then came newer Brit pop bands like Blur, Pulp, Suede, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Ride, Chapterhouse etc.

H: I’m not ashamed to say that I started picked up the guitar in my youth to learn to play Green Day and Blink 182 songs. In terms of influences today, and for most of my latter teen years, I have my usual suspects that I’ll return to frequently like Nirvana, Pixies, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, sprinkled out with whatever is the current obsession. Right now I’m not able to stop listening to Single Mothers from Ontario. Loud and dirty is the name of the game.

CMM-The bands debut E.P. "Drift" is available now on Seattle label Pacific Trash. What was the songwriting and recording process of the E.P. like? How do you all approach putting together the bands songs?

H: Most of the songs were written throughout a three-month period last winter, with the exception of "Lesion", which is one of out oldest songs that we just never got around to recording. For most of the songs Reyson and I will bring in a skeleton and then we’ll all lazify it together. And eventually I’ll get around to writing some words and vocal melodies for it. The release was recorded at 1989 Recordings in Bushwick over a couple of really fucking long nights. The songs were pretty much all recorded live with all of us playing together to capture our live energy. Then Reyson and I would record a layer of guitar noise each for texture. We wanted to create a full sound, without it sounding too produced or tampered with.

J: All I'm gonna say is, it was damn exhausting getting out of work at 6pm, picking up gear, having a dollar slice or two and heading into the studio for a zillion hours on a weekday, wake up and do it all over again. So worth it though.

H: I have some great pictures of Reyson sleeping with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, while listening to me scream in the vocal booth through a pair of huge headphones.

CMM-Any particular gear you guys used when making the record?

R: I have this amazing fuzz with a loop switch called Absynth, and also the Electro-Harmonix Holy Stain, both of which played a big part in molding my noise textures and sound throughout Drift.

CMM-Being in Brooklyn you get to check out new music all the time. Any new bands and stand out venues you all can recommend?

H: We definitely have to recommend our talented friends in LADY. They keep getting better every time we see them.. Which is a lot.

J: In terms of venues, our collective favorite is The Gateway! It’s run by local musicians that really care about the local music scene and put a lot of hard work into creating a place for that exchange to happen. The backline is great and the people that work there are amazing. Venue crush. As far as other live acts around town, WALL has been a great experience (what’s up with all these caps names) and so has Future Punx, Uniform.

H: And Vomitface, Big Ups, Dead Tenants and Hunters.. I mean, in general there’s pretty much a great show to see everyday.. I think we’re spoiled.

CMM-How was the recent tour of Puerto Rico?

J: The vibe down there is just so different. I loved that almost everyone was dancing and just having a great time. Though I'm never driving these punks around again. We need an intern.

H: We quickly learned that one third of this group is a terrible backseat driver...

R: It was so incredible to play back home coming with a band from outside of PR and see the shows packed, when just a couple of years ago I was playing there and was part of the small but very vibrant indie scene. It was really great to see the kids follow us to all the shows, four days in a row.

H: As the only non-Puerto Rican of the group what struck me the most was how engaged the audience was compared to what we’re used to back in Brooklyn. People actually physically express their feelings for the music. Showing too much passion for anything isn’t cool anymore back home. You’ll look out into the audience and be met with a bunch of blank stares and crossed arms. If somebody nods their head along to the music you’re like, “oh shit, he must LOVE us.” Then after the show they’ll come up and give compliments, but it’s like “why the fuck didn’t you move around a little then.” And I mean, this is a general feeling as both a performer and someone who goes to a lot of local shows. So the feeling of the music, the performance and the way the energy felt like a mutual exchange and shared moment between the band and the audience, which is why I first wanted to play music in the first place, stood out a lot down there.

CMM-If you all could do a film score for any director who would it be and why?

J:I think I watch too many movies to be even able to decide. I feel we work very well between noise and melody. Jodorowsky's escalating craziness would be awesome to score (since this is all hypothetical and all). If we could work with Danny Boyle's calm vs. chaos contrasts I'd die a happy musician as well. 28 Days Later is one of my favorite films.

R: I’d pick Guillermo del Toro, not only cause his films are amazing, especially Pan's Labyrinth, but also cause I could totally identify musically with the moods and imagery he creates.

H: I think we’d do well making scores for those late-night TV-shop commercials. Like Shake-weights, or those knifes that cut through rocks. I’d love to score a porn.

CMM-What's next for the band? Any new recordings or upcoming tours?

H: We’ve already written some new songs and are working on more. Hopefully we’ll be back in the studio sometime this spring. Other than that we are currently putting together a West Coast tour with LADY that’ll take place at some point this coming summer.