2020 03 01 Interview made by Jeff Purchla at Villa Kuriosum (Berlin) before “The Sunday Matinée” concert.
J: Jeff / C: Carles / P: Pablo
J: We’re hier in the beautifull garden of Villa Curiosum for The Matinée with Siwomat. This is Pablo and Carles. So “Búmerangs” is a relative recent LP but there’s a long running Búmerangs series actually. It’s not just an LP, it’s more than that.
P: Yes, that’s right. We have decided to edit EP’s and when there’s enough material we publish an LP. That’s why there are some Búmernangs and the three of them came together in the LP.
J: But i mean, you though of the Búmerang concept a couple of years ago and you stock with the concept. Sometimes i get impatience and i change my ideas, you know...
P: We kept the concept but it has developed. You start with an idea that is not 100% ready and it grows. The LP has more information, we took more care, it has developed in that time.
J: I noticed that. One big change, at least from my side i saw you played at least a couple of times with live drums, and there is now no more live drums. This is like a major change to me.
C: Yes, that’s because our old drummer is now father and we had to change the concept. Siwomat as a concept itself is like a machine, so we though, ok, we can change and be only 2 people. And we’re very proud about it, it works, and it’s a new time for us.
P: Yes, you can not mistake, you have to follow the drums!
J: That’s also a good compliment to your old drummer that is replaced by machines, you could not find a human to follow him...
P: Mmm… ok, i’m not sure if i want to comment that...
J: I mean, it’s nice that the reason he is not there is because of family reasons, not because he could’nt play anymore or something like that, you know…
P: Ok, i’s a mix of things. There are some moments when the bands develop and grow, and that needs some higher compromise, and this was not happening. And somehow at the same time he was becoming father so we could understand also that. So, it was a kind of natural reasons and the compromise was for him to high at the time, so we went on.
J: It sounds natural. I think Pablo does the programming for the drumms and i appreciate how detailed the drums are. Sometimes i watch bands where the sound machine is like the hit play for the standard playback, then is just like a drum beat. But your beats are customed.
P: I’m learning every day, learning a lot just by doing. But yes, somehow it was a big challenge not to play with real drums, specially for the human aspect. We know it’s impossible to replace the human part but we can get closer, in the sense of controlling the volumes and the sensibility. The structures of the songs are quiet complex and we didn’t want to loose that, so… it’s a mix of not missing the structures because of working with machines, and not missing the sensibility of it.
J: But it sounds like it musst also affects the song writing process, right? I mean, if the drummer is a machine...
C: Yes, but i think it’s more natural than that, because step by step, every week we change our vision of the new songs. It’s not that we play the same songs that years before but without the drummer. It can be natural and we try to focus this way.
J: Carles, something that i found interesting about your gear is that you play like a vintage Holly Buddy Gretch guitar in this post-punk-noise band. It’s a kind of interesting choice.
C: It’s a casuality, it’s my guitar! I bought this guitar like 10 or 12 years ago to play at home, because i had no band, you can play acoustic with it. And with Siwomat it was super natural, i use a lot the vibrato and it’s an important part. You can do the noise but with a feeling from the blues, and we love that.
J: It’s cool, it’s a kind of innovation, you know, it’s not the kind of guitar you pick up to play in a noise-post-punk band.
J: Pablo, i saw that you published lyrics online, i appreciate that, even if it’s hard to do the translation to get to the meening. But i appreciate your lyrics are online, you are a language teacher, your lyrics are very abstract…
P: Not always! I like to have them online, i would like to translate them to english but i need some help, from you or from someone who can manage this 2 languages, it’s not easy to translate, especially when they’re abstract. But at least you can have in spanish a better vision of what’s going on, about the feeling of the song.
J: Yes, i appreciate that. Of course english is not the only language of rock, the are countless other languages and bands that play rock. But it seems like a lot of bands will write english lyrics for an international audience. You are international band but you don’t take that approach. You sing the way you want to sing.
P: We took this decision from the begining because i think the most important thing is to be authentic. And i realise my english is bad…
J: That’s not true!
P: Yes, it’s more or less basic communication, it’s fine. But to write the lyrics i really want to be more subtile. I didn’t want to make an effort to feel unconfortable, not knowing if i’m really saying what i’m saying, so there was no discussion about it. And why not, - i listen to lyrics in english, try to focus and sometimes search a word in the dictionary-, so why not the oposite thing? If you know a bit of spanish you can ask or search, just go for it. So even if we move a bit internatonally, this is part of the profile and authenticity of the project.
J: So this is the first day of a tour, kind of. Congratulations. Sounds like a lot of work booking a tour...
C: Yes, it’s a lot of work. We go next week to Spain, to Barcelona, Tarragon and Castellón, and at the end of the month to Uruguay and Argentina.
J: No offense to your old drummer, but it’s easier to tour with the drum machine, right?
P: That’s a good point too! It came afterwards, was not part of the decision but it happens there are some positive aspects to play with a drum machine. It took some time to get used to, i mean to play natural on it. It’s like a band who restarts. But afterwards it really works, you really flow over the drum machine and it’s become natural again. It’s again a good moment now.
J: Carles and Pablo, thanks a lot for your time.
C+P: Thank you, thanks a lot.