These Go to 11: interviewing Minifestival

Our first interview of 2015 is a double, quite long (thanks, much appreciated) and special one. We have the bosses of the oldest and (inaguarbly) one of the best Festivals held in Barcelona. Of course, we are referring to the Minifestival de Música Independent de Barcelona,  which this February celebrates it's 20th edition. We are extremely proud to have Carles Lafuente and Xavier Guillaumes answering our questionnaire. These Go to 11! 

Carles & Xavir, doyens of indie in Barcelona

Carles Lafuente & Xavier Guillaumes, Minifestival de Música Independent de Barcelona
The Primitives, Amor de Días, Standard Fare, Nick Garrie, Luke Haines, Mark Gardener from Ride, Antonio Arias, Damien Jurado, Dot Allison, Chris Brokaw, Damon and Naomi, Clem Snide, Darren Hayman, The Trash Can Sinatras, The Clientele, Tender Trap, Sing Sing. We're just naming a few. What do they have in common, aside from being great artists/bands? They have formed part of the Minifestival de Música Indepdendent de Barcelona, a music institution not just in Barcelona but in the whole country organizing, for 20 years now, an indiepop festival with an incredible good taste and an incorruptible independent ethic. The gigantic task of promoters and music activists Carles and Xavier has to be vindicated and celebrated, that's why having them answering the questionnaire is so special for us. Oh! And needless to say, we'll be there this February, eager to see bands like The Close Lobsters, The School or Linda Guilala, among others and congratulate them for one of the most impressive labours of love with regards to music done in our country. Here we go!

Technicolour pop

1. First record that you bought (be honest)
Carles Lafuente: The LP of Rocky Sharpe & The Replays with the song 'Rama Lam Ding Dong', followed by Tino Casal.
Xavier Guillaumes: At 8th grade I bought 'ET' OS by John Williams with the money given to me for my birthday... but if we are talking about pop music, it was the 'Urbi et Orbi' by Duble Buble, on cassette.

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)

Carles: My first concert? I guess that it was one by the high school band which I declared myself manager and line-up designer (high school parties...great times!): Teo & The Pipos. The last has been Morrissey's concert in Barcelona. A dream come true.
Xavier: First, Duble Buble, at Torre de Les Aigües' inauguration party, around 1987. Last, the jam session that ended the reopening party of LA CAPSA at el Prat. Regrettably, I don't attend many gigs... Last one I sadly missed was Fear Of Men at Primavera Club.

Ms. Imbruglia, the girl with the "Torn" on her side

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)
Carles: The truth is that I'm not ashamed about my musical tastes, they are quite diverse. I grew up listening music that my father or my aunt listened, and I recognize the value of songwriters like Serrat, Lluís Llach or Raimon, and also I enjoy like a child with (Nino) Bravo or Camilo Sexto. We have to keep in mind that I'm almost 50 years old.
Xavier: Natalie Imbruglia.

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)
Carles: I'm incapable of choosing one specific thing. My house is full of magazines, books, CDs, LPS, videos, DVDs....and fanzines, lots of fanzines. And many of them with a sentimental meaning...
Xavier: The single 'Beattles and Stones' by The House of Love with a precious poster inside.

Joan Miquel Oliver, Balearic Islands' surrealism

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)
Carles: My favourite lyrics are the ones by The Smiths... Back then, and after a tough task of translation with the Collins dictionary, they seemed written for me.
Xavier:  Most of the songs of Joan Oliver with Antonia Font. Also Nacho Umbert lyrics. I remember his record 'Adiós' with Paperhouse reingratiated with lyrics written in Spanish on a period of time on which I much preferred songs written in English although many of them I didn't understand. Talking about the present edition of the Minifestival, I like the effective simplicity of 'Lo Siento Mucho' by Linda Guilala.

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)
Carles: There are plenty of artists that I would like to meet. Obviously, Morrissey. Also I have to say that thanks to the Minifestival I was able to meet another one of my idols: German Coppini.
Xavier: LUSH, although the drummer is dead.

Hatful of Hollow

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)
Carles: I know that I can be a little bit repetitive but I have to say the 'Manchester quartet' again. 'Hatful of Hollow', with that picture of the group inside. I got the black glasses, the stripped shirt and... I even copied the hairstyle too.
Xavier: 'Lovelife' of  LUSH, especialy the singles of ''500 (Shake, baby shake)... in fact almost all albums published by 4AD during the 90s.

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both) 

Carles: As it happens with music, my movie tastes are very heterogeneous. From auteur cinema to the most truculent Z series. And although I know that I shouldn't say it, this Emule thing makes everything reachable. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to see as many films and now there are also several interesting tv shows to see. My favourite literary authors are Paul Auster, Boris Vian, Oscar Wilde (wow, what a coincidence!). I have to admit that I don't read many books lately (when I was young I devoured all that passed through my hands). The main problem is time and magazines (of music and cinema). Also, the evil invention of Internet and tablets have also stolen time to the cinema and the literature.
Xavier: A classic, 'The Apartment' by Billy Wilder, and a indie film of 90s, 'Simple Men' by Hal Hartley.

Miracles for Sale fanzine

9. Band you have brought to the Minifestival that you are most proud of

Carles: All the bands that act at the Minifestival provide us a great joy. We always count with a band of 'our time', from when we actively began to be involved with music. This year, we could highlight Close Lobsters, a mythical indie band that have been insisting several years until finally they have gotten away with it and they will play at the 20th edition of the Minifestival. That the bands are willing to play considering how little we can offer them in return make us so proud.
Xavier: Buffff...Luke Haines or The Trash Can Sinatras or...

10. What does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)
Carles: To me indie is a type of music that in my case has become a way of life. Because it was as consequence of listening this music, 'rare, unknown for the majority', that I met my partner Xavi collaborating in his fanzine Miracles For Sale. Then we launched Marca Acme and finally we embarked in the adventure of Minifestival.
Xavier: The chance of being wrong but no businessman or investor tells you that you are wrong an how you should do things.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Carles: In ten years, maybe we will continue as now... Trying to attract some brand to our project, so they give us carte blanche to sign (as Florentino*, referring to F. Pérez, president of Real Madrid Football Club), whoever we might want, but without any success... Being more realistic, we'll be working all the year to be able to add another edition to our track record...While we have health and the public respond we will stand up. Oh, and maybe in ten years we can bring some of those bands that now fill magazine pages...and that one day were an important part of the soundtrack of a few lives.
Xavier: Trying to organize the 30th Minifestival... and hoping to help that my daughter or someone else can begin projects like ours. And I would like to write again a fanzine when I retire!

Zillion thanks Carles & Xavier, thanks Minifestival!

These Go to 11: interviewing Fighter Pillow

Back from Primavera Club, we return to our regular interview series with Manu Herrero, Fighter Pillow and Black Islands' guitarist answering our questionnaire. These Go to 11!

Manu Herrero, Fighter Pillow 

The "warriors" of  indie-pop

After discovering them two years ago, when they only had four demos available at their bandcamp, the mysteriously titled 'EP1', while they were enlisted to play at Primavera als Parcs' 2012. The band was born a year before crystallising in a real local underground supergroup with Eli Molina from our beloved Me and the Bees, Manu "Rec" Herrero from Black Islands, Rubén Martínez from Maika Makowski & Ainara LeGardon and Afonso "Pocho" Méndez from lo:muêso (Eric Fuentes or our friend Edu Chirinos from Las Ruinas also took part on the initial first stages of the band). Their debut, self-titled album arrived this October on Hang The DJ Records, confirming the promise of those earlier songs and following digital singles. Diverse indie-rock with a knack for melodies and a deep love for fuzzy guitars, that you shouldn't miss live if you can, as proved at Primavera Club 2014. Here we go!

'Holidays in the sun' going punk

1. First record that you bought (be honest)

'Nevermind The Bollocks' by Sex Pistols, on CD. I bought it while I was on holidays with my parents. I was 15 years old and at that time I didn’t have a CD player. I know it sounds so cool but it’s true. My brother, who was present, can testify on my behalf.

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)
I can’t remember the first one. One of the first was a German indie pop band called Bazooka Cain, at the social center of my town. I spent all my money buying their 7". I was 16. The latest has been Morrissey in Barcelona.

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)
I don't understand the concept of "guilty pleasure" in matters of art. Either you like it, enjoy it or not. Is all that matters.

Mr. Haines, artitst saving the world

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)
Maybe my Vox AC30, which was used on a tour by The Wedding Present or a vinyl autographed by Luke Haines.

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)

'Don't forget the songs that made you cry and the songs that saved your life. Yes you're older now and you're clever swine but they were the only ones who ever stood by you'.
All the Morrissey work on The Smiths.

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)
I'm afraid of meeting my idols. I don’t like that idea. It can be very disappointing.

Domestic still life, by The Cure

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)
'Three Imaginary Boys' by The Cure. I find it very funny and arty at the same time.

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both) 
Book: 'The Nightingale and the Rose' by Oscar Wilde
Movie: 'Sunset Boulevard' by Billy Wilder.

Twilight and fall

9. Release (of yours) you are most proud of

Choosing one would despise the others. I don’t want to regret it tomorrow when I read my answer.

10. What does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)

Nothing. Sometimes it's a matter of money and other of ethics. So it makes no sense to talk seriously about it, because every step you take in order to grow as a band can betray the other.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I don't know. I just hope to be alive and happy. If that involves music, fine, if not, fine too.

Zillion thanks Manu & Fighter Pillow!

These Go to 11: interviewing Young Romance

Awww, what a crush I have on our next interviewed band. You know there are groups you like, others you simply adore and then there’s a special category when a group’s song can hit somewhere very very deep inside of you? Young Romance is one of these bands for me. So happy to feature indiepop’s most adorable duo... These Go to 11!

Paolo Ruiu and Claire Heywood, Young Romance

The indiepop's romance.

This inseparable London couple has been making delicate and stunningly gorgeous indiepop tunes since 2011, with an intensity that reveals real emotion and sensitivity in what they do. Initial tunes like "Swollen Hearts, Bitter Tongues", "She, Me, Him and You", "Six Sides" gave me the alert they were a band to watch out closely, but after summer of 2012, with the release of their stunning EP ePop022, with our dear EardrumsPop's friends, including the sublime "Follow on Your Own" (personal favourite) I became a devoted fan. More tunes arrived on 2013, like the great “Lines”, but 2014 is going to be Young Romance’s year as “Twenty Five”, track included on the Candy Twist Fanzine compilation’s “ Nobody’s Business” or “Pale” their first official single that will arrive this March courtesy of Banquet Records proves. Pure pop perfection, as immediate as lasting. Here we go!

Manchester City Rollers

1. First record that you bought (be honest)
PAOLO: Oasis, “Roll With It”
CLAIRE: 911, “Bodyshakin'”

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)
PAOLO: The Counterfeit Beatles / Veronica Falls
CLAIRE: 911 / Bombay Bicycle Club

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)
PAOLO: Kanye West, “Bound 2”
CLAIRE: East 17, “It's Alright”

No, not alright

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)
PAOLO: Original copy of The Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers”
CLAIRE: Lou Reed’s “Transformer” vinyl.

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)
PAOLO: The Strokes, “Someday”: "Alone we stand, together we fall apart, I think I'll be alright. I'm working so I won't have to try so hard, tables they turn sometimes".
CLAIRE: Mystery Jets, “Flakes”: "The trouble with dreams, they're not what they seem, cause when you awake they fall through your fingers in flakes".

Phil Spector, aka "The Hair"

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)
PAOLO: Phil Spector, David Bowie, Keith Richards, Kate Bush
CLAIRE: Elvis, Lou Reed, Ringo Starr, Tina Turner

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)
PAOLO: The Madcap Laughs– “Syd Barret”
CLAIRE: The Ramones– “S/T”

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both)
PAOLO: Films - "The Godfather 2"
CLAIRE: Books - Oscar Wilde - "The Picture of Dorian Gray" / Daphne Du Maurier - "My Cousin Rachel"

9. Song (of yours) you are most proud of
PAOLO: "Follow On Your Own"
CLAIRE: "Pale"

10. What’s does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)
BOTH: Not compromising personal ideas for a commercial purpose, therefore having complete creative control.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
BOTH: With a few records out and playing shows to the people who love those records in the way that we do with other bands.

Zillion thanks Claire & Paolo!

A night with Neil Hannon, the charming man

The Divine Comedy. An Evening With Neil Hannon. Auditori de Girona, November 2nd
  

The charming man
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Finally back online (Internet problems are crucifying us), and the first thing pending was, without a doubt, the chronicle of Mr. Neil Hannon, aka The Divine Comedy, in Girona. A very special, long expected, and gratifying evening alongside the music of the charming (and a bit worryingly thin) Irishman, as the universal song by The Smiths was unintentionally announcing.

We had our worries, sure. Would the audience listen him? We weren't sure if a gig in Girona (the city was having its autumn celebrations week), part of the Temporada Alta Festival, would be that successful, or if people would know his music. Some scary "ladies of certain age", with tones of make-up  on her faces, and kids among the public weren't the nicest signs. Then, as the quite beautiful auditorium was getting full, some of the public gathered behind the stage, which was a bit weird. Even with Neil appeared, he seemed shocked because of that strange location of a few concertgoers. But he quickly managed it, transforming it into an element to joke and make funny remarks about.

Mr. Hannon on piano. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

The gig started with him on piano playing tunes from his latest album "Bang Goes the Knighthood", like "Assume the Perpendicular", that opened the concert, "The Complete Banker" with its wise and so true lyrics or record title "Bang Goes the Knighthood". In between of them, the first classic, "Generation Sex". By then, we were certain than we didn't have to fear. The public was enthusiastic, and, at least on the front rows, knew his songs. 

And on guitar. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

As it happened two years ago, when I was lucky to saw Neil in this acoustic, intimate show format in Barcelona, songs on the piano were alternated with short breaks in which our beloved singer/composer/one-man band switches the instrument for a guitar. "Perfect Love Song", with a surreal guitar-tuning moment and the haunting "Lucy" (great rescue) were excellent choices to change the mood before "attacking some darker melodies again on piano.

"Geronimo", "Snowball in Negative", or the baroque "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe", which I found more appealing in its live & "naked" version than recorded arrived at the central and more "dense" section of the gig. But fortunately, Neil has an outstanding presence live. A mixture between a mischievous kid (these looks) a goofy, theatrical comedian (fake cigarettes?) and some sort of a distant, subtle impersonation of Oscar Wilde singing songs about love, loss and human miseries.

Indie Piano Man. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

But in my opinion, you can only make fun, being a musician, if you have talent and songs to show it. Otherwise, you are a fraud. And Neil's weighs zillions of tones. How many could transform "Time to Pretend", the MGMT's ubiquitous tune into a perfectly suitable song from The Divine Comedy with such grace? Who can merge it with "National Express" and made them fit as if they were created on the same studio session? Or engage people with such a difficult tune, extremely wordy like "The Lost Art of Conversation"?

"Songs of Love". Photo: Bloodbuzzed

And most importantly, who can match such an immaculate indiepop banquet for the listener in the final stage of the concert and still exclude many amazing tunes (missed "Absent Friends")?  Let's name it. Just him and his guitar he played "Songs of Love" (funniest comments of the night for me regarding how "disgusting" the lyrics of the songs are, still smiling one week after when I remember) followed by "A Lady of Certain Age". And back on piano, "Our Mutual Friend" and the epic finale of "Tonight We Fly". Mind-blowing. With the public giving the Irishman a standing ovation, it was a matter of seconds he returned to the stage for an encore, playing "The Frog Princess" and "I Like", which, and on a personal note, was the perfect song to end the gig. Thanks for another evening to remember Neil.

Side note: Cheers for your 42nd birthday, dear Neil!!

"In Youth Is Pleasure", teen dreams and traumas

In Youth Is Pleasure- Denton Welch

Honestly, it's my fault. One has to be very careful when reads a critic that compares a book with "The Catcher in the Rye", or a review that qualifies Orvil Pym, the starring character, like a "Holden Caulfield written by Oscar Wilde". Because the majority of times, this sort of "great expectations" will only make the disappointment much bigger.

"In Youth Is Pleasure" is not a bad book. Far from it. But is one of these readings that satisfies only a type of readers. The ones that need an exuberant prose to enjoy a book. The ones that find pleasant to describe in detail the smell of the food, or how a dress looks like. In my opinion this is a book for critics, the sort of (some) critic that mention Proust among the comparisons... Well, they are pretty right. And that's the issue. It's not my cup of tea.

This is a book of extreme sensitivity, in which we follow a peculiar British teenager, Orvil Pym, on his summer adventures. But the adventures, pretty trivial on the surface, are more relevant in an introspective way. He is discovering himself in this trip. Probably. And I say probably because it is hard for me to say whether he achieves something or not. Denton Welch, a cult status author completely unknown in Spain, is able to evoke the feelings of melancholia, isolation, loneliness and incomprehension with brilliance, but also makes Orvil a weirdo (these dreams and surreal passages doesn't help), childish character, that makes it hard to connect with.

Being 100% sincere, this book has been, at times, a real torture to read. In my opinion, in "In Youth Is Pleasure" style is more important that content. It might be very well written, but the only exception of the final chapter on the train, it says nothing to me.

SCORE: 3,25/10