In a city as big and diverse as Mexico City you'd think there would be more bands like Sour Soul. But there aren’t. Rather, the city is plagued with cheap remakes of Café Tacvba and Zoe. Sour Soul is a completely different project than anything going on in Mexico in recent years. Vocalist Marco Paul, guitarist Xavi, percussionist Miko and drummer David have crafted a sound based on ’60s rock and psychedelia, but that era doesn’t define them completely. The incorporation of conga percussion and piano-driven pop songs in Sour Soul's music keeps the band modern and relevant to this generation.

As Sour Soul began their career in Mexico City they faced an uphill battle. To start off they don’t sound like anything else that is going on in the indie scene in Mexico, and to make matters worse they sing in English, which seems to be a no-no for anyone trying to make it in Mexico. With little press, radio airplay and no record company, Sour Soul is truly indie. Sour Soul does have a loyal fanbase in Mexico, but that being said, Sour Soul finds it hard to book gigs in their own city. So the band began touring the U.S. to garner more exposure. So far they have received a warm reception and even participated South By Southwest this year.

So now the question is where does the band go from here? Stay in their home country and continue to battle for recognition or head north where the band can seem to grow and gain more exposure? A difficult dilemma for the band. But for now, Sour Soul countines to play and record music because really that’s all they do.

How do you guys go about creating a sound that pays homage to the '60s pop-rock era, yet not sound like a cheap ripoff?

Marco: I don’t know, we just do it. [laugh] No, I think we play classic rock but we put a lot of different types of music on it so it sounds fresh. So we play classic stuff, Beatley stuff. Led Zeppelin stuff, but we put a lot of funk and soul into it, so that’s what makes it different, that’s what makes it fresh. We incoprate a lot of types of music into the classic rock, then we do a lot of different songs. We do a lot of funky songs or really almost hip-hop songs. On our new album, the one that’s coming, we incorporate funk, rock and psychedelia and all the things we love into this new sound.

Marco, you’re the big Beatles fan. What era of The Beatles do you familiarize yourself with?

Marco: I love Revolver and The White Album, like from Revolver on like Magical Mystery Tour on I like a little bit, but I like more the last albums.

You also play the sitar, not many people do, why did want to incoprate that into the bands sound?

Marco: Obviously, because I'm a big Beatle fan and Ravi Shankar, and like for years I really got into Hindu music, Hindu culture and I was like, "Yeah, I'm a hippie and everything" and I bought one in San Diego and I learned it by myself.

Miko: And also, it’s very hypnotizing; it's like, "Man, play that shit 'cause it's gonna be awesome."

The Mexican indie/alternative scene is growing. Where does your band fit in the whole scene?

Xavi: I think we fit in the indie scene, but we don’t sound like the other bands. It's hard to find bands to play with; we fit in the concept of indie and the scene but the instruments and percussions and stuff like that are unusual, so we're like the outcast.

Do you find it hard to receive backing from record companies in Mexico with the type of project you guys have?

Marco: Well, we don’t have anyone. We're totally indie and we have the support of this guy, Simon Medina, that helped us get started. So I mean because of that guy we were able to record our first album.

You recorded that album (Liquid Sky Divers) in Texas, correct?

Marco: Yeah, we recorded it in the Sonic Ranch.

Now, it seems that Mexico bands are forced to sing in Spanish to get radio airplay. Tell me a about that.

Miko: I mean, in Mexico it's like that. Sing in Spanish because if not, it's hard for you to make it. It's hard because the people like it, but the media (not all but some media) don’t like that. They are not gonna play your music if you don’t sing in Spanish.

So in Mexico City, you're not getting a lot press; you don’t get a lot of airplay. Do you guys every think, "Maybe if we move to the U.S. our band can grow more"?

Marco: I mean, that’s what we're trying to do, you know. You know we love Mexico because the people have supported us a lot. I mean the media is a different story, but the people in Mexico supported us, but also the people in the U.S here really get our music. They really feel it. They identify with our music and in Mexico it's different. Nevertheless Mexican crowds are like really cool, but we're trying to do two or three tours a year in the U.S. to get more exposure. Here, you can grow more, grow faster and grow where we gonna go because it’s the only thing we do is play music.

Now touring in the U.S., what was it like touring in the little cties? I heard one night you were in Wichita, Kan., and it was empty and the next night completely full.

Marco: Yeah yeah, that was so cool. Small cities are awesome because, I don’t know, you get a crowd and they really appreciate and listen to your music. Big cities are cool too, but it's harder cause you got so many things going on around your show that I mean the people who listen to you like it, but you have to start getting a crowd and since we don’t come that often, it's hard to build up a crowd.

In Mexico, there is obviously a lot of violence. Have you guys had any bad experiences coming from Mexico to the States?

Marco: We were scared because we had to drive from Mexico City to Texas, so first we went to Queretaro and then Leon, played an awesome show there and then we went to Saltillo and had to cross Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo, and all that crap. Fourtanely, we didn’t have any trouble, I mean, the cops caught us because supposedly we were speeding. But, nah, we just gave him mordida.

Miko: Yeah, but nothing happened to us. We were scared, but we're like, "Man, we have the good vibe. Nothing is going to happen to us."

What’s next in the short-term future? I know you have a new album coming up.

Marco: Well, we're recording it in two weeks and then were hopefully we will release it in November of this year.

Now where do you guys want to be in the long term?

Marco: I mean, we want to make it big. It’s the only thing we do. I mean, we want to make a living out of this and just play music and record it and play to people and make people feel what were feeling. We want everyone to get a vibe, the vibe of our music, you know. Some of our music is for dancing and some is for waking up and saying, "Hey, dude this is my life" and others are for crying.

For those who follow the latest trends and "it" bands in the indie rock scene, Neon Indian kinda came out of nowhere as the hyped band of 2009. The lo-fi dance-rock quartet's songs "Deadbeat Summer" and "Terminally Chill" were summer dance anthems for those who read hipster blogs and tastemaker websites like Gorilla Vs. Bear and Pitchfork. The Brooklyn-based band's sound was so fresh yet retro that it inspired a new genre name: chillwave. And this was all before their debut album, Psychic Chasms, dropped in October (making best-of-2009 lists shortly after).

As it turned out, Neon Indian was the third in a line of popular music projects created by Denton songwriter/producer/film student Alan Palomo. Before Indian, we Texans recognized Palomo as the man behind the glossy house-music group VEGA.

A year has now passed since the Summer of Chillwave, but Neon Indian is still selling out shows across the country and playing major festivals like Bonnaroo. The band's staying power can be attributed to Palomo's psychic-like sense of what sounds and song structures will resonate with the terminally hip. He has his pulse on the indie music world, and he doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon.

But what has been lost in all the hype is the background of the man behind the hippest band of '09. Few people know that Palomo was born in Mexico and raised in San Antonio. His father, Jorge, was an accomplished pop singer in Mexico. I spoke with Palomo recently about this often-overlooked side of his story, as well as future plans of his.

Neon Indian photos by Chantel Clopine, taken at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009

Official music video for "Sleep Paralysist" by Neon Indian

You were one of the most talked-about acts last year, but the one thing I noticed from all the writeups that gets glossed over is your background. Where were you born and raised?

Palomo: Totally. Well, I was born in Monterrey and I moved to San Antonio when I was like five or six. I go back there usually like once or twice a year. Yeah, I’ve kind of lived all over Texas. I mean, San Antonio is where I’ve lived most of my life. And then at some point, I lived in Denton, going to UNT, which is where I really started making music. And that’s where my first two project started, Ghosthustler and then VEGA. And then I moved to Austin, and Austin was kind of like the conception of Neon Indian.

Did you grow up around music? What got you into music? 

Palomo: Well, you know, it’s kind of funny. I mean, my family is pretty musical in a sense. My brother has been a musician since as early as I can remember; he’s always picked up a couple of different instruments. I mean these days, bass is certainly his focus. And that’s what he studied in college. My dad has actually been a musician his whole life as well. I mean like by the time my brother and I were born ,the bulk of his catalog was already recorded, and he had already gone through most of that. It really provided this kind of interesting background, at least culturally, for us growing up. We grew up around a lot of pop music. I remember Sunday afternoons cleaning the house and my parents would put on records or something and hearing like a lot of Beatles or Doobie Brothers. You know, a lot of like ‘60s and ‘70s pop. And like MJ, of course, and things like that.

So mostly American music?

Palomo: No, but it was funny, because then you’d also have some, like, Vicente Fernandez or Luis Miguel. Just like random stuff. It was a real kind of smorgasbord of, I guess, cultural reference points. And yeah, I mean it still kind of echoes in the background, especially on Psychic Chasms. I sample my dad on two of the songs. I took some of his recordings form the late ‘70s and just interjected them into little parts of the songs.

What kind of music did your dad play?

Palomo: The first one was real, like, orchestral ballady, you know, like kind of ‘70s pop stuff, which was very prominent in Mexico at the time. I think that was when he was living in Mexico City. But later on, he started doing more, like, Hall and Oates. You know, kind of that electro-rock, early ‘80s kind of stuff where it’s like a lot of drum machines and guitars kind of thing. And a couple of synths here and there. And that’s usually the kind of stuff that has come to influence me a little more.

Given your background and upbringing, have you ever thought of touching on Latin sounds in any way?

Palomo: You know, I have considered for the next Neon Indian record maybe trying a song in Spanish or something. It’s funny. There’s a lot of like EBM and early ‘80s industrial music that I’ve found that, whether it’s from Mexico or Spain, or some other Central American countries, it’s just as relevant. I’m surprised to find that there aren’t more people in these sub-genres that get more attention. There’s this band Liaisons Dnagereuses that has so many songs in Spanish that are incredible. And it’s just tough as any like, anything from like Mute Records or something like that. Actually, it’s funny. Their first singles were on that label. But yeah, I definitely have every intention of trying that out at some point.

There seems to be a resurgence in interest in Spanish and Latin American music in the U.S. I feel like, for a long time, Latin America got overlooked in a lot of ways, but people are starting to be interested again. Bomba Estereo, from Colombia, is blowing up with the American dance scene. Delorean, from Spain, has a critically acclaimed dance album.

Palomo:  Well, people always want to see how something can be recontextualized through a different culture. I mean it’s funny like I see some trends in electronic music right now that people are starting to do this sort of like reggaeton beats or something, like that band TANLINES or Lemonade. You’ve got all these bands in Brooklyn that still have all these like sort of techno or even just like low-fi electronic components to their sound, but they are starting to mess more with these like world percussion rhythms. And it’s funny, because it’s like, you know, you might as well have it come straight from the source. I’d like to see like an actual Mexican take on industrial electronic music or something.

You mentioned maybe doing a song in Spanish. Are you fluent in Spanish?

Palomo: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, of course. I mean, that’s all I talk to my parents in and anybody that I come across that knows Spanish.

You said you were six, maybe, when you moved here?

Palomo: Yeah. I think what’s always continued to develop my vocabulary in Spanish is just like hanging out with my family a lot. And I mean, yeah, if I’m a little out of practice I develop a very mild accent that I tend to be very self-conscious about. I try always to just eliminate it as much as possible. Otherwise, my cousins start calling me a gringo.

That's funny.

Palomo: Yeah, totally. I think my dad came to the U.S. first, and then we migrated there may be like two years after. So I think he was kind of getting everything set up for us. I mean I didn’t become a U.S. citizen until high school. So yeah, it started off as just like an alien impermanent residence and then, you know, I ran the gauntlet. [laughs]

Let’s talk about your musical journey. You got into music kind of late, in college. Did you start with an instrument or did you start more with producing stuff?

Palomo: It was kind of a mix of both. Like, Ghosthustler, that was my first real attempt at making music.  And the nature of electronic music is, it forces you to look at it from the perspective of what would be every musician in the band. It’s just like you have to program the drums, you’re thinking about the bass and the synth lines. And then you start getting really heavily into the production of it and the aesthetic that you’re trying to tap into. And it’s weird; Ghosthustler was kind of this like boot camp for developing all these sensibilities very quickly. I was working with three other guys. But much of the objective behind Ghosthustler was to be able to keep up with our musical peers in that genre. So each song was trying to make like these massive production strides. And like, “All right, for this next single we have to finally learn how to EQ our fucking drums or compress them properly.” Just trying to fit all these things in these individual singles. Which was, after a while, actually, pretty miserable. But it definitely allowed me to develop the chops to eventually just move onto my next projects and develop from there.

That’s cool. You have the new single that came out recently. You made a music video for that.

Palomo: Oh, yeah, "Sleep Paralysist." We had like a couple days to just explore Lexington, Kentucky, and all of its incredibly bizarre fucking nooks.

I know; it’s like a surreal kind of video. How much input did you have, given your film background?

Palomo: Well, I mean, you know, when we first started receiving treatments for it, one of the names that immediately popped into my head was Focus Creeps, because I had seen some of the stuff they did for the Morning Benders and those girls videos that got a lot of attention. And I thought that they were incredibly versatile and really competent dudes. And I love how they really knew how to work with kind of these more grainier mediums. You know, like filming on old Super 8 cameras and stuff like that. And that kind of really struck a chord with me as far as the aesthetics of Neon Indian go and what I wanted to translate as far as visuals.

Where are you at musically right now? I mean, you have VEGA and you have Neon Indian.  What’s your priority? Are there any plans to even do some other project we haven't heard of yet?

Palomo:  Well, there’s a few collaborations that can happen organically. But I think for the most part, the main thing that I’m focusing on is writing the VEGA record, which will happen in October. And then this winter I just want to get completely immersed in the next Neon Indian record. I think as soon as we’re done touring, which will be in October, I just want to completely hibernate in the studio for like six months and see what happens.

I like the story about how Neon Indian got off the ground with that first song....

Palomo: Oh, “Should Have Taken Acid With You”?  Totally.

It’s a funny story, man—being unable to schedule an appointment to take acid. Here's my silly question: If you could take acid with anybody, who would it be and why?

Palomo: Wow, man. I don’t know. Well, as far as filmmakers go, maybe Michelangelo Antonioni would be someone pretty interesting. Let me think. As far as musicians go, I don’t know. I’d probably like to take acid with Todd Rundgren, but only if I could be in his studio at the time.

That would be pretty sweet. I guess the last thing I want to touch on.... You're based in Brooklyn now. It seems to be that a lot of bands from Brooklyn now are sounding like the ‘80s. I know everything is kind of cyclical, but why do you think that’s coming back now? What’s the appeal?

Palomo: As far as electronics go, especially these days, you have a lot of... I don’t know. To me, all the new digital synths are really like stale and predictable because they come with all these built-in sounds.  It’s not so much about, like, the more undulating, unstable qualities about it. And when people start messing with analog synths, they generally tend to have this more like ‘80s sound to them. I mean, they are like these old esoteric pieces of equipment that break down constantly, and they have a lot of character, though. I mean, that’s kind of the point, you know, is that the sound won’t even sound the same from beginning to end of the song, let alone a different show. And I think that people kind of like having that sense of identity with electronics, as well as just any other instrument that you can play. And I guess, you know, by association, it kind of ends up sounding a little bit like the ‘80s because that was kind of the proliferation of those instruments. But I think that people are more concerned with kind of injecting their more psychedelic qualities now than perhaps then, when it was a little bit more formulaic.

I guess I just don’t think of electronic instruments as having character. A lot of old-school music fans would say electronic instruments are like the antithesis of character.

Palomo: Oh, totally. But I think if you look at anything hard enough or mess with anything, a lot of times it can develop its own identity.

True. Well, that was my last question. Do you have anything else you want to throw out there?

Palomo:  No, just enjoy the show.

Cool, man.

Palomo: Viva México, cabrones.

Brian Lopez. You may not be familiar with the name yet, but you will be sooner rather than later. The Tucson, Arizona, native plays guitar and sings for three very different but very intriguing musical projects that should be on your radar if you're a fan of indie rock or Latin music.

It started with his three-piece indie band Mostly Bears, whose off-kilter psychedelic post-punk songs earned the band a recording session with the indie tastemaker website Daytrotter and recognition as one of the best live bands of 2008 by the Las Vegas Weekly.

Then in 2009, Tucson-based Latin musician Sergio Mendoza brought together a group of like-minded players to pioneer what they called "indie mambo." They took the classic Cuban dance style and blended it with psychedelic guitars and cumbia rhythms, doing for mambo what Austin's Grupo Fantasma did for salsa: bringing it to the 21st century while retaining its roots and culture. This Latin big band is called Sergio Mendoza Y La Orkesta, and Lopez as lead guitarist has earned the moniker of "Latin Jimi Hendrix" within the group.

For his haunting and melancholy solo work—backed by cello, violin and keys—Lopez is more of a Latin Jeff Buckley. His warble is as serene and emotive as a young Buckley's was. Being in just one of these groups would've been enough for a writeup, but that he is in all three makes Lopez a uniquely talented individual and someone to keep an eye on. For now, meet Brian Lopez.... Just don't ask him to play in your reggae band.

Photos by Mari Hernandez and Chantel Clopine, taken at Pachanga Fest 2010.

So what's your background? You're from Tucson...

Lopez: Born and raised in Tucson. The only time I lived anywhere else, I lived in Barcelona, Spain, for six months, during the winter and spring of 2005 for school. Studied Spanish and art. Otherwise, I've been living in Tucson all my life.

How did you get into music?

Lopez: That's a good question; I don't really have too many musicians in my family, or anything. But I picked up a guitar when I was 12 and was pretty good at it. Kind of excelled at that. And I used to be really into sports, so once I stopped growing and getting, like, stronger and stuff, it was kind of apparent I didn't have a career in the NBA.

With the headband and the hair, you kinda look like an NBA player.

Lopez: I'da been in the forefront if I didn't stop growing in the eighth grade.

You'd be playing for Los Suns right now.

Lopez: Los Suns! That would've been a dream come true. So yeah, I went to school and studied music theory, went to college as a classical guitar major for a while. Graduated with a music degree.

I'll come back to the music, but it kinda came up: What's the deal with Arizona? I'm not asking you to speak for a state or for an ethnicity, but just you on a day-to-day basis, do you notice a difference after the bills were passed?

Lopez: There's tons of tension right now. It was an idiotic move because it simply divided Latinos from whites. I feel like it's thrown us back like 50 years, as far as racial tension. Other than the obvious, that's been the biggest disappointment. But Tucson is very similar to Austin in its relation to its state. Would you think that Austinites represent the Minutemen of Texas?

No, of course not.

Lopez: I don't think Tucson is an accurate representation of a lot of conservative thought in Phoenix.

The comparison I've heard is Tucson is the Austin of Arizona while Phoenix is more like Dallas.

Lopez: Yeah, and I've gone all around Texas, and Austin is its own thing. This really isn't Texas, as far as I'm concerned. Tucson isn't really Phoenix.

Tucson is going to be heavily affected by the other law, HB 2281, the ethnic studies law.

Lopez: Mexican studies. I don't want to dive too much into that topic, because I haven't researched it as much as the prior topic, but just fundamentally, it sounds stupid.

Let's talk about the music scene in Arizona. Between your three projects, it seems like the musicians all work with each other. It seems really positive.

Lopez: I think the group that we have right now is very into that idea of working as a collective and bringing a scene up as a group, rather than as one band that just happens to make it. So we help each other out and we become figureheads within the music community. We like bringing other people up to that level, challenging other musicians to sit in on songs. When I started working with the Orkesta, I wasn't into or as good with improv. I just wasn't competent. But now, I can sit in on a set and you tell me what key we're in, I'm good. No nerves, I'm good to go. And I think that's kinda the idea: just working with other people and brining up the music scene within the community.

You play so many kinds of music—Latin with Sergio Mendoza Y La Orkesta (pictured left), indie rock with Mostly Bears—but what kind of music did you start with when you first learned to play?

Lopez: I think when I was first learning guitar, I was just into getting tab books of like Nirvana and Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, that whole Seattle sound. That was seriously what got me practicing. That was the only reason to practice for six hours in a room, so you could learn a Nirvana song or two. And then it stems from there; all of a sudden, I'm in college learning Bach cello suites.

And Latin?

Lopez: With Orkesta, they were new sounds to me, especially the rhythms. I mean, now it's all in my head. It's natural. But for a good while there, I was learning the rhythms. But it's like in my blood, so it wasn't too hard to get the rhythm in there. But for sure, it's different than playing straight-up rock 'n' roll.

Let's talk about your songs, your solo material. I love the song "Molly." It has some heavy, deeply personal lyrics. I loved the line "Stand on your own two feet, even if you stand with him." Can you tell me about the song.

Lopez: It's derivative of an older relationship, but not exclusive to that. It's just kind of a general idea that a lot of people can relate to: You go through a breakup and inevitably each part of you ends up with somebody else. And, you know, you sometimes have to watch other people go along with another romance, and it's difficult but you just have to let it happen. So that's pretty much that song.

You also have songs in Spanish. Is that a conscious choice? You could just stick to English and be successful.

Lopez: I love the Spanish language and if I could write better—like less cliche, more poetic—Spanish lyrics, I'd probably do it all the time. But I can't.

Are you fluent?

Lopez: I used to be when I was studying in school, but I'm so bad now. I can converse with the band, but I wouldn't sit here and tell you I'm like super-bilingual. But I like language; I like French, too. I think if I could invent my own language, that would probably be the best thing. I don't know how receptive people would be to that.

Your band Mostly Bears played a Daytrotter session, which is a big deal in the indie world.

Lopez: Yeah, that was during our last album tour. So hopefully this next time around, we can go see Sean over at Rock Island, Illinois, again.

Isn't that kind of in the middle of nowhere, the Daytrotter studios?

Lopez: Yeah, man. I remember when we did Daytrotter, we drove all night and I was sleeping in the back of the van. We woke up at 8 in the morning, and we were there like five hours early. It's on the border, so there's Iowa and Illinois. Anyways, they were having this crazy reggae festival, which is my least favorite of genre of music to wake up to.

Same here, man. Every song sounds the same, and I feel like people feel obligated to say they like reggae. Glad you said that.

Lopez: I'll just say "generally speaking." I'll keep it real: I hate it. Not into it.

Yeah.

Lopez: I have this friend who I thought was really cute who wanted me so bad to go see her friend's reggae band from D.C. They were playing in Tucson. I was like, "All right, you're cute. I'll go to a show." I was there and I was like, "Man, nobody's this cute to make me wanna be at this show."

Watch a music video for Lopez's band Mostly Bears below.

If you thought Hacienda couldn’t get any better, the Boerne, Texas-based retro rock 'n' roll quartet proved you wrong with their sophomore album, the recently released Big Red & Barbacoa. After a stellar debut album in 2008 with Loud Is The Night, the group reunited with Black Keys frontman and producer, Dan Auerbach, to record Big Red & Barbacoa. After a couple of years of backing Auerbach on tour and more time spent playing together, Hacienda brings a new edge and better musicianship with this new album. It's the blues, classic indie garage rock mixed with the colorful San Antonio-esque feel only those of us familiar with the Alamo City can describe.

We caught up with Hacienda at this year’s third annual Pachanga Fest in East Austin, after their crowd-pleasing set and sat down with bassist and lead vocalist, Rene Villanueva. We wanted to make sure people outside of San Antonio really understood the significance of Big Red and barbacoa to San Antonians, the San Antonio sound and what it was like recording the album live in just two weekends.

All photos by Mari Hernandez for Austin Vida.

For all those outside of San Antonio, who may not get the meaning of the album title Big Red & Barbacoa, explain it to them.

Rene: The whole idea was that we wanted a more San Antonio feel to the record. It just solidifies the sound of the band and where we are from. One of our favorite Taco shacks is Tommy’s, over on Wurzbach, is where the wall you’ll see in one of our YouTube videos is. We wanted something San Antonio without doing anything Alamo-related. That’s too cliché. You don’t want to do that or a mission. You might as well do something Spurs if you are going to go that route.

You know Big Red soda and barbacoa really are staples in the San Antonio diet.

Rene: We wanted something cool and we think of Tommy’s: "Big Red and barbacoa everyday." That is pretty much fuel to the fire that is in people there. It really made sense for us to tie in the title to one of the two instrumental tracks.

What is the “San Antonio sound” in your opinion?

Rene: The San Antonio sound is kind of like the city itself: a mix of everything. The only way I think to get a true representation of the true San Antonio sound would be something that does mix everything. It is definitely less polished than say a New York or Chicago, less slick but not like a Fat Possum-Mississippi blues record either. It is way more colorful than that. It is still gritty, but not like a Detroit sound. It still has a lot of positivity and energy to it. I think that is how our music is, without prejudice. San Antonio is a very accepting city.  

With that being said, does it still sound like a Hacienda record or is it completely different from Loud Is The Night?

Rene: It’s a big mix of rock 'n' roll through all the different periods. You know, our favorite stuff. It has more of the grit and live feel that people in San Antonio like. It’s feel-good party music.

Did you work with Dan Auerbach on the whole record this time around also?

Rene: Yeah. We went up to Ohio again and we recorded it in two separate weekends.

You recorded the whole album in just two weekends?

Rene: We did. It happened really fast. Everything was recorded mostly live with four mics, although “Mama’s Cookin” is only two mics on the entire song. That was cool because we did the vocals live and everything was cut there.

How was working with Dan Auerbach the second time around now that you've known each other and played with him for this long?

Rene: It was really fun. We’ve gotten a lot better at working with Dan. We know each other a little bit more and after we’ve toured together, we’ve really grown with him.

I have seen a trend here lately, especially locally, where more bands are doing what you just described. It appears more bands are favoring recording their albums live, together in one room versus all the separate layering where a piece at time is recorded. Why do you think that is? Is it just a money saver?

Rene: It's really about the feel. There is a difference with us in the studio and a difference the listener can feel. You know there is energy between band members when they are playing off each other and not just off a quick track. That's something that is really important to us. Also, it was all about not being super serious.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by not being “super serious,” as you put it?

Rene: We’re not a dark, depressing band or anything. We want this to be fun and that was also part of the reason we named the album Big Red & Barbacoa. That’s why we put ourselves on the cover eating like that. It’s part of the fun; it's rock 'n' roll. We’re not making Billboard Top-10 records; we’re making rock 'n' roll.

While we are on the subject of playing with Dan, can you clarify the name change for the backing band? You go by “The Fast Five” now when playing with him?

Rene: That happened last November. Patrick Callahan from My Morning Jacket came in to do drums and percussion. Now there were five of us; not just Hacienda. It doesn’t make a difference to us, it was just something fun.

So how has your life changed since we spoke last year? I mean, you’ve done the major music festival circuit with Dan Auerbach and toured all over, opening for him. You played with Alejandro Escovedo at Antone’s and now Pachanga Fest this year in Austin.

Rene: We are a lot busier, and that’s a good thing. We’ve toured heavier than before. It’s the same thing Dan does: staying busy and keep putting stuff out. We’ll be doing another Hacienda record soon.

You already have that itch to do another so soon?

Rene: Oh yeah, definitely. We may even do another Fast Five record with Dan. It may happen this year or early next year. It’ll be fun.

When do you sleep, if ever?

Rene: We don’t. That’s for when we retire.  

How was it the last time you played in San Antonio? Are your shows bigger now that you’ve “made it” so to speak?

Rene: We played in San Antonio before we left to tour in March. It was a good show and our turnout is better. Austin has been really good, even though we hadn’t played it in a long time until Pahcanga.

What did you make of this year’s  Pachanga Fest? It is not like other festivals you may have experienced.

Rene: It’s good stuff. I think it is important to do. Usually, the Latin stage is in the corner tucked away somewhere.

If there is a Latin stage at all.

Rene: Exactly. It is good to see the variety of genres. It’s good, too, because people won’t think of "Latin" as just one thing.

Agreed. I was just saying to someone the other day that when there are Latin music festivals, every band is typically of the same genre. It is usually a salsa fest or like you have in San Antonio with all the Tejano events.

Rene: For sure. It’s cool to see bands like Grupo Fantasma and then bands like us. 

Did you catch anyone at Pachanga that you liked personally?

Rene: I saw Girl In A Coma and Grupo Fantasma. I love those guys. I missed the mariachi band; I wanted to see them but we were loading.

Are people still referring to your ethnicity in media and blogs a year later?

Rene: Oh yeah, all the time. I don’t think it is ever going to change.

Are new audiences still surprised to see four Hispanic dudes on stage when you first come out? I know you have to see some of the looks.

Rene: Sure. I don’t think that’s ever going to change either. You are always going to get those good ol' boys who are all, “What is that? I don’t get it.” We’ll be alright. It’s fun to see them buy the records later.

Don't let Sexy Marvin fool you.

They're not just another Rock en Español band—not that they have a problem with Rock en Español They just prefer to keep in tune with the Brit-rock bands they grew up listening to and idolizing, including singing in the same language as them.

“We get asked that a lot in Mexico,” says Sexy Marvin lead singer John D. about the band's preference to sing in English. “Take a band like Phoenix, for example. They're French, but they sing in English. People still go and support them. It's a double standard.”

Sexy Mavin hails from Monterrey, Mexico, and made a stop in Austin on March 31 for the Austin Vida showcase at Stubb's. Despite what their Spanish-spreaking critics might say, the band stays true to their musical roots.

“We had a lot of these influences because we grew up with those '80s sounds. I'm really into stuff like Depeche Mode, Morrissey and The Cure,” says John D., whose voice is reminiscent of Morrissey.

They mix their '80s new wave influences with a modern sound reminiscent of bands like The Killers or Muse, whom they have opened for in the past. Thanks to those shows and the Internet, the band has built a buzz in the indie rock scene around the world.

“We have a lot of downloads on the Internet, especially in countries like Japan and Spain,” says synth and keyboard player Elvis. “We knew we were doing something right, so we decided to make an EP.”

The band released their self-titled EP in 2008 and have a new single out.

“We're promoting our new single 'Under Control' right now in Mexico and the U.S. It's going to be on our new record, which should come out either in May or September,” says John D.

As for the future, the band hopes to hit the road again once their full-length album is complete and tour places like South America, the U.S. and possibly Europe. Their shows aren't ones to miss either. The band has a commanding stage presence and they always look like they are enjoying playing their music.

“We have a lot of fun on stage no matter where we are,” John D. says. “The crowd is always great because we know they are there to support us.”

The future looks bright for Sexy Marvin. Ultimately, it's a momentum they hope to keep going.

“A lot of things have come together for the band,” John D. says. “We've opened for The Killers, Coldplay and Muse. We didn't expect to be doing that with those bands.”

All photos by Chantel Clopine.

Vinyl Dharma is a five-piece indie-electro outfit from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas but has called Austin home for the past few years. After making an immediate entrance into the Live Music Capital’s local scene and capturing national attention on MTV2, Vinyl Dharma recently released what may be the best EP the Austin indie music scene has yet to embrace. The six-song, self-titled EP may be Austin’s best kept secret.

The EP begins with their most popular single, “The Sunshine Rave.” Those who are familiar with Vinyl Dharma have heard the song at their shows and have seen the clip on the band’s MTV2 video posted on the Vinyl Dharma MySpace page. “The Sunshine Rave” is a synthesized indie track that will have the kids bouncing and singing along. It’s the perfect song to bring together fans of bands like New Order and pop radio listeners who haven’t got a clue about what good indie is.

“Head For The Hills” is another standout track worthy of single status. Even more synthesizer-driven than “The Sunshine Rave,” the seven-minute track leaves no guitar riff or key untouched. It is very bouncy, beat heavy and danceable. Cosmic keyboard sounds and crunchy guitar riffs bring together ambient and electro sounds in one song, a feat rarely accomplished. “Infidelity” is the other must-download single off the EP.  Recalling the spirit and sounds of early disco house, the heavy bass lines compliment vocalist Johnny Dharma on this pop-tastic song ride.

The guys take a break from the the madness on the acoustic ballad “Sunder,” but it lacks any real standout characteristics. It only shows Vinyl Dharma are at their best when putting all their instruments to use. The only other disappointment of the Vinyl Dharma EP is that it only gives the listener six songs. With all that talent and polish, the band needs a full length. Expect good things from Vinyl Dharma.

60 Tigres is a relatively new band, but you can tell by talking with them that they've been friends for a long time. They can tell you who’s gonna show up late to rehearsal, who you can count on to bring beers to rehearsal, joke around about strip clubs and tell those you had to be there stories only friends laugh about the hardest, while you sit there smiling awkwardly and wishing you were in on the joke.

In the five years they’ve been together, 60 Tigres has made a name for itself both in México and in the US. Their newest music video, for “Modelos sin Personalidad”, has more than 13,000 YouTube views. They’re no strangers to the Austin crowd, having played The Compound and Flamingo Cantina, plus SXSW the past two years.

They’ll be coming back for SXSW this week, but I sat down with Alejandro Elizondo (guitar and vocals), Saverio Giandusa (keyboards) and Roberto Polo (bass and vocals) after the indie-disco-punk group’s Festival Nrmal performance in Monterrey, México, last weekend. We met at a small classroom of the Alianza Francesa, with tiny colorful chairs pushed against the walls and short, blue and red tables covered by instruments. The three musicians and I sat in chairs we could barely fit in, chairs normally used by six-year-old children learning French.

All photos by Sofia José for Austin Vida.

So, tell me about today—the Nrmal Fest. Any thoughts?

Alejandro: Today. Well, it’s been really great and it’s a very cool place, but the organization has been, you know—is it gonna be at this time or another? Or they wouldn’t let some people in. And we played very few songs, like four or five, and we were hoping to play more, around seven.

What did you think of other bands you’ve seen today, about El Cuarto, who played before you?

Alejandro: I really enjoyed their show, and I’ve seen them before so I knew what it was going to be like.

What do you think about Austin, having been there a few times now?

Alejandro: Ah, Austin! Well, the last SXSW was awesome; there were a lot of people. Before that, we’d only played in small venues and not a lot of people came out to see us. Most of them spoke Spanish. But it felt really good; we were well-received. But we’d also like it if we could play with local bands, to get more people to listen to our music.

How do you compare your experiences in Austin to those in Monterrey? Do you think there’s enough of a following in Monterrey for your music?

Alejandro: Well, there’s really no comparison to Austin, which is known for its live music. But in Monterrey the scene is definitely growing. Like the festival today, there never used to be anything like this for our music, the more indie and alternative. There didn’t used to be a place for small bands like ours, independent bands. And next weekend is another music festival at Garage. Garage is the place in Monterrey for this kind of music. I know in Austin there’s a lot of places for small bands and live music, but not here.

Tell me about the band and how you guys got started.

Alejandro: Well, if we talk about how we started, we’d have to go way back.

Saverio: We were all involved in different projects, but we met and began getting to know each other and the idea sort of just happened.

Roberto: And there have been a lot of changes, both in members and in our style and sound.

What was your old sound like?

Roberto: The drummer we have now, Micol Polo, used to play percussion and Alejandro played the guitar. And as for sound, we had songs that were more danceable. The sound we have now is much more atmospheric, and we have Elías, a new guitarrist, now.

Alejandro: Actually, we’re working on a new CD with Elías, and the compositions are very different from what we did before. We’re definitely evolving. We’re changing from the way we edit the sound to the whole process of putting the music together.

Is there a song in particular that a new listener could identify with and say, “This is 60 Tigres”?

Alejandro: From our new stuff, I don’t think. Maybe “Dentro de Mi Cuerpo”.

Roberto: “Modelos sin Personalidad”, I think is a good song for new listeners to understand what our style is like.

Saverio: What we’re recording now is completely different, though.

How so?

Saverio: Well, in the type of composition and the way we relate to each other. And also now that Elías is in, well, the whole sound changes with new members. So it’s a sound that’s a little bit more... worked on.

Alejandro: We’re also going back to our roots, in a way. Because we’re more hands-on with this one, working on it ourselves. We’re producing the new album, while the old one was produced by someone else. That was great, but we’re taking what we learned and using it on our new stuff.

Can you tell me about your influences?

Alejandro: I’ve been listening to Velvet Underground a lot lately, and Leonard Cohen.

Roberto: I like the Lilys a lot, and Beulah.

Alejandro: The truth is I could list a thousand of ‘em. Influences from when we started… I don’t know, I can’t even remember, to tell you the truth. We listen to a lot of music and always have.

Do you remember your first live show?

Alejandro: Yes! I remember it was really cool.

Tell me about it.

Roberto: Well, a friend of ours’s uncle had a space and it was great, it had drums that you could play in there. So it just sort of happened overnight; we were like, “Hey lets throw a party and play tomorrow!”

Alejandro: Yeah, it was actually just that very morning that we decided we would play. And it had been over a month since we had last rehearsed. Actually, the way we rehearse has changed a lot over the years too. We used to drink beer and relax and slack off. We work a lot more now; it’s more formal. But we still drink beer. To get into rehearsal, each member has to bring two Caguamas.

When was that first live show?

Saverio: 2006.

Alejandro: I remember we only had three songs. So when we played, they liked us and the crowd asked for an encore. So we just played those same three songs over and over again.

How did you feel?

Alejandro: It was so great, such a great feeling. After that day, we started rehearsing a lot more. That party was a push for us.

Was there a turning point for you guys, or a moment when you realized you were starting to get recognized?

Saverio: In 2008, when we were invited to the US. I think that was the moment. We went to Chicago, LA, San Diego. Some people even knew the music.

Alejandro: Yeah. And it was really cool because, people here in Monterrey do listen to us. But people in Monterrey just eat everyone up, you know? They think, “Oh, just because they’ve played in the US they must be cool.” That really bugs me.

You’re going to Mexico City soon, right?

Alejandro: Yeah, we’re going; we need a change. And we want to record, and play. And play and record, and play and record, and record and play.

Tell me about the new record you’re working on.

Alejandro: Well, we can’t really say much about it, because there are plans, but it could all change. It’s so indefinite.

Do you have any weird stories that have happened at shows or on the road?

Roberto: Wow, yeah, there are. We were once playing at a bar called... Over the Border?

Saverio: Yeah, Over the Border.

Roberto: Well, we were gonna play there and at first the place was completely empty. But then women started coming in, and more and more women. So we were like Oh, yeah! But suddenly, with the bar full of girls, this guy comes up to the stage and just rips his shirt off and starts dancing on the tables, and the women went crazy. We realized it was a strip club.

Alejandro: Another story was just last weekend. What happened is that we were on the road around 11 or 12 at night and our car broke down. Screws or I dunno what, flying everywhere. We were there until around 5 a.m. We were sitting in the middle of the road when suddenly this old man walks by dressed as a woman, you know, with the dress and the hat and sunglasses. Just a creepy old man, in the middle of the road. The situation was just bad all around, ‘cause we had to sleep on a bench and we were freezing and had to wait for someone to get us. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Are there any bands here at Nrmal that you want to hear play?

Alejandro: Los Erres.

Roberto: They’re the ones playing right now, actually. Yeah, I want to see She’s A Tease; they’re good.

Alejandro: Also, The Volture. I play the drums for them, so you better come see us.

Have you seen this SXSW line up? Any bands you want to see perform there?

Alejandro: I’ve heard Broken Bells are playing, and The Walkmen. But I hope it’s not a rumor, ‘cause I haven’t really checked.

You’ve played at several places in Austin, like The Compound. Tell me what that was like.

Alejandro: Well, there weren’t a lot of people, but Austin has the greatest vibe. There’s this guy, Brandon.

Brandon Badillo?

Alejandro: Yeah! Brandon Badillo, he’s so cool. And the places he takes us are always really chill and relaxing, you know, open spaces and with a great vibe about it. So we love it. We try to go there whenever we have a chance.

Do you have any messages for your listeners and our readers?

Roberto: Yeah, I want them to know about La Casa Buenaventura. It’s a group of regio bands that have worked together constantly for a few years now. It’s a type of group we want to have online, completely independent. We’re really like a family. So I want them to go into lacasabuenaventura.com and look it up!

How do you think the dynamic in the band works, in regards to each member’s personality?

Saverio: Well, we’ve been together for so long that you just learn to tolerate them! We all have our own little worlds, and we learn to get along because we spend a lot of time together.

Alejandro: It’s easier when you’re friends, and what’s most important is respect. And as soon as there’s respect, you begin to learn what each person does or what they’re good at.

Roberto: Hey, about the messages we want for the readers, I have something else to add: Don’t watch TV, it’s all lies!

Catch 60 Tigres in Austin during SXSW. Check their MySpace page for days/times.

Austin Vida's indie showcase is this Saturday, Feb. 20, at Mi Casa, so we thought we'd give you some insight into the young bands we're featuring with a pair of Q&As. You can read Ian Morales' interview with In Situ Sound here. I spoke with the other half our bill: Hydra Melody, a progressive/alternative sextet from Helotes, Texas.

The band started as a middle-school pop-punk band, but evolved into the band we see now, a lineup that features keyboards and an auxiliary percussionist in addition to the standard guitar/bass/drums core. The setup provides an eclectic style of progressive melodic rock with hints of their Latin roots intertwined within the tunes.

Keyboardist Justin Berlanga recently chatted with me over the phone to provide an introductory overview of this headlining act for our first-ever indie showcase.

So, how did Hydra Melody form?

Justin: Basically, there was a band [in middle school] called Ready to Fail around for a couple of years, which mainly consisted of my brother Jordan and the guitar player, Robert. They'd been going for a while, had a bunch of lineup changes. I joined the band probably six years ago. It was at that point we started writing really really different music and found a lineup that we really liked. We decided to take a year and a half off from playing shows and all that stuff, and pretty much wrote a bunch of music and formed the band we are now. We've been doing it for four or five years.

How would you describe the band's sound?

Justin: I would definitely describe us as just rock music. We play what we feel. We do have a lot of Latin influences. Growing up in South Texas, it's kind of hard not to have Latin influences. I grew up playing classical music. There's so much different stuff in there. I wouldn't even know where to begin to classify it. People compare us to a lot of bands that I go listen to; I'm like "How do you even get that from this?" I guess if I had to pick a genre, it would be "eclectic rock." Just rock with a lot of different stuff to it.

That seems to be like the state of music now. It just seems like a lot of music out there now isn't just one genre anymore. Just like a hybrid of all kinds of genres.

Justin: I know; I love it. I like to call it "anti-genre." I think the worst thing you can do for your band is to say, "Oh, we're a punk band" or "We're a ska band," if we're going to stick to making this kind of music. Nothing against punk or ska; that's what I grew up with. I think it's just a shame, and you might limit yourself musically when there's a whole world out there. You can delve into. So to the original question, the anti-genre. That's what we are.

Hydra Melody is from Helotes, just outside of San Antonio. How would you compare the Austin scene with the San Antonio music scene?

Justin: I love Austin. I used to live in Austin. I definitely say San Antonio has a tighter scene, has a better scene because... This is the way I figure it, okay? If you live in Austin, chances are you go to school in Austin. So you have a new cast of characters every four years coming in and out of Austin so you can't really build a solid scene there. I've played shows [in San Antonio] for kids that I've known 10 or 12 years that have been around our shows, going to shows and stuff. So I'd say that the scene in San Antonio definitely goes a lot deeper than the scene in Austin.

You guys just recently finished a West Coast tour. How did that go?

Justin: It was really cool. We played some really good shows. We made some really cool friends. Experienced some good things. The weather was horrible, but overall I say it was a success.

Was it cold?

Justin: It was really cold. We hit a snowstorm in southern Arizona. What the hell is that about? We saw snow from El Paso, like all the way, like 100 miles into Texas. Like fucking snow all over the ground! It looked like a fucking Arctic tundra or some shit. A lot of dust storms. Like blinding dust storms. We were hitting winds so bad that they were literally knocking 18-wheelers on their ass like on the side of the highway and stuff.

Where were you driving when that happened?

Justin: Well, we were driving in the really hard winds, but I think we missed those gusts that did that because it was probably about 10 miles after the winds kinda calmed down. We were driving and saw these 18 wheelers just flipped over. It was like right getting into California where those Santa Anna winds get real bad.

Are you currently working on a full-length album?

Justin: Yes, we are in the writing process right now. We're also in the process of trying to figure out where we want to do it and what route we want to go. We've been working with some producers on pretty much everything we've put out as The Hydra Melody. One of them is my cousin. His name's Anthony and another guy, Mack Damon, here in San Antonio. They're just awesome producers. We really like working with them, so we're kind of debating on whether to work with them right now or whether to try something different.

I know you're in the writing process of this album, but how would you compare the new material to your last albums?

Justin: I would almost compare "Maybe One Day" as even like a continuation of "Day of the Dukes," which was an album we did right before that. They could be an A-and-B type thing if you ask me. I think, in the past, all of our songs have really had a different feel to them from song to song. I think that even accentuates more with this new album. I think you're going to get something different out of every song. Like we said genre-wise, we might move from one to another, like really quick. And I think you can expect a lot more vocally going on as far as from the other members: myself and Robert. Maybe even Bobby. Bobby's kind of stepping himself up right now showing that he's got some want.

Why did the band choose the name Hydra Melody?

Justin: This is how it got started: our guitar player, Robert, was reading some kind of medieval dictionary or something like that, and ran across the word "hydra" and delved into it. It's this multi-headed sea serpent from mythological times that would just go around like wrecking ships and fucking shit up, basically. We kind of related our music like that because, back then, we were in a real experimental, almost a jam-band, type phase. It was basically five or six people soloing over each other, all at the same time. So we related it to a hydra of melodies so it became The Hydra Melody.

That fits you pretty well.

Justin: Thank you. I appreciate that.

What else is in the future for Hydra Melody?

Justin: I can only hope good things. I guess there's no way of really knowing what's in the future. As far as our plans, it's definitely to stick on the road, but we're going back up the Midwest in April. Probably late April, early May, so we'll get to go visit some friends in Chicago. We'll get to go hit up Buffalo, which both of those I would call our home away from home. So I think from April on to the rest of the year, we'll probably be doing a lot of touring and trying to get that full-length recorded sometime in between. We just have a lot of work to be doing right now, really.

You can catch Hydra Melody at Mi Casa on Sixth Street this Saturday at 10 p.m.

Every January in Austin, the Red River live music district is home to a weeklong, venue-hopping rite of passage known as Free Week. Free Week can best be described as the music festival for Austinites; there isn’t the influx of tourists that other music festivals bring, no badges or tickets are required and there are no huge touring acts headlining. For locals, it is the best time to check out Austin’s live music venues for free, discover new artists or see your favorite hometown headliner without paying a cover.

Our favorite Free Week discovery this year was In Situ Sound. They played three Free Week showcases. Some of the Austin Vida staff caught them at Beerland early in the week, while some of us saw them at Mohawk’s inside stage and at Red 7. Every time, our group consensus was that they stole the show. No other band sounded like them: Three guitars riffing away at progressive, melodic chords, joined with a spastic young drummer, heavy bass lines and a singer whose crooning skills rival any other ambient indie frontman out there. In Situ Sound fills the local void for melodic, progressive post-hardcore (think Minus The Bear).

Scroll to the bottom of the page for a photo gallery of In Situ Sound performing live at Beerland during Free Week. Read our Q&A below....

All photos by Chantel Clopine.

Chris: Three of us are from Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley. We sort of grew up together. I was born in the Valley, then moved and came back.

Nate: I’ve known this guy [Chris] since we were 10 years old.

Chris: The day I moved to the Valley was the day I met Nate. From day one we have been really good friends. I met Fabian [drums] a couple years after that. Nate was actually the first one to pick up an instrument. He was the one who really started listening to music and brought me into it. I picked up a guitar because of him and we both started to learn. Fabian decided to pick up the drums. We’ve just been close friends since then.

So how did Tang and Eric come to join the band?

Fabian: So Chris moved to Austin, then I come up. Once Chris and I are up here, we started looking to put a band together. What better way to do it than to work on some covers. Specifically, we were looking for two people to play Incubus covers with us.

Chris: I ran into Tang on campus at UT and he was jamming with his band. I went up to talk and him and talked about playing guitar. We exchanged contact information and after that I didn’t hear from him for about year. One day out of nowhere I get this random Facebook message asking about me about getting together to jam. That’s how we got together.

Eric: There was a post on a Facebook message board saying they needed a bassist.  I responded and said I’d do it. I didn’t know any of these guys before that and it just kind of worked. We meshed together well.

So how long have you been the quintet we see now?

Eric: About six months.

So after you were set on your members, what was the plan then? What was your next move?

Nate: The plan was just to write and write more.

Sure, but you don’t just pick up your instruments without knowing what kind of music you want to play. You guys could have played any genre or style of indie.

Nate: I know what you’re saying. We all actually listen to most of the same kind of music. At the same time, we all come from different backgrounds.

Chris: We all have our own styles that we’d like to integrate in what we play. It works so well because at least when it comes to guitars, we each have our own style and we blend them well.

So was this ambient-indie genre of music you play born out of a few jam sessions?

Eric: Our original focus was the doing the cover songs. So we already knew we all liked similar music.

Nate: It’s all about compromising. With three guitars it is really hard. It means no one in this band is the center of attention. We have to work as a family. We are very open. There aren’t any hurt feelings in this band.

Eric: As far as songwriting goes, most bands I know usually have one or two people writing most of it and then bring the other members on board with what they wrote. We generally have everyone in Fabian’s garage and work together on it all.

How long does it take you guys to finalize each song? There are so many intricate little pieces such as floating notes or something vocally that make me think, “That must have taken so long to come up with and put together”.

Eric: It can take a while. Sometimes we can just jam one out and it just flows.

Chris: We will have dry spells every so often where we don’t get anything written for almost a couple of weeks or so. It will just come one day in practice and we can somehow knock out 90 percent of the song. It takes time also, too, because we operate as a collective democracy, not some person who is the high authority.

It seems to me that there are a lot of young indie Latinos coming from the Valley. For Austin Vida, we have already featured Vinyl Dharma and Dignan. What’s going on down there in the Valley that's creating this powerful young indie movement?

Nate: There’s not much to do. At The Drive-In kind of created the way and inspired us. There’s Latinos in that band and I grew up listening to them. And in the Valley there are just two scenes. There is either hardcore or indie. I don’t think they plan it or anything, but it just seems to be the way it is.

I think it still comes as a surprise to even most Latinos, not just those here in Austin, that are not familiar with the scene. The kind of indie you guys are putting out should come from Portland, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Los Angeles or Austin in most people’s minds.

Eric: Nate and I just took a trip down there recently to see Minus The Bear and the venue was just packed.

Nate: There’s a hunger for that type of music. The Valley is so culturally driven that people want something different like this. All you get down there is Tejano, one rock station and that’s really about it. People are just looking for more and are influenced by other cultures and types of music. I think that’s what happening there.

What’s the parent reaction to the type of music you guys are playing?

Nate: I think for the most part all of our parents are very supportive.

Tang: I don’t know about that. Being from an Asian family and all, they weren’t exactly excited that I was doing this whatsoever. They do know they are good kids and have met them all.

Tell me about the new EP, Between All We Can See.

Eric: One of the reasons it took so long was because we are poor. We don’t have a lot of money and it costs a lot to record. That had to do with why we only went with an EP versus putting out a full album. We’d like to have it published and sell it at record stores like Waterloo and places like that. Right now we are just giving them out at shows.

Nate: We’re using it as a springboard to get attention. You can download it for free online also.

If you are just giving it away, what are you going to use a guide to measure the success of Between All We Can See? Will it be how many people download the EP or your shows getting bigger crowds?

Eric: We want to use the EP to take off and be a name in Austin. We want people to hear the name In Situ Sound and know who we are. That’s what we want. If that happens, then we can consider everything a success.

What’s behind the name of the band?

Eric: We went through a couple of names of the band. We wanted In Situ, but we found out that was taken. Everyone seemed to have wanted the “sound” part in the name.

Chris: I came up with In Situ part. I like alliteration for some reason.

Eric: It has a cool meaning. It means “original state of the sound”.

What’s the inspiration behind the lyrics?

Chris: For the most part, the way we write is we put lyrics to the complete song. I try and make things more ambiguous to where the listener can draw their own meaning.

Eric: I will say I have always wanted an outlet to write, but I can’t sing. I feel privileged that Chris lets me write with him. I do a lot of “we” lyrics. I look at society and try to write about society. I like to focus on what’s going on and a few personal experiences. My writing has grown to be about more social issues.

Will you guys be touring soon or do you plan to around Austin for the most part?

Eric: We will be here for the most part. We do have some friends in a couple of different areas that can get us shows. I think we have to get our stuff together first in Austin.

So what is coming up next for you guys then? I know you are new and everything, but I know the machine is always going.

Nate: Always. We’re writing new songs right now and few in the works. We will be playing them come February, songs that aren’t on the EP.

So you’re not going to break out into those Incubus covers anymore?

Nate: [laughs] Probably not, man; maybe at private parties or something like that.  

Last question: Why should anyone pay attention to In Situ Sound? What is it about this band that will hook them?

Eric: Seeing us live may be the thing that hooks you. We bring a different flavor from a lot of the poppy indie that Austin loves so much. We aren’t as hard as what comes out of San Antonio or as alternative as Dallas. It may just be something that speaks to you.

Nate: There’s great bands here, but with us we have a taste of different things. We’re energetic and then the next measure might be soft and pretty. It progresses well and sounds really good live.

Austin Vida's Chantel Clopine photographed In Situ Sound's Free Week show at Beerland. Check it out:

          In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010]Photo by Chantel Clopine           In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010] Photo by Chantel Clopine           In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010] Photo by Chantel Clopine           In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010] Photo by Chantel Clopine           In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010] Photo by Chantel Clopine           In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010] Photo by Chantel Clopine           In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010] Photo by Chantel Clopine           In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010] Photo by Chantel Clopine In Situ Sound at Beerland [Jan. 6, 2010]Photo by Chantel Clopine

I gotta be completely honest: Zechs Marquise is a band I discovered in between Mars Volta albums a few years ago when I was a TMV fanatic and needed a prog/punk/experimental fix in between Volta albums (a downtime that averaged 15 months maybe, but still...).

The best-known of the Rodriguez-Lopez brothers from El Paso is Omar, the mastermind behind the Volta, but his musically inclined siblings Marfred and Marcel are no slouches. They formed the improvisation-driven instrumental rock band Zechs Marquise with childhood friends Matthew Wilkson and Marcos Smith in 2003.

Despite the connection to a bigger band, Zechs Marquise (named after an anime cartoon character) doesn't have to worry about living under anyone's shadow. This band rocks. Plain and simple. Being that the brothers grew up together listening to lots of the same music (Led Zeppelin, King Crimson), Zechs' sound is reminscent of the Volta, but a simpler, more hard-charging and stripped-down version. That's where the comparisons should stop. This is a unique band with a clear vision and personality. From a live EP to their debut LP, 2009's Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, this band shows lots of promise.

I interviewed bass player and band leader Marfred after a show in Austin recently. The band is returning to Austin in March, in case you missed them. In the meantime, watch our live footage below and read the Q&A.

Zechs Marquise, live at Mohawk. Watch on YouTube here.

Tell me how you started the band.

Marfred: Basically, you know, it's just a few friends getting together and had the common interest of music. We'd just get together whenever we could. We never really used to write music; we would just play.

I get that vibe from watching you guys play live.

Marfred: For sure. It's the one thing we never got rid of, like over the years. Because before, our sets used to be almost completely improvised. But based around a few riffs. Eventually, when we solidified the core lineup, we kinda started messing more with arrangements and melodies. The presentation of the music was a very important thing to us.

Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez playing bass

I got some live footage in there. How much of what we just saw is improv versus structure.

Marfred: Tonight, I'd say tonight it was a 60-40 split, more or less. Every night is a different thing. A lot of the same stuff is there—a lot of the structure is there—but we'll add things here and there. It's kind of a spur of the moment thing.

I totally got that vibe.

Marfred: It takes a while because at first you're more concentrated on what you're doing. And then after a while you learn you gotta pay attention. You gotta look around. And now it's weird. It's become second nature. We'll just be playing and we'll happen to look up, and it's like Cool, alright, let's do it.

I read that you had a record that fell through. What happened with that?

Marfred: The engineer that we were working with on that record—he was an employee at a studio. He was actually the neighbor at our old rehearsal spot and he liked the music or whatever, so he kinda hooked us up with a deal. We went; we recorded. It was three full songs—a fourth song only had bass and drum tracks on it. And then we left on tour, and when we got back they had fired the engineer and had wiped all our material from the hard drive.

Wow, that sucks.

Marfred: And all we had was one song that they gave us right before we left, just so we could hear it as a reference. Actually, they gave us three of them, but only one was semi-mixed. But even then, it wasn't anything we wanted. So we just kinda put it out on the second release of our first EP when it went into second print. It was a bummer, but we learned from that experience and decided to take the reigns ourselves.

And you guys self-produced and self-recorded the album that became your debut, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare.

Marfred: It works better just because of scheduling and we don't have to deal with outside stuff; we just didn't want what happened to us to happen again. You know, we paid for it and we really didn't get anything from it.

Where was it recorded?

Marfred: El Paso, in this studio over by the airport.

Border towns are interesting. I'm originally from California, but I graduated high school in Laredo. There's a different kind of vibe in border towns, almost polarized. People are either really ultra-stuffy and uptight or just super-out-there and creative. How does being from a border town influence the kind of stuff you're into?

Marfred: Like you said, in border towns—at least El Paso—it's very easy to settle for mediocrity. People there just settle. That's all they wanna do. And that's actually what pushes us. We don't just wanna hang out. We wanna go out there and we wanna do things. Because other than that, what would be the point? A lot of guys back home, if they do play music, they just like the idea of being in a band to be cool, or whatever. Or for girls, in some cases. But we just like to do it because we enjoy playing music and we enjoy each other's company. So it definitely pushes us to get out of there and push our limits, and keep pushing them.

You strike me as the kind of band that's constantly working on new material, just because of the improv.

Marfred: Definitely. There's never a time when we're like "Let's sit down and write an album." We're constantly, always, cranking out new things. It makes it good because we're not running out of material. And with older things, we can go back and add things. If we don't like it, we can scrap it and replace it with something else. It keeps a very interesting dynamic in the studio.

A lot of freedom in there.

Marfred: Definitely, especially since we're on our own time. We don't gotta pay anybody.

It's gotta be nice. But hard too, since you have to be a producer too, not just a songwriter or performer. Any other plans?

Marfred: We're gonna take more time to record. Like I said, it's always new things. We wanna put it out just because we already have enough material for two, possibly three records. Hopefully in the spring, we'll have a six-week tour coming up. A whole US tour.

Cool, man. You play with your brother Marcel in this band, and Omar has The Mars Volta. I don't know what was in the water in your household growing up, but you got one of the most musically talented families, dude. Were you guys playing from early childhood?

Marfred: We all picked up at seperate times. Our parents were all really supportive. The second that any of us decided to play an instrument, they were one-hundred-percent supportive and like, "Alright, we'll go rent you your first instrument."

Do your parents come from musical backgrounds?

Marfred: My mom sings, and my dad is singer/composer as well.

We have lots of Latin supergroups. We have the Fania All-Stars. What about the Rodriguez-Lopez Allstars? Are we ever gonna get a collaboration like that?

Marfred: Yeah, we'll see. We've often talked about it. I mean, there's been plenty of times when all of us are together, and we get together and plug in and play. I'm sure it'll be a salsa band.

It has to be.

Marfred: That'll probably be the way it goes.

Get the family together, for the good of the music world.

Marfred: [laughs] Yeah.

Zechs Marquise links: MySpace | Official Website | Bandcamp