You’ve been traveling the whole year on your new album “Sirens” tour. ¿How do you solve your creative needs being constantly away from home?
Haha I don’t! The current way the system is set up makes it impossible for an artist to make a living from music sales, unless you’re rihanna, so you have to be on a constant “tour-make an album-tour-make an album” cycle that can kill your art practice and any sense of daily normalcy.. but the irony is that it’s also very stimulating to be on the road. – I feel very grateful for being able to take my little instruments around the world.
Why did you moved away from New York?
My mother and I moved to NY from Santiago in 1998. Maybe this is just the end of a 20 year cycle for me.. Maybe I didn’t see it before as much but now I feel the city is increasingly run by bankers, trust fund kids, “digital content creators” etc… it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world and I don’t see how you can sustain creative work in that city without succumbing to unsustainable economic pressures. I guess I feel like these pressures are turning me into a much more commercial artist than i want to be. but in the end, maybe it’s a more personal decision. I like solitude and work and feel like I haven’t said what I really want to say yet. At least not in any proper way.
What sounds, experiences or people have benn an influence in the ambient album you’ve been playing live? Are you planning to release ir soon?
I don’t know when honestly.. I guess most of the album would be best experienced if you were to put on an invisibility cloak and headphones at a really bad festival and you were too look at everyone stumbling out at the end of the night. The opera of our degeneration.
Is this record influenced by the fact of being traveling around the world?
It’s very digital- i had to take what i’ve learned with modules and synths and applied it to the digital world. There’s more control in a way, and the canvas is a complete silence instead of a hum. It’s like making music in a void, or space. I think making music for Audiard’s film also influenced me.
What led you to play in Ramala?
The Jaar family came to santiago from palestine in the 1920s (or around then..). i grew up eating palestinian food and it’s always been part of my life.. I went twice this year, once just for myself, traveling all throughout the west bank with my friend who lives there and we figured out a way to organize a show with some friends.
When I got on stage I had all these things to say, and all these songs to play from my last record (Sirens) which in some ways speaks directly to what is happening there.. the record is very rooted in the palestinian conflict and the resurgence of the right.. But after 10 seconds of my intro I realized we all just needed to release..so it was just a huge party both completely outside of time and context and yet extremely rooted in its own pained reality.. it was a highlight of my life thus far, I’m so grateful I got to play for the people there.
How does the palestinian night scene work?
You should interview my friend Ayed, but one thing I heard from multiple Palestinians that live in israel is that they get asked to show their military ID at the door of bars or clubs. And when they say they don’t have one – because Palestinians usually opt out of the compulsory military service – they’re not let into the establishment. That’s why I decided to play in Kabareet in Haifa (Israel) – it’s a Palestinian owned establishment that has a very open door policy – they let in gays, arabs, jews, etc..
What’s your view on the chilean political situation?
What happened seems similar to Bernie Sanders in the US.. The real left, Frente Amplio, is marginalized by a “fake left” that’s actually just neoliberal centrism… And then they’re forced to coalesce into one group that has nothing to do with them in a way. i would like for frente amplio to gain more and more power so that they can take the presidency next time around but i’m afraid now Piñera is gonna win.. which is awful news (this interview was made before the election, he got that right) if he stops the same sex marriage bill it will be a disaster. But then again, what do I know I don’t live there!
How does the Trump administration affects you?
When I was working on sirens I was under the assumption that we were at the very end of the neoliberal veil and at the beginning of a more fascist era (at the very least in terms of tone) – but never did i think we would be here now. These are gangsters who are not afraid of being seen as gangsters – they relish in it..! It’s very dangerous. I think the filter bubble makes all of our political traits more extreme because we only see what we want to see and mirrors still reflect if they break.
Whats should be our generational reaction to this?
I’m a bit of a hippy when it comes to this… I think we have to be patient and work on ourselves – the political always has a private dimension. As long as we question our assumptions and dig deeper and deeper in why we do the things we do, as humans, as lovers, as sisters, as sons, we can be spiritually mature enough to create the kind of shift, as citizens, that we all dream of.
That deep inner change then affects our scientists, graphic designers, poets, artists filmmakers activists architects mathematicians. we all need to come together to create this shift. change will not be in the same old hands any longer once our generation figures out how to break the bureaucracy embedded in our minds… in the end a lot of our current system is just a potemkin village, a very strong one but so much is based on speculation and inflation- there’s no there, there!
What’s your opinion on the electronic music scene in Chile?
I was lucky to work with Cazeria Cazador and throw some shows with them in Santiago earlier this year – i feel an affinity with they way they think about music- can’t wait to see them all very soon !
I’m going down there in a week, ask me after and i’ll have an updated list, haha.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
TAMBIÉN TE PUEDE INTERESAR
