ESQ: High voltage rock, but designed for singing and dancing. How should
dance this album?
DG: We wanted to spark a burst of euphoria to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. We had a long tour ahead of us and I imagined
haranguing the masses at festivals and stadiums around the world. Then everything
stopped and now the record sees the light as a
time capsule containing a sound that no one would associate with us.
I am referring to a more danceable type of groove, based on simple rhythms like the disco music of the 70s, the
funk of Sly Stone and rock of Let's
Dance by David Bowie and Tattoo You by
the Rolling Stones. A fucking madness between Sly Stone, the Stones and Bowie.
ESQ: Do you care to upset the fans?
DG: What defines us as a band is not
both the sound and the constant search for new challenges. Our catalog
ranges from dissonant hard rock tunes to acoustic orchestrated melodies. Who expects to find on the disk
hymns like My Hero or Best of You and
Shame Shame you might wonder if
has been mistaken as a group. Or you will understand that our essence is also there.
ESQ: Is it possible to find in any topic
the elongated shadow of Nirvana?
DG: I don't know. Two guitars, one bass, one
drums, a keyboard and me screaming
once in a while [laughs]. Yes I can tell you
that I have recovered a riff that I composed
25 years ago in Seattle, shortly after
end of Nirvana. It can be heard
in the Cloudspotter improvisation, which
I composed against the clock during last day of recording.
Beyond that, connecting Foo Fighters with Nirvana
it is hope. In 1994 I was depressed and consumed with pain, but one
day I realized that I still had
many things to fight for. And that
sing.
ESQ: A clip from the recording of Waiting on a War went viral on Reddit. Was it just part of the
album promotion campaign?
DG: Our account was hacked and I got so fucking pissed off ... It's like someone takes your star plate out of the oven
half an hour before its done and on top he gives it to
your best friends to taste.
ESQ: Following the golden generation of music video directors like Spike Jonze and
Michael Gondry, what led you to the unknown Paola Kudacki for Shame
Shame?
DG: Kudacki is an Argentine photographer
who I met years ago for a
session. It was like finding a unicorn in the middle of the desert. She had never directed a video clip, but I convinced her to translate into images
a dream I had when I was 15 years old:
high on a hill, a coffin on fire
and, inside, someone I can't recognize.
ESQ: If you close your eyes and think of Spain, what do you see?
DG: Valencia, July 1992. The night
before the Nirvana concert I drank
until dawn. I slept about two hours. In the morning, I asked a taxi driver
to take me somewhere where they rented motorcycles and I ended up on the outskirts of
the city. Half drunk, I skirted cars and roundabouts looking for a sign
to say 'bullring'. Don't ask me how, but I found it. When entering through the front door, the motorcycle skidded in the sand and I shot out in the air. I didn't break any bones. I only suffered a little bruised pride.
Words: Benjamin G Rosado
ESQ: High voltage rock, but designed for singing and dancing. How should
dance this album?
DG: We wanted to spark a burst of euphoria to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. We had a long tour ahead of us and I imagined
haranguing the masses at festivals and stadiums around the world. Then everything
stopped and now the record sees the light as a
time capsule containing a sound that no one would associate with us.
I am referring to a more danceable type of groove, based on simple rhythms like the disco music of the 70s, the
funk of Sly Stone and rock of Let's
Dance by David Bowie and Tattoo You by
the Rolling Stones. A fucking madness between Sly Stone, the Stones and Bowie.
ESQ: Do you care to upset the fans?
DG: What defines us as a band is not
both the sound and the constant search for new challenges. Our catalog
ranges from dissonant hard rock tunes to acoustic orchestrated melodies. Who expects to find on the disk
hymns like My Hero or Best of You and
Shame Shame you might wonder if
has been mistaken as a group. Or you will understand that our essence is also there.
ESQ: Is it possible to find in any topic
the elongated shadow of Nirvana?
DG: I don't know. Two guitars, one bass, one
drums, a keyboard and me screaming
once in a while [laughs]. Yes I can tell you
that I have recovered a riff that I composed
25 years ago in Seattle, shortly after
end of Nirvana. It can be heard
in the Cloudspotter improvisation, which
I composed against the clock during last day of recording.
Beyond that, connecting Foo Fighters with Nirvana
it is hope. In 1994 I was depressed and consumed with pain, but one
day I realized that I still had
many things to fight for. And that
sing.
ESQ: A clip from the recording of Waiting on a War went viral on Reddit. Was it just part of the
album promotion campaign?
DG: Our account was hacked and I got so fucking pissed off ... It's like someone takes your star plate out of the oven
half an hour before its done and on top he gives it to
your best friends to taste.
ESQ: Following the golden generation of music video directors like Spike Jonze and
Michael Gondry, what led you to the unknown Paola Kudacki for Shame
Shame?
DG: Kudacki is an Argentine photographer
who I met years ago for a
session. It was like finding a unicorn in the middle of the desert. She had never directed a video clip, but I convinced her to translate into images
a dream I had when I was 15 years old:
high on a hill, a coffin on fire
and, inside, someone I can't recognize.
ESQ: If you close your eyes and think of Spain, what do you see?
DG: Valencia, July 1992. The night
before the Nirvana concert I drank
until dawn. I slept about two hours. In the morning, I asked a taxi driver
to take me somewhere where they rented motorcycles and I ended up on the outskirts of
the city. Half drunk, I skirted cars and roundabouts looking for a sign
to say 'bullring'. Don't ask me how, but I found it. When entering through the front door, the motorcycle skidded in the sand and I shot out in the air. I didn't break any bones. I only suffered a little bruised pride.
Words: Benjamin G Rosado