By José Gandue @Gandour
This is an audiovisual piece constructed in an unusual way. The original idea, according to the people at Artifact (the creators of this audiovisual piece), under the production of the journalist Thomas Saint John,It's about telling the stories of Argentine rock albums, with testimonials from their protagonists, keeping in mind the terms set by Instagram—that is, videos of one minute maximum, with images that illustrate the statements of these personalities. Ultimately, on this occasion, to begin with, The result was a 32-minute work, in which archival images (almost all still) are shown, accompanied by audio recordings of the artists who were with Gustavo Cerati in its process of making Puff, his first solo album after the breakup of Soda Stereo. In half an hour of material, while snippets of the songs that make up this album play in the background, you can hear testimonies from Leo García, Flavio Etcheto and Rudie Martínez (Addicted), the recording engineer Eduardo Bergallo, the symphonic arranger Alejandro Terán and the cover photographer Gaby Herbstein.
Technically speaking, This documentary looks a bit sloppy, but it would be silly to be picky and we don't want to spoil the pleasant experience. The process undertaken is easy to understand, as it involved gathering the archives of everything done and captured twenty years ago, what has survived from a much less digital era than today, and with the misfortune of no longer having with us the main figure, the true star. But with what the interviewees said, plus a few unpublished or little-known images, The filmmakers achieve the particular goal of moving the viewer and knowing how to fit it into a film that some may initially think they already know to death, but which still has many exciting moments, showing a Cerati excited to begin a new stage, with fears little suspected by his fans, and with moments that make us feel him even more brilliant in his musical facet.
To find out about the process of creating this audiovisual product, We contacted San Juan to interview him. and learn more about it:
Where did the idea for this documentary come from?
As a journalist, I've always been interested in investigative journalism. I've always had a musical background and have been inclined to read a lot about Argentine rock artists. I've also always been drawn to delving into how the albums that so profoundly influenced the national scene and various musicians came about. We initially started with the idea of creating an Instagram account to share the content (you can find it as @artemook), and then we found ourselves with so much material that we decided to turn it into a documentary. From now on, with subsequent albums, the plan will be the same: teasers on Instagram, the most popular social network right now, and a final documentary that reflects all the work done.
What made them start with Puff?
First and foremost, absolute respect for Gustavo Cerati's work. He was always an artist I admired and who marked many moments in my life, I'd say even before I was born because my parents always followed his music. Then, the 20th anniversary of his release coincided with the event, and there were no more doubts. We had to start with something that motivated us, and that's what we did.
What surprised you to learn as you conducted the interviews?
What surprised me most were the testimonies of Flavio Etcheto and Leo García, who brought Gustavo down to earth. While he was always known for being a musician who held his own in front of the press and the public—I'm talking more about egos—they remembered him as quite naive during that period. Puff. Let's remember that this was his first solo album after the breakup of Soda Stereo, his lifelong band and the most important group in Latin America. They described Cerati as someone who sought opinions, shared his music, allowed other musicians to contribute to his sound, and relied heavily on his bandmates.
Equal, Puff It was a leap into the void, wasn't it? I mean, it was risking the glorious image of Soda Stereo in exchange for an uncertain solo career.
Yes, without a doubt. Also in the quest he chose to undertake. Gustavo was one of the first musicians in the country to make an album entirely with samplers as its main focus, and that must be acknowledged. Loops, electronics, sounds. He took a gamble, and it paid off. The proof was that 20th anniversary; all the journalists, rock critics, and musicians who remembered it emphasized how it was a milestone, both for Argentine rock and for his career. It was a leap of faith, but with a parachute that landed him in the best possible harbor. Puff It's an indisputable masterpiece in the history of Argentine rock. But he also suffered, didn't he? Because Gustavo always did what he wanted, and over time, especially during the period of... 11 symphonic episodes y Today is always today. While he was filling the Gran Rex, bands like Bersuit Vergarabat or Los Piojos were filling five. And he didn't like that. But over time, all his albums have found their place.
What other projects are coming up for Artefacto in the future?
The next album is going to be Inner Hole by Virus. It's a work that brought Federico Moura's band to mainstream success, and what interests us most is finding out how and why they decided to release such rock-oriented songs.
Finally, a perhaps uncomfortable question, a game impossible to confirm: How do you think Cerati would see today's music and how would he be participating in everything that is happening today?
It's impossible to know. Cerati proved over the years that you could never know what he might turn up with. After Puff He made an album revisiting his work with symphonic arrangements, later he jumped to a completely different world which is Today is always today. Then he returned to rock with Here we go and it ended with Natural Force, which for me is the most difficult album to analyze because of the sheer number of things he included. If I go back to 2007, Gustavo on tour You'll See Me Return He "mocks" reggaeton in When the Earthquake Passes, change the sentence and wanted a «"Wake me up when the reggaeton is over.". If I go by that, I'd say he wouldn't have liked it at all. But that was 12 years ago. I don't know what Gustavo Cerati would have thought in 2019. As Charly García once said, Gustavo Cerati was an architect of music. And architects also have to adapt to changing times, right?