By José Gandue @Gandour
The new generations of Chilean musicians have given a good meaning to the word pop and its sound. Something particular in the development of the concept and the technical aspects of the recordings distinguishes the scene in this southern country. of everything else we're hearing in Latin America, and we celebrate it. In this case, we bring to Hausi Kuta, a band formed in the city of Concepción, which released its second album a few months ago, Bestiary, a nine-song work with a melancholic and dark sound, featuring elements of rock, jazz and hints of folklore from the southern cone, generating significant buzz on digital platforms. Just as they're about to cross the Andes and embark on a promotional tour in Argentina, we were able to contact Alejandro Saenz, their keyboardist, to get some details about the band and their future plans.
Let's start with something simple: what is Hausi Kuta?
It's about making music that excites us as musicians and that we hope will excite other people as well. As a band, we try to make Hausi Kuta a space for innovation (even if it's personal innovation) and for creative experimentation.
How many times were you asked about the meaning of Hausi Kuta?
Several!
Well, this is yet another occasion…
Hausi Kuta is one of the names of the Yaghan language, the southernmost language in the world, which is on the verge of disappearing.
That gives me the opportunity to ask, how closely linked is the band's music to local folk sounds?
The influence is undoubtedly there, although perhaps not so obvious. Several members of the band come from a folk music background, and we all listen to a lot of folk music. In our music, this manifests itself in some rhythms and timbres characteristic of folk music (like the use of the ronroco on our first album).
What other influences do you acknowledge seeped into the recording of your two albums?
Bands like Radiohead, Björk, Bon Iver, and Nerve are undoubtedly influential influences that permeate our approach to composition and arrangement. Several of us also play jazz, so we often use improvisation as a compositional tool. Finally, I believe that music focused on soundscape and textures (like some of Brian Eno's work) has deeply impacted our approach to sound effects, giving prominence to timbres, textures, and how they evolve within a song.
How do you feel about what's happening in the pop-rock scene in your country?
We feel like it's a movement that's evolving and growing a lot. Clearly, there are bands we feel more musically connected to, like Camila Moreno or Matorral, but I still think we haven't quite managed to fit perfectly into any niche. To some extent, we feel like oddballs. But I think that's a good thing if you approach it the right way.
Does being from Concepción make a difference compared to what happens in Santiago?
To some extent, the fact that Concepción is an important cradle of Chilean musicians and that it's a city where it's almost always cloudy influences, at least on a subconscious level, how we approach music. However, since all of us from Concepción have lived in Santiago for several years now, the effect is probably less noticeable.
Bestiary It's a dark, melancholic album with lyrics that could be described as provocative. What kind of environment was this album produced to achieve this result?
I don't think it's so much a product of the environment, but rather of the band's interests. In particular, we all like melancholic and sad music, and many of us are drawn to provocative literature that, to some extent, defies logic and reality (that's why the stories of Bestiary (For us, they're like magical realism stories). Honestly, I don't think our environment is particularly dark or provocative.
What are the band's plans for 2019?
To showcase our music as much as possible, especially in Chile and Argentina. And to continue composing and arranging what will be our third album.