By José Gandue @Gandour
I confess: I love it when music brings unexpected stories with it., like when you receive a link to a 7-song album full of delicious funk, of one who reminisces about old times of dancing, full of psychedelic guitars, a desire to flood the world with well-deserved sensuality and a distinctive voice that immediately draws attention for its high tones and tenderness. Without receiving much information, and perhaps with a certain degree of irresponsibility (I mean, on my part), I arrange an appointment to interview a band called Miramar Bay, who has just released an album called The Bay, As the conversation progresses, I realize that, aside from enjoying his music, I had absolutely no idea what they had to tell me. Note that when I requested information before the interview, all I received were four individual photos of the band members, taken in different cities, with a brief explanation that they hadn't had the opportunity to get together for a group portrait. At that point, I thought I'd stumbled upon some strange journalistic mess. Anyway, before reproducing the text of the interview with Jesús Bermúdez, the band's guitarist, I thought, based on a mistaken assumption, that I was about to chat with Chilean artists. Imagine my absentmindedness:
Before we begin, let me explain: why are they now scattered all over the world? Has it always been this way?
We're all scattered because we all emigrated from Venezuela. We knew each other because we lived in the same city (Punto Fijo, Falcón State), and we even had a project together a few years ago. But with the whole pandemic situation, we felt a strong urge to start a musical project, and that's how it began.
Wow, I didn't know all this. You guys don't mention it anywhere…
Certainly. It's something that would be good to tell people, but I think we've focused more on music these past few months (laughs).
Okay, and was everything recorded remotely?
That's right. Mauricio Key, who's in Chile, usually composes the basic tracks. Then he sends them to the rest of the band, and we all start adding to them until we get to the final result. Ana Socorro, who's in Peru and is the vocalist, writes the lyrics and records the vocals. Carlos Mendoza, who's in Argentina, records the bass, and I, who's also in Argentina, record the guitars and also do the production and mixing of the tracks.
Have they ever played live together?
No, not yet. Basically, because the project started in December 2020, and of course, with the whole pandemic and restrictions, we've been limited to producing new music and promoting it. We also hope that as soon as everything returns to "normal," we can start playing live again.
Is the idea to meet in a city and live together, something like that?
I don't know if living together in the same city is a good idea because right now we each have our own jobs and lives in different cities, but it would be ideal to meet up in one city to rehearse and eventually play live together. Again, when all this is over (laughs).
I keep asking personal questions: what made you think, under such circumstances, about forming a band?
First and foremost, without a doubt, is our love for music. It might sound a bit cheesy or cliché, but it's true—we absolutely love making music! And well, doing it under these circumstances, I think, has to do with the fact that during the lockdown we had a lot of free time, and that's what sparked the desire to start a project.
How would you describe the sound of Miramar Bay?
I think I would describe it as «"Chill funky vibes". We kind of dabbled in funk, but kept it fresh and pretty chill!
What immediate references do they have? What influences do they acknowledge?
Look, there's a bit of everything. There's Furino, a Venezuelan lo-fi artist. Parcels is also a big influence. Bomba Estéreo definitely influences us a lot. Motherflowers. Irepelusa. Barco. Blur. Gorillaz and more…
What are the lyrics about?
Look, they range from having a good intimate time with someone like Turn me on or Rroadtrip, From heartbreak, to simply having a good vibes day, and also the nostalgia of not being in our hometown that we miss so much.
I know that everything depends on the development of the pandemic, but what are your aspirations? What do you want to happen with the group?
I think the long-term plan is to keep making music, and if everything goes well, eventually perform live. But at least for 2021, it seems the situation will limit us to exclusively producing new music. We also want to make music videos, whether they're remote sessions or "conventional" music videos.
How has it been for you to share your material with your old and new friends?
Overall, pretty good! I think sharing the first song we recorded, which was The House, and receive the good feedback The support of our friends was undoubtedly what motivated us to take this project seriously.
One final question. With music, are better times coming?
Absolutely. In this whole pandemic context, music has played an almost leading role in making everything more bearable (both listening to it and making it), and without a doubt, better times will come after all this is over.