Tuesday, September 14, 2010

EIC'S10Q'S w/Viernes

"..mixes the best elements of Shoegaze, Psych Rock/Pop, Dream Pop, Post Punk, & Classical Instrumentation with pure genius and ferocity. This was made for an audiophile.."


Viernes
Adoration For The Empyrean

Viernes Bio:
Viernes is a new experimental duo from Florida who released their debut LP "Sinister Devices" on June 8, 2010 on Kanine Records. The two create dreamlike soundscapes to get lost in. What started as an afternoon recording project sparking from their mutual love of favorite records: My Bloody Valentine’s "Loveless", Liars’ "Drum’s Not Dead", Basinski’s "The Disintegration Loops" and Van Dyke Parks’ "Song Cycle" to name a few, soon turned into a year long obsession.

Each Friday, the two would spend their afternoons and late into the night secluding themselves in their homemade studio at Moore’s mother’s house. Incorporating instruments passed down to them, Moore’s old Wurlitzer piano inherited from his late father was used for every piano part, and Hernandez borrowed his father’s Puerto Rican cuatro. Within less than a year, the duo had put to tape their own dreamlike soundscapes and had created more than enough material for an album.

Once the duo worked out a live show – they started performing under the appropriately titled Viernes, grabbing the attention of several promoters. Locally, they began to open for national touring acts.



Hello, how are you?
Doing great, thanks. About to take my lunch break at work.

What are you currently listening to?
Right now I am really into this 1950's station on Sirius XM in my car. The 40's station is great too. I love old music. In terms of new stuff, Women have a new record coming out in the next month called "Public Strain", and it is probably one of our favorites so far this year. I just preordered in on vinyl. Another new band I have been digging recently is Lower Dens. Their debut record "Twin Hand Movement" is fantastic. Mixed by Chris Coady. It's Jana Hunter's new thing. Also checking out a lot of old African music. I bought this nice box set of LPs called "Ghana Special". I know Sean has been listening to Italian composer Roberto Cacciapaglia a lot lately.

Do you guys have a thing for “Fridays”, or is there another meaning behind the band title?
We initially only recorded after getting out of our day jobs on Fridays, so really that was it. We found out later that Radiohead first called themselves On a Friday, although there is no correlation there. I think the deeper meaning lies in pursuing something that you love to do.

Sinister Devices” is your debut album, yet it sounds like something only a veteran musician could pull off. What are your backgrounds in music?

Thanks so much. Well Sean is classically trained and has been playing violin since he was a child. He also studied music in college. He is an orchestra director at a private school here. I come from the other end of the spectrum, always played music growing up, but I play by ear and am self-taught. It creates a nice balance. We both play several instruments and tried to switch around as much as we could in the recording process.

Were you going for a specific sound when you were putting together “Sinister Devices”?
Not really, we set out to have total freedom. It was really intended to be a recording project in the early stages. Although as we kept recording, we realized we wanted to make a cohesive record, and I think then we started honing in on a "sound". Initially though, we knew we wanted things to sound both beautiful and dark. I think that knowing that helped, but we didn't say "Ok, let's make this record sound like this."

You guys are from Orlando, FL right? What’s the music scene like down there/is your sound appreciated or do you stick out?
We definitely stick out, but we are appreciated here, and we love living here. The weather rules. Orlando has had a bad reputation in music for years, mostly because of it being misrepresented as a tourist trap, the boy bands, and some pretty awful stuff like Creed came out of here. Although the scene here has recently become a breeding ground for great new talented artists. Florida is finally getting on the map and it is long overdue.

What’s next, touring (nationally or internationally) or another album release of some sort?

We are planning on playing shows around the South now and then in October going back to NYC for CMJ. We were just up there after the album came out a few months ago. In terms of new material, we are finishing up an EP that we should release late this year or early next. That will be out on Kanine as well. We are excited about it. And we just started demoing material for the second full-length. We also both have several releases coming up for our solo material as well as some other side projects.

You can only keep/listen to ONE album for the rest of your life ..which album would it be?

That is a very difficult question. I really couldn't pick one. But since I have to, mine would probably be "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine. I think that album is pretty perfect and it's been one of my all-time favorites for many years. Sean says probably The Beach Boys, "Pet Sounds".

Are you living your dream?

We are still such a new band and feel like we are only getting started, like the best is yet to come. Right now, it feels pretty great that people are taking notice of us. We can only go up from here. Living the dream will be when we can totally quit our day jobs and play and record and travel the world all the time.

Thanx Alberto!

Viernes are about to release a new EP followed shortly by a new full length, look for those soon..!

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