I stumbled upon Spain in my formative years in the 90s and I was very glad I did. Featuring the smooth strength of Charles Hayden’s vocals and simple jazzy arrangements, Spain’s sound was a great contrast to the buffet of britpop I had on my regular rotation. The track Nobody Has To Know is still one of my favourite tracks to this day.
The past year saw Spain team up with Canada’s own Dine Alone Record to deliver the new album Sargent Place. I have only recently got my hands on the record (thanks, Dine Alone!) and am excited to see how it blends with the older material. Luckily, they are playing in Austin again. I was elated to see them at SXSW two years ago and this time around, I’m equally excited to see them once again showcase their music in Austin (and not at 1:30 am).
Check them out at Bungalow from 8:00 to 8:40 pm on Wednesday March 18.
One of the best (and mostly ignored) reasons to go to SXSW is to discover a whole new world of music. Bands from all over the Earth come to Austin to promote their music and let’s face it, if they can come up with the budget to travel to Austin from other continents, they must be pretty good. It’s one thing to borrow your buddy’s van for a week and drive a few hours to Texas. It’s another to pack up everything on a plane and fly on over.
Fabyrka are an Italian band with a flavor for catchy feel good pop music. They’ll be in Austin in a few weeks to showcase their music and we had a chance to virtually sit down with them to ask a few questions.
SXSW is a long way to go! What made you decide on this festival and not other ones? What are you expecting from to take away from your trip to Austin?
Agostino: SXSW is the RIGHT way to go! ;) It’s an amazing festival (maybe the best) and is a real chance to be able to listen to what we do. Certainly this experience in Austin will give us the opportunity to creatively enrich and grow in our way of making music… and take a trip to Austin, TX. Coooool! ;)
Please note this was a digital interview and Agostino did not wink at me
In recent times, we have seen a lot of popular bands come out from places such as Sweden, Denmark and France. Yet, Italy seems to have remained in the background. Why do you think that is?
Stefano: Almost everyone in Italy only speaks Italian, watches foreign movies dubbed in Italian, and listens to English music without understanding lyrics. They never care what happens outside the country. Luckily, people born in the last three decades have an internet connection, a smartphone, and all the tools to increase their curiosity. Italian bands like Bloody Beetroots, Jennifer Gentle, M+A, Aucan are examples of how something is happening right now. We’re just a little late!
What’s the number one misconception about Italians?
Alessandro: I think conceptions about a certain community are never wrong at all, even though they are often partially personal opinions. But, if I had to say something that I think is overstated about Italians, it is the attachment to their mother. In short, the fact that we are mama’s boys. And…
Oh sorry, I have to go now! There’s my mom calling to know if I prefer pizza or spaghetti for dinner…I wouldn’t like to displease her…
Your music has a pretty sunny upbeat disposition, what inspires your sound?
Tiziana: You speak of “a pretty sunny upbeat disposition”.. ..Probably it depends on the way we see life. We are inspired by everything around us: Every instance of life, moments, sunny landscapes, feelings, meetings that could change our own journey. One single experience can gives us something new, increasing our knowledge and awareness. Life leaves us the best and the worst memories too. All of these things deeply affect us and we try to communicate them through sounds.
Can you describe your band in 10 words?
Raffaele:
1. changing – we’ve changed a lot during our musical life as a group, and we don’t intend to stop in the future
2. pop
3. contrast – defined as black and white and everything in between, we like to combine different styles
4. enthusiasm – we love what we do!
5. five – because we are five, and 5 Days is the title of a certain Ep we love so much
6. “Six” (which actually is our guitarist’s nickname, but it would take ten words more to explain why)
7. fabric – structure and texture are fundamental in our music, we are Fabryka, afterall!
8. restlessness – we are always in motion, we don’t like to rest calm and quiet, we like to explore everything!
9. melody – this is where everything begins
10. pulse
Fabryka plays Buffalo Billiards on March 20 at 11:00 PM
We here at Panic Manual have been big fans of San Fermin for a long time. Their self titled debut album was one of my favorite albums back in 2013, back when I was a young lad. Since then, I have matured significantly and perhaps this too is reflected with the sound of the new album. Maybe it has not, I don’t know. I have not listened to their new record, which is entitled Jackrabbit. The album is out on April 21st but for those of us lucky enough to go to Austin, they will be playing a plethora of shows at SXSW this year.
The picture above was a party they played in Austin for SXSW. What’s not pictured? Free muther fuckin bbq’s! Sausages! Brisket! Ribs galore! This type of gastronomical satistfaction was reflected perfectly in the San Fermin live show – a little bit of everything, high peaks and deeply satisfying. I don’t know if this post makes any sense. Regardless, they are a band to check out and I mean that in the most honest, sincere way.
They are also playing NXNE for those who can’t make the journey to Texas.
SXSW is fast approaching and come March, Austin will have no lack of bands evoking the sounds of the ’90s, from those who’ve kept it going since those days to the reunited acts hoping to relaunch their career and on to the newer performers inspired by the sounds of yesteryear.
Nashville’s The Lees Of Memory will be one of those bands and they come by their ’90s sound honestly – members John Davis and Brandon Fisher were formerly in alt-rock one hit wonders Superdrag (remember “Sucked Out?”). However, rather than revisiting the power pop sounds of that group, The Lees Of Memory dive headfirst into Kevin Shields territory with some blissed out shoegaze and they do it well. “We Are Siamese” is the lead single off of their album Sisyphus Says. Give it a listen.
