- So, first things first, I'd like to know if you could tell me a bit of History: who are JUANITA Y LOS FEOS? When did you start the band? What was your projects, expectations?
There are so much things coming to my mind when I'm listening to your three full-length albums I've just discovered - like why this band seems so timeless, with its 60s pop/garage/surf band name, its new wave melodies and sometimes lo-fi moods, its connexions with punk and hardcore, Spanish band of brothers and side-projects...
Juanita: We started the band more than 10 years ago with absolutely no expectations beyond having fun and play music together with some friends. We all love music but each one of us have his own style and influences and I think that´s what makes us so unclassifiable.
- It's early 2016 right now, how's the band doing? I red somewhere you had been on a hiatus during a certain time (before the release of your latest record I believe?), did it yield positive results? Are you planing interesting things for a near future (tours, a new record)?
Well, we always say that our future is uncertain, but the true is that we're not playing at all at the moment. Our bass player moved to Copenhaguen and we don't feel like continuing the band with someone else, neither wanted to stop playing music so all of us have side projects. Me and the guitar player Fa have RATA NEGRA and soon releasing their first LP, the bass player Angel has PELUQUERIA CANINA and Drums and Keyboards, Adolfo and Hector have AFILADOR [really cool!].
We also think that is better to retreat while on time than just die. This summer we had an incredible tour in US and Mexico and we all feel that would be the perfect ending.
- Do you think about the labels you'll put on your records when you write songs? Because every record sounds different from the other, even Discogs website put different kinds of music on each release to describe the music you're playing. Is that something you absolutely don't give a fuck about considering you're just feeling good about your songs?
We always record at the same studio, but we have different ways of mixing. We really wanted different things with each record so I guess that's right what we wanted. I don't think the labels have anything to do, we've always recorded and mixed our albums before even considered to release them with an specific label.
- I've recently ordered your latest LP "Nueva Numancia" (released on La Vida Es Un Mus Discos) and I must say this is my favorite record among the three LPs, I really like the production (as to me it is definitly the most successful), I believe there are much more feelings transmitted; in your opinion, does this record sound different from your previous releases? If so, why?
We're also always trying new things. We over produced "Pesadilla Adulta", we loved the result at first, but I always thought that it sounded too good for us, not completely honest with the way we sound when we played live, so in "Nueva Numancia" we tried to correct than and have a more realistic sound, and we're really happy with the result. Also the things we say in the lyrics of "Nueva Numancia" are more serious less trivial than in the previous records and I think that you can feel that also in the music somehow.
- Does each rehearsal and recording session before a new release need to sound in line with the "spirit", the mood you feel at the time you write music? Concerning "Nueva Numancia", this is definitly something I've noticed regarding the coldness of the record despite this dancing rythm, like if there is "post-punk motivation" behind this record. What do you feel about this?
I just never wanted to make pop music. "Pesadilla Adulta" sounds quite pop, and wasn't the way I felt at all so in "Nueva Numancia" the sound and the lyrics are exaggerated against that other kind of sound, is like a reaction to what we did before. Is not that we wanted to do specifically post punk, but definitely we didn't want to sound as pop as in the other album and I guess that's what came out of it.
- What do the songs lyrics usually deal with? Since I only know the band for two days and already asked my pal who runs the local distro dealing with La Vida Es Un Mus Discos to order a copy of "Nueva Numancia" for me, I only had the time to discover that this specific record deals with gloomy stuffs. Is that what the band is all about concerning the lyrical aspect?
I've always find more interesting those kinds of things. Personally I'm more interested in dead and devastation than rainbows or unicorns. I'm not a pessimistic person, I just find it more attractive as something to talk about. But, as I mentioned before the lyrics were more shallow at the beginning, more...comical maybe, anyways, the dark twist have always been there I guess.
- Who got the idea of putting this giant piece of meat in the middle of "Pesadilla Adulta"? Personally, as a vegan, being in front of such a thing would be my own pesadilla [yeah, I really wanted to put that one].
At the time Angel and Anibal had a design studio together called "La Camorra" and they were in charged of the artwork. We would have to ask them about that, but I think that, as in the lyrics, is the element that breaks with the delightful landscape in the background and turns it into that nightmare. If it was only delightful wouldn't have been interesting in my opinion. However, it has anything to do with being or not vegan. I think even meat lovers would be grossed out by that image.
- Speaking of the visual identity of the band, each record cover is different from the others. Why did you chose this way of representing your music? By the way do you think a record cover must have an obvious link with what the band is dealing with? Especially when a band like yours, like I said before, deals with dark things but your covers are really crazy, in a fun way!
We are all connected with art somehow. Anibal and Angel had their own design studio and so does Fa. I've studied fine arts and worked on design and advertisement for a while. We took turns to design the covers, that's why they all look so different, but somehow we feel that they're connected to what they talked about. "Nueva Numancia" specifically, the drawing in the cover made by Fa, represents what I talked about in the songs. We also like to design our merch and I screen print it.
- Who are the different artists you worked with for your visual identity? Where can we find other examples of their arts?
As I mentioned, our visual identity is pretty much DIY, Sam Ryser designed our t-shirt for the tour last summer, and Abraham Díaz the poster for the tour as well.
http://awfulgraphics.tumblr.com/ for Abraham, but Sam doesn't have his own site. The best is to google him or go to his online store http://dripperworld.storenvy.com/ where you can see some of his work.
- What I like when I scroll down JUANITA Y LOS FEOS Facebook page is that you often post some links to other Spanish bands you like or are friend with, some of them even play in JYLF, I picked up for example RATA NEGRA, LA URSS, CARNE (really like this band and their ST EP), AFILADOR, LAS VENAS just to name a few.
What do these bands have in common? Why do you want to share their music, besides the fact they might play good songs?
We love going to shows and we of course like to support our music scene, all the bands that you mention are either our friends or bands that we play in.
I'm close friends with the guys of LA URSS and they put shows together as LA CORPORACION so we like to support what they do.
- Why did you chose to sing in Spanish? I'm surprised that in France where I live, as far as I know, most bands decide to sing in English (except bands like GASMASK TERRÖR who decided to entirely sing in French on their latest LP, ZONE INFINIE or VIOLENCE CONJUGALE who all have in common the coldness of their sound).
I understand that the main punk influences comes from English speaking countries, but I find quite ridiculous to suddenly try to express yourself in a language that is not your own. It's cool having influences but it's your job to adapt them, transform them and turn them into something yours, something original.
- Do you think that's a reason among others why USA Maximum Rock'N'Roll editors and contributors are fond of JUANITA Y LOS FEOS? I've noticed they've always been into legendary Spanish punk bands, as much as they are also into Finish, Swedish of Japanese
bands by the way, but I've always thought people in the worldwide punk scene were more open minded about bands singing in different languages, what's your opinion about that?
Well there's a lot of spanish speakers in the US, but I think that they might like to see the reflection of those spanish punk golden years in ours somehow. Not that I like it but we've always been compared with lots of that bands. Personally I rarely listen to bands that speak other than English or Spanish. I don't think that's because I'm not open minded but that what gets to us, is just that.
- Apart from the bands you're promoting on JYLF Facebook page, who are the other bands or releases which have attracted your attention during 2015?
We all love Sheer Mag and really enjoyed playing with them at Berserk Town in LA, VEXX, INSTITUTE, SUDOR, OBEDENCIA...
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