On trips, festivals and awesome people

March’s definitely going to be the wildest, fastest and most exciting month of our career. We’re two weeks away from playing SXSW 2012 and to be honest with you I don’t really know how all this happened but I’m loving it (with the stomach twirls and all).

We’re playing the HGTV Showcase on Friday 16th along with Cymbals Eat Guitars, A Classic Education, Waters and Unicycle Loves You (plus one more to be announced). On top of this great opportunity, we get to see some of our favorite bands live, meet new people and learn from everyone on the road. We want to thank in advance the wonderful Marin Perna for letting us stay over and for being so nice to us. Check his music out.

Right after our return to Costa Rica, we’re gonna be playing the Imperial Festival on March 24th along  artists like Björk, Zópilot, Moby, TV on the Radio, Colornoise, 424, Gogol Bordello, Sonámbulo,  Ximena Sariñana, Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra and The Flaming Lips! (among many others). This one means a lot to us, cause it’s a home show, the biggest home show we’ve ever played and we’re grateful to be part of this experience. It’s gonna be a great party indeed.

Today I got the opportunity of speaking with Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips over the phone. Don’t think of anything fancy, I work for a music magazine and it was my job to interview him on the festival. By the end of our chat I told him what it meant to us (TGW) to be able to play in an event that includes The Lips and how much we admire them as artists. Turns out Wayne Coyne is a great human being and he told me about the times when they got to be around musicians they admired (Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Black Flag) and what it meant to them:

“Sometimes I think when bands get to be around us I think it just gives them a great sense of belonging you know, if the Flaming Lips can do this and they’re from Oklahoma then we can do this. It takes a sense that we’re all in this together. And I believe that.” 

And he’s right about that. And that’s something kids should know.

I guess what moves us the most of all this is being able to share our music with so many people that probably don’t know we exist, be able to grow as a band and expand this community of listeners that has lifted us up to where we’re standing. So thank you for lifting us up and keeping us going. Cheers for spreading the word.

Paola & The Great Wilderness

***

Marzo va a ser en definitiva el mes más movido, intenso y emocionante de toda nuestra carrera. Estamos a dos semanas de tocar SXSW 2012 y para ser honesta con ustedes no sé cómo sucedió todo esto pero me tiene muy feliz (con todo y los giros estomacales).

En Austin vamos a tocar el HGTV Showcase el 16 de marzo con las bandas Cymbals Eat Guitars, A Classic Education, Waters y Unicycle Loves You (además de un artista por anunciar). Además de esto, podremos ver a algunos de nuestros grupos favoritos en vivo, conocer nuevas personas y aprender de todos en el camino. Queremos agradecer desde ya al increíble Marin Perna por abrirnos las puertas de su casa y por ser tan atento con nosotros. Busquen su música.

Una vez regresando a Costa Rica, tocaremos en el Festival Imperial el 24 de marzo con artistas como Björk, Zópilot, Moby, TV on the Radio, Colornoise, 424, Gogol Bordello, Ximena Sariñana, Sonámbulo, Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra y The Flaming Lips (entre otros). Este significa mucho para nosotros porque es un show en casa, el más grande que hemos tocado hasta el momento y estamos muy agradecidas por esta experiencia. Será sin duda una gran fiesta.

Hoy tuve la oportunidad de hablar por teléfono con Wayne Coyne de The Flaming Lips, no piensen en nada muy elaborado, sencillamente trabajo para una revista de música y era mi trabajo entrevistarlo sobre el festival. Hacia el final de nuestra charla le dije lo que significaba para TGW el poder tocar en un evento con The Flaming Lips y lo mucho que los admiramos. Resultó que Wayne Coyne es un gran ser humano y me contó sobre las ocasiones en las que pudieron estar cerca de músicos que admiraban (Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Black Flag) cuando estaban empezando:

“Creo que cuando otras bandas tienen la oportunidad de estar cerca de nosotros obtienen un gran sentido de pertenencia, ya sabes, si los Flaming Lips pueden hacer esto y son de Oklahoma entonces nosotros también podemos. Esto crea una sensación de que estamos todos juntos en esto. Y yo creo que es así.”

Wayne tiene razón y los más chicos deberían saber esto.

Creo que con todo y todo lo que más nos mueve es el hecho de poder compartir nuestra música con tanta gente que probablemente no sabe ni que existimos, poder crecer como banda y expandir esta comunidad de escuchas que nos ha levantado hasta donde estamos ahora. Así que, gracias por levantarnos y por ayudarnos a seguir hacia adelante. Gracias por correr la voz.

Paola & The Great Wilderness

It’s been a long ride…

We’ve been to Europe and back and now a new stage begins. Before moving on, we want to thank everyone that went to see us abroad and all the people we met on tour (Dave Gruber, Roger Mairlot, Francisco Gomez, Johnny Walsh, Phil King, Shay Rowan, Kris Tate and Maria Sánchez, just to mention a few). For more on the tour check out both the review and interview at Mudkiss Magazine.

We’re currently working on our next EP (or LP since we’ve got a whole bunch of material, we’ll see) and looking for our new drummer. “Will this keep you from playing live?” – someone asked. The answer is no.

Our next concert is on Dec. 17 at 13-24 Books. Besides celebrating our return to our homeland (:P) we might be sharing some of our new songs such as Wetlands and Age of Reason. And well, if interested in the drumming spot, you can find more info right here and contact us at thegreatwilderness@gmail.com or over Facebook.

I assure you, you’ll hear from us pretty soon. 2012 will be a good year.

Pic. by J. Torres

Hemos ido y regresado de Europa y ahora inicia una nueva etapa. Pausa. Antes de continuar, queremos agradecer a todos los que fueron a vernos en vivo fuera de Costa Rica y a todas esas personas que conocimos — y nos facilitaron el camino — durante la gira (Dave Gruber, Roger Mairlot, Francisco Gomez, Johnny Walsh, Phil King, Shay Rowan, Kris Tate and Maria Sánchez, solo por mencionar algunos). Para más detalles sobre el tour pueden leer  el review y la entrevista hecha por Mudkiss Magazine.

En este momento estamos trabajando en nuestro siguiente EP (o LP pues tenemos una gran cantidad de material, ya veremos qué pasa) y buscando un nuevo baterista. Alguien nos preguntó si esta baja nos impediría tocar en vivo. La respuesta es no.

Nuestro próximo concierto es el 17 de diciembre en 13-24 Books. Además de celebrar nuestro regreso a casa, es posible que compartamos con ustedes algunas de nuestras nuevas canciones como Wetlands y Age of Reason; y bueno, si están interesados en el puesto de baterista pueden encontrar más información por acá y contactarnos en thegreatwilderness@gmail.com o por Facebook.

Les aseguro, escucharán más de nosotros pronto. El 2012 promete ser un buen año.

 

Upcoming shows – European tour

Hello everyone,

We’re almost a week away from the start of our first visit to Europe and we’re very excited to share our upcoming gigs with you:

09/08/11 – Lido, Berlin with La Pegatina (Spain) @ Lido, Berlin –> Tickets
09/09/11 – The Old Blue Last, London with Ghxst (New York) & Band to be announced (Portugal) –> Free entry
09/10/11 – Power’s Bar, London
09/11/11 – The Dublin Castle, London with Monkish, Dead School, Model Citizens & Mercury Rising –> Tickets at the door.
09/13/11 – The Night & Day Cafe, Manchester with Pumuki Poetry DJ (Madrid) –> Tickets.
09/14/11 – Le Motel, Paris with Charlene Lecarpentier.

In each gig we will be selling merch: Tshirts, bags and our new compilation album which includes both EPs, Dark Horse and two bonus acoustic tracks.
Hope to see you there 🙂

Hola a todos,

Estamos muy cerca de partir hacia nuestra primera gira por Europa y queremos compartir con ustedes nuestras próximas fechas:

09/08/11 – Lido, Berlin con La Pegatina (España) –> Boletos
09/09/11 – The Old Blue Last, London con Ghxst (New York) & Banda por anunciar (Portugal) –> Entrada gratis
09/10/11 – Power’s Bar, London
09/11/11 – The Dublin Castle, London con Monkish, Dead School, Model Citizens & Mercury Rising –> Tickets at the door.
09/13/11 – The Night & Day Cafe, Manchester con Pumuki Poetry DJ (Madrid) –> Boletos.
09/14/11 – Le Motel, Paris con Charlene Lecarpentier.

En todos los conciertos estaremos vendiendo mercadería de la banda: camisetas, bolsos y nuestra nueva compilación que incluye ambos EPs, Dark Horse y un par de bonus tracks en acústico.

Esperamos verlos por ahí 🙂

* Photo by Juanjo Muñoz Knudsen

We’re coming to Europe

Hello everyone,

We’re very happy to announce that we’re currently scheduling our first European mini tour. Right now we can confirm that we’ll be visiting Germany and the UK, the rest of the dates will be confirmed in the next couple of weeks. Help us spread the word, we hope to see you there.

For those of you in our home country, we will be organizing several concerts to help us finance this tour (i.e. eat and survive), there will also be new merch, a compilation album and a very intimate documentary filmed by the talented Diego Arias. The first of these events will be next Friday July the 8th at El Lobo Estepario.

In the mean time here’s the video for Dark Horse (by Sürrealista)

Remember you can download the single for free HERE.

*****

Hola a todos,

Nos entusiasma anunciarles que en este momento estamos programando nuestra primera mini gira europea. Ahora mismo podemos confirmar que estaremos visitando Alemania y el Reino Unido, el resto de fechas se confirmarán en las próximas semanas. Ayúdennos a correr la voz y esperamos verlos por ahí.

Para aquellos que están en Costa Rica, queremos contarles que estaremos organizando una serie de conciertos para ayudarnos a financiar esta gira (o sea, comer), también habrá merch nuevo, un álbum compilatorio y un documental íntimo filmado por el talentoso Diego Arias. El primero de estos eventos será este viernes 8 de julio en El Lobo Estepario.

Mientras tanto, acá está el video de Dark Horse (por Sürrealista).

Recuerden que pueden descargar el single totalmente gratis por ACÁ.

We’ve got T-Shirts + updates

Hello everyone, just wanted to let you know that our first t-shirts just arrived. If you’d like one and can’t go to our concerts just mail us at thegreatwilderness@gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do.

On other news, we’re going back to the studio to record “Dark Horse pts 1 and 2”, the first single of our new album, which is still in the making. The single will come out in April (probably) along with a live video which we will record next Friday March 4th with the help of our friends from Sürrealista. There are more things coming out soon, but we’ll let you know about that as soon as we’re certain of dates and details.

Thank you all for helping us spread the word.

Hola a todos, solo queríamos contarles que ya tenemos nuestras primeras camisetas listas. Si quieren una y no pueden llegar a nuestros conciertos nada más envíen un mail a thegreatwilderness@gmail.com y veremos qué se puede hacer para entregarlas.

En otros temas, mañana estaremos entrando de nuevo al estudio para grabar “Dark Horse partes 1 y 2” primer sencillo de lo que será nuestra nueva producción, en la que aún estamos trabajando. El tema saldrá en abril (probablemente) junto a un video en vivo que grabaremos este 4 de marzo en El Lobo Estepario junto a nuestros amigos de Sürrealista. Esperamos verlos ahí.

Se vienen más cosas, pero de ellas informaremos apenas estemos seguras de fechas y detalles.

Gracias por ayudarnos a correr la voz.

TGW on NWShoegazing’s Vibrato 2010 compilation + Bonus

2010 is almost over and NWShoegazer has picked 10 of his favorite shoegaze songs for this brand new Vibrato compilation. The tracklist includes artists such as The Sunshine Factory, Whirl, C’est La Morte, Ten Million Lights, Anne and SPC ECO…

It will be available as a free download until January 3rd 2011. More details here.

SPREAD THE WORD

+ + + + + + +

El 2011 se acerca y NWShoegazer ha elegido 10 de sus canciones favoritas del género para unificarlas en esta nueva compilación. El tracklist incluye artistas como The Sunshine Factory, Whirl, C’est La Morte, Ten Million Lights, Anne and SPC ECO…

La compilación podrá descargarse sin costo alguno hasta el 3 de enero. Más detalles en este enlace.

CORRAN LA VOZ

Bonus: Queremos invitarlos también a nuestro concierto del próximo jueves 23 en el Lobo Estepario junto a las bandas Poper y Sensor.

Interview with NWShoegazing

Here’s an interview that started with a few e-mails going back and forward at 2:00 a.m. Also check out the blog contents; I suspect you might like it

Acá una entrevista que empezó con unos cuantos e-mails a las 2:00 a.m. Chequeen el blog también, creo que les va a gustar:

A Voice in The Great Wilderness
Posted on 9 December 2010 by NWshoegazer (link to blog)

I recently had an opportunity to interview (via email) Paola Rogue of the band, The Great Wilderness. I found her to be delightfully open, articulate, and enthusiastic about her band’s music; she has a good sense of humor as well. Here is the interview:

NWs: First of all, thank you for taking the time to participate in this interview. Let’s start with the band’s name; How did you decide upon The Great Wilderness?

Paola: Well, we wanted something that represented our music, which gives great relevance to space and layers of sound, but it also had to be something organic to reference our creative process. The Great Wilderness seemed like the right choice at the time.

NWs: TGW is a four piece, so who are the fabulous four, and what duties does each perform?

Paola: The Great Wilderness is Paola Rogue (vocals, guitars), Jimena Torres (guitars, backing vocals), Monserrat Vargas (bass) and Andrea San Gil (drums).

NWs: Who writes the lyrics, and how is the music worked out?

Paola: Usually I come to the band with a basic idea, and then we all improvise around it. I tend to write the lyrics, but only after the melody is completely worked out. To me, the music, especially the melody, is the most important part of a song. We like lyrics that are ambiguous enough to allow people to relate in their very own way.

NWs: How did TGW come to be? Who formed the band, who joined later, who left, that sort of thing?

Paola: I’ve been active in the Costa Rican music scene for a while now. Before founding TGW, I played in an alt-rock group called Lolita Piñata along with Andrea (drums). The band fell apart after two years and two albums, but Andrea and I decided to keep going somehow. So, I recruited Monserrat, an old friend from my teenage years, and we started rehearsing, arranging songs, and playing gigs.

In early 2010, we started working on Afterimages of Glowing Visions, and suddenly realized the music was missing something. It was then that we found Jimena and asked her to join the band. Luckily she accepted immediately.

NWs: Are you shoegazers, and if so, how did you get that way? Who are your influences? Is there a scene that celebrates itself in Costa Rica? What other local bands should I check out?

Paola: I don’t know if we’re shoegazers per se, but most of us enjoy bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Ride. There are some good bands in Costa Rica like Niño Koi, VAC and Poper, but Shoegaze is not all that popular here; I guess it was born to be some kind of cult movement.

NWs: I’ve never been to Costa Rica, but I hear that it’s beautiful, a great holiday destination. What’s it like to be from there?

Paola: It’s complicated, especially if you’re a musician. It’s a nice place to live and a great holiday destination, but its culture doesn’t pay much attention to art or modern music making, so it’s virtually impossible to quit your day job and just be a professional musician. The government doesn’t pay much attention to us.

NWs: I wish I could say the same about my government. Has the band performed outside of Costa Rica?

Paola: We haven’t, unfortunately. But we’d like to, so, hello promoters.

NWs: When you come to play in Portland, will you put me on “the list”; I’ve never been backstage?

Paola: Consider it done. We can all sit down to play old LPs afterwards.

NWs: Backstage with an all-woman band. Sounds great, but it wouldn’t be fair to you guys. Being seen hanging out with a fifty-six year old, bald git isn’t going to do your image any good. Beside, someone might mistake me for your manager, and I could end up committing the band to a very bad record deal.

What are your plans for the immediate future?

Paola: Right now, we’re trying to put a video together, play more shows in Costa Rica, find a way to play outside the country, and keep going. We also want to re-record our first EP when we get a chance, but the priority is making new music and getting it out for people to enjoy.

NWs: I’ve noticed that Tiny Monsters has been among the top ten most popular releases on Bandcamp’s Shoegaze page for the last few weeks (it’s currently in the top five). How does that make you feel?

Paola: Excited. There are a lot of good acts in Bandcamp screaming for recognition. Being in the top five leaves us speechless. We just want to get our music out there and have people share it with their friends. Bandcamp has been a great tool so far.

That’s it. Once again, I’d like to thank Paola for her time and candid answers. I look forward to seeing The Great Wilderness play Portland someday soon. In the meantime, the reader should follow my example, head over to TGW‘s Bandcamp page, and download the two EPs which the band have made available – at no charge and in a wide array of formats. Afterimages of Glowing Visions can be found here, and Tiny Monsters, here.

Afterimages of Glowing Visions by The Great Wilderness
©2010 The Great Wilderness

My Rating: ✭✭✭✩
iPod Songs: “Silverscreen” and “Sandbox”

The opening two tracks: “1956″ and “Ada” are very good as well, but didn’t make it to my iPod because they contain canned soundbites near the end of each song – an irrational quirk of mine, not a legitimate complaint; I don’t skip the songs when listening through speakers.

Tiny Monsters by The Great Wilderness
©2010 The Great Wilderness

My Rating: ✭✭✭✭
iPod Songs: “On Smoke”, “Light Us Green” and “Barcelona”

The quality of this second EP marks what appears to be a second point in an upward trajectory for The Great Wilderness.

TGW en vivo hasta su sillón

Hola amigos,

Primero que todo queremos contarles que nuestro nuevo disco ya está listo para ser descargado en el Bandcamp de TGW, con él hemos recibido una muy buena respuesta de nuestra gente y palabras de motivación que superaron nuestras expectativas.

En agradecimiento a todo este apoyo, quisimos preparar algo especial para las primeras 10 personas que nos buscaron para comprar Tiny Monsters durante el evento del jueves pasado.

Se trata de una invitación a un pequeño concierto que se llevará a cabo en Conquista Records el próximo sábado 11 de diciembre al que asistirán aquellos que en su disco hayan encontrado un token (calca con indicaciones al reverso).

Para más detalles por favor escríbannos a nuestro correo eléctrónico: thegreatwilderness@gmail.com

PD: Recomendamos este enlace para ver fotografías del jueves pasado, gracias a Caliva por tomarlas.

Tiny Monsters 11/18/10

Photography by: M.Monge
Album art: Nothing Prod

On Smoke & Kiddy Plane Live Radio Sessions 104.7 Hit

Here’s a video filmed by Pivi Villalobos for 104.7 Hit, the songs performed are On Smoke and Kiddy Plane:

Acá un video filmado por Pivi Villalobos para 104.7 Hit, las canciones son On Smoke y Kiddy Plane