Lula Bertoldi, Brenda Martin and Gabriel Pedernera are Eruca Sativathe trio that came from Córdoba to revamp the Buenos Aires rock scene a bit.
These days they are about to be fulfilled 15 years of experienceand they have decided to celebrate it with a big national tour that will start this one Friday, December 2 at the historic Obras Stadiumnot by chance the same place where they celebrated their first decade of career, in 2017, the same year they built their first Luna Park.
The tour coincides with the release of a new single ahead of their upcoming album: last week they released a version of the classic telltale heart of Soda Stereo, confirming this a covers album is coming.
Meeting on the terrace of their record company, Lula and Brenda reminisced about the details of their beginnings, when they reunited in Córdoba and started moving their steps. Gabriele, absent with notice.
The prehistory of Eruca
-Tell me what the scene was like in 2007. Were the two together in Lucila Cueva’s group?
Lula: – Once, yes. Brenda was a founding member and at one point I was invited to join the group. I think I was only in the band for nine months but we played a lot and there was a great response from the crowd.
cot: -When Lula came in, it was one of the most significant moments for Lucila Cueva, because we just recorded our second demo, the first one with our songs. Lula was in the first music composed by the group. It’s been a few months, but important.
-How was the scene at that moment in Córdoba?
Lula: -It was a scene with many cover bands playing all the time in bars. You could play 5-6 times a week, even twice in the same night! There was a lot of live music, but it was like two different circuits: cover bands and bands with their own songs. It was a super important phenomenon in Córdoba and I think it didn’t happen in other provinces.
-You, Lula, were you already part of another band or were you just looking for one?
Lula: -I didn’t dedicate myself to music! You studied public relations. Through a college friend I met Mariana, guitarist and singer of Lucila Cueva, who was looking for another guitarist and singer. They tried me and I stayed, so that’s where I met Brenda and the rest of the band. But I only stayed those months because we played a lot and it was difficult for me to study. Besides, she had other projects: a band in Sunchales called La Morrison, then Power Pampa and Proyecto Apóstol. Brenda and Gaby also had a lot of bands.
Brenda:-With the drums I was already playing before and played wherever they called me. Then, over time, I got used to just playing my music. I had a parallel band to Lucila Cueva called Tórax, where Gaby was, who also played in a mythical band from Córdoba called Armando Flores.
The origin of the strange name
-The myth is that for a while the three were called Bruco.
Lula: –It’s only been 15 minutes! (laughs)
cot: -That name lasted from noon to evening. Gaby had arrived with Caterpillar at noon and we were going to look for dates to play that evening, so we needed a name. But when in the afternoon I returned to my mother’s house, who had an encyclopedia, I searched for “caterpillar” and the Latin name appeared: “Eruca sativa”.
Lula: -We liked that name a lot, because we liked bands with strange names, like Catupecu Machu or Bersuit Vergarabat. That name is not so easy.
cot: -Now we get used to it, but the name sounded very strange indeed.
Lula: -Two rehearsals have passed and we have already taken the group seriously. It all went really fast and we immediately went out looking for dates.
Moving to Buenos Aires
-How was the possibility of living from music in those beginnings?
Lula: -It was hard. I continued studying and graduated. In 2008, I did my thesis and decided to stop renting in Córdoba and go and live in Buenos Aires, where my sister already lived.
cot: -I had studied graphics and have always worked in editorials, in parallel with music. I remember we got together in October 2007 to put the group together, in November we recorded the demo and on December 6th we had our first concert. And right there they called me to work in the marketing part of a giant supermarket chain. It was a big salary and an empty job! It was a good decision, but I bet on the band, who then only did one show. I jumped in the pool.
Lula: -I remember that at that time Gaby had applied to be the drummer of Divididos. There was a phone call and he introduced himself but he said “I hope they don’t call me because I want to play with Eruca”. Luckily nothing happened.
-I thought the three of them had come to Buenos Aires at the same time.
Lula: -No. It was gradual. And when I arrived I was super aware that I wanted to find dates to play here, because it seemed to us that the Córdoba circuit was sold out.
cot: -Then Gaby came and I moved a year later. Meanwhile, she came by bus whenever there was a show in Buenos Aires.
the first milestones
-What was the first important exhibition in Córdoba and in Buenos Aires?
cot: -In Córdoba was the presentation of Meat in the great hall of the Ciudad Universitaria. We filled it up and it was a lot for a band that was only a year old, making their own songs and weird music. I think there were 400 people.
Lula: -In Buenos Aires it must have been the Roxy, after several small shows that no one came. We have done the CBGB in rue Bartolomé Miter many times, and there were more and more people. And it wasn’t the era of social networks, then it was all word of mouth. We were always playing with other bands.
cot: -It was a litter of many bands from the interior of the country, such as Sig Ragga, Parteplaneta, Guauchos and Científicos del Palo.
-When does the first stage end? Maybe when rock magazine polls start winning?
cot: -This also happened to us in Córdoba, where we had many awards in the yearbooks. It was a moment of great acceptance from colleagues and people in the industry. There and here have been several years in a row. That was really nice.
Lula: We couldn’t explain it! We thought there was someone at Sí Supplement who liked what we did, because we couldn’t believe people voted for us. In 2013, already with the album White in hand, they called us to confirm that we were nominated for the Latin Grammys. We couldn’t figure out how this happened!
cot: -That album was a break. It came out at the end of 2012, we carved out a month to go on vacation, and when we came back we felt that something had happened, because more people were going to concerts. There we stopped doing other things and started living only on music.
Lula: -In mid-2013 there was the show at the Ciudad Emergente Festival, on that terrace exploited by people. Things began to happen that were beyond our calculations.
cot: -The same thing also happened at the Emergent which was held in Córdoba, in the Plaza de la Música. They were free shows and people were passionate even if they didn’t know the band.
The strangeness of not doing strange things
-What changes in the lineup when it comes to an anniversary show? Do they add rarities?
Lula: -Contrary to rarities, we aim more for people to walk away with whatever they want to hear.
cot: -Because we’re already doing weird things! We’ve already done weirdness in and of itself. We recently did a show with an orchestra based on the album we will be spring, which was super quiet. We come from the pandemic years, so we really miss playing in a stadium and we face it with the songs we have played all these 15 years. We will do all the arguments that need to be.
-When they write the songs that they have to do yes or yes because they are hits, how much leeway do they have to do other things?
Brenda: -A long show, of 26-27 songs, is completed only with the songs that our audience can’t miss.
Lula: -Also, we already had a rarity show in December last year. We have given the pleasure to a smaller and very supportive audience who appreciate it very much, because that is not enough for a stadium, even if the tickets were immediately sold out. There was room to invite Susy Shock for a recitation and Lito Vitale to play keyboards. Enjoying it up close has another flavor.
mfb
Source: Clarin
