Within 15 days, Buenos Aires will receive the South London Festivalwhich will include performances by the New Martyrs of the spoke incidental, Dry wash.
it will be there Tuesday 16 May in Nicetoalthough the British start the tour on the 14th at Vorterix in Mar Del Plata together with Altocamet and Buenos Vampiros.
Experimental saxophonist Nubya García will also come and perform on the 17th in Niceto, both shows with Passline ticket.
The dry cleaning proposal
In recent years, the British scene has become self-absorbed in some strange way and stopped offering multi-selling artists of the stature of those who championed Britpop or mega-popular acts in the vein of teen pop or just monstrous radio hits.
Far from being bad news, in this new self-recognition of local music culture, names like Burial or The Streets have laid new foundations for artists like Sleaford Mods or Dry Cleaning themselves to keep a new privileged place between the specialized press and the most demanding public.
The Dry Cleaning proposal fits perfectly with the gloomy but lively character of the English capital; the bases, mysterious and full of feelings, sometimes sleepy, sometimes strident, invite you to meddle in the thoughts and poetry of the group’s vocalist, Florence Shaw, an excellent narrator of her own poetry, in which she bares her emotional and optimistic character personality.
With the rarity of the shy London sun shining through their windows, Florence, bassist Lewis Maynard and drummer Nick Buxton contacted clarion. They joke, laugh and give coherent answers before their visit to our country.
“They’re songs with many layers”
-How do you feel starting this tour that will take you to Buenos Aires?
nick:-I can say I’m very excited because we’re going to play a couple of places we’ve never been, three cities I’ve never been to and also because we’ve been touring for six months and now we’ve been free for a month and a half. And nothing makes you want to go out and play more than not doing it for a while (laughs).
-One of the main virtues of your music is to maintain tension throughout the songs. What do you think Dry Cleaning does best?
Florence: -We’re pretty good at making songs that have many layers. Especially in terms of moods, emotions. They’re direct songs but not in the sense of how they make you feel: we never make a song that’s just happy, just sad, just happy or just scary. Our themes have a little bit of everything.
nick:-We tend to talk a lot about this idea of contradiction between the lyrical and the musical in our music. This is what creates that tension you are referring to. We make tension appear at a moment when you don’t expect it.
Lewis:-What we do well is how we communicate our concept: how we write and then how we record. There are not many changes between what we improvise and what is later recorded.
-It is often said that you make post-punk, what is your relationship with this label?
-Florence:- Complicated (laughs) I remember an interview with a Japanese outlet, where I had the chance to say something I’ve wanted to say for a long time: I associate post-punk with an era, not a sound or a genre. It was alternative music in a time period, the 80s or something. A reaction. It was also a generation that mixed ingredients of different styles.
Lewis:-I remember ten or fifteen years ago there was the “post-punk revival”, and it was closely related to the sound of guitars. I think of artists like Grace Jones when I think of post-punk, rather than television.
south London
-The concert series you will be part of in Buenos Aires is called the South London Festival. How has being from this part of the city influenced you?
Lewis:-We have lived in South London forever, our family and friends in the arts come from here.
Florence:-Maybe not a social influence, but conditions in south London are conducive to creativity. The reason we’re here is partly because it’s accessible. Well, not exactly now, because nothing is cheap in London now, but it was when we moved here ten years ago. I feel like it’s like a hothouse for culture and that’s not just what’s been happening in recent years.
nick:-However, South East London is not the same as South West. It’s that the more you go to the West, the more expensive it is. That’s why the East is linked to art, to musicians and we must also take into account that it is a university sector. The neighborhoods from Brixton to the east are where we grew up.
-Has Brixton and the Jamaican diaspora influenced you?
Florence:-This has happened to all UK music in general. Immigration from that part of the world has had a huge effect on us, even if it is usually not properly accredited. That global character of British music would not exist without the contribution of Caribbean immigration. It would be much less interesting.
Lewis:-Returning to the post-punk issue, one of the major influences at that time was dub. Many musical expressions have moved in that direction.
-If you had to associate your music with a natural landscape, what would it be and why?
nick:-I’m about to go on holiday to Lanzarote which has a volcanic landscape. There is something about the land changing shape and the landscape so dramatic and static yet fertile. This idea that the earth “chews” itself and then regurgitates that fresh matter… I don’t know.
Florence:-Can I take credit for that answer as well? (everyone laughs) That was really cool! I relate it to the unstable part of the volcanic landscape as well. I think this, instability, always gives something good to sound and ideas in general. I love those “temporary” vibes.
nick:-Going back to what we were talking about before, the elements in our music are juxtaposed and create tension… for some people the volcanic landscape can be awful, there is no greenery, it smells very strange, it’s dangerous. But for others it’s just beautiful. So according to the eye of the beholder will be the verdict. That’s how people react to bands, not to mention ours. For some we are the best, for others we make no sense at all. (everyone laughs)
-In the song “Icebergs” they talk about how important it is to stay curious about life in general. How important is it to do this in the context of dry cleaning?
Florence:-Is very important. We always try to try new things including discovering new hobbies and stuff like that. I don’t think we would have started this band without curiosity, because basically we are an experiment. We didn’t know how it would sound, which many people consider a risk, but we think it’s best to be open-minded, always. Curiosity is also something that helps us get along because it’s something that everyone in the band has and gives birth to.
Lewis:-For example, the fact that Nick is also a photographer helps me be curious so I can see the world through his eyes. And from there I can understand why their conversations are a certain way; It makes me more curious about the world around me, which is great.
nick:-It’s a good mantra for life. Especially when it’s your turn to go on tour, because you can create your own world on tour, especially when you have very little free time and it’s up to you what to do with it. I think if you have the chance to spend at least two hours somewhere you’ve never been before, then be curious, try to make the most of it while you can. Curiosity is a great starting point for everything.
mfb
Source: Clarin
