Bandalos Chinos: the new Argentine rock phenomenon that conquers Spain and Latin America

The generational renewal within Argentine rock it is a reality. Many may not have noticed, but names like Zoe Gotusso and Knowing Russia are really very popular and successful, with several Great Rex behind them. And not to mention urban music, which is another rage of its own.

On that important podium the Bandalos Chinos group can be positioned high upwith several successful albums, important pre-pandemic performances abroad and an ongoing world tour that has already crossed Spain, France, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, always in front of the public and with sold out tickets.

Now they are regaining their strength after two months on the road, but in September they return to the fray, with their Big Blue Tour that reaches the interior of the country and Chile, to end on October 22 at the Luna Park stadium.

In Buenos Aires, their last big show was at the Quilmes Rock festival, where they were swept away by a crowd that passed their stage.

Goyo Degano, the lead singer of the band, he clearly remembers that performance at the beginning of May: “It was crazy and the truth is that it took us by surprise. We looked at each other because there was a sea of ​​heads and you couldn’t see the bottom. It was very nice to receive that support from all the audience in such an important festival! In the last few shows I didn’t go down among the people on the fences, but there I felt so much magnetism that I wanted to go down and hug everyone. There was a very cool energy. “

Iñaki Colombo, guitarist and also keyboardistadds: “Playing in front of so many people gives you more adrenaline. There at Quilmes we looked out before we left and it was incredible. It’s a very inspiring feeling.”

According to Goyo, selling out at venues “is great”. He says not to forget the first shows in Niceto, where until the last they were aware of the number of people, to see if they could distribute the tickets among friends or not.

“Now – he admits – we have to forget about it and in every place we go we are practically in a full room. This is very pleasant because it allows you to occupy yourself and concentrate on putting on a show, playing and being connected with each other. I assume there will be people watching the concert. “

The pivotal moments

-What would be the crucial moments of your career? Perhaps those early Nicetus, but what else?

-Inaki: Without a doubt the first Niceto of 2016, when we presented the EP In the air.

-Goyo: That was our first landing in the capital, being a band from Beccar, in the North Zone. It was very difficult for us to have shows and concerts in the capital. It was a pivotal moment, and another was the exit Bachwith all the tour that followed.

-And in Mexico what was that key moment?

-Inaki: The Catrina festival, in Puebla.

-Goyo: Yes. We did our first tour in Mexico at the end of 2018, we played at that festival and it was amazing. The truth is that it was one of the first recitals we did and there were a lot of people. A few months later, in March 2019, we went to play Vive Latino and it seems to me that there was also a pivotal moment.

We played in the Intolerant Tent, which is like an alternative, smaller stage. Before we hit the place it was bare, and when we left there were people all the way down. This made us think we had to keep going to Mexico.

– Seeing so many people gives you enthusiasm and pride, or fear?

-Inaki: It’s a mix. The day you lose your fear you have to retire. Sometimes that uncertainty about what will happen is the engine, because you don’t know if you will be booed or cheered. Each show is like the first one, because there are also people who see you for the first time.

-Goyo: The truth that gives a lot of pride, especially to be able to travel and reach places so far away and that there are people who sing the songs. When we went to Mexico last year, we played in Tijuana, a city with a very strong rock tradition. And in each place we put the address of our little house in Beccar to see how many kilometers we are away from. And to see so many people singing and clapping is puffing up your chest and saying “How nice what is happening to us!”.

Towards the Luna Park

-How are you dreaming of the Luna Park recital?

-Inaki: There are tickles in the belly. We are already beating it from now on, although there is still a long way to go. It’s like the end of this whole first part of the tour that takes us through so many countries. It gives us a lot of pride and happiness to be able to do this. Plus, it’s an immense challenge to stage a show right there, with all the mystique the place has.

-What unforgettable shows have you seen there?

-Goyo: I have one that has to do with a special moment, because I was just starting to go to recitals and it was the first time I went to the Moon. It was the spectacle of the 15 years of Prophetic Culture. I got around people and I remember a friend fainting and had to be brought to the rescue. There I saw the strength and power this place has. And from recent times I remember a very powerful show by Wosito.

-iñaki: My memory is more recent: a Patti Smith recital that blew my wig. I remember the stage was very bare and an amazing rock band came out.

-Goyo: Oh! I told my grandmother we were going to play there and she said, “That’s where Sinatra sang!” I also saw Rodrigo’s shows on YouTube, which have remained for posterity. The truth is, it’s crazy to have the opportunity to do a show there.

-Are they at the Moon already with all the new “Big Blue” songs?

-Goyo: Yes. The idea is to play all the new songs and obviously our biggest hits. The new album is only 35 minutes long, and it’s great because you finish listening to it and have time to put it back together.

-Inaki: We are already about two hours into the show.

The new generation

– Ten years have passed since the first album and they are the first band of their generation to arrive at Luna Parks. Who do you feel close to?

-Goyo: With Russian, from Knowing Russia. He is a colleague with whom we have met for many years on the scene, when he had other projects. Mind you, Marilina got to the Moon before us, but she is not a band.

-Inaki: There is also El Mató, a motorized police, but they have been around for longer. When we started, they were a reference and a model of self-management. See you a lot with Zoe, Ainda, El Zar, Indios and bands like Francisca y los Exploradores, Rayos Láser, Hipnotica.

-Goyo: Even the bands from Mendoza, the meek indie ones, even if You Show Me It is not active now.

The latest album: Big Blue

As in the preview of their previous album, paranoid popthis recent Big blue It made them hesitate to re-record at Sonic Ranch, but they were thrilled to be able to use a new part of the “ranch” called Big Blue (hence the title of the album).

According to Goyo, the decision to return to Texas had to do with imprisonment and the pandemic, with everyone living at home and making a living. “We needed that meeting space and were tempted to go to that studio we saw during construction.”

Another factor they repeated from the formula that was successful Bach Y paranoid pop was producer Adan Jodorowsky. The singer explains that this creative bond has continued to develop, in addition to the brotherly bond of friendship.

“It is important – Goyo explains – the energy you experience in a recording studio, when you produce and print what will be a record that will last forever”.

Iñaki reflects: “I don’t know if we will be able to make an album by ourselves. We did it with the first ones, and in Bach we called Adan and it worked for us. Definitely being a six-person band, having someone like him is pretty essential. Because there comes a point where you disagree on everything and you need someone who is out of the situation and has some objectivity. “

“He is a person – adds Goyo – to whom we have all given that power and that authority, understanding that we must trust him. An argument can be truly eternal and someone is the key to speeding up the process and not getting entangled in useless sophistry” .

-I read that they recorded everything live. Hadn’t they done this before?

-Inaki: Some things yes, like drums with bass and guitar. But here it was literally all together, with the two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and lead vocals. It practically wasn’t there overdubs On the disk. It was a challenge that Adan proposed to us when he came to the studio. We didn’t know we were going to record it this way! I think he gives a hue and a philosophy to the album, because he is able to incorporate the error or imperfection into the concept. The best collective shot was chosen and did not allow us to correct it.

-Goyo: There was no mental or physical preparation! It was nice to befriend the mistake and raise your head and look at each other while shooting. There was a nice energetic work, which ends up being heard in the songs.

-There are references to the pandemic in the texts. Was it all composed in full confinement?

-Goyo: Yes, totally. While we do not consider that it speaks exclusively or directly about the situation we are experiencing in the pandemic, it was conceived at that time. There are details, for example in My party, which we composed with Joaco Vitola in Saldías and wanted to talk about a clandestine party, which was a lot of that time. It ends up having glimpses and influences of what happened to us during our imprisonment, but it doesn’t seem to me to be the main theme or theme.

-Was it difficult to put together the tracklist or did it come naturally?

-Goyo: The decision must be unanimous. In general, Iñaki and Mati, the drummer, are the ones who offer the most and are committed to testing and listening to how each variant turns out. The rest of us listen and raise or lower our thumbs. And to choose the singles we have a very fun game which consists of writing each of their three proposals on a piece of paper.

-Inaki: It was hard. It is always a good challenge. There are some executives who propose an order of topics, but then you have to stick to the idea of ​​the committee, as they say. The six of us voted, but winning 4-2 is not enough, because we want to achieve something that everyone likes. This is our system. It is a unanimous democracy.

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