Otherness
Otherness, originally from Comodoro Rivadaviathey are writing an interesting manual on the subject of crossing borders and fighting (and winning) to make their talent known beyond Patagonia … and Buenos Aires.
It is that the quartet formed by Martín Cativa (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gonzalo Cativa (vocals and bass), Nico Klein (lead guitar and vocals), Pablo Gaggioni (drums and choirs) manages slowly but surely to shape an exemplary career through hard work and talent.
Today, the group has been working via satellite ever since Gonzalo and Nico reside in Berlin.
“We are experiencing growth little by little, very little by little. We have never had the opportunity to settle here all “, explains Gonzalo from the German capital, and continues:
“Our career-level construction is pending, we still don’t have a sense of what we have achieved. For any Latin American artist who doesn’t sing reggaeton, it’s hard work, you have to conquer the audience little by little. Here the color of the passport counts, there is a stupid hierarchy of nationality ”.
Despite this statement, The Otherness managed to tour the British underground circuitbe recommended on the legendary BBC network and have their latest song A New Resistance -which gives the name to the next EP of the band- produced by Gaspar Benegas.
Not only that: have the support of the Argentine embassy in Berlinwhere on 1 September they presented the video of that piece, which had the production of Panorámica Producciones and the full support of the Comodoro Rivadavia Tourist Board.
Before going on tour in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands in this final part of 2022, the entire band appears in a multi-destination Zoom meeting.
“We like to sing in English”
-Is the idea of singing in English a direct consequence of your musical influences?
-Martin: When we were little we did covers of Sumo and Los Redondos. So yes, we were already singing in English due to the influence of Luca Prodan, which led us to The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed. But the truth is, we sing in English because it’s sung for us, because we like it.
-Gonzalo: It has a lot to do with the fact that when we started listening to music we wanted to know what the songs we liked were saying. We always listen to Argentine music too, but we were interested in the global and international issue. While it is difficult to sing in a language that is not one’s native language, it has the problem that it is a very global language for the music you choose to play.
-Martin: Eye, it’s not that we are Anglophiles. Come to my house and just like 2Pac or Tom Petty can play maybe you have to smoke a Ricardo Vilca or if it’s Sunday morning I can put Leonard Cohen and Atahualpa Yupanqui (laughs).
Influences, artists, cultures and subcultures coexist in our band which at first glance may seem incongruous, but in our way of embracing music and art they can coexist. This is part of what we plan, not just in music, but for example in the experience of staying in hostels with people from other countries.
We like to do what we do and we don’t pay attention to which nationality it belongs to or the question of cultural appropriation, which they now cancel you for that. I think we should all be in prison in that sense! (laughs)
“In the eyes of the European you are Latin”
-This makes me think of the group name, which I understand is a concept that supports openness to others.
-Gonzalo: It’s that in the end that’s what matters. I believe that the first impulse towards something that attracts or mobilizes is not wondering where it comes from or in what language it happens, but rather the first reaction is that energy that is perceived and that makes you feel in a certain way. It doesn’t matter if you come from one country or the other, if you are binary or not, black or white.
-Martin: When you listen to Little Richard you don’t think of him as black, whore and jew. Think of someone who is super revolutionary. He was a real punk.
-Gonzalo: Sometimes there is a tendency to perceive universality from the implementation of a “label” for everything. We try to cut with the idea that everything must have a “label”. Let everyone do what is sung to them and that’s it.
-Returning to what you said at the beginning, Gonzalo, you don’t make Latin music, but you are managing to develop in the northern hemisphere.
-Gonzalo: The same, no matter how much you sound like Jimi Hendrix or sing like Sam Cooke, in the eyes of the European you are Latin. And we in that sense, it’s like “fuck you”, we play what we like. We are Latin because we were born there, and we are happy with our origins, but the work is much more expensive than if you were English or American, who are received with the pants down and the wallet open. (laughs).
Ours is to show that we can make music in the same way as the artists you pull your pants down for. With the same degree of professionalism and dedication. For us this is rock n roll.
“The trap still works”
-Where does the name of the new EP “La Nueva Resistencia” come from?
-Martin: The clear idea is in the video. We believe that there is a new generation of kids who will rebel against the imposition of the algorithm. Whether Spotify tells you which bands you need to listen to because they’re similar to each other, or Netflix tells you what to watch next what.
-Gonzalo: Or always be politically correct, tackle any trending topic or embrace any cause because it’s trendy and not what it means.
Could this not be a situation or a position to be branded as deniers or conspiracy theorists?
-Pablo: There will never be a shortage of opportunities for someone to do it!
-Martin: That’s a great question because we can’t give the answer now. I think the world has changed quite a lot, as access to information has gone from being something exclusive and limited to many people. Now you can go in and consume a lot of information, but the truth is still hidden. Before it was hidden due to impossibility of access and now due to an excess of information. The trap continues to operate from both poles.
Our position in being “the new resistance” is to be aware of these things and to observe your surroundings and to appeal to everything that artificial intelligence does not have, which is emotional intelligence.
An algorithm is an additive computing technology. On the other hand, a new resistance implies creativity, eccentricity, creation … even emotional intelligence, which is much more complex than a binary code.
-Gonzalo: Another thing we perceive from our generation that we don’t like is this “Look at me, I must be important”. A lot of ego problems that the system imposes and that everything is me, me and me. This need for total attention and exacerbation of the ego so great is something we do not like and that also, as seen in the video, there is a desire for this to change in the new generations.
-And how are those ideas decoded in others?
-Martin: Well, we also publish in algorithmic channels …
-Gonzalo: Yes, that’s right, but you don’t know how hard it is for us to pick up the phone to make a story or shit like that. Nobody wants to do it, but it’s a business necessity that’s a tremendous pain in the ass. We are traveling, playing and nobody wants to leave the time to answer the phone. I also understand that the relationship with the public today is forged by these tools.
It is very difficult for me to be in reality and in the metaverse at the same time. It’s a huge dichotomy. For now we don’t have a following (number of followers) very large, but we’ll have to see when that happens.
“The desire we have to play is tremendous”
-And a big following, what does it guarantee you if it’s not organic?
-Gonzalo: Exactly. I like knowing that those who follow us listen to our music and come to our concerts.
-Martin: The desire we have to play is tremendous. The lack of a tour shows us how important it is to be together on stage. We musicians want to connect with the audience on stage. Everything else … note that Spotify pays very little, Instagram doesn’t pay … You have to go and play.
-Pablo: Drawing a parallelism is like a footballer who goes out on the pitch: once he leaves that feeling he no longer has it. The stage is unmatched.
-Gonzalo: My girlfriend invited me to see a Lorde show, here in a very nice place in Berlin. Crazy … that wasn’t a live show! The girl sang and three voices came out. Everyone with phones, it’s like what musicians haven’t given people, people had to handle. So much so that leaving the show came out of my soul “the motherfuckin, this was the most expensive karaoke of my life”, but people don’t care about that either.
Playing live and being there with hits and misses today is more valuable than ever.
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Adriano Mazzi
Source: Clarin
