Matias Aguayo's nurture of his creative community is transcontinental. When he is not working in Paris, Matias lives in Buenos Aires, the birthplace of the BumBumBox parties—a communal affair where he and his Comeme compatriots gather in public outdoor spaces, armed with ghettoblasters playing pre-made mixes, like a drum circle that avoids improvised hippie snags. In clubs as a DJ, Aguayo connects to his audience by performing live vocals over the music, the singalong enveloping him into the audience. His most recent release Ay, Ay, Ay is also informed by his international sensibilities, transcending language, as he almost strictly uses his voice as the musical content of each song and has no preferred dialect when approaching lyrics. Aguayo talks to us about his belief in comradery, expectations of club shows and rollerskates—the topic of the chirpy first single off of the album. Check the song below and the interview after the jump. Aguayo really likes ellipses.
Download: Matias Aguayo, "Rollerskate (Radio Edit)" MP3
Vocals make up a most of each track on Ay, Ay, Ay. How do you decide how many layers will go on each song? Are they more important than other instruments on the record?
I would always stop layering when I'd feel there is enough, I mean it is a very intuitive decision. Also about the illusion or fantasy I want to construct, if I want it to sound more like a chamber orchestra or a whole village. The voice is for sure the main instrument on the record, but it occupies different spaces and functions within the music, so for me it feels like several instruments, not so much soundwise obviously, but more how it works in the arrangement. All other instruments mainly follow the voice, also considering the drums. In most cases the rhythms made up with the voice were there first, and then comes the drums, trying to follow that rhythm. I noticed I can be somehow more precise with the voice considering rhythms, or achieve more the syncopation I like for example, than if I would play or program those rhythms... And also it becomes something built around a non-existing rhythm, like a pulse in the silence, a beat you can feel but not hear, or something like that...
What is your inspiration for the vocals that are not actually words?
It is often the sound of languages, languages I know and languages or dialects i have just heard. like when i was a child and I'd sing songs in English not knowing English and just imitating the sound of it. I like the musicality of these words. Obviously when you improvise and jam, you don't have time to write lyrics, and so - as everything here is very improvisation-based, it is often just stuff that came to my mind at the very moment i was singing it. i wanted to capture that moment on the one hand, but on the other hand it also feels just right, it has a musical sense. I've been confronted to people saying vocals need to have decent lyrics, and stuff like that—I don't understand that in two ways: that would mean first of all you are against all instrumental music, and on the other hand it somehow imposes a rule, and i can't help it but whenever somebody tries to do that I'd feel very tempted to do the opposite...
How do you decide which language to use when you're singing?
That is difficult to say, for example i am living in a household where at least three, and sometimes four languages are spoken, so whether i address my flatmate in Spanish or French or English depends very much on the mood of things, and same goes for music: some melodies for example feel more english, and for some talking over a rhythm Spanish can feel more appropirate. Combining Spanish and English for example, goes very well with dance music I
think...
Does your international upbringing have anything to do with the communal-feel or community-based way you make records and host parties?
Yes it does. The romantic idea of the producer/author creating isolated in his studio, like a writer or poet doesn't interest me so much personally. I like the communication level of music very much, and the very moment of togetherness in music, or feeling that magic in one club night was always much more important to me than any record could ever be. i always, through having lived in very different places, had to adapt to many different ways of communication, and i feel open for communicating with different people out of different contexts, not so much the necessity of belonging to a closed circle of people and living by their codes...
The BumBumBox parties have only been held in South American cities. Do you have any plans to bring them to Europe or other places?
I don't know. It is not so easy to bring all those people who make part of it to another continent. And all are important for it. But we might try somehow...
At the BumBumBox parties, you play pre-recorded DJ sets. What happens in a situation where the music doesn't work for the audience?
We are used to the possibility of music not working for the audience, for example in the club, where you have a very consumist situation. somebody paid entrance for getting to see something and so on, and then he'd be disappointed and maybe ask the DJ if he can play something else and so on. this can't happen on the street parties, as everybody is there freely and it is a gift, a present, it would simply feel rude or so to go and complain. our parties work very different. it depends on the very active participation of the people. it is not an audience expecting something from the guy who is giving the show, it is the people who make the party. So situations like that just cannot happen. And also the parties are never boring, as they are always held where life is pulsating. the djsets we play are usually quite short, it is not that we'd play a two hour set out of an mp3 player. It is always sets of let's say something like 30 mins with a certain mood. and we know the sets beforehand so we can easily give the night a direction or development. But really you need active dancers, people who don't need tons of alcohol before they approach the dance floor, more people who dance right away, and just stay on the floor, which is the street in this case—this, is a little bit easier to find in South America than in Europe though...
When you are doing club tours, is there any temptation to abandon the venue and move to the streets, or are those two separate entities to you?
I still like the club a lot, I am tempted to go back to the streets again, but you know, I am touring through Europe now, and winter is about to start so it is really not the best time for it. this is for sure more a summer thing. and yeah, it is somehow two separate entities, but one inspiring the other. I also feel that things are opening up in the clubs. I feel much more free behind the decks, like I can play whatever I like...
Do you own a pair of roller skates?
No, but the person I dedicated this song to does...
