Fernando Lagreca, born in Uruguay, is a multidisciplinary artist, producer and one of the most active musical observers of the national electronica scene, thanks to platforms such as Irregular Label and Microclima. When we saw him at MiRA! his precious, ethereal pop-like atmospheres with entrancing visuals blew our minds (now that’s a big phrase). We also had the chance of hearing some of his new music, which delighted us even more with crude electronic sounds and even some epic brushstrokes. After speaking with him about his trajectory and projects, the emerging panorama of Catalan electronic music makes a bit more sense.
Did you come to Barcelona with the intention of making music?
I arrived towards the end of 2002. I’ve always tried to be active with music, and in 2004 I started organizing some events at the Convent de Sant Agustí. Back then I was working for the German record label Autoplate (which doesn’t exist anymore). I released three ambient references with them, “Suave” (2003), “Colpi di Sole” (2005) and “Nadador” (2005).
What projects did you have in Uruguay?
I had a collective in the nineties, we were five artists experimenting with electronic art in unconventional venues such as museums and galleries. But in the local production of electronic music we were very few, and there weren’t many possibilities.
Was it this shortage that brought you here?
In Uruguay there was a strong economic crisis and, also, I wanted to travel. I had reached an artistic rooftop, there were many limitations in my country, for example, unexisting state subventions for culture that have been consolidated for years here and in other countries.
What do you think of the Barcelona “underground” scene in comparison with those of other countries?
I don’t know that many, but obviously London, Amsterdam and Berlin are different. I think that what all these cities have in common is that there is a stronger will to discover local bands and talents. That is what I do with Irregular Label and Miracle, I go to concerts, discover new people. I believe that this tendency is being recovered, it’s something that was rarely done here before, but which has always been done in other places.
Spain/Catalonia isn’t considered a worldwide reference of electronic music either.
It’s not only that, before everyone used to speak of the concept of emerging artists, but nobody practiced what they preached. In Berlin, for example, a publishing agency purchased me two songs directly right after finishing a concert. It’s curious, but things like that simply don’t happen here.
Nevertheless, you’re now more active than ever.
I’m very involved in editing bands, on the one hand with Irregular Label and also for having Microclima. Microclima is a recent platform in which we try to manage electronic artists, as well as working on other projects and that’s why I’m now more visible than I used to be. I don’t know if that means that the scene is strong, but it does imply that my position inside has changed.
What makes Microclima different from a conventional artistic management agency?
As well as the traditional notion of booking concerts, we attempt to generate a creative flow of projects with an important social component for artists to work on. For example, transposing a musician’s proposal to an NGO which could need a soundtrack for an audiovisual communication campaign. We’re an alternative to publicity agencies because we work directly with the artist.
The register of your discography is constantly changing. Nobody likes labels, but do you feel affinity with any specific genre?
Hi-fi love (2010) is a quite retro pop EP, but Coolhunter (Ginotonico, 2010) is pure pop, with much guitar-slinging and singable themes. I also did an ambient CD, with much vocoder (Colpi di Sole, Autoplate), when I was very influenced by Steve Kiby and Brian Eno. I’ve even experimented with a bit of dance but up until 2006 it was practically all ambient. I’d like to release an album before summer or in September with more chillwave, and some epic parts with eighties sounding textures.
¿How do you focus your live shows? ¿How was MiRA’s preparation?
For MiRA! I composed music for the occasion, focused on the visual part, and I haven’t touched it since. I performed alongside people from Dslnc Studio, in an audiovisual mapping on the façade of Fabra i Coats at the end of the festival. Being more about the visual aspect, I brought a quite small equipment, because the beats were synchronized with the images. There was a lot of previous work while composing, almost like a mini CD in a few weeks.
Lagreca – Hi-Fi Love from microclima on Vimeo.
What equipment do you take to a live show?
It depends of the genre I play. But I almost always take a sampler, a casiotone, a guitar and effect pedals. I also now go with an MPC (Music Production Center, Akai), and a voice processor. What’s curious is that with my pop-oriented music I never had the intention of playing it live originally. For me it was something very small and intimate, I’ve always called it “bedroom pop”. But I’ve ended up singing and strumming a guitar at most of my live shows. That’s the way I toured Mexico in 2006, Italy in 2010, Berlin… I never take a computer, though.
Do you not take a computer because of laziness or is it an artistic decision?
I only take a laptop for shooting visuals. It’s an artistic decision, I think we’ve abused of the refuge offered by computers. It’s boring to see a guy performing at a concert and not knowing if he is tweeting or checking his mail.
Listen to Fernando’s live set at MiRA! 2011:
It seems that we’re in the midst of a “bedroom pop” comeback thanks to artists such as Youth Lagoon, Porcelain Raft, to list a few…
Bedroom pop had its moment, just like chillwave in its early stages. What happened was that eventually many artists started their own bands, instead of playing on their own like Neon Indian or Washed Out in their first gigs. That’s why I don’t like them anymore (laughs). They sound like college bands.
What software do you turn to when you’re producing music?
I don’t use Ableton Live much, I prefer Logic or Pro Tools. I don’t like to use many plug-ins, I only really use tools like Kontakt of Native Instruments when I have to compose for a specific job like a soundtrack. But with CDs, all that I do, I do with these gadgets you see here. The new album is completely recorded with MPC (Akai), without Logic and Pro Tools.
Do you work with someone in particular for the live visuals?
I work alone, sometimes I do them, sometimes I don’t. I always change register, and that’s why no one follows me. It’s good to work with different people. At MiRA! I loved working with Dslnc Studio.
Any indispensable album to understand you as an artist?
It’s a hard question, but if I had to choose a band it would be New Order. Surely, the album Low Life. But the first two themes that made me listen to electronic music were Human League’s “Don’t you want me” and “Situation”, by Yazoo. But that was a long, long time ago (laughs).
Surely you have some kind of ritual while composing.
I always kick off differently, it could be with a rhythm or a piano line. I’ve never had the discipline of saying “today I’ll compose from 9 ‘til 18h”. I work as it comes out.
What do you recommend as an observer of the national electronic music panorama?
Among the bands, there’s Boreals, a young group we took on with Irregular and they’ll release an EP towards the end of February, and the Asturians Las Casicasiotone, who will release an EP in March. In electronic music, I think the confirmation of this year –not the revelation- would be Pina. He has been signed by Lapsus Records and I think we’ll soon start seeing him in festivals. I also have a new project, a band called El Platillo Volador, who will release an EP with Irregular in a few months.
Victor Paradis
