Atacama is an album I rated very
highly and made it one of my albums of 2016. As it's an action packed
and socially aware album. If you dig classic Stoner Metal merged with
heavy psychedelic sounds then you need to listen to Borracho now.
I've been a fan of these guys ever
since my The Sludgelord days. They never disappoint and Atacama is
their best album to date. I wanted to find more about the band and
they've kindly agreed to this interview.
Hi
guys. Thanks for doing the interview. How’s life treating you
today.
Hey
Steve, thanks for having us. All is good.
For
people not in the know, can you provide a brief history of how the
band came together and where it is today.
The
three of us played together in other bands along with our old singer
and buddy Noah. We decided to get together, trade off instruments,
and jam on some riffs. It was a while coming together, from late 2007
- 2010 we were really cultivating our sound, writing and demoing
material, and playing some shows with bands we knew already, and
meetings some new friends along the way. In 2011, after meeting our
studio wizard Frank Marchand, we finally got a proper studio session
together to record our debut Splitting Sky.
People
seemed to dig that one a lot when it came out, and we got a lot more
attention than we expected from it. In 2012 Noah told us he was
moving abroad, and we decided to keep on as a trio, rather than
looking for a new singer. Steve took over vocal duties from there. We
released a few 7”s of material we had recorded with Noah before
recording and releasing our 2nd record Oculus, which was our first
with Steve singing. We’ve since put out a couple more split 7”s
and were on Ripple Music’s first volume of The Second Coming of
Heavy series. We’re stoked to have released our new record Atacama
with Kozmik Artifactz, and are getting ready for the vinyl release in
the next couple months.
Why
did you call your band Borracho
We
like to drink. It fit the aesthetic of what we wanted to put out
there. It’s not what might be expected.
How
would you describe your music for first-time listeners.
Riff-oriented
heavy rock.
We are here to talk about the new album. Atacama. What can people expect from the album.
We are here to talk about the new album. Atacama. What can people expect from the album.
Atacama
is probably the most ambitious record we’ve made, especially from a
production standpoint. We have a lot of influences and like a lot of
different kinds of music, and in writing this record, we didn’t
want to limit ourselves creatively. So what you hear is pretty
diverse, from straight forward rockers, to epic, complex, heavy
psychedelic jams, to mellower, more introspective and orchestrated
stuff. Our intention was to take listeners on a journey, like our
favorite classic records. It’s not a concept album per se, but our
process was definitely driven with that idea in mind.
What
is the overall concept of the album.
The
record is a body of work, with interconnected songs that we
intentionally sequenced and produced to envelop the listener
continuously, and make it obvious that there’s not a good place to
stop. You have to let it ride. Lyrically there’s not a common
thread throughout, but we leave some of that up to interpretation.
I would say the overall concept is the album experience. We wanted to get away from releasing just a collection of songs, we wanted to get back to when listening to an album was something you could really immerse yourself in. There is an underlying concept that we used for writing purposes and cohesion but it is really up to the listener to interpret.
I would say the overall concept is the album experience. We wanted to get away from releasing just a collection of songs, we wanted to get back to when listening to an album was something you could really immerse yourself in. There is an underlying concept that we used for writing purposes and cohesion but it is really up to the listener to interpret.
The
album is quite political with certain aspects of the lyrics.
Especially compared against your other albums. Was that the intention
to make something more political and topical in some respects.
The
reality is that the record was written during a very tumultuous time
in America, politically. It’s hard not to be affected by that, and
some of the inspiration for the themes that appear are a reflection
of the emotions we were going through while writing for the record.
They also fit with one of the overarching themes of the record. I
think our intention was to write about what makes people tick, or
more importantly what pushes people over the edge. But It's hard to
not be inspired by the over the top stupidity being played out on the
world stage.
Was
it an easy or hard album to write and record for.
We
wrote a lot of the music for the record by jamming. We kind of got
our process together a bit more across the writing for the Second
Coming tunes and the Atacama music that followed. Our process has
always been very organic, but Steve and Tim really collaborated well
in the lyric writing, to keep things cohesive. Recording was a lot of
fun, but also a lot of work. Steve had a vision for expressing the
music collectively, and working with Frank, and trying a lot of
different things, we were able to realize that vision in what we
think is our best, most creatively mature record. When you are truly
passionate about something, hard doesn't really come into the
equation - tedious at times yes, but never hard and always enjoyable.
What
influenced you when recording and writing this album.
The
2016 US elections, environmental destruction, impending space travel,
isolation, anger, frustration. Puppies and kittens.
Have
you been surprised by the reviews the albums received. Especially
from the Stoner Metal community. It’s made a lasting impression
with a wide range of people.
Writing
records, you’re in a bubble. You have all this time with your music
before anyone hears it. While writing, while recording, while mixing,
mastering, and waiting for the release to happen. That’s a lot of
time to get comfortable with what you’ve created, but it’s also
all in isolation, with only the feedback of your most trusted
confidants. So whenever we get such positive reviews we’re humbled,
and flattered. For us, making ourselves happy is priority #1. We’re
not selling 100,000 copies of our records, so we really aim to please
ourselves, and enjoy what we create. When others pick up on that, and
we can touch them and bring joy to them, it’s the ultimate reward.
We’ve been super fortunate to have had great support from the
community since that first record came out.
What
is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it down to one individual
or a group collective.
Steve
is the riffmeister, but our process is very organic, and jam driven.
We all bring ideas, and drive the development of our music over time.
We have a chemistry, and there are only three of us, so we have built
this connection over time. We share the philosophy that we have no
limits, and we write what we want, which is very liberating,
creatively.
Will
you be performing gigs this year. A more in-depth tour to promote the
album. Are there plans to perform overseas such as Europe.
We’re
stoked to play the Maryland Doom Fest pre-party in June, and we’re
working on some more shows during that time. At the moment we don’t
have any plans for heading to Europe, although we’d love the
opportunity to do so. We are interested in tapping into the young and
emerging South American scene, and possible exploring opportunities
to play there. But as of the moment there’s no major touring
planned in the first half of the year.
Thanks
for the cool questions Steve, hope your readers got a good glimpse
into the Borracho world. We would like to express our gratitude to
our fans for all the support over the years. We’re looking forward
to seeing people out at some shows, and let us know how you’re
digging Atacama! Cheers!
Words
by Steve Howe and Borracho
