Satellite Voices

Santiago / Español

Intimate Stranger return to Chile

August 25, 2011

We talk with the band Intimate Stranger, after their tour in USA

• Text by Cristian Carrasco

Anglo-Chilean avant indie-pop phenomenon, Intimate Stranger has just come off their second US tour ‘Moments of Riot’ and their singles Moments and Under are getting extensive radio play, charting in the US. Formed in 2006 by Chilean guitarist Lau Stranger and English/Croatian singer/bassist Tessie Stranger the band has two studio albums, “Life Jacket” (2007) and “Under” (Fringecore Records 2010) and a growing fanbase in South America and the US. They made a big splash at SXSW 2011 (their third) with various press highlighting them as a top pick to watch for. The band is known for their dynamic live performances, so we decided to catch up with them last week at their first gig back in their home town of Santiago.

Satellite Voices: What were the highlights of your US tour?
Tessie: It was an awesome experience overall. Every place you go is different, the vibe, the crowd. Some places we knew what to expect because we’d been there before but other times it was a real adventure. We started off in January in New York with a great show at the Knitting Factory and then made our way down. Its interesting in the US, smaller places you don’t know about with inspiring stuff going on...we came across some quirky towns with great music and art scenes.

We had an intense week in Austin for SXSW… six shows in six days, including an interactive 3D show supporting Lee Ranaldo’s (Sonic Youth) Text of Light. We recorded a special live set at Ardent Studios in Memphis, which was a treat and ended the tour in New Orleans, playing with some amazing local bands. We left with a good feeling… we’ve got a lot of reviews and radio play there at the moment and other good things happening… ʼNightimeʼ was just chosen to be in a new indie film from LA, “Low Fidelity”, so we’ll go back to the states in the new year. We toured with Austin-based drummer Victor Ziolkowski, which was super so we want to keep playing with him. We have two drummers now: Mogles our original who we’re playing with tonight and Victor who is really keen to keep travelling and recording with us.

SV: What is it like being back in Chile and what has Intimate Stranger got lined up?
Lautaro: It's great to be back playing in Chile, particulalry after being away so long. There’s a really good crowd and energy here. We see ourselves as an international band, so we like playing here and we like travelling –both are fun and rewarding and we want to keep moving. We’re going to be touring Chile for the next couple of months and then in November we’re going in to the studio to record our new album. We’re also making a video and working with audio visual artists here to explore more visual dynamics we can add to the show. We experimented quite a bit when we were in the states. We’ve also got a tour of South America planned. We’ve toured in Argentina and we’re looking at new places to explore, like Brazil. It's non-stop with networks and music and culture blogs you can always be in touch with people everywhere at the same time.

SV: What can you tell us about the new album?
Tessie: We have some songs demo-ed and have been playing them live already. It will be recorded in November and we're still deciding on people to collaborate with producing and mixing... Lee Ranaldo is a possibility. The feeling of the album is intense and sensorial, in a calm way. It's driving, danceable and melodic with lots of imagery.