Scrit: Muzak seems to be a considerable step up in many regards - art design, packaging and presentation, and, of course, the polish on the music. Tell us a bit about creating Muzak and coming on board Elektrohasch Records.
Luis: Well, I started it in 2003 and finished in 2005. The reason for taking two years to do the album is that I decided I would only stop working on it when I really thought it was truly finished. I let the music and inspiration dictate the work schedule for the album.
Although, for me, Muzak is a Saturnia album with the musical and conceptual components that Saturnia had in both The Glitter Odd and Hydrophonic Gardening; I agree with you because it was designed to be more effective, with this album I tried to optimize all resources from an instrumental, lyrical, compositional and production perspective. I think Muzak is an album that can be enjoyed by psych-illuminatis but also by anyone who just likes music.
I feel that, that �step up� you are talking about, is the reflex of the enormously detailed work that went into all aspects of Muzak, both musically and production-wise.
The story with Elektrohasch is rather simple, really, I got to the label through the web, that`s how I met Stefan Koglek, he liked Muzak and I licensed it to him. That`s it.
Scrit: Are the self-titled first album and The Glitter Odd impossible to find now? Were they pretty limited pressing?
Luis: The first CD was basically a CD-R that I sold through the site; I was dissatisfied with it not being a "proper" CD so I decided to stop letting copies out. In the case of The Glitter Odd, I licensed it to a label that went bust (and ripped me off too, actually), so when they got out of CDs and out of business there were no more prints. That`s why they became hard to find.
The reason why I never released them myself was because I never wanted to get into the hassles of doing a label. However, I realize there`s a demand for these CD�s, so I am planning a re-release of Saturnia, The Glitter Odd, and Hydrophonic Gardening in the near future, so stay tuned.
Scrit: Does Francisco Rebelo have more to do with playing this music live with you, than the actual writing and recording of the studio work?
Luis: Yes. When he got to Saturnia I already knew him from his band, Cool Hipnoise, he was also the sound guy in an art gallery Saturnia played in 2000, after the show he volunteered to come in essentially to play live. All these years I`ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to get him more inside the Saturnia bubble. Of all Saturnia albums he only plays on one track in Muzak. I played everything in both The Glitter Odd and Hydrophonic Gardening.
He has his own projects and is a session musician and producer, so, for him, Saturnia is a place where he gets to play music he loves with someone else taking care of things.
Anyway, he is a wonderful musician and a brilliant bass player and we are very close friends.
Scrit: Though Saturnia has four albums to its name, only the latest Muzak has recently become available on StonerRock.com. Each album has been on a different label. Has that been hard with the �inconsistency� of those representing you? What�s the story behind all the label switching?
Luis: It hasn`t been easy. I`ve been hearing things like: "How come you have three albums before Muzak and I never heard about you guys?"
Saturnia is a self-produced artist and I own the albums; this provides absolute creative freedom, which is the essence of Saturnia. Of course there are problems in not being permanently on one label, particularly in terms of consistently developing a public career.
The deals for The Glitter Odd and Hydrophonic Gardening didn`t work out perfectly, whether it was promotion or money or whatever so, until now, each time I want to put out a new Saturnia album, always with the purpose of improving Saturnia`s position in mind, I start looking around for labels.
It would be marvelous to stay with Elektrohasch and develop a long-term positive relationship. Let`s see how it goes.
Scrit: It�s probably a safe bet that American monolith Wal-Mart wouldn�t stock Muzak because of the breast album cover. This may seem like a silly question, but have you run into any difficulties with stores carrying the album because of that?
Luis: Sadly, not as silly as it may sound to you or me, the fact is that I had two labels interested in Muzak that wouldn`t release it with that cover. That amazed me because during the entire artwork process I never imagined that a natural, beautiful part of the human anatomy would generate such a prejudiced response. I was shocked and frightened of a world that doesn`t respect artistic freedom and doesn`t even have the ability to differentiate art from sleaze.
This was a minor thing but still, very revealing. It reminded me of how Saturnia is, in its own peculiar way, a very politically incorrect band.
Scrit: What made you choose a photo of a breast for the cover?
Luis: I wanted the images for Muzak to be very iconic and direct to reflect the "straight to the point" musical approach of the album itself.
I brainstormed with photographer Eduardo Vasconcelos (ex-Saturnia Keyboardist aka M strange) he did photographs of things that were on the lyrics or related to my visual interpretation of the pieces in some way or another.
I picked the breast photo for the front cover as I thought it was the most beautiful and balanced, it just looked marvelous. The photo was inspired by the piece "Nipple" which is based on a Portuguese folk rhythm, named Chula. It is a reflective fantasy on my own individual, cultural origin.
Scrit: The first I�d heard of Saturnia was �Omnia� off of Hydrophonic Gardening. I downloaded the song I think off your website. Great, great tune man. Made me feel a flower-power sort of early �70�s vibe. Is that love-vibe the foundation of what you do in Saturnia? What would you say it is?
Luis: Saturnia is a labor of love for me. Saturnia`s music is evasive and hypnotic and I do it to be free. The pleasure, magic, peaceful energy and the way of seeing things differently and visiting new dimensions, that I live in Saturnia, makes me harmonize myself with the universe. This is my thing with Saturnia and it`s what I want to share with those who hear the music.
My wish to update, revalidate and interpret, in a contemporary dimension, that �70`s type of musical vision of the spheres, is one of the factors that led to the genesis of Saturnia. I love lots of those classic head-psych-space bands and am proud to carry that type of music, philosophy and vision into today.
Still, some very distinct types of music influence Saturnia, such as classical Indian music, easy listening, electronica or musique concrete; so I feel that it would be more accurate to say that the genre you mention is not the foundation of what I do but part of the foundation. Saturnia is really a cauldron I throw things into.
Scrit: What is this genre �musique concrete?� I�m not familiar with it.
Luis: Traditionally, music begins as an abstraction or notation, which is then transformed into sound. Musique concr�te - or concrete music - turns the process around and begins experimenting with the "concrete" sounds, and only afterwards abstracts them into musical compositions or pieces. Saturnia�s creative process happens similarly.
Also, musique concr�te is frequently made with "real world" sounds, rather than traditional musical instruments, which is an element you can find in some Saturnia pieces like �Analepsis,� �Hydrophonic Gardening,� �A Trick of the Light,� or �Nipple� for instance.
Scrit: What does �Saturnia� come from? Wasn�t she a god of some sort?
Luis: The name is a mix between Saturn, the planet, and the word saturnalia, synonymous with orgy. I wanted the name to have something sci-fi but also a hedonistic sensuality and natural feel in it. It was after mixing those two words that I realized that there was also a butterfly named Saturnia. That tied things up in a rather organic way.
I then researched a bit and found that Plutarch mentioned an island with that name in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, which gave it a mythological dimension, and also that there is an ancient Roman volcanic town with a vaguely supernatural reputation, named Saturnia which gave it a dab of classicism.
I felt that these ideas or concepts reflected the musical philosophy and ethos I was, and still am, into, so that was it.
Scrit: I have to say one of my favorites from the new one is �Infinite Chord.� That�s a got a real meditative urgency to it. Anything special you can say about that one?
Luis: �Infinite Chord� developed from the filtered guitar chord that you can hear all the way through it, I got hooked on it as it gave me a feeling of immensity and vastness. I then, somehow, connected the idea of a musical chord to the kundalini yoga conception of an energy that flows upwards the spinal chord, that�s what led me to the Om mantra chant, the sound of infinity. Om as the symbol of deep realities and mystical travelling is the central idea of this piece.
Scrit: What are you listening to lately amongst your peers or similar-genre bands? And those that came before you?
Luis: I listen constantly to the classics, so sounds like Gong, Tangerine Dream, Pulsar, Guru Guru, or Hawkwind are constantly going on around me, they come and go but they are always there, you know?
Also, I am always on the lookout for new, interesting music on the web; so regarding more recent bands, I`ve been listening to stuff like Oresund Space Collective, Colour Haze, Mahamudra, Mr. Quimby`s Beard, and Cranium Pie to name a few.
Scrit: Well it�s definitely been educational Luis, and thanks so much for the amount of detail you�ve gone into. Saturnia�s awesome and best regards, man.
