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Buen Chico
Article written by
Mary B - Sep 19, 2006
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Buen Chico are two boys and a girl and they're rather ruddy marvellous. While making tunes such as 'Giving your gifts' I thought that i'd give them some gifts of my own - questions and lots of them.
SoundsXP: Buen Chico. Where did that come from?!
Morgan: I came across the phrase ‘buen chico’ in a George Orwell book called ‘Homage To Catalonia’, which is about his experiences in the Spanish Civil War. It literally translates as ‘good boy’, but it’s sort of used like ‘good lad’ or ‘good bloke’, that kind of thing. It seemed like a decent enough thing to aspire to, and to name yourself after!
SoundsXP: This question is for Morgan. You had your band walk out on you on the brink of success. Was it your choice of deodorant? Too much garlic? I make light of it but it must have been quite soul destroying at the time? Kirsty and Alan are rainbows after the storm though hey?
Morgan: I think it all came down to the traditional ‘musical differences’ in the end, or at least that’s what they said! I wasn’t really too bothered when it happened as I could see it was coming. Two of that line-up were also playing in The Lucida Console at the time, and it was fairly obvious that that was what they were more keen on. There was a period when I was looking for new people when it got a bit frustrating, but then I found Kirsty, and Alan soon after. It all felt like it had worked out for the best really, ‘cos it ended up with 3 people who were well into it, and who all got on really well, so yes, rainbows after the storm fairly neatly sums it up!
SoundsXP: Just when I think that I have got a handle on your music I am no nearer to defining it. Talk to me about your sound and what you are trying to achieve with it.
Morgan: If there’s any sort of intention behind what it’s supposed to sound like, it’s just to make sure it’s got a good tune, and that it should be catchy enough to enjoy on first listen, but with enough little structural and textural quirks to allow us to feel slightly smug about it! Not stupidly complex and not stupidly simple.
Kirsty: It doesn’t sound complex on first listen, but a lot of it is. Hopefully it strikes a balance where good song-writing doesn’t necessarily alienate those people who like a good tune. We’ve got lots of tunes!
Morgan: Loud and hooky, and not all the same.
Alan: We want to be the next Rage Against the Machine
SoundsXP: You are hotly tipped for great things. Is that at the back of your mind when creating your music or do you not think about it at all?
Kirsty: I didn’t know we were tipped for great things! I’ve never really thought about it. We just go on from day to day trying to get better at what we do. Hopefully it will give us some reward in the end.
Morgan: I think we put more pressure on ourselves than we get from anyone else, we just want to make music that people will want to listen to over and over. Whether we’ll do that or not’s another matter, but I reckon we write songs that we would want to listen to over and over.
SoundsXP: You are signed to Hope and Faith records. What/who do you have faith in. Are you very hopeful about your own futures?
Alan: I have faith in my own abilities, ha, and I hope Rage reform one day.
Kirsty: I don’t know what I have faith in really. It’s mainly the band! And I hope that the world will be more stable place by the time I decide to have kids.
Morgan: I reckon the only thing I have faith in, and all I’d want to have faith in, is goodness, niceness, of people. I’m with Kirsty on what to hope for. And Alan! Whatever you hope for, it’s important to remember that hoping doesn’t make things happen!
SoundsXP: What would be your dream gig and why?
Alan: Headlining Leeds festival.
Kirsty: Supporting The Strokes or the Flaming Lips would be amazing. In fact, supporting The Strokes AND the Flaming Lips on a tour of North America. They’re the best live bands I’ve ever seen, so it would be brilliant. I’d be shitting my pants though.
Morgan: I find the good ones are usually the ones where whoever’s there is really enjoying it, no matter how many people there are. And if your guitar stays in tune and you can hear something in your monitors that’s nice too.
SoundsXP: I quote 'Now we all live together as one big happy band' Is that just a figure of speech or do you really live together as well as play together? You must have formed great relationships to be able to do that if that is the case?
Alan: Yes.
Kirsty: We all got on really well from the start, so moving in together wasn’t a big deal for any of us. There aren’t many fallings out or anything. None of us are big party animals cos we all have to work, so there’s hardly any “Your bloody friends kept me up all night” kind of stuff.
SoundsXP: You have kindly offered to take me out for the day and night in Leeds because that is where you are based. Where would you take me and why?
Alan: The Angel, because it’s cheap.
Kirsty: First of all we’d probably go to Tropical World in Roundhay, because they have loads of animals roaming about the place like Macaws and giant iguanas. They also have meerkats which are my 9th favourite animal. Then I’d probably take you out for a pizza at Salvo’s in Headingley, then take you down the indie disco. It’d be a crap one though, because I don’t know any good clubs!
Morgan: And maybe we’d try fit in going to see some of the unsung gems on the local music scene, maybe Downdime, Samsa, Itch, Lucida Console, Vatican Jet, Kram, or numerous others.
SoundsXP: You have been together as a band now for about three years? In that time what would you say has been your greatest high and what has been your greatest low?
Alan: The greatest high was probably our Futuresound gig (Futuresound is a local bands competition, you compete in to win a place at Leeds Festival).
Kirsty: I’d agree, there were absolutely loads of people there, and we ended up playing at Leeds Festival which was also brilliant. The worst one was probably this time we played in London to nobody in 32 degree heat. When you have to do 9 hours driving in 24 hours just for one gig it’s really soul destroying if there’s no one there, and that was horrible!
Morgan: I find the highs and lows come and go almost daily! But the best bits are usually when you finish off a new song and you’re dead chuffed with it, or when you play a good gig.
SoundsXP: I have decided to wipe away from the world's memory all music artists/bands bar three (because i've got a cruel streak - cue wicked laughter - mwah) Who are you going to allow to remain in the music minds of human beings and why?
Alan: The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Michael Jackson because they’re brilliant.
Kirsty: Nirvana, because they were the first band I ever got into and I still think they’re absolutely magic. Then probably The Strokes – they’re pretty much perfect. Their songs are outrageously good; the live set is ridiculously good. They get better and better, and I never get bored of listening to them. After that… it’ll be either Buddy Holly, Tamla Motown or David Bowie. I’m going to go for David Bowie, because I haven’t picked anyone British yet. You can’t let the Americans have it all. Yeah, David Bowie because he wrote ‘Five Years’, which is one of my favourite songs.
Morgan: Definitely Flaming Lips, because there’s so much of it and they’ve got your sad songs, your happy songs, your thinkers, your no-brainers, and all sorts in between. After that maybe Bob Dylan for something you can constantly find new things in and Pixies for the loudness.
SoundsXP: Where to now for Buen Chico? Where can I expect to find you tremendous trio in the future?
Alan: Up, up and far away.
Kirsty: I’ll be taking early retirement in Canada, where you can leave your doors open without fear of violent reprisals. More seriously though, I hope either we’re still doing this and doing it well, or we’ve bowed out gracefully and moved onto something more useful to society. I’d like to be a teacher.
Morgan: Hopefully if we can put up with each other for a long time, we’ll find we’re capable of making a load more different kinds of music that we love. And hopefully a few people will be nudged and shoved and even given a rocket up the arse by listening to us.
SoundsXP: Smarties or M&M's? Quality Street or Roses? After Eights or supermarket brand mints? This has got nothing to do with the interview. I'm just trying to clear up a confectionery argument that I had with somebody the other day :-)
Kirsty: M&Ms, Roses and depends which supermarket.
Alan: Dairy Milk!
Morgan: M&M’s, Roses, and probably After Eights. They’ve got an air of class I doubt would ever be present in a supermarket’s own brand.
And so do you, dear trio, have an air of class about you too. Line up the arses! I have a whole load of rockets and I am not afraid to use them...
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