New Alternative Rock sensation Rey Pila land in London
Rey Pila Photos by Oscar Tornicasa http://photoblog.oskaro.it for rebelrebelmusic.com
Score: 7.5/10
Born as Diego Solorzano’s solo project 4 years ago in Mexico City, Rey Pila‘s today line up features, in addition to leader and singer Diego, Andres Velasco, Miguel Hernandez and Rodrigo Blanco. The self-titled debut album was released in 2009 and earned Rey Pila success in Mexico and abroad and live dates with Muse and Interpol. In 2012 the band moved to New York City where they started recording their upcoming new album; the band has just been signed to Julian Casablanca’s Cult Records and are currently showcasing the new songs with a worldwide tour. On december 10th they landed in London where they opened for Albert Hammond Jr. at the Xoyo.
On that occasion, I had the chance to have a chat with Diego and Andres before their live show (scroll down to read the full interview), where they presented 6 new tracks from their upcoming album plus the hit “No longer fun” from their debut album.
Rey Pila’s gig was mesmerizing, Diego’s perfect vocals and charisma stole the show and the new music they presented sounded more mature and definitely a new can’t-wait-to-have CD for 2014. Their music is a mix of 80s synth pop with alternative rock, Diego’s deep voice reminding of David Bowie and Ian Curtis. If you happen to be any near to one of their shows you should give them a try. Their captivating sounds guarantee a show that is musically engaging and funny. I promise these guys have a long, bright future ahead.
COMPLETE SET LIST:
Blast
Alexander
What a Nice Surprise
Strange Reaction
White Night
Apex
No Longer Fun
INTERVIEW
Q: You’ve just been signed to Julian Casablanca’s Cult Records. How does it feel and how did it happen?
Andres: It’s amazing, it was very accidental, the way it all happened. It was just one of those music industry stories that you think never happen, that you send your album around and somebody’s gonna listen to it and nobody ever listens to it, but you know we sent it and the guy was playing it in the office in New York, right as Julian was walking through and he was like, “what’s that?”, and then Diego got an email from Julian a couple of weeks later and that’s how it happened.
Q: How would you describe your music?
Diego: It’s kind of hard to describe what you do cause of the perception of what you’re playing, what’s in your head. I would say like alternative rock, for sure. We like synth bands from the 80s, we hear a lot of music, nothing in particular, it’s actually kinda hard to describe, I’d say rather alternative rum (laughs).
Q: Is there any particular artist that inspires you?
Andres: Music wise I’ve always admired Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth, he’s one of my guitar heroes. I’ve always loved Depeche Mode a lot, I have a weak spot for those guys. I like the newer bands, it’s hard, I can’t think of… I really loved Nirvana back in the days.
Diego: I was think of somebody like Stanley Kubrick as someone I really admire. Every time I watch a Stanley Kubrick movie I think how you could transcribe this into music, you know, in my own personal way. He was a complete artist, I’m really into movies and he’s, I don’t know, the only one or maybe the few directors who actually managed to do every single genre of cinema and actually get away with it.
Q: How long have you been together as a band?
Andres: Rey Pila started as Diego’s solo project 4 years ago, but we’ve been friends, playing in bands in Mexico City for a long time before that and like the rest of us, I joined in Rodrigo and Miguel and we joined for the live Rey Pila, and for this new record we made it as a band.
Q: What’s next? Any new album on the horizon?
Diego: Yeah, the album should be out first half of next year that’s the plan, so we can tour the west coast
Andres: And we hopefully will be back soon to England.
Diego: We definitely have a new album.
Q: So after the new album you’re going on tour.
Andres: Yeah, it’s already recorded, so.
Q: Any place you prefer to play live?
Diego: I have a soft spot for New York, also playing in Mexico is really nice as well. And now we have new favourite places here, you know, in Glasgow and Manchester, it was amazing.
