interview with Penuria
Leo: Yes I played in four other bands. “Anemia” (Post Grunge) was my first band from when I was 15 years old https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUuzS5JHAbU . My second band was “Axeso” it was a experimental metal band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUTJ54Cjkwk ,then I played in a rock band called “Darma” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnah-AnImlQ , and the last one was “The ReAktion” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb4JXqCqRdA.
Juan Pablo: Yes, I've played in other bands, bands that I started as personal projects, which then band members were integrating on their way, now I'm not in a band.
How is it that you started playing music?
Leo: I started playing music at school, we had a music room with some electric guitars, electric bass and drums. We my best friend Simon we played a lot in that music room, and then we decided to make our first music band “Anemia”.
Juan Pablo: I began to venture on string instruments, classical instruments as acoustic guitar or the bass, because my father played rock and roll and Chilean folk music on my birthdays or when he visited me, carrying his guitar always, which did not greatly caught my attention, until one day he left his guitar in my house and I kept it, he had to give me his guitar, from that moment I began to venture into the strings more and expand my musical world, which in those years was basically grunge; before was listening to other bands, such as Black Sabbath or SODA, I began my musical journey, keyboards, percussion, reaching new VST platforms that allowed me to mix music in general.
With Leonardo I met various instruments, he had a mandolin and a guitar with strings of a larger caliber, which tuned in D / B with smooth strings; both instruments, called my attention and we began to include them in what was an immature stage of “Penuria”.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Leo: My name is Leonardo Signorelli, I am 27 years old. I play drums, a electric guitar, keyboard and a bass. In Penuria I program the drums, play the keyboards and sing.
Juan Pablo: My name is Juan Pablo Sanhueza and I am 27 years old; in the band, we did not really attribute 100% execution of an instrument, I think that is the humility that we show when presenting our work, I'm not a virtuoso guitarist and a master of percussion, Leonardo plays better actually, but the sum of our musical synergy is what motivates me to continue creating and playing the instrument that gets in my hands.
Have you had other previous members?
Juan Pablo: Leonardo can answer better that question, but I think he didn't have formal members before I enter “Penuria”; the female voices were recorded by Barbara Aviles, a friend of Leonardo, and his other friend Simon Rojas helped Leo in the recording process.
Leo: No, Penuria is only me and Juan Pablo, but my friend Simon Rojas helped me mastering our album.
Did you make music even when you were young?
Juan Pablo: Yes, I recorded music since I was about 17 years old.
Leo: Me too, since I was 15 Years Old using Fruity Loops hahaha.
Where are you from? Leo: We are from Santiago, Chile.
What year did the band form?
Juan Pablo: I do not remember, I could not give a date, and we did not say the day we were playing together, or maybe yes... It was a time when we drank a lot of wine.
Leo: hahaha yes!, I will say we started to work together around the year 2010, I am not 100% sure, but I started “Penuria” by my self even before. around the year 2007.
What's your style of genre?
Leo: I can say that we do Atmospheric Funeral Doom Metal.
Juan Pablo: Funeral Doom Metal or just Doom Metal.
What inspires you?
Leo: My feelings, my thought, the urge to channel them through our music.
Juan Pablo: The instrument I am playing in the moment and it pitch, each note has a different character and when you play the next note it form into an idea, which thrives on a book reading or what I've seen on the daily emotion.
How often and where do you rehearse?
Leo: We never rehearsal, only when we were recording, because “Penuria” is only a musical project and we do not intend to play live, not for now at least.
Juan Pablo: Now as we live in different countries, we spoke through messages, I think we really never rehearsed, we gathered much, when we were neighbors, we usually ate together, noodles and wine. When we played and recorded, it was because we gathered in that day.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band?
Leo: Yes I love programming, electronics, video games, software and technologies, you can see some of my work in http://astralmemories.com/.
Juan Pablo: If, among the things I do, I love my job; I love traveling, meeting other cultures and next year I hope to begin studying a postgraduate course in geriatrics.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?
Leo: Well, recently a label from russia contact us because they wanted to release physical copies of our album, we accepted, so now our album is available to buy in Russia (http://gsp-music.com/gsp102).
Juan Pablo: Recently a Russian record label contacted us and we accept the offer, which really got us by surprise and we accept it as such.
Certainly it is a way of expanding our art, but I think the auto-production was something that filled us in a moment, we have not talked about it, but really not something I lose sleep, certainly I seek to show my art, but I never thought in making "Penuria" massive.
What made you decide to make this music?
Juan Pablo: I do not think that at a time of my life, I stopped and decided to make music, has always been second nature... something that occurred in response to a point in my search for identity and pleasure... it's just something that since childhood I like to do... do music is something I love and how it is such a primitive feeling, I have not questioned much less braking. I'm feeding the impulse to make music and I greatly enjoy the creation process. I think it's a way of life really is something that is with me constantly.
Leo: I wanted to record this feeling, its vibration, its atmosphere, its infinite space of desolation. I had to channel this energy in a music genre that can handle it.
What are your songs about?
Juan Pablo: I always start with the composition... When playing Doom, I imagine a procession march. That is why, I always imagine a mass of people for a purpose and that is what my songs are about.
My family is very conservative and since childhood, attended religious services which always culminated in a procession, with a deep voice in the background in a crowd of people, the sheep following the shepherd; actually I never felt part of the flock, watched the procession from outside, today I seek to capture a procession itself, one way itself, which I know it has a destination, but as I said earlier, this vague idea feeds itself with different shades, different colors, different feelings that give a leisurely pace, which invites the listener of my music, to walk with me to my pace. Leonardo is the one who writes the lyrics. I can talk about our melodies and what happens in the process of the songs.
Leo: Death, the timeless limbo, the death after death, desolation, depression, the seeking to end the pain through the non existence of matter.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?
Juan Pablo: The composition is done together, separately, but together, explain this is complex; The lyrics of the album "Vulnerant Omnes, Ultima Necat" was wrote by Leonardo, he said his central idea of the album, is the tortuous passage of a soul from the physical to the spiritual, to find a everlasting way without pain. Then I was intrigued to hear him sing, I accepted excluding anything. It was what I imagined in each compound verse, every nuance. That's the synergy that characterizes "Penuria", a composition in which each respects their space, but actually draws on the experience of the other.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment?
Leo: Well, not necessarily a special environment to record, but obviously a place where we can be comfortable without external noises.
Juan Pablo: In my room, it is a comfortable space that allows me to expound with greater ease, I am not of those who like to play in front of many people, or in new places.
What language do you sing in?
Leo: I sing in english, even though english is not my native language, but I wanted Penuria to be world worldwide.
Juan Pablo: The album was entirely in English, I think it would be interesting in the future to integrate other languages.
Where can people buy your merchandise? Juan Pablo: Currently we began to sell our album in the USA and Chile through Facebook messages in our "Penuria" page, you can get your copy through the Russian label website (http://gsp-music.com/gsp102), similarly you can get a digital download via Bandcamp (http://penuria.bandcamp.com/)
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Leo: I can say that the music industry is changing all the time. Thanks to internet we have the access to many different music over the world, and thank to that I’ve know and listen to so many different bands and music genders that I could not have the chance to know without Internet.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this?
Leo: Now the record labels and sponsors are looking how many likes in your facebook page your band have, how many youtube views do you have in your videos, how much interactions with your fans... So yes, the music industry has evolved with the Internet. So bands today have to work a lot in their social media so they can reach more fans online.
Juan Pablo: I really enjoy music massification, This massification has allowed me access to much new music from other countries and places around the world, I was unaware of music styles like doom, stoner, even experimental music; I also love the physical format discs, but can not be exempted from social process of massification of music.
What do you think of my work? Juan Pablo: Regarding the interview, I find it attractive, we really do not received these kind of questions daily, so it is an excellent way to see our processes over the years.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Juan Pablo: Absolutely, on the music market as such, people seek to know much more of the bands, they are interested in the background of the music; so is great to make ourselves known as musicians.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Juan Pablo: Really, it's nice to hear old music, as it has a very own label, overall I quite like the low-fi music; home recording, in which the essence is captured, but I also enjoy good quality music like the bands today. I think that the contemporary and classic, always inspire the musician.
What have been your biggest obstacles?
Juan Pablo: Time, is difficult for me to play because of my work, I do not have much time to play and talk with Leonardo as often as I would like.
Leo: I think that living in different countries has been the biggest obstacle for “Penuria”, but I believe that with today's technology it is possible to continue working from a distance in “Penuria”.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Leo: Make your music just because you love making and playing your music, not because you want to reach more fans. When you do what you love people can feel that and they will start following you. Rehearsal a lot and play live as much as you can because is the best way to have a direct connection with your fans.
Do you have any new material? Leo: Nothing new right now, but we are working with Juan Pablo in some new ideas that might end up being the second album of Penuria.
What are your web sites?
https://www.facebook.com/penuriamusic/
How can people reach you? Leo: Through a private message in Facebook, or sending us an email to [email protected].
What are your plans for the future? Juan Pablo: Keep doing what we love, composing and playing.
Do you have something to add?
Juan Pablo: Thank you for your disposal in this interview and your time to contact us, we have responded this questions with pleasure as it makes us remember the process that we have experienced as musicians-friends.
Leo: Thank you very much!