INTERVIEW: Chilean prog rock band Aisles travel to the future with ‘Club Hawaii’
Photo: Aisles has a new EP called Live From Estudio del Sur. Photo courtesy of the band / Provided by Glass Onyon PR with permission.
Chilean prog rock ensemble Aisles recently released their new EP, Live From Estudio del Sur, a collection of live reinterpretations from their songbook. Included in the release are renditions of “Shallow and Daft,” “Still Alive” and “Club Hawaii.”
In fact, “Club Hawaii” was recently shot as a video to accompany the release. The song originated on the band’s Hawaii album, their fourth effort, which came out in 2016.
Aisles is known for fusing many different genres into their unique prog rock sound. Some songs stray toward Latin music, while others are more jazzy or pop-influenced. Still others have traces of metal or electronic. It’s a welcome mélange that makes their music uncategorizable, which is a high compliment in today’s cookie-cutter music industry.
Recently, Aisles’ guitarist and vocalist Germán Vergara exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox. His other bandmates are Felipe Candia (drums and percussion), Sebastián Vergara (lead vocals), Rodrigo Sepúlveda (guitar and vocals), Daniel Concha (bass) and Juan Pablo Gaete (keyboards. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can fans expect from Live From Estudio del Sur?
They can expect a blend between some of our earliest compositions and some of the newest. All in the same set, the band as it is today playing four very different songs. We recorded live in front of five cameras, so there is a very nice feel. The first track of the EP, ‘Clouds Motion,’ is one of the very first songs we wrote as a band. We also made a new version for ‘Shallow and Daft’ with different arrangements, and we invited a singer from another band to be part of this recording.
The last two tracks, ‘Still Alive’ and ‘Club Hawaii,’ capture the mood of desolation of our concept album Hawaii and are a reflection of what the band is doing today, and the fans are going to love the way they sound in the EP, more organic and louder at times.
When did you first get into rock ‘n’ roll?
I first got into rock when I heard Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ My oldest brother introduced me to their music. After that, I got a guitar on my 14th birthday. I started listening to Led Zeppelin. I bought Iron Maiden’s Powerslave. I formed my first band, failed on math for several years, and I started writing my own songs and so on until today.
When did you pick up your first guitar?
We were on holidays, and my brother had a band with a friend. And he started teaching me some basic chords. I was 13 years old, and I fell in love with the instrument. A few months later I had my own electric guitar and a stomp with distortion.
Where did the name Aisles come from?
We were looking for a short name that sounded good, and the word Aisles came up. And we liked it because of its association with theatre. The empty space in the middle, between rows of seats, the space that leads to the stage. We always thought we should integrate our music with visuals as much as we could, so the name made perfect sense.
What was the inspiration behind the song “Club Hawaii”?
Musically Juan Pablo (keyboards) had this idea for the beginning. After that, we all started contributing ideas. We already had in mind the idea of the future for the album, so our inspiration was ‘what would music sound like in the future?’ The result was this complex fusion of jazz, metal, exotic Latin elements and rock.
Conceptually I wrote the lyrics based on this idea of a club that helped you relive the experience of Earth in a world of space colonies at a time where life on Earth was already extinct. There is an ecstatic idea behind the lyrics that fascinates me.
We tried to be as modern as we could be in our approach to music and to the lyrics. It was a beautiful challenge, and I am very happy with the result. So I invite you all to check out both the studio album version and the one from the live EP.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Aisles’ new EP is Live From Estudio del Sur. Click here for more information on the band.
