We’re not ones to say f*** you, wind

The band that mystifies honesty in the abbreviation of conceptual explosions. They abridge these into futile compositions but with no intention of attenuating their perspectives. Sat outside one of the guitarists' studios in Barcelona, Amando Armando confided in my presence to dismantle the meaning of their band’s tonics and spheres. A band born and still waltzing the streets of Barcelona bury loud injustices in the shoegazing punk rock plummeting of their musical rows.

“There’s a way to describe our band’s world. Sometimes it’s so clear. When you’re sitting on a rooftop, writing a song, or rolling a joint, you realise there’s a lot of wind. We aren’t the ones to say, ‘fuck you, wind’. We’re gonna embrace it and accept what it has to be. You know, maybe there was a child nearby. It is what it is - a horrible phrase. But, it is what it has to be, and it is a lovely phrase.”

Why don’t you begin by explaining how you formed the band?

Damn, how did the band start, dude? 

I’d like to know myself.

Why don’t you listen, and I’m sure you’ll learn a lot. 

Five were in the band but with another guy called Max. We had another singer. 

So, wait, who plays what here?

Bassist (Pol), guitarist (Jordi), drummer (Sánchez) and vocalist (Dylan). 

You met through friends.

Yeah, we were mates, musicians. We had actually met previously at a jam session in Fontana. A few of us were playing and then this guy (pointing at Dylan) rocked up by himself. 

No, I was with a mate. 

Okay, with a mate, and a keyboard. That’s it. He started playing keys with his back to everyone. We eventually had to unplug him from the jam. 

Why did you unplug him? 

Because he wouldn’t stop, he was so annoying. But that is how we all met. 

So it was after this jam we all decided to meet up. And we invited this other singer to try, but it just didn’t work. Dylan was then suggested, so we checked him out on Instagram and he definitely had to be the vocalist. 

The first time I saw him I thought he was David Bowie, I swear—the voice man. 

I mean, I feel like David Bowie, but because of his autobiography and interviews. 

And then I (guitarist) joined because I made Ypnosi’s (Pol’s other band) album cover, it was a massive mural. We then had a jam session and was officially in the band. I was desperate to play with more people. 

I am curious about Amando Armando. Who is Armando? And why are we loving him? 

So, we didn’t have a name. I remember we met up at a bar to choose one. 

Well, we didn’t meet up specifically to choose one, but the subject came up. 

I suggested Armando because he used to be my driving teacher, you know. He was such a dick, I didn’t really like him. So “amando” Armando came out as a joke and it seemed to be the only one that stuck. 

So, a way of replacing hatred with love in a name?

Yeah, exactly. But no one knows him though, I mean, only me. No one in the band is actually Armando. 

I want to know more about the song POV. How did you guys write the song?

This one was mostly Dylan. 

Yes, it was basically a conversation with my dad. He told me to keep the track secured. It’s a good song, he told me. The lyrics are basically talking about all the different categories in porn. Spitting categories. It is a way of getting rid of all the sexual tension in someone. 

Beyond this, the song’s lyrics only say, “Come join our free website, you won’t last five minutes”; it’s supposed to imitate an advert as criticism towards porn. What I like most about it is the simplicity of the statement in the track. 

Yes, a tongue-in-cheek inclination seems to lean off your lyrics. Would you say that?

Yes, I wouldn’t say we’re exactly comic; there’s some sense of seriousness we don’t want to avoid, but I guess it’s playing more with irony and touching base with that picaresque intention. 

As a band, we all seem to engage in a mutual dimension of creating music, though. The genesis of our music builds from this creative place for then Dylan to come along and completely catch the essence of the song in one go. When he applies his creativity, it just works, and it turns to gold.

So, that’s how you write together, you first start playing and then Dylan works from there?

Well, depending on the song. On how it works out. But it does kinda start by strumming a few ideas, understanding the sound and then the vocals after. Music comes first, always, and then poetry. 

We once recorded a song on our phones. We sent it through the group for Dylan to work on and he got back to us with the whole thing finished and the title of the song; Transit. 

Oh yeah, Transit. 

He had the whole thing figured out. The subject of the track is the Interurban movement, he said. 

It’s great, so simple, and all of this worked from a shitty little audio note. 

It’s cool, you can tell there’s a good dynamic and trust within the band.

Yeah, of course. Dylan is the writer, but in the general composition, we all input our own ideas. We don’t even need to tell each other what to do. The trust is there in terms of taste and preferences. 

Yeah, finding this genuine musical chemistry is nice. It’s not something everyone can find. I haven’t been playing with them for long, for example, but it works. We have the same references and understand each other's feedback, you know?

I was going to ask, would you say you have any influences as a band?

Yeah, I’d say we all like Gang of Four. I mean, we all listen to a lot. 

Subconsciously, a lot from just listening to our own music.

When we started playing, it reminded us a bit of Black Midi, Squid. I guess this UK scene is going around. 

Your vocals remind me of a combination between Shame and Idles. But give it your style. 

A lot of influence from the punk movement in the UK for sure. 

How do you find the post-punk rock scene in Barcelona?

Well, it’s easy to want to be the new something in a city. But we don’t want that; we just want to be Amando Armando. 

People do want to go to post-punk gigs in Barcelona. When someone is performing, the venues fill up. But there aren’t many bands. 

It could be a positive thing, that there aren’t many bands that play this kind of music. I’d say Barcelona has stayed stuck in the punk genre for drunks. It’s got to do with some sort of political oppression. Every decision seems to evoke a political statement. For example, if you sing a song in Catalan or in Spanish, people seem to think it’s for a reason. We sing in English cause we’re not for all that. 

Do you think you will ever sing in Catalan or Spanish?

I’ve been asked to a few times. I’d write a song in Catalan, but only because it’s been demanded, really. 

One of the songs, “Mosquito”, caught my attention. I like how it starts with reggae influences, and then it alters into a rock track. 

At the end of the day, we don’t really pick a style and stick with it. With “Mosquito”, we kinda said, shall we try a bit of reggae? And so we did. 

Like the other day, we were messing about with a bit of bulería. 

We do it to have a bit of fun. 

In terms of composition, though, because we are searching for something we like, we’re always going to avoid making something that’s already been done. So, if we come across this cliché layer, we want to be able to go through it. By experimenting with reggae, we’ve twisted the concept. It’s like when you’d play in the playground as a kid, you’d always use the slide, but each time, you would have a different game in mind. 

As long as you’re having fun, the audience will come along with it, right?

Yeah, we play something to enjoy between ourselves, the same when we play live. As long as we enjoy it then the audience will too.

We all need to spend our energy somehow once a week.

It’s like looking for a girlfriend. If you need one, then they will never come. But, if you just get on with it, it’s more likely they'll turn up. Same with the audience.

It’s a mentality of being determined to play live and make good music, but we don’t believe in focusing on success. 

(an input from Dylan) At the end of the day the ones who enjoy gigs the most are grandparents. The closer you are to death, the more you want to have fun. 

Do you have any live shows coming up?

Yeah, on the 14th June we have one, it will be recorded and published on YouTube. 

I’m bringing my blue guitar shaped like a drop to the gig. I’ve bought a synth with a sequencer for it, and it’s gonna feel quite Star Wars-like. 

Do you guys combine art with your music then in this studio?

Well, I love combining the two because I can create album covers and stuff. 

The cover for the song Mosquito is his, for example. The two disciplines have a good symbiosis. 

We want to use cardboard to draw some schetched shit on there and bring them to our gigs so we can sell them for, like, two euros. The idea is to get posters, sketch during the live show, and then hand them out. 

Now for the signature question. If you had to choose anyone as your opening act for a gig, who or what would it be? 

Damn. We’re gonna have to be modest here, haha. 

I think we’d have to say Black Midi. 

Actually, there’s this guy from the Raval area. I think his name is Kiko. He draws Russian porn and walks around with a Viking hat and a flute. 

Oh yeah, and the mandolin. I played with him the other day. 

He’s this old guy that plays the song “Hippie fes-te soci del barça”. He would be a good opening act because he’s kinda bonkers but with a cool aura. 

Tonalities like UK garage, 70’s rock, post-punk and indie colours contextualise their beauty, their silhouettes of internal relationships. They harness their vigour to undampen that sustainability that wouldn't shine if it weren’t for the environment which allows them to. The connection you have with someone when you simply get along is impossible to explain, there’s no physical explanation, there’s just that mutual attachment between them. “It’s like the secret recipe to Coke; no one knows what it actually is, but some people just like it. And others simply don’t.” 87654321º

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