Monday 22 July 2013

Baby Scream Interview 2013

One of the most successful and talented bands hailing from Argentina (with songs in English) must surely be Baby Scream, the Powerpop / Rock project lead by lead vocalist / guitarist and songwriter, Juan Pablo Mazzola, and also a band with one of the richest histories of releases, travels, tours and collaborations, specially in overseas territories. Baby Scream first came to my attention a few years ago when I was given the opportunity to review their Up and Downers album, I was intrigued, then along came their self titled album and I was hooked for life!

I was recently given the chance to have a little chat with main man Juan Pablo Mazzola, what follows is the resultant interview.

Juan Pablo Mazzola (lead vocals / Guitar)



(SA). This year saw the re release of your self titled album Baby Scream. Could you tell us how this came about?

Juan - Well, the label felt like re releasing it.
I always thought that living outside the U.K. was a a stick in the wheel for me you know…
I mean, promoting your music without being there is almost impossible, so I thought that re releasing the thing was not a bad idea because I was living in Germany at the moment.
When I moved there I thought that I was going to be able to go to the U.K. and promote this thing.
Sadly after 6 months I decided to leave Berlin for good, as it was a complete waste of time.


(SA). Last year saw the release of Lost Balloons, a delightful collection of previously unreleased songs, demos and outtakes. Could you tell us a little more about this album

Juan - I loved that, I'm always recording songs, tons of them.
So the label in Argentina wanted to release something and this made me think that some of the unreleased tracks were actually not that bad, so instead of recording new songs, we used some old tracks from the past.
I love that thing, and you can download it for fee from here :
http://www.eternalsunday.com.ar/promos/babyscreamlostballoons/

(SA). Your last release of all new studio material was 2011's Secret Place album. What have you been up to in the meantime?

Juan - Recording like a maniac, I just finished 22 new songs and I am going to start 30 more pretty soon….
I will release 2 singles in December, a Xmas song and the "Haters Will Hate" single.

(SA). Didn't the bands rhythm section relocate to Berlin in order to set up a recording studio? How does that effect that status of the band?

Juan - Pppppffff, long story man.
Basically the bass player moved there and we remained in contact for a year, also another drummer dude was there, we were all friends and so we thought it was a good idea to get together and play some songs in Berlin.
Huge mistake mistake
I moved to Berlin and shit, but after 3 months they found a better gig.
I ended up trying to establish myself there, which was utterly impossible. because I didn't want to play the streets on my own, I wanted the fucking band, which was the reason why I moved to the former Soviet Union in the first place.

(SA). I have already had the privilege of hearing 20 new songs that you have been working on, My favourites being Flirting With Disaster, This Fucked Up World, My Very Last Mistake, Beers And Public Buildings and Unicorns!) and you say that you are working on even more. Are you planning a double album or multiple releases?

Juan - Yeah! My plan is to finish some 50 / 55 songs and release them as a triple thing in 2014 or 2015.





(SA). I found the lyrics to many of the new songs to be very heartfelt and personal. What do you find inspiring you the most nowadays?

Juan - I think it is always the same thing, personal shit, existence, the big WTF….
I'm one of those touchy pricks and I just can't stop, sometimes inspiration comes from the urge of being inspired, like a spiral or something if you know wadda mean…


(SA). Will the new songs be released under the Baby Scream logo or as a solo project?

Juan - I don't know, I am thinking about killing the Baby Scream thing….so there is a strong possibility of releasing them under another name.


(SA). When writing new songs what comes first, the music or the lyrics?

Juan - It depends, it used to be the music for me….but with these new songs, I am adding music to some poems I wrote.
Maybe that is the reason why the lyrics are so messed up.


(SA). I seem to remember you having an issue with a record label a short whole ago. Can you shed any light on that issue. Has it been settled now?

Juan - Fucking assholes, basically they sent a contract for 2 albums
We signed it, then after the second album they vanished from the face of the earth, but they left the albums on fucking iTunes, Amazon, etc…
So when I contacted them to say, hey dafuq, they never replied…
In the end I got in contact with their distributor and he cancelled the distribution deal, yet, Amazon is still selling some physical copies…
The name of the label was Recorded Recordings Records and they were from Indiana in the U.S.
They also owned Devil's Ruin Records….and the guy behind all of that was Joshua Warfel



(SA). You recently talked about setting up your own label, hows that coming along?

Juan - Yep, I'm actually thinking about re releasing all of my lps, eps and singles on my own, or at least with the same label…
You see, the problem here is that I got signed to 4 different labels in 7 years, this is just wrong, I would love to see all of my recordings together for fucks sake!
Available from the same page or something.


(SA). Have you considered using the Pledge music platform to release you music in future. It seems to have worked well for the likes of Ginger Wildheart, Jackdaw4, Eureka Machines, Falling Red, Black Spiders and now even Slash.

Juan - I should try that, thing is Ginger's fan base is huge, lol…but maybe, this could be a great idea.


(SA). Finally. If you could have written any song, what would it have been

Juan - Mmmmmm, let me think.
Something like "Trouble" by Cat Stevens……


So there we have it, Juan is hoping to set up his own label and release a triple album of 50 plus songs in 2014 / 2015, I personally can't wait! If you haven't heard them before then shame on you, but you should try checking out their self titled album, Baby Scream (re released this year via OK Records), Lost Balloons and Secret Place!


Baby Scream - Flirting With Disaster -



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