Carlos Cabezas: A creative space

Santiago 1997. Seven years of democracy, after seventeen years of dictatorship. But the democracy is moving very slowly. The feeling of change is no longer there, it’s like a society on anesthesia.

In the middle of this state of paralysis, Carlos Cabezas and his friends at the Konstantinopla studio developed a creative space.

Last Thursday, in the basement of La Tienda Nacional, the journalist David Ponce investigated this moment of creativity, together with the audience and the artist himself. It was an inspiring conversation about Carlos Cabezas´pioneer album El resplandor.

Carlos had been the leader of the band Electrodomésticos, and it was expected that he would continue playing the same sort of electronic experimental music. But in this sleepy year of 1997, Carlos gathered a group of musicians, mostly from Santiago and Concepción, to record his first solo album. And the result was definitely something else.

How was it possible to form this creative, collaborative community at a time were society was sleeping and fragmented in sheer individualism?
David Ponce lead the interview with well prepared questions and we really could dig into the situation that made this album so groundbreaking and influential.

“It was not just me, who wanted something new. Hip-hop had been important during the nineties, and in Concepción I met musicians like Gonzalo López who later became part of Los Bunkers.
The album is full of enthusiasm. It’s a bit chaotic in some way, but still very organized. And I always was fascinated by more organic rock music.”

And the lyrics, where do they come from?
“Still I don’t really know. Some phrases don’t make much sense, a sort of word game.”

But David Ponce reminds us that the lyrics are very much reality today. Maybe they make more sense than ever.
“…que que que que sucede cuando nada duele.
que que que pasa con Las balas bajas.
que no viene al cuento el dolor del pueblo”, from Newfastcar.

When Carlos is asked about the hit of the album, Mejor de ti, he got somewhat emotional. These lyrics have struck us all.

“Es tu vida que tienes a mano.
Es la medida que cantan tus cantos.
Son tus ganas de pasar por alto.
Las ganas de saber lo prodigioso en ti.
En ti, en lo mejor de ti.”

Here I could imagine Chile, and the complicated love that so many of us keep to this beautiful country. Carlos expressed it very clear. It’s not the postcard of South America, but with an intensive love for poetry and artistical diversity.