On Wednesday, Club Fonograma had the pleasure of interviewing Monterrey's own Bam Bam in the alley between a crappy dive bar and a really crappy dive bar. SO DIVERSE! Anyway, the band had some great stories to tell, but here are the choices quotes we'll serve up for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!Andrew Casillas: You guys have gone from a small, unknown band to one of the most credible in Mexico. Do you feel the weight of expectations from being seen as “progressive” and “cutting edge?”
Bam Bam: I guess we’re still like a small band, with the [basic] guitars and pedals. We don’t have fancy shit. We’re the same guys, basically. The only expectation is for ourselves to keep playing better. We’re our own enemies, so we have to defeat ourselves with every album and with every gig.
AC: A lot of your sound is very frantic and meticulous. You’re talking about being your own enemies, what are the main objectives you attempt to express with your music?
BB: The end of the world (haha). People ask, “Why do you make music?” Sometimes I don’t feel connected to people in general, but when I’m playing, I feel connected to this band, and it’s something [amazing].
AC: Do you guys think you’ve scratched the surface of what you can do? Do you have any idea what you’re going do from this point?BB: We have no idea. But that’s awesome. We don’t want to think about what you’re going to like or dislike. You just make shit up [as you go]. We don’t really have a plan. We’re just going to make records. Not make some strategic marketing or merchandising plan.
AC: You guys are highly respected by critics. When you made these past two albums did you think, “People are going to LOVE this shit?”
BB: We didn’t think that a lot of people would like it. I thought that it was going to flop. [Futura Vía] is a strange album. Something so personal that there was a chance that people weren’t going to like it.
AC: You’re a very hard band to describe, sound-wise. If you have to put a quick label on your sound, what would you say?
BB: That’s hard to answer.
AC: Are you a psychedelic rock band? Prog rock? Are you pop?
BB: I don’t know what pop is. We’re a rock band. We have guitar, bass, keyboards. Everyone has their own plank, and that’s Bam Bam.