Imbaru - "From the ground to aurora"

Chile... this southern country has great cultural heritage that similar on the copper where the alloy of different ethnoses was cooked during many centuries, the richest nature in the all it variety and climate which changes this country to unrecognizability with locomotion from northern latitudes with her dry deserts and to the far Tierra del Fuego where rise above bulks of ice tops rise and gray relics of the ocean... far and mysterious point of the world, the acquaintance for us only from books with stories about Indians and the brave travelers submitting the southern continent... as a little we know about Chile and how much it is possible to tell about this country, isn't it? And what in the plan of music? The Latin American underground can to be proud of the self representatives, because if in Europe some things aren't surprising and have not a deficiency, and on the contrary - them so much as mushrooms after the rain, but here, in the South America, and in particular in Chile these things can find absolutely new look, originality and isolation... Exactly here, in a valley Casablanca is based the young Chilean project the Imbaru conducted by the person with the mysterious pseudonym Caminante Silencioso. Music of Imbaru is interesting also it is unique that it is very thin transfers beauty and the color of local culture diluted mystical motives and simply natural, sincere luxury. In it there is nothing superfluous, no pretentiousness, tricks and rebuses... it is rather a riddle... riddle of a melancholic essence of existence and intimate depths of soul. The project functions in this path about 4 years and I was lucky not that with a permission, even on pleasure for the author, to download 3 albums. So, for me there was a final wish to get to know creativity of Imbaru and for satisfaction of this the purposes there was an interview which continues this post. And with us on connection Caminante Silencioso!

Hi from far Russia and thank you for the spent time! My first question sounds so: As I see, this is your first interview?
No, it's not the first one I have already answered an interview in spanish.


Ok, then this is your first interview for Russian-speaking public. Now I will ask for you one from my frequent questions that i address for almost all musicians to whom I had talked in the same situation, as now. About what tells the name "Imbaru" and from where it appeared?

"Imbaru" is a mystical word, especially for me. the word means mist, the one from the countryside and villages. For me it's a melancholic word and is a natural event that inspires me to compose music.


At this moment Imbaru has in the own arsenal 3 full-length albums, and as we can see that in these albums there is a tendency to compare its with the seasons, or rather it is the creation of a special quintessence of perception, which unwittingly conjures up some particular state of nature that is reflected in the mood of . Although your own comments in the description of this so called "triada" became for me a good "guide", because (for example), in the Northern hemisphere entirely different natural conditions, and therefore "El Cerro y la Penumbra" (2011) rather calls some autumn images at us, than raises in the mind of a snowy landscapes of the Eurasian winter, that so ‡ccustomed for us :). Indeed between these three albums there is some concept, linking together there works or it was a random step in your creative?

Everything was thought. The albums are intentionally connected since the three of them are conceptual works and I see the trilogy as a single project that has been divided into three chapters. That was always the intention.

However, the albums were not sorted chronologically since the first season in the music is winter, then comes the autumn and at the end the spring. The order of these chapters did not matter the importance was to record them in the corresponding season for each of them. thus, "El Cerro y la Penumbra" was recorded in winter during a typical seasonal storm. Linked to season in country villages, the darkness and loneliness in the cold rain.

"Las Cadenas del Epitafio" refers to the life transition along the autumn which is seen as a "temporary death" that's necessary for the cycle of life and existence. Maybe to portray the death of vivid colors it's a darker thematic than the one of the first album. Many of the nature sounds I used in this work were recorded in this season.

Finally, in "De la tierra a la aurora"what i wanted to do was to portray the spring from an entirely melancholic and deep perspective. The album sounds more bright than the other two, you can find more colors and sounds taken from nature on it that indicate the birth of life. Yet, the melancholy and mysticism is never lost, because is something that should always be present in Imbaru's albums.

If you listen carefully, you'll note that the albums are a description and vision of life in the countryside from the point of view of the seasons and each of its facets, colors, smells, sounds and textures.

You alone lead your project to the world of art or have assistants?

The compositions and the interpretation of the instruments are only mine as well as the musical concept, but I have two really good friends that have been helping me with other aspects of the project. One of them is the photographer who have taken and edited most of the pictures for the albums' cover art and some other uses like images for the interviews. The second one is a designer who helps me with the visual aesthetic of the project *and text redaction*.


There is in Chile a neo-folk scene and what place Imbaru holds there?

There is no thing such as a neofolk scene in Chile, not that I know. I'm all alone in this and I've tried to show the music to no arrival. Chileans mostly listen to more conventional an trendy music and it's allowed little space to more different bands.


How many elements of traditional music and culture of your country has found a place in your music? It was your goal to work in this stylistic line or it happened without a concrete purpose and in the process of your creative aspirations?
Many elements, in fact most of the elements are taken from the local culture like the blend of the spanish guitar and some traditional indigenous music from South America. Also, I refer to the mixture of peasant music, the cueca and especially to the music of Violeta Parra, so I use many rhythms and tempos that are unique to South America. I listen to some european neofolk bands in which I can see clear nordic aesthetics and cultural approaches which are consistent with their national backgrounds. Essentially, to me this music is a new way of seeing the folklore.

I love classical and ambient music too and I felt that I had to blend these genres with the folk to make the music deeper and more mystical. furthermore, in all the works I try to think through the approaches and concepts for each of them in order to do something original.


I had the pleasure to listen to all your basic creation, from song to song their mood is perceived by me a few ambiguous, it is very emotional and elegant music, in spite of its compositional simplicity and modesty ... what can you say about the emotional spectrum of your music, as far as he deep and personal?

Each person can have its own interpretation and some things may seem ambiguous because of the names of the songs and some other elements, but, obviously, it makes sense to me and also the people close to me understand why the albums and songs have those names. I honestly do not think that the music is simple. It's true that it has never been my intention to intentionally create complex music, it is sincere. But, even so, to interpret and mix the classical guitars elements was a painstaking work. This music is very deep for me, because it is a vision of country life, myself and my family
                         

In 2012 appeared compilation 'Series Oniricas'. Tell about it? How you decided to participate in it, and who else, except Imbaru was on this compilations?
'Series Oniricas' is a compilation that only my close friends have heard completly, they are small minimalistic and classical piano pieces. only piano works. It's worth to mention that some of the tracks were used in Imbaru. I've always have had this album hidden since I have not finished all the cover designs. Once I have all the cover design I'll publicly show the compilation. There is also an EP called "Ensueсo de Campo" which I also will show when all the cover designs are finalized.


Three albums, namely "El Cerro y la Penumbra" (2011), "Las Cadenas del Epitafio" (2012), "De la Tierra la Aurora" (2013) are available for free downloading. How I understand earlier you was not thinking about that to issue these albums on anything labels? And how you came to the decision to cooperate with Russian label later?

The reason why I wanted to cooperate with a Russian label was that this one has given me more freedom of expression than other ones that had offer to sell the albums before. The problem is that I see everything very carefully since I don't want the concept and the aesthetics of music to be lost. There are larger labels with mass-production potential that want to change all the work by translating the names of the songs to English, changing the cover art and other things that are very important for me. I do this for the love of art, so I need the albums to remain in their original concept and aesthetics.


Have you any new musical plans? Do you plan some changes in your creativity?

I work in other musical styles asides imbaru's ones. as long as I can Imbaru will continue because of the ideas and feelings that i need to express through the music.

I work hard at piano pieces from minimalistic and classical to atonal music. Also I experience with the piano to make dark ambient instrumental music, which use more variety of instruments to create atmospheric dissonance.

Thus, I could say I have 2 parallel projects along with Imbaru: One of Dark Ambient / Drone Doom with real instruments, and other project where I only do works of minimalist and atonal piano. In these projects I experience a lot looking for strange and deep melodies.


How i understand, you have a help with desigh of albums...From where the photos decorating your albums are taken? These are local landscapes?

All the pictures for the cover art have been taken in the nearby places where the music has been created: the village of Casablanca, around the village, on its hills and meadows. Also some of them were taken in Limache which is a village very near Casablanca.

On it we finish our interview, but finally I would like to ask you about your country. I think that for our readers the Latin American continent remains the mysterious earth, and Chile is almost on the very brink of the world if to take a detached view Europe. I suggest you to state in brief the main reasons for which we have to visit this country - exotic and such various in respect of natural zones.

Well, Chile has such a variety of landscapes, climates, wildlife and flora that it's hard to describe in just a few lines the wonders it can offer to foreign visitors. From the driest desert, with its occasional bloom, til the end of the southern world where you can find the majestic Torres del Paine, Tierra del Fuego and, far beyond, the antarctic territory, from North to South, Chile is a journey through the colours, sensations and cultures of a long and narrow land enclosed by the strongest natural boundaries. Strong as the largest ocean, the driest desert and the longest mountain range

However, it's not only nature what appeals in this country, also people have developed a variety of cultures along the land extension, influenced by their environment and the cross between indigenas, spanish colonist and immigrants. Among all this diversity there is a special places, an archipelago, that sums up what i'm talking about, Chiloe, where peculiar traditions and myths coexist with a unique natural environment.

The list of magnificent features may continue endlessly, but i think it would be better to not spoil it and let the readers discover Chile by their own.


Thanks, for me it was pleasant to communicate with you!