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Wind Atlas come from Barcelona and experiment with psycho-folk, darkwave, post-punk and ambient sounds since 2012. With their new album ‘An Edible Body’ they turn to more electronic/techno vibes, entering the post-industrial scene. Due to this new release, we found the opportunity to ask some questions and learn more about the band.

Tell us some trivia about Wind Atlas. How did Wind Atlas formed and what was and is your vision?

Wind Atlas was formed five years ago or so by Sergi Algiz and Andrea P. Latorre. The first shows were just guitar with lots of reverb and vocals, something you can call dark folk, but quickly we started adding more members to the band (Raul Pérez on drums and Iván Montero on guitar and bass) until we recorded our first album ‘The Not Found‘ as a four piece. After touring and adding a synth player (Raul Q. de Orte) we recorded a second album called ‘Lingua Ignota‘. Probably the first one that sounded as an actual band. After the ‘Lingua Ignota‘ Tour we went back to a four piece where electronic elements were more relevant and took some time off touring to write this new album. We went to NY to record with our buddy Sean Ragon from the band Cult Of Youth and after some months here we are. Our vision is the same as it was in the beginning really: to make music that is important to us and never settle, always keep it interesting and challenging.

It is mentioned that your new album is an experimentation in paths you have never explored before. What made you decide to go there and was it difficult to adjust as musicians working on the new for you sounds?

It is but I think that definition can apply to every album we’ve made. Change is the only constant for us. We’re always following our instinct and trying different things. This puts you in a really unconfortable position but at the same time forces you to go further and discover new things that were in you but maybe you didn’t know. ‘An Edible Body‘ is more electronic oriented but still sounds like a rock band. It was a really enriching process writing the record, we learned a lot about ourselves. In some way I think we had to be really generous and sacrifice our little egos for the songs sake.

I am not an expert in this field, but I have the feeling that you maintained your musical identity, especially in tracks such as ‘Ruins’ and ‘Herencia De Jade’ which have a post-punk, ambient vibe. If I am correct on this, is this a crossover of your initial sound and electro elements?

Yes, you’re probably right. ‘Herencia De Jade‘ is the first song we wrote for the album so it was still really influenced by the sounds of ‘Lingua Ignota‘. ‘Ruins‘ was a hard one for us. It sounded so radio friendly for Wind Atlas but at the same time we liked the song and after recording it we thought it sounded pretty good so it ended on the record. We had some other similar songs that were cut out.

In addition to the previous question, do you consider going further with the electronic sound or experiment in a different way in the future?

We’ve started writing new songs and we have many directions that seem interesting but at this point we really still don’t know how our next record will sound.

Tell us about the song ‘En la Cruz’. The vocal technique here reminded me a lot of some traditional Spanish way of singing.

En La Cruz‘ is a tribute to San Juan de la Cruz. The lyrics are an adaptation of one of the verses of “Cántico espiritual“. San Juan was an heterodox and one of the most important Spanish mystic poets. In his “Cántico espiritual” he talks about what is not, what is intuited, but can not be said. This song is related to the tradition of Spanish poetry and I guess, intuitively, I linked the lyrics to a very traditional way of singing.

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From where do you get mostly inspired for the lyrics?

Life. Movies, songs and books that inspire me. My friends. What I see and think walking down the street. My dreams.

Is there a main theme which characterizes ‘An Edible Body‘?

Yes, ‘An Edible Body‘ is a statement, for better or for worse. It is the recognition of a form, a figure, a body. It is a way of accepting the flesh and singing it.

What are your plans regarding live shows this year?

We will play a handful shows in Spain this year and hopefully tour Europe in the fall. And finish writing another record.

Thank you very much for your time! Add anything you wish to close this interview.

Thanks for the interview.

Photo credits: Clara Román

Mary Kalaitzidou