Interview: Los Ganglios’ Xoxé Tétano on PORC and Sausages

Translated roughly to English as “The Ganglia,” Los Ganglios is a Spanish band based in Sweden that prioritizes visual exploration: You might almost say that what they do is videos set to music. Looking over their work, the words that immediately come to mind are: hilarious, eclectic, intelligent and catchy.

Musically, they’re a bit harder to define. Rancheras, techno, even boleros (as long as they are dedicated, like this one, to Robocop), or cumbias, synthpunk, punk… Songs have choruses like “for an ultra catholic misogynist, you dance really well.” In other words? It’s a bit messy. Which is why they’ve helpfully just culled it together under one banner: PORC.

RBMA Panamérika’s Uriel Waizel and Claudia Jiménez recently emailed with the group’s ringleader, Xoxé Tétano, to find out more about the genre, and the amount of Bullens Korv sausages it takes to feed the crew of one of their infamous videos.

You are a natural when it comes to acting. Did you study?

Truth is, I am a terrible actor. But I substitute it with other abilities, such as video editing. With a great editor you can even make Steven Seagal look good.

In that case, did you get any sort of technical education to edit videos?

I took a weekend course on Final Cut Pro, the program I use to edit the videos. And I have worked for ten years as a graphic designer; hence my know-how when it comes to reproducing visual beings, be it the pixel Commodore or some art-nouveau flowers. We like images, and we like being surrounded by all sorts of graphics, so that we are constantly stimulated. That’s why at home we have postcards, toys, VHS tapes that we buy in markets or that we stumble upon in the street – stuff people get rid off frequently.

Could you explain a little about the “PORC” philosophy?

We have decided to call what we do PORC. As for our music, we have come up with the term “Technopunk Cumbianchero,” in order for people to better understand it. But we prefer to talk about PORC. We don’t want to brag about it, but the word has become somewhat relevant. What is PORC? Given the fact that we are the only PORC band in the world, PORC music is the one we make, and that’s it. I will try to talk about what we do: we play many different genres; ballads, techno, cumbia, ranchera, punk, and we will play anything that pleases us at any given moment.

But when we compose we try to write short pieces (never longer than three minutes, sometimes one minute long). Thus, any sort of instrumental bit, plucking or improvisation turns into an obstacle. We don’t like to improvise. In our concerts everything is carefully measured, and the songs always have the same parts and end when they have to end. We let the audience sing along, and sometimes I stop singing, but that is about as far as our improvisation goes. PORC is also humor, it is always present in our songs, but we try to avoid the easy joke like the plague. We look for a poetic expression that is fresh and natural. We also tend a lot towards surrealism; it comes naturally, because we like nonsense.

We create nonstop, we enjoy creating and we never censor ourselves when it comes to launching new stuff. If we like it, that is good enough, we don’t intend to satisfy anyone’s taste or consider the commercial outlet of the product. We make songs, not products. They are conceived to be listened to, not sold.

Could you introduce us to Leli Loro and Rafael Filete, the other members on Los Ganglios?

Leli Loro, Leli Loro, rubia de mi amor, cabecita perfumada, limonero en flor. [Leli Loro, Leli Loro, my beloved blonde, perfumed little head, blooming lemon tree.] Aside from that, she is the band’s keyboard player. On stage she does the bass with one hand and the melodies with the other. When we write music she also does the basslines because she has a good ear and taste for the low tones. She is also in charge of the web programming, and of making the PORC flags and banners we use in our concerts.

Rafael is a competent guitar player, sober and reticent. He makes these very ugly paintings, he has a lot of patience and when he is in a good mood he sings in Catalan.

A Spanish guy living among Swedes, do you like being the weirdo?

I have been here for a while, I am used to it and I don’t think about it. I feel very good in Sweden, recycling my cans and paying in Krona.

With such a big crisis on Spain, you are here, splurging in the production of “¡Hay!” How many Euros did you spend? Did you feed the staff with canned sausages?

DETAILED PRODUCTION BUDGET FOR “¡HAY!” VIDEO

———————————————–
10 CANS OF “BULLENS KORV” SAUSAGES           20 €
1 JAR OF TIPPEX TO PAINT MY TEETH                 2 €
3 TICKETS TO THE AVIATION MUSEUM              24 €
1 “HE-MAN”-STYLE PLASTIC CHEST GUARD       1 €
1 CREEPSHOW COMIC BOOK                                      1 €
1 PAIR OF KNEE GUARDS                                           1 €
1 ORANGE WELDING HELMET                                  5 €
SEVERAL PHOTOCOPIES                                            5 €
1 CURVED DAGGER                                                       5 €
1 MB PUZZLE (280 PIECES) OF A DOG                    1 €
2 BIRTHDAY CANDLES                                                4 €
1 RUBBER MOUSE                                                        1 €
TOTAL                                                                            70 €

After the recording, which was held some November morning of 2011, we started opening the cans and we all ate them. (All but the tough one, who is a vegetarian). Those BULLENS sausages are disgusting, they have only 7% meat, and that is pork lung.

What do you miss the most about Spain?

I miss Spain’s street life, which goes on all year long; in Sweden, people don’t go out throughout fall and winter. I am rather homey, but I need to see faces now and then, and that’s difficult in Gothenburg. I also miss supermarket wine. In Sweden alcohol sales are very controlled. You have to look for it, you just don’t find it by coincidence. And it is very expensive!

What do you enjoy about Sweden?

The good thing about Sweden is the warm stuff, the possibility to regulate the heat of your bathroom floor. And the second-hand markets, there are plenty, very cheap, and you can find anything. In spring and summer the woods and the islands are beautiful, bathing amongst jelly fish and avoiding snakes while jogging are very Swedish pleasures.

The raw, indecent themes in Los Ganglios’ lyrics evoke punk and the Movida Española of the ’80s: Kaka De Luxe, La Polla Records, Los Toreros Muertos. Or, are we making that all up?

Yes, we have listened to Spanish music from that era, and it has had an influence on us, but not more than other things. Derribos Arias, Los Ilegales, Los Coyotes, Golpes Bajos, Parálisis Permanente… The ’80s pop-punk had good lyrics, but there was also a lot of crap. Few of the good ones are still active. Los Toreros Muertos was my favorite band when I was 15. We haven’t listened much of La Polla Records, we are more into Eskorbuto.

At the beginning of “¡Hay!” the soundtrack reminds us of John Carpenter’s movies. Are we off again with the reference?

That music was inspired by William Lustig’s Maniac, whose synthesizers drive you mad. Aside from Christine, the one about the killer Cadillac, which we liked a lot, we don’t think that often about John Carpenter.

Now, let’s test your über-intellectual abilities: in the “Lol” video, Xoxé establishes a meta-narrative in the way of a mirror facing the real spectator. On the other side of the screen, your are sitting in front of a computer’s keyboard and screen, from where you show, you criticize and you react to different viral clips, turning to the screen in order to empathize with the real spectator: could you develop a self-critique about this intention of meta-narrative?

Honestly, I believe that if I make this sort of videos and songs it is because once, when I was 19, someone put acid in my beer. It was 24 horrendous hours, but since that intense experience I have acquired certain abilities, such as creating Meta-Narrative work without realizing it.

Finally, one of those questions of cosmic magnitude: What is music to you?

It is something indispensable, a force without which humanity would be wounded to death. It is a flow that models your state of mind. It is not only prelude and entertainment, it is something vital.

Translation: Claudia Itzkowich