We were lucky to catch up with Xabier Iriondo recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Xabier, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
One of the meaningful projects in my path is called BUÑUEL, a rock band that involves an American singer (Eugene S. Robinson) and three Italian musicians.
In these weeks will be released our fourth and most awaited album that will take us to perform on 2/3 continents during 2025.
BUÑUEL was formed in 2016 and has made a trilogy of recordings (that mix the foundations of rock tradition deconstructing them and shaping a new metalanguage: our) that have led us to play live in Italy, Europe and Canada.
When making our records we always use the same formula, we musicians record in Italy in 3/4 days all the music of our future songs and Eugene Robinson sings in California and sends us his tracks, all without ever meeting.
The meeting usually takes place on the first date of the tour following the release of our album, without ever having rehearsed together. A sort of epiphany magical encounter.
Over 35 years of music career I have played with dozens of bands and made more than 60 records, playing live on three continents in various contexts and musical genres … but BUÑUEL represents what we all are now and for this reason it’s a meaningful project in my career for opportunities to grow through new experiences.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born in Milan in 1971, half Basque (from region on the north of Spain) and half Italian. I started playing guitar at 17 and I became in my twenties something of an Italian underground celebrity as part of the alternative band Afterhours, with whom I have been a member since 1992. Outside the mainstream circuit I also made art with myriad projects (more than 60 records), like my recordings and performances with CAN’s Damo Suzuki or the collaborations with the cream of Europe’s avant-garde (Brotzman, etc), numerous solo projects, and the list goes on and on.
Sound Metak was the name of the eclectic shop I ran in Milan for about five years in the early 2000s, which sold everything from old lap steels guitars to modern amplifiers, from old gramophones and vinyl shellac records to fuzz pedals and electric guitars, from cd/dvds to books, jukeboxes, etc. Within the space I organized more than 250 free musical performances on Saturday afternoons, ranging from classical music to butoh dance, from folk singers to hard-core bands, from electronic sets to avant-garde improv, etc.
For four decades I have been collecting and playing electric guitars and various string instruments (especially from the East Asia), amplifiers, electronic devices to modify sound, many of which custom built on my specifications.
In an era where much instrumental music is recorded without dialogue (playing in separate rooms) I am very proud of the working method that we carry on with BUÑUEL (the American/Italian band I’m most engaged with at this time) : the musical instruments are recorded live, with the band members standing together and looking at each other in the same room.
Eugene Robinson records his vocals from the other side of the planet (he lives in California) and the final result is definitely unique.
The sound spectrum in this project varies from abrasive/apocalyptic noise-rock to unstructured free improvisation, breaking the patterns that often lead bands to focus on one musical form.
In any art projects where I am involved I explore the endless energies of my imagination. I’ll conjure up sounds that are heavy and dark or playful and light.
I write songs and music since I was twenty years old and I always had the need to drink in more artistic sources, collaborating with different disciplines (painting, cinema, theater, dance, etc).
For more information on the works I have published, please visit my website www.xabieririondo.com or www.instagram.com/xabieririondo
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Music:
Music recorded in various parts of America, Asia and Africa before 1930
Edgard Varese: Amériques
Suicide: s/t
Captain Beefheart: Trout Mask Replica
Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Books:
Cervantes: Don Quixote de la mancha
Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash
Luther Blisset: Q
Pier Paolo Pasolini: Violent Life
Jorge Amado: Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
Movies:
Aguirre, the Wrath of God by Werner Herzog
Blue Velvet by David Lynch
Rocco and His Brothers by Luchino Visconti
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion by Elio Petri
Blade Runner by Ridley Scott
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
sharing visions of the future, building together with other people meta-linguistics that break down the barriers of the conventional, questioning the ordinary, exploring the dark and bright sides of being human, travel for work and meet people working in the arts from other cultures
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.xabieririondo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xabieririondo
Image Credits
Annapaola Martin
Alberto Mori
Emanuela Bonetti
Elena Di Vincenzo
Matteo Pieroni