Greg Gonzalez reveals secret behind dreamy sounds of ‘Cigarettes After Sex’
Mumbai, Jan 25 : Singer Greg Gonzalez is returning to India with his band ‘Cigarettes After Sex’.
The band will be performing at the first Indian edition of the multi-genre music festival, Lollapalooza, and Greg can’t be more excited.
For him, the Indian fans will always remain close to his heart as they were the early set of audience to have discovered their music.
The singer, who is known for creating dreamy music, recently spoke with IANS about the performance and the band’s return to India in the post-pandemic era.
Lavishing praise on the Indian audience, he said, “The level of enthusiasm that we see in our Indian fans is just off the charts and you can tell that music means a lot to them so we are really excited to finally be performing in India after such a long time.”
He further mentioned, “Our Indian fans are truly special to us. They are among the firsts to have discovered the music of ‘Cigarettes After Sex’ quite in the initial phase of the band. The song ‘K’ was the one that really took off in India, quite a few years ago.”
If one follows ‘Cigarettes After Sex’ religiously, they would be aware of the band’s and Greg’s affinity for monochromatic images, even his Instagram is laced with monochromatic pictures. Well, turns out it’s not just a personal choice to use such imagery but, there’s a deep psychological meaning to it as well.
Greg shared with IANS, “I have always loved monochromatic cinema and imagery. Also, the monochrome disconnects you from reality and takes you into a different or a surreal space. It places you in a dreamy world and that’s what the music of ‘Cigarettes After Sex’ is all about.”
But, how do they create such dreamy sound textures? Greg, lets out a secret: to record everything live and ditch the synthetic sound.
He shared, “The way I like to record is to go to a particular location and record live inside the studio because synthetic sounds don’t offer that much of a depth in terms of the textures and everything. We focus on the echo and guitars on high reverb, the background vocals too are set to sound like a whisper.”
“We also use the ambient sounds and keep everything mellow. Making music the old-fashioned way and keeping every element mellow is our trick to creating the dreamy sound,” he added.
The band clocks 15 years in 2023 and there have been many moments during this journey that Greg cherishes but, his favourite is the one which involves his favourite filmmaker David Lynch.
He told IANS, “It’s so wild and I am so happy that the band has become what it currently is. We had to go through a very long period of a soft discovery and then music connected with a lot of people after that. Around 2012, I got the idea to put all my inspirations and dramatic relationships into music.”
“We have many moments that we cherish but one of the most recent was when my favourite filmmaker David Lynch praised our song ‘Sweet’, saying it’s a great sign for the future of music and sound and is nothing short of a perfect song,” he added.
When asked what’s the best thing about performing in a multi-genre music festival like Lollapalooza, the singer said, “It’s so wonderful to play along with the band that you respect. It’s very rare that we meet anybody outside of work. So, to be performing at Lollapalooza India for its maiden run, is extremely special for us.”
Lollapalooza India, co-produced and promoted by BookMyShow, is set to be held at the Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai on January 28 and January 29.
