Millis Music Magazine with [engrama]

Now its time for a (favourite)group here in my Music Magazine. Its time for [engrama] - a group with two members, Lakua Arriaga (drums and song) and Pupito Helstein (guitar and song). They are a couple in RL and they met in Argentina for some years ago and now they live in Spain. [engrama] is a band that often are playing in SL and they are a very appreciated liveband. They play both covers and their own songs. Their music can be described as suggestive post rock.


[engrama] has a website where you can listen and download some of their songs.

How would you describe your music, what style is it?
Our music slowly melts into the world with atmospheric soundscapes. Drawing from influences like Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and the tamer side of Sonic Youth. We mix original instrumentals post rock songs with cover such Bjork, Joy Division or Bon Iver... and also original songs with vocals or songs in spanish.
We are a live band playing all the instruments at real time without backtracks! Drums guitar and vocals at real time.

How long have you been doing music?
In real life, Pupito Helstein played in a few bands within the independent music scene in Buenos Aires. [engrama], however, is born of both members living together and sharing a common interest in musical experimentation. We play since 2 years ago with [engrama].

Are you writing your own songs?
Yes, we write our own songs. But more than "write" we just sit and start playing and sometimes we record it and then we listen the record and say: "oh, this can be a song" So we write on the improvisation.

If you do, what comes first when writing your songs, the lyrics or the music?
When the songs are instrumentals, we just start with improvisation and if the songs has lyrics, we do it in the same way. We never write the lyrics on a paper, we just play.

Where do you find the inspiration for your music?
The inspiration is very strange, you never know where you will find. Right now we live surrounded by nature and is very nice to compose by looking at the mountains. But inspiration comes in many forms ... after reading a book or listen to a good album or taking a walk through the forest.

Who are your role models in music?
We have influences, but I think these influences do not limit us in a model to follow.


How long have you played in SL?
In may of 2011 it will be 2 years ago we are playing in SL.

Do you also play in RL?
Yes, we also have gigs in rl. We used to play in Buenos Aires when we was living there and now we are playing in Spain.

What is the difference between playing in SL compared to RL?
Playing in SL is very different to playing in RL. You are at your home when you play in SL, with all the instruments already seted, and you can be more relax cause you can play in your pajamas hahaha.
And play in rl its another thing, you have to go to the place, and set all the instruments, make check sound... And you have the people there, looking at you.

Why did you join SL?
We joined beacouse a boring day. :)

Which is your favorite venue to play in? Which is your favorite song to perform?
We like to play in places that are not necessarily venues, such as in roll sims games, theaters, museums, art galleries, gothic clubs, strange places ... But our favorite places to play are those in which we received a good response from the public, couse our music is not very common in SL.
And our favourite song.... I dont have personaly favourite but I enjoy more playing our original songs.

Do you remember your first SL gig? Please, tell us about it.
The first day we went to SL, I remember it was a cold rainy day in May (autumn in Buenos Aires) We had bought the PC game Lost, but it was broken and we was boring so then I remembered that there was a virtual world called Second Life and we downloaded it. The first day we went to a sand box and after we discovered that there was the possibility of communicating with the voice, we decided to do a concert. Then someone rezzed a stage and lights ... We could not believe it... We dont even knew of the existence of the lindens as real money, or concerts in SL, or streams. We just played without known all those things. So the first day we joined in Second Life we made our first gig.

What are your plans for the future in SL?
Our plans in Second Life are beyond our band. We have created along with a collective of musicians, a group and a website called http://www.livemusicreview.info/. This website is for all those musicians who play in second life without backtracks, and all those venues that only take their places those musicians playing 100% live music.
It is not fair that 80% of gigs in the list of live events are about karaoke/live singer or DJ.
And the plans for [engrama]... we are now recording our next album called "The walking frog" and we are going to keep playing in SL and also RL. :)

Lakua and Pupito wants to share this video with you. Listen and enjoy!



Thank you Lakua and Pupito for answering my questions and the best of luck with your musical career in SL/RL.