Chilean psychedelic rock band Föllakzoid sends listeners on a sensorial experience – a mix of past, present and future – with their static and texturised soundwaves
Whether it’s lo-fi musicians like Mellow Fellow or indie bands like Beach Fossils, you can find a variety concerts and underground gigs at the live music venues in Hong Kong. We interviewed Domingo, the guitarist from Föllakzoid, on how they craft their music and their interpretation on Chilean psychedelia ahead of their first gig in HK.
An interview with Föllakzoid
Hi, Domingo. Thanks for chatting with us. For those who just discovered you guys, what is the philosophy behind Föllakzoid’s music?
In a way, we aim to disappear into a void.
You guys are often categorised in the Krautrock/Psych-rock genre. How do you feel about such labels? What drew you to build a sound reminiscent of that (even if not intentionally)?
Now that we look back on it, it makes total sense. But when Föllakzoid first started, we didn’t know much about the krautrock scene. So when I started checking it out, we realised that all the German krautrockers were super influenced by the cultures in our continent. We spoke about this in the Vice documentary about krautrock. There might be some sort of gravitational vortex that made them look to our past while we inhabit the future.
The album III strikes me as more trance-like and minimal, whereas II has got an obvious sense of exhilaration, what’s the narrative in each of your albums?
We aim also to destroy the narrative (we know it’s impossible).
Föllakzoid’s music is meticulously arranged, how do you figure out the interaction between the fine details and the big picture of the entire track – which is sometimes 12-minute long?
It’s a work of structure depuration, like micro and macro rhythm sections interacting with its minimal expression, while holding the silence in between. It’s also very organic.
How would you describe the Chilean psychedelia scene? And how does coming from Chile influence your work?
It’s powerful and localised in the underground. Psychedelia sometimes happens in noise gigs, art labs, techno raves or the streets, but less so in the rock scene here. Nevertheless, Santiago has got a powerful vibe nowadays.
It has influenced us in lots of ways. One of them being that most of the rhythm patterns that come out of the trance state we evoke are ingrained in our astral DNA – which sound very much alike the ancestral music from our continent – even though we haven’t had direct contact with most of them yet.
Are there any artistic works that have made a profound impact on you guys?
There are plenty. But I would have to say, the presence of any form of silence in an art form is my current favorite.
It’s such a nice surprise to see you guys touring in Asia, are you excited and what can we anticipate?
Yeah, we are excited and very focused. I think we should all expect the unexpected.
Keep up-to-date with Föllakzoid.
