An interview with The Zephyr Bones

Pay attention to these two dreamers because they tend to get what they wish for. You will probably find their faces at SXSW next year.

They are The Zephyr Bones, a wave psychedelic pop band based in Barcelona. The guys debuted in 2014 with a self released EP “Wishes / Fishes”, a dreamy, all enveloping record that fuses seventies pop with the darker shades of Echo & The Bunnymen.

We spoke with them at Primavera Sound, at Parc Ciutadella, when their gig was just postponed. Read about why the gig couldn’t go ahead, about where they see themselves now and in the future.

TM: Where do you come from?
Bryan: We are both from Chile. I used to live in Barcelona when I was a child and I went to Chile at the age of 16 and then we started making music. We had a psychedelic rock band, nothing too serious.

Jossip: Then Bryan came back to Spain and from there, he proposed to go to Barcelona with him to continue with the music. And I did it! I left my girlfriend, my family and college. A very touching story (laughing)

TM: Oh, so you must have loads of material to write the lyrics!
J: Yeah, actually there is one that is called Get Away From The Coast and is about that.

TM: Why The Zephyr Bones?
J: It is a 70’s movie about skaters and surfers. The movie is not that good, it is more for teenagers but we feel very identified with the way of life.

TM: So you really must feel like you belong here in Barcelona, with its skater scene!
B: Yeah! We’re not skaters ourselves, but we enjoy riding our longboards by the beach at full speed.

TM: And back to the lyrics, what do you try to express? Does the whole writing process feel hard?
J: We don’t try to inspire any particular feeling on our audiences, really. We admire those who can choose a theme and write a song around it, but in our case it feels like the songs write themselves. It comes naturally: art and music are alive in a way! After the songs are written and some time passes we start to realise their meanings. We usually have a melody first, some cool sounds, and we work on them.

TM: Which artists would you like to be linked with?
B & J: Beach Fossils, Lotus Plaza or Deerhunter, for example.

TM: When did you start working with the label, La Castanya?
B: We are working with them since last summer but officially we started last January. It was one day that we were playing in a vintage shop in Barcelona called Flamingos with extremely poor sound. They saw something in us, and that’s what’s brought us where we’re at now.

TM: If you had to choose a highlight for the band up until now, which one would it be?
J: It was meant to be this concert, but it was cancelled due to a raging bee swarm. I can’t believe it (laughing). But fortunately, it´s been postponed for tomorrow.
One of the reasons of all our excitement is probably the fact that a couple of years ago we were at Deerhunter´s gig here at Primavera Sound and Bryan said to me, I promise you that one day we will be playing in this festival. It was my first year in Spain so I was a bit disoriented and not familiarized with the city and suddenly, two years later we are here.

TM:  Bryan, so now looking forward, when do you say to Jossip you will be playing in two years?
B: I’d say I see us playing at SXSW.

The Zephyr Bones are working on their first LP as we speak – keep your eyes peeled and ears wide open.