The duo Lolo and Sosaku currently make their own instruments of wood, since the material is easy to shape and work with. They also use fishing equipment such as angling lines and sinkers for their instruments.
My eyes are hit by obscure light while I adventure through this creative mess, when I step into their private studio an organized chaos appears. Wood is spread on every square meter, pieces of undefined materials and paint splashes on the floor...
Lolo turns on the amp, which is connected to the strings, like he's done it a million times.
- It sounds really heavy, I say and express my likes for the sound.
- It doesn't sound good at all right now, Sosaku replies and adjust the strings.
I quietly glance down, ashamed of my lack of artistic sense and continue the interview.
It was after their first concert, in a bathroom in a bar in Gracia, things started to happen. In 2007, they began to function more like a duo and played at a festival in Gracia, (this time on the stage and not in the bathroom) but still only with the experimental guitars. They continued and made movies with "sounds of life".
- It could be the sound of turning on and off the lights, eating, shut and open a window, break glass and so on, Lolo says.
A year later their first album was realised, as mentioned with the focus on the sounds of life. This was the beginning of the noisy, calming and to say the least, original music.
But in 2009, Sosaku had to go back to Japan. During this time, Lolo and Sosaku kept the creative flow going using mail and Skype. They succeeded to make two albums before Sosaku returned to Spain, 'Night' and 'Light'.
While Lolo pours out my second glass of Carrefour's fruit juice it's hard for me not to be amazed by the duo's intelligence. Should they be addressed as musicians or scientists?
How do you know how to construct and build instruments for them to make sounds?
- We don't. We spend a lot of time experimenting with the sounds. The instruments easily break so there is a lot of work to be done, Sosaku says.
Lolo and Sosaku will perform at the Sónar festival in Barcelona in June and are hoping to manage to keep the instruments play automatically by then.
- We are planning bigger. Bigger instruments and more control over them.
This is how Lolo and Sosaku's musical adventure started. The more interesting question is, how, where and when will it end?
To find out more about Lolo and Sosaku, check out their website here, or their youtube page here.
More articles related to the duo:
Interview; Lake on Fire - Three artists teach us about firefitti art in new film
Music and craft by Lolo and Sosaku
NOVA Contemporary cultural festival; The concept of bringing new-thinking artists into the light
