New York City’s Gold Lake have been making waves in the music industry for the past several years now, at festivals like NXNE, CMJ, and Brooklyn’s Northside Festival, touring with Peter and the Wolf and Nada Surf, and even having their debut LP produced by Phil Ek (best known for his work with Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Shins, and Fleet Foxes)… yet they still don’t have a proper release… This Tuesday, June 18th, they will release their first single, “We Already Exist,” as a preview to their upcoming, aforementioned debut LP, YEARS. At the core of Gold Lake are Carlos del Amo and Lua Rios, who met as teens in Madrid at a club run by Carlos and formed We Are Balboa, who became quite a big deal in Europe, with legit airplay and the opportunities to play alongside legends like Iggy Pop, Primal Scream, and Mudhoney. However, they gave that up and moved to NYC in 2009, where they picked up drummer Dave Burnett and a new sound. Their first single could be described as an uplifting brand of dream pop… although this is apparently the shortest and likely least dynamic song they have, so I hesitate to secure labels. How do I know this? I recently got a chance to chat with Lua Rios about what she and her old friend, Carlos, have been up to and when we can expect to become more familiar with Gold Lake.
Izzy Cihak: You and Carlos have been working together for quite some time and have quite a handful of notable achievements with We Are Balboa. How does Gold Lake compare to your previous project together?
Lua Rios: Well, Gold Lake doesn’t really bear much resemblance to the previous bands we’ve been in together, except in that Carlos plays guitar and I sing and we both write the songs. Everything else is different, starting with the fact that we moved to New York. Once we got here, with the journey and the things that have happened to us during this time, we broadened our landscapes, when it comes to writing music.
IC: What would you consider to be Gold Lake’s most significant influences and inspirations, whether they are related to music or not?
LR: Musically, probably a mixture of all the music that has accompanied us since we were kids. From the giants of the ’60s and film soundtracks, to new bands that excite us everyday. And non-musically, probably traveling, moving around to different places, and having ended up so far from home.
IC: You’re about to release “We Already Exist” as a two-song single, but the track has been available online for a little while now. Have you had any particular favorite reactions to it, whether from professional critics, micro-bloggers, or even friends or family?
LR: The track was really only available for a short time before. An Italian fan made a video for us. People and, of course, our families and friends have liked it! But with the upcoming release of the track we have had some good reactions. SPIN‘s was a great one, but other blogs, such as Austin Town Hall or The Wild Honey Pie, seem to have liked it, too, so we are very happy.
IC: You’ve played alongside a handful of really amazing bands and legendary acts in both We Are Balboa and Gold Lake. Is there anyone you dream of sharing a stage with, or bill that you fantasize about being on, whether entirely realistic or not?
LR: We’ve been lucky and have played with some amazing bands. If we can fantasize a little, it would have been great to share the stage with the Kinks in ‘73, or with Otis Redding, or Bowie.
IC: What can be expected of your full-length? And when might we be able to expect if (if you have any idea)?
LR: Probably something along the lines of “We Already Exist,” although this is the shortest song on the album, so with the others you get more instrumental sections and it will take you deeper into our sound. We’re not sure when it will be out.
[youtube http://youtu.be/mQupiZ1W6vA]
IC: What are your most excited for in the second half of 2013? Any chance of a full-scale tour? What can be expected of the live experience?
LR: For the second half of 2013 a full-scale tour would be the most exciting. We are working on that. About our live show, basically it’s hundreds of thousands of fake dollars flowing over our heads while we play. Both dollars and euros, to keep both our homes happy! Now seriously, the studio and the live show are two very different things for us. There’s more energy in a live show. The album still has that energy but it’s channelled in a different way than when played live.
*Does anyone else think the title’s pun is cute, or do you not even get it?
