In the history of best-friend bands, has there ever been a more likable bunch than Hinds, Los Nastys, and The Parrots? The Madrid garage-rock trifecta has been teaming up for nearly 10 years, supporting each other on all fronts — joint tours, split releases, and their resulting videos, which show very clearly that they’re having the most fun ever together.
That’s what Los Nastys singer-guitarist Luis Basilio told us via Skype this week, just ahead of yet another collaboration within the crew. This time, it’s a shared split, out September 22 on Suicide Squeeze, on which Los Nastys cover Hinds’ “Castigadas en la Granada,” and Hinds take on Los Nastys’ “Holograma.”
The tracks themselves are proof enough of their mutual adoration, but this interview confirms: these bands are the best of friends. Learn more about the inspiration behind the split below.
I want to start with a question about your friendship with Hinds. How did it begin? When did you first meet and under what circumstances?
I met Carlotta [Cosials of Hinds] my first year in Madrid when she still had no band, back in 2008, and I said, “Tomorrow night we play in [now defunct Madrid club] El Nasti,” and she said she would come. She came with Ana Perrote [of Hinds] and they liked the show and were inspired to form Hinds, and that same night at El Nasti the story of Hinds, Los Nastys, and The Parrots began. And since then we have never separated.
What was El Nasti like?
[El Nasti] was a mythical place in Madrid that no longer exists, but in those years it was the venue where we all went because they played music of the moment and the best songs from the past. We were always there, or drinking beers in the street, dreaming up everything that’s happening today. Let’s say that everything began in the doorway of that venue, and continues today at another venue called La Vía Láctea.
So how were the songs chosen for the split?
When Hinds started as a group, it was just Ana Perrote and Carlotta Cosials, and they sent Fran (my brother and guitarist of Los Nastys) a video in which they were covering “Holograma,” one of our first songs. They told us that they wanted to record it. When they recorded their first demo, we heard “Castigadas en el Granero,” and we went crazy over that song. Then we decided to do those two songs as an homage to each other. The inspiration behind it was everything we imagined [when Hinds played] at the Festival of Benicàssim in 2016, at Carlotta’s summer house, which is called Benilandia, and in her pool. Hence the name of the split, El Sueño de Benilandia. We were getting over our hangovers.
Oh cool, sounds like an awesome summer.
It was our summer of love to tell the truth [laughs].
And what do you like about “Castigadas en el Granero” so much?
Well I like the music a lot, the melody of the bass guitars, etc., and the lyrics are incredible, like a “remember when” of when we were children and our parents punished us. At the same time, it reminds me of a Nirvana song [but] sung by girls, and I love that. Maybe we’ve given it a touch more grunge.
A little, I hear that. And what do you think of the way Hinds played “Hologram?”
I have no words; it’s beautiful. Everytime I hear it or I see it played live, I get a nosequé in my body. No doubt they improved that song infinitely.
It’s awesome how you all support each other.
Well, our grandparents used to say that life isn’t just something you give away, and it’s better to be surrounded than alone, and that’s also clear at our concerts. Last week in San Sebastián, it was a great vibe playing the split, and the audience thanked us and became crazy motherfuckers…It kind of looked like Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys [laughs].
Since you all spend so much time together, are there ever problems within the groups? Are there arguments? Or do you always have fun? (That’s what it seems like so far!)
We have never had any problems. Everything has been a flow of exchange of ideas and experiences. This week, we finally got a rehearsal spot for all three, Nastys, Hinds, and Parrots.
Nice, in Madrid?
Yes. Now we finally have freedom and a space to do things together, including the studio that Fran, [The Parrots member] Diego, and Lois, Gamma Studio have assembled. We can finally do whatever we want. And we have the help of Pili and Willow who design for all of us; friends who draw and design extremely well.
Super. Do you have plans to record something there soon?
We have already recorded demos of the next LP that we will record in November, and hopefully release it in February. It promises to be good fun.
Where did you take the cover photo for the split?
At Carlotta’s house here in Madrid. We all dressed up in red and pink and put on makeup to give the impression that there is no such thing as sex, neither male nor female. Miqui Brightside, Ade’s boyfriend, took the photos. And I think it resembles something like a dream on a summer night – half-seductive, half-innocent.
Los Nastys and Hinds’ El Sueño de Benilandia 7″ is out now on Suicide Squeeze. Nacional Records is releasing the digital version of Hinds’ “Castigadas en El Granero” in the U.S.
