GOOD BISON – AN INTERVIEW WITH PABLO ALVAREZ

By Ralph Beauchamp

Good Bison is the alter ego of indie rocker Pablo Alvarez.  Alvarez just released his latest single, “Better Lies” from his upcoming narrative EP Ghost On Mullholland. “Better Lies” chronicles the lifelong haunting of his protagonist who no matter what he does cannot escape his fate. Good Bison uses a lilty trip hop cadence to disguise his sinister subject matter. Good Bison deploys this ghostly apparition as a metaphor for one’s innate ability to mask his true feelings. He is constantly running away from his responsibilities which leads to the spectral gloom that pervades his existence. Alvarez concludes:

“Even though I’ve gotten pretty good at running away from the ghost, sooner or later, he’s going to catch up to and I think that’s true for most people”. “It’s difficult, if not impossible, to truly know what ghosts someone is living with. But they’re always there, and these hauntings affect us in different ways”.

“Better Lies,” alongside the rest of the EP, was written and recorded in Miami by Alvarez and Abe Mendez, with George Spits handling additional production, mixing and mastering, Agustin Mas on lead guitar and Sebastian Delgado on drums/backing vocals.

The writing and recording process for Ghost On Mulholland saw Alvarez return to Miami, his home for many years after immigrating there with his mother from Colombia. After having moved to Los Angeles as an adult, the making of this EP gave Alvarez a chance to reconnect with his Miami music community and collaborate with them once more.

Pablo Alvarez sat down with AMP for this introspective interview.

AMP: Your new single and upcoming EP have an ominous underlining theme. Can you give us a little insight about that?

PABLO: The EP is called Ghost On Mulholland and it follows a short story I wrote that was inspired by Goosebumps and Steven King. I think that ominous vibe comes from that fact that it is an actual ghost story about a haunting. I’m talking about an actual paranormal experience. It’s also a metaphor when I apply it to my personal life. That underlining darkness pertains to confronting your ghosts. Coming face to face with whatever has been haunting you.

AMP: “Better Lies” and a lot of your music seems to possess a strange dichotomy. Your vibe is laid back but your subject matter is eerie. Is that intentional?

PABLO: I don’t think it’s on purpose. I don’t have a very clear intent when I get into a project. It’s not by design that things start sounding a certain way. It’s very much what just pours out of me. The connections are not really present when I begin creating. I go into it pretty blind. But I like that duality and contradiction that’s in a lot of music today. It sounds savory but underneath there’s this creeping darkness.

AMP: Are there any hidden nuggets you put in your material to heighten suspense?

PABLO: What I do is reference my own material in certain ways. I like leaving Easter eggs in my words that touch on other projects of mine. It’s usually a stand alone line but if you are astute enough you will realize that I’m quoting a lyric from a past song. Then you can start picking out those threads that constantly pop up in my music and get a better feel of my psyche.

AMP: You went back to Miami to record this EP. How was that experience?

PABLO: Honestly, it was weird. This was the longest stretch of time that I didn’t return in Miami since I moved to L.A. in 2014. This past year I’ve been to Miami more than the previous seven combined. In a lot of ways, once I moved to California, there was a part of me that rejected Miami. Rejected what I left behind.

During the recording of this EP, I started to embrace all the things I had abandoned for so long. Not just the city itself but friends, family, the food I loved and the atmosphere I grew up in. I rediscovered my love of Miami. I’ve got to the point where I’m not desperate to get right back to L.A. like I was before.

AMP: Who are some of the artists who have guided your musical career?

PABLO: It’s all over the place. I grew up mostly on hip hop and punk rock. They were my big introduction into music. I was into Eminem as much as I was into Green Day. Those two worlds guided my early sensibilities. Over the last few years my focus has shifted. Especially toward one particular artist, Brian Wilson. Brian Wilson has been a major influence in not only on how I approach music but also how I view myself as a creator.

After diving into the Beach Boys and Wilson’s catalogue, I began exploring music much more actively. It was a light bulb moment for me. All of a sudden, I was finding hidden gems camouflaged in these simple pop songs. I realized that if there was all this amazing music from a band that I thought I knew, what else am I missing. I then realized that there was so much more to delve into. So, I’ve been going decade by decade, searching for those special artists in order to understand music with a deeper perspective.

AMP: How would you describe your music to someone who’d never heard you before?

PABLO: I’ve always considered myself as a writer. I love writing and writing is what got me into music. At the beginning, I was just a lyricist. Therefore, my writing process has always been centered around words. I’m not great at planning or plotting a song. I never sit down and say “I’m going to write a song about a particular subject”.

I struggle a lot with the first words of any song and it takes a while to figure it all out but after that it’s a very natural flow. After that, it’s more of a stream of consciousness experience. As I’ve grown as an artist, I am slowly moving away from solely focusing on the words. I now try working on melodies that make me feel a certain way. And the hooks seem to come to out of thin air. Lately, it doesn’t feel like I am actually writing the songs. I feel they are baked into my spirit and I’m just plucking them out.

AMP: If you could support any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

PABLO: Opening for Gorillaz would be amazing. They are a band I’m proud to be compared with occasionally. There are similarities. Their music is genre bending and experimental. They also lean into a melancholic undertone with an upbeat twist. I think supporting the Gorillaz would be incredible. As far as past artists go, way to many to mention. It’s too hard even trying to start.

AMP: Where do you see yourself in two years time?

PABLO: Touring, for sure. I want to perform in as many cities as possible. I’ve really been focused on the studio side of things. Just writing and recording. I am itching to get back on the stage. Performing live is a priority for me. Also, working on new music.

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