October 29, 2024 • 26 mins
#148. Ron talks with Georg Holm of post-rock trio Sigur Ros about what being a musician really means, authenticity, embracing laziness, and finally making a record that sounds like Iceland.Sponsored by DistroKid. Get 30% off your membership at distrokid.com/vip/independentmindedSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're the one that should be worried.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You're a freak. You're reading for big trouble. The Independent
Minded podcast is for music lovers and music makers. We
talk about craft and creativity, and we talk about the
commerce too, you know, the icky part. And in the
(00:28):
digital age, commerce means getting your music up on the
web to let the people know you're still doing the thing.
That's where the fine folks at distro kid come in.
If you release your music online, if you're in a band,
run a label, or a PR company, you can't just
cast a magic spell and expect your new tune to
show up on the Spotify and the YouTube. Distro Kids
Digital Distribution Service takes care of all that for you.
(00:51):
They've got an easy to use uploading interface that guides
you through all the technical mumbo jumbo and promo tools
that help raise awareness of your art without breaking the bank,
breaking your computer. And now I get to nudge you
to use it by giving you thirty percent off your membership.
Just go to DistroKid dot com slash vip slash Independent
(01:11):
Minded DistroKid dot com slash vip slash Independent Minded for
thirty percent off your membership. What does it say about
(01:37):
an artist's impact when you can't pronounce the names of
the albums or the band members properly, when you don't
sing along to the lyrics because you can't even understand them,
and yet in spite of all that, you're moved, you're fascinated,
affected in the way a band like Sigaroes has affected
me for the last quarter century.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Is said.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Isa side side.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
And so when given the opportunity to connect with one
of the founding members of Cigareroes, to talk shop, to
call some wisdom, and of course to express gratitude, a
proper music nerd pounces because what better way to commiserate,
to say thank you to an artist that brings you
closer to God, to a musician who makes you cry,
whose music might propel you up a mountain one moment
(02:39):
than in the next lulls you into a peaceful dream state.
This is my mission for episode one eight of Independent Minded.
When bassist and multi instrumentalist Gay org Home connects with
me while on tour in support of Cigarros's latest spectacular album, Alta.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I remember having a walk with my dogs in the countryside,
just outside of regularly and listening to the record and
I was. I was trying to listen to it critically, like, oh,
you know, m hm, too much strings there or blah
blah blah, you know whatever, we need to add this
out or something.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I feel that pain. I feel that pain.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, But at the same time I completely got lost
in it. This pot popped into my mind that I
felt that finally we made a record that sounded like Iceland.
You know, I was just walking around this area outside
of the regularly and looking around the countryside, and I
just thought this really fast.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Cigareroes is one of the most revered and celebrated bands
in all the land, and even though they're an indie
act with pragmatic, independent minded concerns, they've never been afraid
to go big and go far to play the powerful
song that they've made for us.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
You know, there's so many places that we want to
go but are impossible logistically. You know, you have to
get that and you have to get a lot of
people there as well. I mean, it's not just the
three of us, with the four of us traveling. We've
never played a show anywhere in Africa, for example. You know,
I'd love to be able to do that or go
to India for years, I've had this dream of playing
(04:23):
I mean this sounds silly, but I always wanted to
play fantastica for.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
A band like Cigareroes, part of the strategy is not
having a strategy, and it's because they stick to their
guns as an experimental and non commercial act that you
get the feeling that everything the band wants to do,
they ultimately will, and in the spirit of the best
indie artists, they'll do it their own way. Gay Org
and I talk about doing things the Cigareroes way, starting
their own label, the making of their new record, and
(04:49):
what being a musician really means. Let's kick things off
with cletter from Cigareros's eighth studio album Outa than my
conversation with gay Org home right here on Independent Minded.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Fried dausos Mazy podcast riddasows maze of podcast talking to people,
make God's using plugging their projects, making the famous helps
about just my ma sure to talk about all.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
The bushit that they do. H My name is Giler Cole.
(07:54):
I'm from Iceland and I am a member of the
band Silver. I do think that my music really comes
from the heart and is authentic. I think it has
you know, almost like a spiritual thing to the listener. Sadly,
sometimes I think have I lost that touch of that
I had when I was younger, when when I heard
something that just hit me and it grabbed me and
it wouldn't let go.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Most Ciga Roes fans would agree that this is a
band that grabs you with its authenticity, that rouses the spirit.
Compositions made unconventionally by three dudes who grew up with
little musical training, yet lauded by the likes of David
Bowie and Radiohead.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
I'm brought up, you know, in a household that played
a little later and Cohen as well. I've rated my
my parents' record cabinet when I was younger. I actually
just completely stole my my parents and record player and
all the records, and I studied all of them. And
obviously I got completely hooked on led Zeppelin. I mean,
that's just nice, you know, one of the best bands ever.
(08:49):
I think in the midst of you how it interested
reminiscing now. I remember going to the record store from
(09:11):
buying the NWA A record. You know, you know, I
loved hip hop as well, so I wasn't really hooked
on any kind of genre or anything like that. I
just really like to listening to music.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Sigar Ross has left a similar impression on a lot
of us, the mix of quiet, haunting beauty, intense bombastic moments,
(09:47):
the reverby guitar work from singer Yonzie, who often attacks
his instrument with the cello's bow while using his other instrument,
his voice, to add pastiche and nuance to the proceedings.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Time have this and You Slow.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Excellent. Gay Org has been adding his own brushstrokes since
the band's nineteen ninety seven debut, Vaughn Piano, Glock and Spiel,
(10:45):
and of course the bass guitar.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I did take I think three lessons from a from
a really good bass player. Actually, you know, when when
I decided that I was going to play bass, I
actually went for three lessons, three whole lessons, three whole lessons.
He said to me, there's one thing that I just
took away from those lessons, and I think that's one
of the reasons why I never came went back to
(11:07):
the lesson you just said, if you want to be
a good bass player, it's not about how many notes
or even almost not even the note that you play
just the note you played, just played the best you
possibly can. Just play every single note as if it
was the last note.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
When asked about his musical proficiency, Org is typically humble.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I don't know. I just feel like I double. I
do my own thing on an instrument. You know, if
someone hands me a guitar or a bass or whatever
and says, can you play that song? You know I
would say ninety nine point nine percent at the time,
I would say, no, I don't know how to do it.
Ask me to play one of our songs. I can
do it, but maybe just play the bass park So
(12:27):
you know, it's I guess I am a professional musician,
but you know, and another thing was a really good
friend of mine we had this conversation also. He said,
there's this difference between like being an I guess an
instrumentalist or something like that and a musician. So you're
a musician, you just do your thing. You understand the music,
you got feel for it. You know what's good, what's bad.
(12:49):
You know when to play that and this or the
rhythm of this and things like that. But you're not
going to sit down and play some massive piano world
like some virtuoso, you know, so it's you know, there's
a there's a difference between those two things, and I
kind of realized that, Okay, I'm a I'm not good
at playing instrument, but I'm a musician. So I think
(13:12):
that was a good way of describing it.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
You are describing me perfectly, Georg. I'm a hack as
a piano player, like I can play a few Beatles
songs and a couple of Coldplay.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Songs, But uh, you're better than me, then let's.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Not get crazy. Cigar ROAs is a band that's all
about feel, dynamics, raw emotion. It's not to say that
(13:46):
they're not ambitious. Their eighth studio album, Alta, was recorded
at multiple spots in the US, in addition to their
home base sun Logan Studio in Iceland. Atta has introspective
and moody, heavy on atmosphere and strings. The band collaborated
with the London Contemporary Orchestra to record those string parts
at Abbey Roads Studios. Do you take the music with
(14:36):
you outside the studio when you make these records or
does the magic all happen kind of as a collaborative
effort between you and the other guys.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Well, I think it really depends on the record. I think,
you know, in many ways, We've always made each record
in a unique way. With this record, it started off
completely different from any other record, you know, where it
(15:04):
was Johnsen Captain started off writing some demos together, and
then I came in and continued working on them. And
the record is recorded in you know, many different sessions
in many different countries as well. I definitely had a
moment with the record when I was listening to the
sort of like rough mixes of it. I remember having
a walk with my dogs in the countryside, just outside
(15:26):
of regularly and listening to the record, and I was
I was trying to listen to it critically, like oh,
you know, m hm, too much strings there or blah.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Blah blah, you know, whatever we needed to feel, Yeah,
but at the same time, I completely got lost in it,
and this thought popped into my mind that I felt
that finally we made a record that sounded like Iceland.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
You know. I was just walking around this area outside
of regularly and looking around the countryside, and I just thought,
this really fit. S It's a weird record. It wanted
(17:03):
to go certain places, it wanted to be heavily arranged
with strings. That's what it was asking for.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's what the record was asking for. This is the
sort of hippie dippy philosophy about creativity that drives Cigarroes
songs leading the band rather than the band leading the songs.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
We always came back to let's just let it do
what it wants to do.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
It hasn't always been a smooth ride nor a perfect democracy.
Some band members have come and gone. The ones that
have stuck around sometimes butt heads.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I really do think there was a sort of sense
of maturity for the lack of a bet when making
this record. It just felt like we were just doing
it and we were respecting each other's opinions on it,
and you know, there was absolutely no fighting over anything.
(17:54):
This time was just purely the music having its own moment. Cool.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Okay, never mind that it's been ten years between albums,
But the muse comes when it comes, and as the
band's members approach their fifties, they're more open minded about
taking time away and taking care of themselves.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I think human beings are naturally lazy as well, and
I think we should embrace that. You know, you need
the space in your head as well, you know, you
can't just I mean, I understand that there are people
out there that just want to be working all the time,
but at least we are not. We enjoy, you know,
embracing other things as well, you know, just having a
(19:02):
good dinner or something.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You know, you're telling me everything I want to hear
as a guy who's still doing this. You're just kind
of reaffirming the path that I've taken myself over these
last couple of years.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
So you're not alone.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Cigareroes isn't just notable for their unique approach to music making,
they're also independent minded royalty. They started their own indie
label Crunk years ago, first to release the band's material,
then for solo efforts and side projects.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
We recorded two songs for a film in Iceland called
Angels of the Universe Hill, who's a composer, who's the
(19:51):
composer of all the music basically, but we did these
two songs, which I guess you could call cover songs
for the film, and we wanted to release and then
we thought we should, we should release it. That's when
we started this label. And then after that, you know,
we thought, well, you know, we should be releasing our
own music.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Cigarros has worked with European indie stalwarts like Fat Cat
and Excel, not to mention some major label distributors over
the course of their long career. But it's through Krunk
that they get to best control their destiny.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
You know, although we do not reply to all the
emails or whatever, it's still our thing.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
The band and trust a lot of business decisions to management,
a relationship that started back around the turn of the century.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
We've done this all these years without even signing a
contact with each other. It's it's a it's a mutual thing.
Up until very recently, we actually did sign a contract,
but that was because of a necessity, because of something else,
so we kind of had to do like a management contract,
but otherwise we wouldn't have done it.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
This all fits the Cigarros model perfectly, a process that's
all about instinct, an unwavering commitment to craft and to
all the players involved, and it's a model that still
works thirty years after it all began. There is a
song title that I can finally name on the record,
and that's the last track on the record, which is
called eight. That is obviously significant because I believe it's
(21:18):
symbolic of this is your eighth record.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yeah, do you have plans to do more?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And again, you seem like the sort of band who
just probably doesn't have the answer to that question right
now and we'll just maybe have a fever dream about
it and then decide. But you tell me, like, what
are your plans coming off this tour?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
We will be continuing this tour with a string tour,
as we call it, the orchestral tour, you know, the
full orchestra with us. I mean, it's a very different tour.
It's it's not the sort of usual rock and roll
tour that we have been on a lot of lights
and you know, led screens and things like that, very noisy.
This is more, you know, it's more patient in a way.
(21:59):
You have to kind of just sit there and take
it in. And yeah, I mean we have been talking
about getting back into the studio and doing something. I
think we all have the sort of urge to do that.
Do want to go back into the studio and do
something different? But at the same time I think we
do that. We want to do something very different for
single ROAs.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Very different could mean anything, maybe not a disco record
or a country album, probably nothing particularly upbeat, but that's okay,
because no matter how different it might be, some things
are certain to remain the same. I won't be able
to pronounce the song titles, i won't understand the lyrics.
I'll be moved and fascinated, and thanks to this uncompromising
(22:41):
independent band from Iceland, I'll feel inspired to make my
own music and feel a little closer to God.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Ob easy.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Find out more about Sigar Roast and check out up
coming toward dates at cigar Roast dot com, and you
can follow the band on social media at segar ROAs.
Big thanks to ge Yorg for taking time away from
the orchestra to talk with me, and special thanks to
Mick Jacobs at Motormouth Media for connecting us. And you
better believe I'm saving a big old bear hug for you,
(24:03):
loyal podcast listener, Hug me back virtually simply by subscribing
and leaving a kind review for Independent Minded on Apple
Podcasts and Spotify. You can also share the links, tell
your friends and buy some music at Baldfreak dot com.
Holla at chaboy at Ron at baldfreak dot com, and
keep up with the latest Freak news on social media
(24:25):
at Baldfreakmusic, independent minded. It's a Bald Freak music production.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Me.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I'm still Ron Scalzo.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
You're a nice you're a freak.
You're the one that should be worried.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You're a freak. You're reading for big trouble. The Independent
Minded podcast is for music lovers and music makers. We
talk about craft and creativity, and we talk about the
commerce too, you know, the icky part. And in the
(00:28):
digital age, commerce means getting your music up on the
web to let the people know you're still doing the thing.
That's where the fine folks at distro kid come in.
If you release your music online, if you're in a band,
run a label, or a PR company, you can't just
cast a magic spell and expect your new tune to
show up on the Spotify and the YouTube. Distro Kids
Digital Distribution Service takes care of all that for you.
(00:51):
They've got an easy to use uploading interface that guides
you through all the technical mumbo jumbo and promo tools
that help raise awareness of your art without breaking the bank,
breaking your computer. And now I get to nudge you
to use it by giving you thirty percent off your membership.
Just go to DistroKid dot com slash vip slash Independent
(01:11):
Minded DistroKid dot com slash vip slash Independent Minded for
thirty percent off your membership. What does it say about
(01:37):
an artist's impact when you can't pronounce the names of
the albums or the band members properly, when you don't
sing along to the lyrics because you can't even understand them,
and yet in spite of all that, you're moved, you're fascinated,
affected in the way a band like Sigaroes has affected
me for the last quarter century.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Is said.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Isa side side.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
And so when given the opportunity to connect with one
of the founding members of Cigareroes, to talk shop, to
call some wisdom, and of course to express gratitude, a
proper music nerd pounces because what better way to commiserate,
to say thank you to an artist that brings you
closer to God, to a musician who makes you cry,
whose music might propel you up a mountain one moment
(02:39):
than in the next lulls you into a peaceful dream state.
This is my mission for episode one eight of Independent Minded.
When bassist and multi instrumentalist Gay org Home connects with
me while on tour in support of Cigarros's latest spectacular album, Alta.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I remember having a walk with my dogs in the countryside,
just outside of regularly and listening to the record and
I was. I was trying to listen to it critically, like, oh,
you know, m hm, too much strings there or blah
blah blah, you know whatever, we need to add this
out or something.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I feel that pain. I feel that pain.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, But at the same time I completely got lost
in it. This pot popped into my mind that I
felt that finally we made a record that sounded like Iceland.
You know, I was just walking around this area outside
of the regularly and looking around the countryside, and I
just thought this really fast.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Cigareroes is one of the most revered and celebrated bands
in all the land, and even though they're an indie
act with pragmatic, independent minded concerns, they've never been afraid
to go big and go far to play the powerful
song that they've made for us.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
You know, there's so many places that we want to
go but are impossible logistically. You know, you have to
get that and you have to get a lot of
people there as well. I mean, it's not just the
three of us, with the four of us traveling. We've
never played a show anywhere in Africa, for example. You know,
I'd love to be able to do that or go
to India for years, I've had this dream of playing
(04:23):
I mean this sounds silly, but I always wanted to
play fantastica for.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
A band like Cigareroes, part of the strategy is not
having a strategy, and it's because they stick to their
guns as an experimental and non commercial act that you
get the feeling that everything the band wants to do,
they ultimately will, and in the spirit of the best
indie artists, they'll do it their own way. Gay Org
and I talk about doing things the Cigareroes way, starting
their own label, the making of their new record, and
(04:49):
what being a musician really means. Let's kick things off
with cletter from Cigareros's eighth studio album Outa than my
conversation with gay Org home right here on Independent Minded.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Fried dausos Mazy podcast riddasows maze of podcast talking to people,
make God's using plugging their projects, making the famous helps
about just my ma sure to talk about all.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
The bushit that they do. H My name is Giler Cole.
(07:54):
I'm from Iceland and I am a member of the
band Silver. I do think that my music really comes
from the heart and is authentic. I think it has
you know, almost like a spiritual thing to the listener. Sadly,
sometimes I think have I lost that touch of that
I had when I was younger, when when I heard
something that just hit me and it grabbed me and
it wouldn't let go.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Most Ciga Roes fans would agree that this is a
band that grabs you with its authenticity, that rouses the spirit.
Compositions made unconventionally by three dudes who grew up with
little musical training, yet lauded by the likes of David
Bowie and Radiohead.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
I'm brought up, you know, in a household that played
a little later and Cohen as well. I've rated my
my parents' record cabinet when I was younger. I actually
just completely stole my my parents and record player and
all the records, and I studied all of them. And
obviously I got completely hooked on led Zeppelin. I mean,
that's just nice, you know, one of the best bands ever.
(08:49):
I think in the midst of you how it interested
reminiscing now. I remember going to the record store from
(09:11):
buying the NWA A record. You know, you know, I
loved hip hop as well, so I wasn't really hooked
on any kind of genre or anything like that. I
just really like to listening to music.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Sigar Ross has left a similar impression on a lot
of us, the mix of quiet, haunting beauty, intense bombastic moments,
(09:47):
the reverby guitar work from singer Yonzie, who often attacks
his instrument with the cello's bow while using his other instrument,
his voice, to add pastiche and nuance to the proceedings.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Time have this and You Slow.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Excellent. Gay Org has been adding his own brushstrokes since
the band's nineteen ninety seven debut, Vaughn Piano, Glock and Spiel,
(10:45):
and of course the bass guitar.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I did take I think three lessons from a from
a really good bass player. Actually, you know, when when
I decided that I was going to play bass, I
actually went for three lessons, three whole lessons, three whole lessons.
He said to me, there's one thing that I just
took away from those lessons, and I think that's one
of the reasons why I never came went back to
(11:07):
the lesson you just said, if you want to be
a good bass player, it's not about how many notes
or even almost not even the note that you play
just the note you played, just played the best you
possibly can. Just play every single note as if it
was the last note.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
When asked about his musical proficiency, Org is typically humble.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
I don't know. I just feel like I double. I
do my own thing on an instrument. You know, if
someone hands me a guitar or a bass or whatever
and says, can you play that song? You know I
would say ninety nine point nine percent at the time,
I would say, no, I don't know how to do it.
Ask me to play one of our songs. I can
do it, but maybe just play the bass park So
(12:27):
you know, it's I guess I am a professional musician,
but you know, and another thing was a really good
friend of mine we had this conversation also. He said,
there's this difference between like being an I guess an
instrumentalist or something like that and a musician. So you're
a musician, you just do your thing. You understand the music,
you got feel for it. You know what's good, what's bad.
(12:49):
You know when to play that and this or the
rhythm of this and things like that. But you're not
going to sit down and play some massive piano world
like some virtuoso, you know, so it's you know, there's
a there's a difference between those two things, and I
kind of realized that, Okay, I'm a I'm not good
at playing instrument, but I'm a musician. So I think
(13:12):
that was a good way of describing it.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
You are describing me perfectly, Georg. I'm a hack as
a piano player, like I can play a few Beatles
songs and a couple of Coldplay.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Songs, But uh, you're better than me, then let's.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Not get crazy. Cigar ROAs is a band that's all
about feel, dynamics, raw emotion. It's not to say that
(13:46):
they're not ambitious. Their eighth studio album, Alta, was recorded
at multiple spots in the US, in addition to their
home base sun Logan Studio in Iceland. Atta has introspective
and moody, heavy on atmosphere and strings. The band collaborated
with the London Contemporary Orchestra to record those string parts
at Abbey Roads Studios. Do you take the music with
(14:36):
you outside the studio when you make these records or
does the magic all happen kind of as a collaborative
effort between you and the other guys.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Well, I think it really depends on the record. I think,
you know, in many ways, We've always made each record
in a unique way. With this record, it started off
completely different from any other record, you know, where it
(15:04):
was Johnsen Captain started off writing some demos together, and
then I came in and continued working on them. And
the record is recorded in you know, many different sessions
in many different countries as well. I definitely had a
moment with the record when I was listening to the
sort of like rough mixes of it. I remember having
a walk with my dogs in the countryside, just outside
(15:26):
of regularly and listening to the record, and I was
I was trying to listen to it critically, like oh,
you know, m hm, too much strings there or blah.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
Blah blah, you know, whatever we needed to feel, Yeah,
but at the same time, I completely got lost in it,
and this thought popped into my mind that I felt
that finally we made a record that sounded like Iceland.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
You know. I was just walking around this area outside
of regularly and looking around the countryside, and I just thought,
this really fit. S It's a weird record. It wanted
(17:03):
to go certain places, it wanted to be heavily arranged
with strings. That's what it was asking for.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's what the record was asking for. This is the
sort of hippie dippy philosophy about creativity that drives Cigarroes
songs leading the band rather than the band leading the songs.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
We always came back to let's just let it do
what it wants to do.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
It hasn't always been a smooth ride nor a perfect democracy.
Some band members have come and gone. The ones that
have stuck around sometimes butt heads.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I really do think there was a sort of sense
of maturity for the lack of a bet when making
this record. It just felt like we were just doing
it and we were respecting each other's opinions on it,
and you know, there was absolutely no fighting over anything.
(17:54):
This time was just purely the music having its own moment. Cool.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Okay, never mind that it's been ten years between albums,
But the muse comes when it comes, and as the
band's members approach their fifties, they're more open minded about
taking time away and taking care of themselves.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
I think human beings are naturally lazy as well, and
I think we should embrace that. You know, you need
the space in your head as well, you know, you
can't just I mean, I understand that there are people
out there that just want to be working all the time,
but at least we are not. We enjoy, you know,
embracing other things as well, you know, just having a
(19:02):
good dinner or something.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You know, you're telling me everything I want to hear
as a guy who's still doing this. You're just kind
of reaffirming the path that I've taken myself over these
last couple of years.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
So you're not alone.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Cigareroes isn't just notable for their unique approach to music making,
they're also independent minded royalty. They started their own indie
label Crunk years ago, first to release the band's material,
then for solo efforts and side projects.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
We recorded two songs for a film in Iceland called
Angels of the Universe Hill, who's a composer, who's the
(19:51):
composer of all the music basically, but we did these
two songs, which I guess you could call cover songs
for the film, and we wanted to release and then
we thought we should, we should release it. That's when
we started this label. And then after that, you know,
we thought, well, you know, we should be releasing our
own music.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Cigarros has worked with European indie stalwarts like Fat Cat
and Excel, not to mention some major label distributors over
the course of their long career. But it's through Krunk
that they get to best control their destiny.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
You know, although we do not reply to all the
emails or whatever, it's still our thing.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
The band and trust a lot of business decisions to management,
a relationship that started back around the turn of the century.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
We've done this all these years without even signing a
contact with each other. It's it's a it's a mutual thing.
Up until very recently, we actually did sign a contract,
but that was because of a necessity, because of something else,
so we kind of had to do like a management contract,
but otherwise we wouldn't have done it.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
This all fits the Cigarros model perfectly, a process that's
all about instinct, an unwavering commitment to craft and to
all the players involved, and it's a model that still
works thirty years after it all began. There is a
song title that I can finally name on the record,
and that's the last track on the record, which is
called eight. That is obviously significant because I believe it's
(21:18):
symbolic of this is your eighth record.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yeah, do you have plans to do more?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And again, you seem like the sort of band who
just probably doesn't have the answer to that question right
now and we'll just maybe have a fever dream about
it and then decide. But you tell me, like, what
are your plans coming off this tour?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
We will be continuing this tour with a string tour,
as we call it, the orchestral tour, you know, the
full orchestra with us. I mean, it's a very different tour.
It's it's not the sort of usual rock and roll
tour that we have been on a lot of lights
and you know, led screens and things like that, very noisy.
This is more, you know, it's more patient in a way.
(21:59):
You have to kind of just sit there and take
it in. And yeah, I mean we have been talking
about getting back into the studio and doing something. I
think we all have the sort of urge to do that.
Do want to go back into the studio and do
something different? But at the same time I think we
do that. We want to do something very different for
single ROAs.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Very different could mean anything, maybe not a disco record
or a country album, probably nothing particularly upbeat, but that's okay,
because no matter how different it might be, some things
are certain to remain the same. I won't be able
to pronounce the song titles, i won't understand the lyrics.
I'll be moved and fascinated, and thanks to this uncompromising
(22:41):
independent band from Iceland, I'll feel inspired to make my
own music and feel a little closer to God.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Ob easy.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Find out more about Sigar Roast and check out up
coming toward dates at cigar Roast dot com, and you
can follow the band on social media at segar ROAs.
Big thanks to ge Yorg for taking time away from
the orchestra to talk with me, and special thanks to
Mick Jacobs at Motormouth Media for connecting us. And you
better believe I'm saving a big old bear hug for you,
(24:03):
loyal podcast listener, Hug me back virtually simply by subscribing
and leaving a kind review for Independent Minded on Apple
Podcasts and Spotify. You can also share the links, tell
your friends and buy some music at Baldfreak dot com.
Holla at chaboy at Ron at baldfreak dot com, and
keep up with the latest Freak news on social media
(24:25):
at Baldfreakmusic, independent minded. It's a Bald Freak music production.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Me.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I'm still Ron Scalzo.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
You're a nice you're a freak.
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