The Tucumán bands Rust and Junkheads will review the emblematic and now classic songs of Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots at the Virla Center.
Grunge will revive tonight at the Virla Cultural Center (May 25, 265), when at 22 two bands from Tucumán recreate the best-known songs of three flagship groups of the movement that emerged in the US.
The tribute to Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains will feature the Rust venues (Daniel Amani, Bernardo Kutscher, Golden Litho and Augusto Gallegos) and Junkheads (Matias Morales, Matias Sisali, Natanael Corbalán, Felipe Sanchez Terraf and again Gallegos). The recital will be filmed and recorded live.
“We experienced the grunge period in real time. Most of the musicians who participated in this tribute were teenagers in the 90s becoming adults. It came to renew the worn-out artistic proposal of the previous decades, expressing the fatigue and rejection of the excess of the great and pompous musical productions of the 70s and 80s, such as progressive rock, synth pop, new wave, glam rock, etc., whose exponents ended up becoming manufactured products molded by the music industry to generate greater profits. On the contrary, this genre adopted a simpler aesthetic, even unaligned, natural and sincere, just like its musical proposal. Introspective and melancholic lyrics explored confusion and the search for identity, resonating with a generation that faced economic and personal uncertainties, coinciding with the arrival of a new decade,” Gallegos, bassist and spokesperson for the event, told LA GACETA.
– When grunge is mentioned as a style, Nirvana first comes to mind…
– Although Nirvana is usually associated with being an iconic band of the genre, and it certainly is in terms of the social impact it had, I think that the artistic proposal of Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots (STP) and Alice in Chains was much superior and sophisticated compared to the music of the group of Kurt Cobain, without obviously detracting from it. As for STP, in addition to the characteristic sound of distorted guitars, his songs often featured more complex structures and more elaborate arrangements than many of his contemporaries, including touches of psychedelia and hard rock. This allowed them to stand out and attract a wider audience, helping to popularize the genre.
Chris Cornell shined a powerful grunge at the Personal Fest
– And what did the other two bands honored in this show bring to the table?
– Alice… distinguished itself by its fusion of grunge elements with metal, creating a dark and heavy sound, with lyrics that addressed sensitive topics such as addiction, depression and despair. This emotional honesty and exploration of taboo subjects resonated deeply and its songs are an emotionally intense and authentic experience, with melancholic vocal harmonies. Pearl Jam incorporated a wide range of influences into its music, including classic rock, punk and folk. That versatility allowed them to evolve and stay relevant throughout the decades, avoiding being pigeonholed into a single style, maintaining that emotional and intense mystique in their concerts. The lyrics speak of alienation, abuse, loss and social criticism and took a strong stance against the excessive commercialization of music, high ticket prices and defended their artistic integrity.
– How did the idea of uniting the two groups on stage come about?
– At the beginning of this year I received an unexpected call from Amani to pay tribute to STP. I obviously accepted. During the rehearsals we got so excited that we decided to perform in a theatre, and double the bet with Junkheads (replacing the bassist, who couldn’t make it that date), who had already been doing a tribute to Alice in Chains for some years. The objective then became a triple tribute concert adding Pearl Jam, divided between both bands.
JUNKHEADS. Matías Morales, Matías Sisali, Natanael Corbalán, Augusto Gallegos and Felipe Sánchez Terraf.
– Does the golden era of grunge have heirs today?
– More than heirs, he greatly influenced the next generation of musicians and current references. His music is as classic as the Beatles were in the 90s, bridging the gap. Today grunge is 30 years old, as was the music of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd then. It’s a long time, and the longer it goes, the more classic and influential it becomes. It’s difficult to create something new at this point, everything has already been done. There is new music, influenced by old artists. I believe that grunge was the last great musical “style” that had a social and cultural impact as a movement.
-How do you see the Tucuman movement, so affected by taxes?
– It seems to me that it has to do with the fact that we have a lot of music made, with a lot of followers. It is true that the province has an increasingly growing niche of tribute bands, luckily. There are many options for all tastes, and of superlative quality, which has nothing to envy of proposals from other provinces.
– What is needed for self-composition to develop more in local rock?
– There is a lot of local music in the province, and more and more, and with very original and interesting proposals, with very dedicated and virtuoso musicians. All of us who participate in these tributes have our own band of compositions, with one or several albums released, as in my case with Syderalus. Nothing is missing, today you can record with a PC. There are few places to perform, but there are. You have to invest a lot of time and money, which is not enough, because you have to eat. Everything is self-managed and self-produced, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for our generation to listen to or consume new music; most want to hear what they already know. It takes a lot of effort to concentrate on hearing something new, and life today doesn’t make things easier. It is undeniable that rock is no longer fashionable, younger people are not interested. It is almost impossible to make a living from music in the province. One does it for pleasure, for the love of this art.
