Intimate Stranger Interview: SXSW 2010

Chile-based band, Intimate Stranger blend guitar, drums and keyboards alongside catchy melodies that are sure to please any festival-goer. The band have critics raving, as frontwoman Tessie S-Woodgate was named one of the "Leading Ladies of Rock" last year by Rolling Stone Chile. Gearing up for SXSW and an album release in March, Tessie filled Spinner in on the band's songwriting process as well as performing internationally. "SXSW is really important to us since it's the chance to play to a bunch of new people who haven't seen us live, in a place where we are relatively unknown. It's new terrain for us, so the prospects are very exciting."

How did Intimate Stranger form?

The band formed in Santiago, Chile, in 2005 between me, Lautaro and Mauricio. At the time, Lautaro and Mauricio had another band called Don Fango, which they dissolved to start Intimate Stranger.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Organic and atmospheric guitar effects blended with organ and synth melodies and solid drum rhythms [to] create a deep blanket for melodic and engaging female vocals. It has elements of melancholy and a calm motivated energy.

What are your musical influences?

We have different musical influences as well as a lot that cross-over. We all listen to a variety of different styles. I grew up listening to indie and alternative in the late 80s and early 90s and then listened to predominantly electronic music for a long while. When I met up with Lautaro he introduced me to guitar-based bands. We all listened to My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Johnny Cash, Pixies, Ramones when we were growing up and then branched out. Now we listen to a lot of different and more varied stuff – from indietronic to instrumental.

How did you come up with your band name?

The band name was originally the name of one of our songs which is now called 'All Things Pretty' and is actually on the new album that comes out in March. It's a song that we always had and never recorded before. At the time, the band was called Gato Gordo and we wanted to change the name to an English name. 'Intimate Stranger,' the song, was about a woman who sees a man somewhere and feels an instant connection and desire to be with him. She feels that she has found her soul mate without even talking to or knowing anything about him.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Emergen-C.

Who was your first celeb crush?

Johnny Depp. I've always had a thing for him.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

No guilty pleasures. If I like it, it can't be that bad can it? Lautaro sometimes listens to things we both think are really bad, it seems like a kind of torture or something.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced on tour?

One time when touring around Chile, Lautaro was almost taken away by a group of gypsies at a highway gas station. We pulled him in to the moving van on our way out – they were surrounding him and had somehow tricked him in to giving them money. Then we zoomed off to a town down south and arrived for the town's morning breakfast show studio to be interviewed by this dodgy bald guy in a funny suit who obviously didn't know anything about music, couldn't pronounce the band name and kept telling the camera guy to zoom in on my eyes. It was pretty surreal.

What's your songwriting process like? Do you carry a notebook wherever you go?

I'm actually an overly organized person and need to carry a few things around with me all the time, one of them being an exercise book. I write the lyrics for our songs and usually have material in the form of poems or random ideas that I often then adapt to a song. In terms of the music, Lautaro and I get together and work with melodies and ideas he composes. He'll play guitar and I'll put vocals and/or keyboards, and we'll play around and polish it.

The lyrics on the new album are very different to the first album. The first album was about imaginary characters and the events that happened in their lives. Like seeing random people you don't know and imagining absurd things that could be going on. This new album is personal, it's about my experiences. It reflects an ongoing process of conflict, realization and change. Sometimes it feels a bit strange when I think that all these things are in our songs. Though often I tend to not say them directly – and more in metaphors. For example, in 'Under,' there seem to be two people talking [but] its actually two sides of one person.

What are you thinking about while performing?

You enjoy the music and focus on what you're playing or singing. When you are well practiced you don't need to think about anything else really.

Would you rather someone witness you live first or hear your CD?

I think hear the CD first because that way they can hear the songs and when they see us live they will recognize them and can enjoy them more and the show as a whole.

I wanted to ask about the story behind 'For Annie.' Does a song come out better when it's based on a real person or experience?

'For Annie' is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Annie was a married friend of Poe's – it seems they had a complicated relationship. The poem is about how Annie helped him recover from a bad sickness. I have always liked his poems and wanted to use a part of this one as a song. I don't think a song necessarily comes out better when it's based on a real person or experience, it depends more about how you feel about what you're creating and whether it is well-written.


Annie Reuter is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.