Getting to know an Intimate Stranger

At this year’s South by Southwest musical festival, Reply sat down with Chilean indie band Intimate Stranger to talk about identity, the internet and the globalization of modern music.

“Our first show was in a very working class bar in Santiago,” says Lautaro Vera. He is the guitarist and co-founder of Intimate Stranger, an international indie-rock outfit based in Chile. At their first gig, he was also their vocalist. “After the show, our friends said she should sing,” Lau says as he nods to his wife, Tessie Woodgate, bassist and co-founder (and now full-time vocalist).

Tessie went to Chile in 2003 on an exchange program, where she says she spent most of her time exploring Santiago’s small music scene. She met Lau, and “for about a year [we] were just writing songs.” When they played first gig in 2006, they’d added drummer Mauricio Muñoz. It wasn’t easy to get started back then, they say. Bands still had to organize their own shows, charge for tickets and rent out space in local clubs. By the time they released their first album, Life Jacket, things began to change.

Intimate Stranger at SXSW 2010 in Austin, Texas

In the last four years, Chile has seen an seismic shift in their music scene. As international heavyweights like The Strokes visited Chile, the music scene exploded and clubs started “mushrooming” around Santiago, providing a broader audience from local acts. As an influx of international credibility hit Chile, Intimate Stranger spent 2007 and 2008 in Tessie’s home country, Great Britain, playing in the fashionable London neighborhood of Shoreditch.

By the time the band returned to tour Latin America in 2008, they had added keyboardist Ismael Palma, and Chile was experiencing the full force of artisitic globalization. “In London, you were one band in a million,” says Lau, but back in Santiago, Intimate Stranger was at the forefront of a Latin American musical revolution. An army of British and international acts had opened up the music scene in Chile, and the band wasn’t afraid to meet the newly created demand. Clubs now actively recruited bands, and the growth of music on the internet expanded and connected their fan base.

‘The internet has made it more democratic,” says Lau, “sites like MySpace made it more interactive.”

Their music became more accessible, too. With the influx of foreign influence and the growth of local talent, Lau notes that “music went from being more introverted to more indie-commercial.”

“More listenable indie.” Tessie finishes.

The growth of Chilean music was evident at this year’s South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. The band made up part of the festival’s first Chilean showcase. With the release of their newest album, Under, and a tour of the U.S. this fall, there’s no plans of slowing down.

How does a Chilean band that sings in English define themselves? “Record companies love to pigeon-hole,” says Tessie. “I think we’re still evolving, still changing.” And while their identity evolves, it begins to take precedence over narrow labels. “The brand used to be the record label,” says manager Derek Woodgate. “Now the brand is the band.” In the wake of the earthquake in Chile earlier this year, their identity evolved yet again. When confronted with such a disaster “Nothing else really matters,” says Tessie.

What advice does the band have for others looking to forge a musical identity? “Learn to play an instrument,” she say glibly. Be organized, adds Lau. “Create something you really like. I think we’re still figuring out what we need to do.”

Above all, they remind us, “believe in yourself and your audience.”  — AR

Learn more about Intimate Stranger and their label, Fringecore Records here. Hear their latest single here.