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Barcelona (Spain) based duo SDH (Semiotics Department Of Heteronyms) is back with their sophomore full-length, Fake Is Real. After the well-received self-titled debut in 2018 and three EPs, Andrea P. Latorre and Sergi Algiz went out once again in search of nightclubs: those familiar but never obvious. The dress code transcends the categories of darkwave - to dress as mischievous EBM, with accessories from new dance, acid house and disrupted but melodic techno, with structured twists that come to caress the electronic psychedelia. You can take it as you want, but nobody can deny that Fake Is Real is, without any doubt, one of the best dark-synth-wave albums released in 2023. We met up with Andrea and Sergi before their show (the report is HERE) at Gromka Club in Ljubljana (Slovenia) at the beginning of June, when Fake Is Real wasn't out yet, but now it is - check it out, as we recommend for this interview also.
Interview with: Andrea and Sergi
Conducted by: Tomaz, Jerneja
Edited by: Jerneja
Jerneja: Hello, Andrea and Sergi! Your sophomore album, Fake Is Real, will be released in about three weeks, on 30 June. What are your expectations regarding it, perhaps based on the response to the two already-released singles?
Sergi: I'm very excited because - I think - it's the best thing we've ever done. And the singles worked very well, especially "Hectic", which is also a very special song for us. The album sounds really good, much better than the previous one. We've been doing less 80s-inspired music and found a more personal style. And there are more influences from different kinds of music.
Andrea: It doesn't sound that much synth-wave or darkwave - I mean, some songs certainly do, and that vibe is present, but it has more different influences, like, for example, from the 90s.
Tomaz: I was listening to the songs, and I must say that they sound more fluent than your older ones...
Andrea: Yes, they definitely are. They are not so heavy. We started by doing dark and heavy songs, but now the songs, at least for me, are more exciting because we used to play more with ourselves, personally with my vocals. There's humour present in this album. Before, we were more serious. It's closer to what I had in my mind.
Sergi: It's not funny, so to say, but it has a lighter and more playful vibe.
Tomaz: The album will come out via Avant! Records. How did this collaboration start, and how are you satisfied with the label?
Sergi: I used to have a record store in the past, selling Avant! Records releases. So, when Andrea and I started this project, I sent them some demos, which they liked, and then put it out. It was quite easy. It feels great to be on this label. They are always available. When the records are sold out, they do a repress. So, for us, it's the best.
Jerneja: But, since you also have your own label, how come you don't release your music through it?
Andrea: Because we focus on music. We used to do it that way with our other band, Wind Atlas. We used to be DIY, but it was a lot of work. We wanted to focus on music and tour as much as possible. I think that for this kind of music Avant! Records is the best label. Our own label was more experimental, electronic and noisy; we didn't have many references from this style.
Jerneja: So you only release other artists' music?
Sergi: We used to, but we haven't released anything for a long time.
Andrea: We started with a festival, which evolved into a label. We released music mostly on tapes, but eventually, we got tired of doing that. We wanted to do music. We've been around in Barcelona's music scene for a long time, and it was an amazing experience, but we decided to put the main focus on creating music and not deal with distribution, promotion and such things. It's easier if someone else does that for you.
Tomaz: You mentioned before that the new album, Fake Is Real, has a lot of humour, which probably refers to the lyrics...
Andrea: It's not really humour in a classical way, to laugh at it. I allowed myself to say the things that I thought I couldn't. Maybe it's my vital moment. The lyrics are not so very dark - there's more light. My lyrics are poems, and I think they evolved into something that can be described as saying serious things without being serious.
Tomaz: Some of your songs got remixed by other artists; is there any you find better than the original?
Andrea: That's a tricky question.
Sergi: We have three remixes done. The first one was "You Pt.12" done by Reka. We love Reka, she's the best. We met Reka in Berlin; she came to our show and liked the band. There are two remixes on Maybe A Body EP: one by Phase Fatale and the other by Pablo Bozzi. Phase Fatale we knew from before because we booked a show for him a long time ago in Barcelona. I really liked the Pablo Bozzi remix because I'm really proud of the song "All Of That", and he did a really good job with it. It's super fun to hear that song with that Italo disco vibe.
Jerneja: What is going on with your other project, Wind Atlas?
Andrea: It's on hiatus now, but it's not yet over with Wind Atlas.
Sergi: We don't have any time for that band right now. It would be nice to do something because it's a very special project.
Jerneja: How would you describe the differences between the two bands, SDH and Wind Atlas?
Andrea: Ah, there are a lot of differences. In Wind Atlas, I sing in Spanish, and it's more connected to my roots. My way of singing is more Mediterranean, more folkloric - it's connected to my grandmother and the music from my hometown. Okay, I was singing in English too, but on the latest stuff, there was more Spanish. Wind Atlas' music is more folk-oriented and more experimental.
Sergi: SDH, on the other hand, is a synth-pop band. With Wind Atlas, every record we did was different. We are a folk band; then we did kind of a post-punk, also, post-industrial album. Wind Atlas was like a journey for us.
Tomaz: Do you think your listeners mainly come from synth-pop and darkwave scene?
Sergi: It's a weird thing. We listen to some bands playing these styles, but we listen to many different stuff. We are fine with this genre label.
Andrea: I don't care, and I'm fine with everybody who wants to listen to our music. I think that we have a wide variety of listeners. You know, I love the gothic scene, and many people from this scene listen to SDH; there's darkwave, indie, electronic, EDM and many from the techno scene who also enjoy listening to SDH.
Jerneja: Though the synth-wave and darkwave scene is lately growing in popularity - a second coming.
Andrea: Well, not in Spain. We don't have any darkwave or synth scene in Spain. Okay, some big names come to perform, but that's it. It's pretty difficult. Some bands are playing this music, but not much. I see it becoming more and more popular in other corners of Europe and America, but not in Spain. The goth scene is somehow alive - mainly because of the old names. It used to be more popular a few years ago. There are some goth clubs in Barcelona, but mostly kind of a Clan Of Xymox thing, like I used to be. There are no young people in this scene at all. On the other hand, Barcelona has a very rich club and DJ scene, but mainly for electronic and techno music.
Tomaz: Can you name some of your main musical influences?
Andrea: Our main influence must be Coil. We have been listening to their music all of our lives. Besides Coil, we also like Current 93, Psychic TV, and similar. We came from that scene. It's hard to say that Coil is our favourite band, but absolutely is the most important one. I also have a connection with John Balance. The first song on the new album is called "Balance", and it's a homage to him. Yeah, they inspire us a lot. Not only the music, but the lyrics are super important to me, and the way of life also. Nowadays I like very much also Shygirl, who inspires me a lot, and Arca, who is one of my favourite live artists.
Sergi: When we were doing our latest album, we were listening to a lot of 90s music, like, for example, Faceless, The Prodigy, and this kind of stuff, but I don't know if it's heard on the album in an evident way. In a way, that stuff influenced us very much.
Jerneja: With your sophomore album almost out, are you already working on the following one?
Sergi: Yes, we already have some songs almost ready. We'll have time to focus on writing new music.
Tomaz: Thank you for the interview, and now we're looking forward to your show...
Sergi: Thank you for the interview. I hope that you'll like our new album, Fake Is Real.
Andrea: Thank you very much for the interview. Your questions were very nice.
Live photos by: Tomaz
SDH links: Official website, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Twitter
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