Meet Madrid’s Baywaves, where The Avalanches meet The Stone Roses with funky results

Baywaves’ latest EP, ‘It’s Been Like’ is one of the most exciting things you’ll listen to all summer. Indie hooks meet groovy, disco style breakdowns for a selection of songs ideal for beach bums and ravers alike. We spoke to Fran from the band about the EP and how they’re changing the Madrid scene gig by gig.

How long did the EP take to come together?

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We used to write songs really slow, but this EP was done in just over a month and a half, which is probably the fastest we’ve worked as Baywaves. It was basically a non-stop jam for four-and-a-half days to write them, then the rest was producing it.

Who were big influences for you when making this collection?

I would say that this EP is built on a few big references. The first being The Avalanches and then there’s a couple of compilations called ‘Too Slow To Disco’ – which is a compilation from the ’70s, it has more danceable versions of Steely Dan, basically.

Why has Spain become a hotbed for musical talent lately?

Argentina and Brazil had big break out bands in the ’60s for example, but Spain just didn’t have that. There was no one to look up to – in a good way or a bad way – so there wasn’t a background to do that. I would say that that the economic crisis had an affect on a younger generation, too. We couldn’t find jobs so we had more time on our hands, so we started believing that we could make a living out of music.

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You guys are based in Madrid where bands like Hinds and The Parrots have broken out. What’s going on there right now?

I would say it is a happy moment and has been happening since the breakout of Hinds and marked a change of vision for us. We as a band and all the other bands coming up right now are doing something internationally important. I am really happy with what is happening now, because all of the young bands like Favx who are doing hardcore pop or whether its bands that are doing electronic music, now everyone is proposing something interesting and and properly good. We are changing the scenario for people now.

You also helped change the law in Madrid for gig goers. What happened there?

Every small venue in Madrid would be 18 or over, so we couldn’t get to see any band that wasn’t huge. A couple of years ago there was a change in the government, so our guitar player started a petition to change the law to let people under 18 enter venues. They passed that law proposal and got 100% and was probably the first time any law got 100% here in Madrid.

Has this changed your audiences yet?

We have seen an amazing change. At the last gig we did the median age was like 23/24 which is normal in the UK – but here it felt super strange. We are seeing a change now across gigs and I reckon in a couple of years, those kids that will be seeing bands now will be playing in bands. So big changes are to come.

Baywaves ‘It’s Been Like’ EP is out now

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