hurrengoa
WAGON COOKIN’, seriously good food sagardance   The two brothers Javier and Luis Garayalde (the sax player Javier Garayalde is their father) from Iruña make up Wagon Cookin’. Having previously published six maxi singles, they have finally released their first LP called Appetizers. They skilfully mix Jazz, Latino music and House with great elegance. This record has been incredibly successful and has won them international praise and acclaim from the four corners of the globe. They play the Sonar festival in Barcelona this summer. You can also see them at Groove Parade in Monegros. We had a chat with Javier Garayalde about the record and the group. How did you get started?
We were trained in Jazz and Classical music, but we’ve basically concentrated on Jazz. Our beginnings go back to the Cotton Club in Pamplona, which belonged to my father. We started putting on acidjazz and, at the weekends, house. At the same time we were writing music for adverts and webpages, so we started writing our first tunes and dance music as well. Things have developed in different stages since then.

What stages?
By the time we decided to take a break from the bar-trade and rent out the bar, we had already come up with the idea of doing dance music. Then there was the jazzy side to us and our interest in new tendencies. I don’t just mean house, I’m talking about all types of dance music... you know, the stuff we’ve always liked, 70’s jazz fusion, funk... so we just started to mix everything. When we came to Madrid, we called ourselves Way Out and all we did was gig. We still hadn’t come up with our own sound, so we didn’t record anything. We finally hit the nail on the head as far as our “own” sound goes a couple of years back and that, coupled with some contacts we have in London, was what encouraged us to go into the studio.

Your work had caused a huge impact on the international scene...
Yes. We’re really happy, success is a great motivator. We released the record and everything just fell into place. Little by little, people start to like what you’re doing and that’s what’s happened to us.

How do you get stuck in, and make a name for yourself on the international dance circuit?
We waited an awful lot longer than normal to record something. We just gigged an gigged. We played Dr Music, Benicassim, Vitoria, Pamplona... I remember us going to London with a demo-tape about three or four years ago. In the end we decided not to let anybody listen to it. We listened to it a while back and it was alright. I think that the fact that we held back and concentrated on defining our sound before taking that step worked to our advantage in the end. People see that we’ve come up with something a little different to what’s on offer, a new sound. That’s what we wanted. We’ve waited but it’s been worth it.

Aren’t you surprised by the fact that all the critics have been unanimous in their reviews of the record?
Yes, although there has been the odd difference. I don’t know, er, if you like this type of music, I’m sure you’ll find lots of little things you don’t like on the record. I know I can. I know my brother can. We’ve really worked a lot on this record and I think people take that into consideration, you can hear it. More than hear it, you can feel it on the record.

Talk to us about the record. Jazz, House, Latin music, lots of musicians... Take us through the process of elaboration.
It’s a mixture of lots of things because we’ve loads of influences. In Madrid we really felt the need to play the type of stuff we’d always liked and at the same time we were playing with bands, solo artists, singers... Everything just came together in one. We’d always wanted to do a record like any of the really big groups. You get as close as you can, but it takes a serious amount of time to be able to do this. We’re lucky in that we can make a living out of music and this freedom gives you all the time you need. Definitely an advantage.

What do you put all this expectation caused all the world lately by anything Latino down do?
Latino music is the dog’s bollocks! I personally love it. It creates expectation, just like funk or jazz. The thing is that we’re used to these types of music causing it. Latino’s been causing sensation for a couple of years now. It almost seems like a fashion thing and that’s not the case with this type of music. It just happens to be great fuckin’ music and people are starting to cop onto it now. That’s all.

So, it’s not a case of... here today, gone tomorrow...
People were saying the same thing three years ago and in Jazz as much as House-Latino it’s still here going strong. I mean even Salsa has maintained the level of popularity it reached when it boomed a few years back. The same thing happens to Latino and Flamenco; there’s some serious rubbish being brought out. Sometimes you say Latino and people automatically think of Torero. That has absolutely nothing in common with what I’m talking about. It’s like talking about Techno and calling it all crap Rave.

Where have you played as DJs? Any memorable gigs?
We were in London in April with the new CD, but we haven’t been anywhere else yet. In July, August and September we’ll be visiting places like Japan, Canada, Germany, Italy... we’re back to London on June the 1st. We play in Fabrik. The others still have to be confirmed. London in April was a really beautiful experience. The people applauded each song as if it were a concert. Amazing. The session we did at Chango in Madrid was incredible as well. It was a real pleasure to see a discotheque in Madrid full at twelve o’clock at night when most people are still finishing off meals.

All of this must really get you buzzing...
Yeah, of course it does. On the one hand it’s pretty scary, but on the other, it gives you the confidence you need to go for it all.