“I’ve compiled 10 melodies that tell my tale”
Abismo is a powerful and timeless piece of art. In his first full-length album, Austero poured four long years of work into the 10 songs that make up his newest record, a personal antidote released on May 7, 2020. Known for his deep funky bass lines, gnarly glitch sounds and mesmerizing guitar, Austero has created a contemporary masterpiece. Each installment contains an audible story with an essential place in the larger message of the album: a resurrection from the abyss.
The title Abismo draws its name from the Spanish word for abyss and reflects an intensely personal period in the life of Albino Sosa (stage name Austero). A series of events that affected his heart and threw him into a dark place in life which would break him apart, only to rise anew through music.
After a successful international tour during the summer of 2016, Albino returned to his adopted home in Melbourne, Australia to compose his most meaningful album yet. In late 2016, soon after writing the first song for the new album, ‘Let’s Get Started’, he received an ominous number of texts and calls from his family in Mexico. Albino is originally from Tampico, Mexico and frequently returned to his homeland to be with family. It was on a cold morning when Albino remembers shaking as he heard the news that his father’s life had been taken in an attempted robbery in his hometown. Life changed for Albino from that moment forward. Less than six months later he and his wife separated, effectively leaving him alone in this world. Albino says in the deepest darkest place, he had to make a home. “I knew that this album was my only way out of the abyss,” he shared in a recent interview.
“Trying my best to stay afloat, I wrote more music. Ironically, the most beautiful songs I’ve ever written arose from that place – it is funny how art works. In 2018, I completely lost myself. I got to a point where if I had stopped, I would’ve probably died. It was there that I knew waking up was the only way out or [I would] forever lose myself in the mists of the abyss. So, with the help of the voices in my head I picked up the few pieces that were still spirited and stood up, grabbed my guitar and kept on doing music. It was the only thing I could do, and the only thing that was keeping me away from descending back to that cold and lonely basement.”
The album is a cathartic expression of the human spirit. Knowing Abismo’s origins, it is easy to see how the music is a direct reflection of the visceral emotions present and very real in him through this tough period. Each song’s unique energy holds a deeply raw and heartfelt story that can have meaning to any listener. As the sonic palette changes between each composition, the album seamlessly transitions from frenetic excitement to downtempo introspection, and back again, concluding with his most sentimental track, “Ultima Llamada”. This personal homage to his father samples one of his father’s final voicemails, where he shares that “it’s all OK”. Dissonant sounds in the song Waterdogs challenge the listener to look into the face of those feelings we may try to avoid; while Ultima Llamada carries listeners away on a cloud of stringed melodies and shuffling drums that really do make you feel like you are ascending to somewhere above.
Woven tapestries of sound can be found in songs like Catharsis, where the final notes of the piano put listeners into a transcendental state. Dripping guitar melodies and low end vibrations can be found on most songs, surrounded by the climactic body-moving bass track Mexican Music Man delightfully infused with Latin American flavors. Perhaps the following track, one of the most fun loving songs, Back to the Funk can resonate as an uplifting summary of the album’s intention. A beautiful light hearted party tune with lyrics by local Melbourne rapper Kudos telling the golden message: remember to live right now, give love and appreciate being alive. A meaningful musical remedy to reflect upon the true friends around us and the unforgettable moments we cherish in life.
Breaking Borders: We began our recent conversation with curiosity as to how Austero’s intentions for the album shifted after the tragic events occurred and if there was a dramatic difference in his musical expression before and after. He explained that music production comes first from the heart, then the head. This album was a deep journey of transmuting the pain into a new level of expression, a type of medicinal reflection through music making that could help him process and heal his losses.
Austero: “Well for the first part, I really didn’t even think about making music. For about maybe a year or so nothing was coming out. I usually fuel my studio/creation time with emotions, good or bad, that has always been the dynamic. But this time was different. For the first year, my brain wasn’t ready for it. I had to relearn how to do it again. My brain and my heart were so destroyed, it was hard to even start songs. And when I did, it was like I had never done it before.
So I tried over and over again. It took a while to get into it. I’m talking about more than a year. But once I started to groove, and started to feel again, it was on! Every time I made a riff or a cool beat it was like some part of me healed, because that made me smile you know. It was medicine.
So yeah, there was a shift of energy, a difference in my expression. Everything changed, but not for the worst. I had a purpose now – a meaning. Something very personal has been put on each and every song of this album. It became catharsis.”
The background behind the album process can reveal the personality of each track and the record as a whole. We continued the conversation by opening up and deepening our understanding about certain experiences, moments of clarity and defining relationships that Austero channeled into this project. Our curiosity lay in how he reflected on the album as an extension and release of the deep emotional crises he was going through.
“The Record as a whole has been the most alchemic healing experience of my life – real catharsis. Every song has a meaning behind it, a piece of my rollercoaster – unpredictable life at the time, printed in whichever way I could play it. Trust me, It’s all there.
I think that more than an overall story for the album there’s an overall feeling about it. One of resilience and reinvention, overcoming life changing experiences, of dealing with life in whichever twisted ways it might present to you. The making of “Abismo” was like a musical diary, with memories and emotions transformed into something audible, almost tangible. Once the music was released, it felt so freeing, like a big weight off my shoulders. It became the conclusion of a hard, but wise chapter of my life that showed me how to let go. Now I can continue with the next chapter of my life. I’m Happy with the results.”
The four locations where Austero wrote and produced the songs for Abismo were three music studios in Melbourne and one in Monterey, Mexico. Given the diversity of sounds throughout the record from glitchy bass lines to melodic Mexican flavors, bilingual lyrics and eclectic electric guitar leads, Abismo surely gives listeners a dynamic adaptation of the cross-cultural life he lives as a music producer.
Austero also worked with several vocalists (Dub Princess, Arowe, Kudos, Caro Vargas) that added impactful words to his music. We asked him to explain how these specific artists became a part of the album process and what was the importance behind adding a defining lyrical element to this project. He expressed to us how each artist came through strong with their unique expression which complemented the musical story and emotional process he was going through very well. The human experience is a journey that can translate to every person, everywhere and with both lyrics and instrumentation, there can be a synchronized meaning that’s mutual. However, some songs in Abismo contain lyrics that are essential in translating the depth of reality he faced in the abyss.
“Well, I think that most importantly we have to establish that all these artists did their thing.. I definitely had a part on every song, but they just smashed it!! I think that the most important song for me is Ultima Llamada, the importance of the emotion it evokes is irreplaceable. Without words it would be impossible to explain the complexity of this puzzle.”
As we continued our conversation, the direction of interest turned towards the technical side of Austero’s work. In our current time, electronic music production is very advanced and offers infinite possibilities for a producer to dial in a signature sound. We started off with curiosity around the digital audio workstation (or DAW) he prefers to use to produce music and how he balances live recording with computer-based sounds for creating a composition.
“I use Logic audio. I usually go for a lot of recording guitar, pianos, vocals, bass, synths, etc. I usually don’t use soft synths at all. A lot of my drums were recorded in Mexico. I also use samples. I was never good at cracking software and all of that, so I always tried to use outboard gear. “
Austero went on to explain a general session flow for making a song and how he gets in the zone to produce quality music. We asked if there was a defined template of choice he built off from or if he preferred to start from scratch each time.
“I start from scratch, I have a template but just to have my gear ready to use. I usually start with a guitar riff or a piano scale, and then usually if it flows, I get in the zone and then time becomes a construction of the human mind, you’re out with the fairies! Usually when I see myself not moving forward much or stuck in the starting of a song and it’s not flowing, I just let go of the idea. Start over again.”
Our last technical question regarded his favorite plugs-ins and sampling techniques that are essential for the Austero sound.
“Nope, no favorite plugins. I’ve got a big sky reverb unit that I love, and a Moog Moogerfooger analog delay pedal that I always use, so it’s almost all outta the box. Delays, reverbs, Fx. It’s good to have your own sound with some things, like my delay is never absolutely on time, cause it’s not a plug in, and that’s cool.”
Overall, the electronic sound design is diverse throughout Abismo, giving listeners a dynamic musical journey where each track holds a special production quality and displays a beautiful tapestry which is never redundant. Austero expressed the intention behind the types of arrangements that came through him for this album and how inspired emotions brought out his authentic sound.
“Look to be honest, I just flow with my capacities. I’m not a trained musician and I love that, everything I do is outta pure inspiration and emotion. Obviously after many years of doing this you know some things work better than others but usually I just get into the zone, when I can, and caffeine infused hours pass without me having no track of it all, and then at the end of the day or usually the next day you just sit down to listen to what you’ve done with almost no recollection of what it was.
I knew that I needed to do something special for Ultima Llamada because it’s a special song, emotive, and sincere. So I tried my best to merge Mexican flavors with electronic music and a lot of emotion. With Let’s Get Started I just wanted to sound new to myself, it was the first song I did, almost 5 yrs ago. I was coming from a long break of not doing anything and I just wanted to do something fresh and inspirational.”
One of the most notable aspects of Austero’s latest work is the overarching theme of Mexican influences that are apparent in Abismo, embedding musical flavors of his heritage. He describes how the inherent relationship with Mexico he possesses is always present during the production process and by weaving those ancestral qualities of his homeland with the other international collaborations was the best part of the creative journey.
“I was born a Mexican and I’ll die a Mexican my friend, like we would say back home, “this ain’t the flu”, meaning it doesn’t go away. I’m very proud of my heritage, it will always be a part of me so it comes naturally just to infuse those rhythms or colorful scenarios cause, that’s who I am. Batteries are included. Weaving it all together was the best part of it, for example in Ultima Llamada, a completely Mexican Ranchera style song in essence. I recorded Megumi Hope (Dub Princess) doing back vocals for Caro Vargas, someone she’s never met, both trying to portray my story, a feeling of something that had never happened to them.”
The album’s diverse sound dynamic in exceptional but we felt the most defining take away from Abismo is the streaming current of heart and soul through Austero’s melodies, lyrics and samples, thus bringing a humanistic depth that can connect to listeners and dance floors worldwide. Austero speaks upon how he feels these compositions can help bring the world together in this time and the real beauty of his music is through the emotions that go into each project which can resonate with the personal struggles that all people face.
“Well, as we all know it, life sometimes gets hard. I know from experience and making these songs got me through some heavy times. I could only hope that they would do the same for other people too. Whatever hardships they’re going through..”
To conclude our interview we brought the focus to the future and asked Austero to give us a glimpse of how he intends to share the Abismo live after it has been released. Unfortunately, like most performing artists at the moment, his plans for a tour changed. A return for the Symbiosis’s Global Eclipse gathering in Patagonia this year is still pending but all is uncertain now. He shares thoughts on the global pandemic and an exciting vision to bring his live act back to the stage consisting of all featured artists on the album.
“Well the “collective” as I like to call it, is, almost all the featured artists of the album playing in one stage, we’ve done it a few times and it’s amazing.. the level of musicality and spontaneity is great, and fun, and terrifying at the same time. It’s Alejandro on the Mexican guitars which is such a show to watch, Arowe on vocals, Kudos Mc’ing and backbone of the arrangements is Mista Savona with his unique piano flavour. Just orchestrate everything from behind. They do their thing, and they do it well.
We had a national tour for the album launch, but everything changed. I don’t know if the Patagonia gig is going on. It’s all limbo vision at the moment – shit has hit the fan. Probably a good time to rethink how we live our lives. We’re all in this together and play our unique part in the ecosystem, might as well respect all living beings as much as we can. Everybody deserves to be happy.”