With aspirations to become the undisputed torchbearers of modern psychedelic funk, the Colombian trio BALTHVS has emerged in recent years with an unparalleled and consistent string of musical releases, seizing every opportunity to showcase their passion and talent in every note. Known for their expansive, free-flowing style and soulfully gripping hooks, the band has been selling out venues worldwide on their latest tour.
Grateful Web had the chance to sit down with members Balthazar Aguirre and Johanna Mercuriana just after their set at this year’s Outside Lands in San Francisco to discuss their meteoric rise, finding inspiration in the most unexpected places, and of course, their thoughts on the Grateful Dead.
Grateful Web: It’s your first time playing in Golden Gate Park. We all know the history of this place, how does it feel to finally get to play in this space?
Balthazar Aguirre: It’s full circle. I’ve been listening to Jerry Garcia since my early 20s and when I decided to pursue music, I was willing to give up everything in my life to become a full-time musician and he was the main inspiration. Coming to the Bay, the counter-culture where all this actually came out over half a century ago, it feels like a full circle thing to me and I’m extremely grateful for it.
Johanna Mercuriana: I just feel love for my music and my instruments here.
GW: Alright, so we’re all Deadheads here, have you been out to the Height and seen the Grateful Dead house yet?
BA: We played Cornerstone Berkley three months ago and after the show, we were just riding in our car and suddenly I had this urge, and it was like 1:00 am, and I was like “Guys, I’m sorry, let’s please go to 710 Ashbury, please.” and we went, and we saw the Victorian house right there, it felt like a pilgrimage. And the neighbors were there and instead of freaking out, they were like “You are welcome, kindred spirits.” And we were talking and hanging, and they let us into their home, and we just talked for two hours before we left that place. It really felt like the city welcomed us and that spirit. It was magical.
GW: Balthazar, is it true that your first exposure to funk was through the game GTA: Vice City?
BA: Yes. I was a kid, and in Columbia, funk music isn’t really a thing. So when you would ride the cars in GTA Vice City we would put on Radio Espantoso or Fever 105, and you’d get all these gigantic artists, like Lonnie Liston Smith and it was insane to give that music to a kid. It was life-changing.
GW: What do you think that says about how we draw inspiration from the music in our everyday life?
BA: We are people from our times, and in my case, I was raised by video games, by YouTube, and just by having this gigantic library of music. It has been the greatest blessing of our times.
GW: You guys did a great cover of Drake’s Hotline Bling during your set today, and that got me thinking. In a time where artists either cover or sample each others’ music, where do you draw the line between using source material to create new art and plagiarism?
BA: I mean, with us, it’s always us. We don’t sample anything, we are actually musicians and we play, and it really comes out as us. I think it’s impossible to be plagiarism when you’re playing it live, but we’re very influenced by other people, including Drake.
JM: Yes, and we have a gold. We have 80 songs out, so our reporter is full.
BA: Yeah, we have four albums worth of original material.
GW: You’re one of the few bands who publish their instrumental tabs online for all to see. Why do you believe giving that resource to the next generation of aspiring musicians is so important?
BA: It’s how I learned to play guitar. I was just doing my thing and looking for tabs on the web, and it makes it so easy to understand the fretboard and just the way around, and that's how I learned, so I would love that if anyone was inspired by this music, they could give it a shot. It took me almost 10 years to become good at learning music by ear, so I know that when you’re learning, it's just better to have the tab. We have both the bass tabs and guitar tabs up there.
GW: You credit your early success as a project largely to how well you believe your chemistry is as people. How did that start and flourish?
BA: So Santiago and I were in a band and Johanna was the opener on one of the gigs, she was a singer-songwriter, and we just connected so fast. We were living together within a month. Then I wanted to do a new project because the old one wasn’t working out, and one day she just grabbed my bass at home and she started learning a Khruangbin song, and she got it within an hour, and I was like “Wow, you’re really good at this, have you really never played before?” And one thing led to another and she just said “Might as well start a band together.” And the rest is history.
GW: And you credit the success of your first albums largely to living together during while creating them. Why do you feel this was so important and what did you learn about each other during this time?
BA: We weren’t messing around. When we decided to start BALTHVS, it wasn’t a hobby, it wasn’t a side thing, we decided to pretty much sacrifice everything else in our lives and just do this thing and jump into it. So in living together, our home became like a Dojo. We played four hours every day getting better, and she (Johanna) became a professional bassist in a years time. She was playing the biggest Rock festival in Columbia in two years. Nobody does that.
JM: Thank you for teaching me.
GW: Anything you want to plug?
BA: We release a new song every month and we’re not stopping anytime. We’re going to cross the whole US, we’re going to Brooklyn and we’re going to Seattle for Bumbershoot festival. And God Bless the Grateful Dead
GW: What’s one question neither of you have ever gotten in an interview before?
BA: My favorite color is blue.
JM: My sign is a Gemini.
