To lo-fi and adventurous spirits: an interview with HINDS

I don’t think there’s anything more exciting than interviewing one of your favourite bands. Especially if they are as loud and as loving as Hinds. In November, I had a chat with them in The Mill, Birmingham before their tour show for their second album I Don’t Run (2018). Leaving aside the fact that I brought my mom to the concert and she basically became friends with Sports Team’s drummer, the main aim of this interview is to guide you through the making of this album and to let you get to know Hinds a little better.

For those of you who might have not heard of them anytime before today, Hinds are a lo-fi indie-rock girlband from Madrid. The four-member band – Carlotta Cosials (vocals, guitar), Ana Perrote (vocals, guitar), Ade Martin (bass, backing vocals) and Amber Grimbergen (drums) – began receiving more and more recognition after releasing their first album Leave Me Alone in 2016, and have since gained a pivotal position in the lo-fi scene. So sit down, relax and if reading whilst listening to music is not too much of a challenge for you, I really encourage you to give their new album a chance!

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Yasmina: You have come a long way since your first album. Personally, listening to your most recent album was a whole new experience for me. I feel like I got to know more about you not only as a band but as people. You definitely put yourselves out there in a different way than in the previous album yet without betraying your signature sound. How do you think you evolved as artists from Leave Me Alone to I Don’t Run?

Carlotta: I think an artist keeps growing all the time and your music taste evolves as well. If we released I Don’t Run today, I think it would sound different than it does now. It would probably get mixed differently.

Yasmina: I see what you mean! You keep proving to your audience that you really aren’t scared of experimenting and that it’s actually is the key to any sort of creative process…I was really curious to know where the name of the song ‘Ma Nuit’ came from?

Carlotta: Ana’s mom is French and she went to a French school. So she came up with the name and we agreed.

Yasmina: I see…moving on, what is your relationship with lo-fi? How did your passion for this genre start, especially as you mentioned quite often that you are great fans of The Strokes and Mac Demarco. Can you tell me a little more about this?

Ade: We didn’t have any other choice really [chuckles] …that’s the thing with D.I.Y. It’s not a sound you choose because you like it but it’s something that comes out of your soul because it’s the only way you have to do it.

Carlotta: Yeah, because we didn’t record in a studio. The only things we had were a laptop and a mic.

Ade: And it doesn’t only refer to the music but even to the posters, the merch… everything. And I really think that’s the beauty of our job…when an artist gets to take part in the process as a whole and not only in the performance bit. That’s what D.I.Y means to us in every single way.

Yasmina: That said, were you any good at playing instruments before you started this band? I’m asking you this question because often musicians tend to be rather judgemental of music that is not technically perfect.

Carlotta: Nope, we weren’t! But concerning what you said, I think it’s better to have good ideas instead of having good hands and that’s all I can say in our defence [chuckles again].

Yasmina: Do you ever get criticised for or receive [negative] comments because of that? If yes, how does it affect you?

Ade: Oh constantly yeah!

Carlotta: We get a lot of hate because of that!

Ade: Sometimes it affects us…you know, you might start thinking ‘Well, maybe they’re right…” but you just got to learn to ignore it and carry on. Touring and having people coming to our concerts and buying our music is a constant reminder of how much we care about this and that is something that they’ll hardly take away from us, you know?

Yasmina: Talking about jobs, how did the choice to pursue this career come about?

Carlotta: We didn’t really choose to do this as a job…it just started as some sort of adventure really, you know what I mean? We were all studying in uni at the time and, without us even thinking about dropping out, it just happened. We only wanted to make music, you know.

Yasmina: What kind of advice would you give to anyone wanting to pursue this career?

Carlotta: I would say…hmm…I would say that whenever you start doing something involved in the arts, whether it’s music, painting or whatever else, every single person who’s not doing it will tell you not to do it. They’ll say things like “Oh so you want to start a band? That’s fucking bullshit!” or whatever. But anyone who works in the arts, at least the ones we know, will tell you “Do it, it’s the best thing you’re gonna do!”. My advice is to believe in the second ones, especially because we wouldn’t do anything without art in this world [smiles].

Yasmina: Haha, true! Yet, there is another side of the arts that I don’t know if anyone ever asked you about. Your fanbase is growing, did that have an impact on your personal life? Do you still feel free to do whatever you want without being disturbed by strangers, especially in your hometown? Did your relationship with friends and family change at all or has it stayed the same?

Carlotta: None of our friends have changed at all! But it’s obviously more difficult to see them since we’re basically always touring. When walking in our hometown, Madrid, we got used to people whispering behind our backs. We figured out that there’s little we can do about it. Now we just accept it and move on…it’s become weirdly normal to us.

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If there’s something you can take away from this interview it’s that you don’t need to worry too much about what you’re doing – seeking perfection might not necessarily get you anywhere. Above all, though, follow your passions and dare to dream!