Happy Nuggets-in-Four Day,
Today’s edition of the Loops Podcast features a conversation with Chris Bowers-Castillo of Kiltro, a Denver rock band whose sophomore album Underbelly comes out tomorrow (June 2). Chris was hard at work over the last few years, writing songs during the early days of the pandemic and bringing them to life with bandmates in long studio sessions.
Chris and I first met at the Underground Music Showcase in 2021, bonding over our trips to Chile to see family and visit places like Valparaíso and San Pedro de Atacama. Now, two years later, we were able to hop on a Zoom and talk about how those influences found themselves in Underbelly.
References to Chile are everywhere in Kiltro’s music, from the band’s name (a quiltro is a stray mutt) to several of Underbelly’s track titles. Chris says the songs represent the personal and collective anxiety felt during lockdown. The best ones, such as “Guanaco” — a reference to the water-shooting police trucks that suppressed student protests in Chile in 2019 — slowly build tension and release it in ecstatic, cacophonous breakdowns:
Speaking with Chris, I could tell how much care and attention was given to Underbelly, a record that brings to mind his own musical inspirations, such as Radiohead and Moses Sumney:
I'm looking for the thing that's going to make me feel emotional about it, because I think when you capture that kind of vulnerability then people just naturally feel that way too, right? Because they feel somebody searching for the right chord or searching for the right melody and there's [an] authenticity to that. Rather than contriving a specific thing that people are supposed to get from it, or that they're going to hear it in this way and then they're going to think this thing. I like when those things kind of happen, like by accident or when you think, like, "Oh, that's great, I love that.”
Check out conversation in the audio. If you listen to Kiltro and Underbelly, let me and others know what you think! Or you can share any other good music stuff that’s happened to you in the last few days.
Lastly: It takes a lot of time and energy to put together these podcasts. If you feel that is worthy of your dollars, upgrade to an annual or monthly subscription.
Thank you!
Miguel
Podcast No. 3: Kiltro