Shadows that continue dancing.
More than a decade after beginning his journey, Lebanon Hanover continues to build one of the most recognizable universes within coldwave and contemporary post punk. Between hypnotic synthesizers, melancholic lyrics and an aesthetic that has never sought to follow trends, the duo made up of Larissa Iceglass and William Maybelline He has turned his music into an emotional refuge for different generations around the world.
Prior to its presentation this May 9 at the West Pavilion of the Sports Palacewe chat with the band about inspiration, social media, live shows, and the way their music continues to grow without losing authenticity.
Indie Rocks!: Broadly speaking, where does inspiration come from? Is life itself the inspiration or do you take a specific topic to start working on?
Lebanon Hanover: Before, we were just very obsessed with music. I think music is where I get the most inspiration from. I've been obsessed with her since I was a child. All I want to do is create something too. All kinds of music.
GO!: Speaking of that way of working, I don't know what exactly the process is, whether the lyrics or the instrumental part come first, but when you choose the theme or the lyrics of a song, how do you find the right vibe? They have a huge collection of synthesizers, sounds and drum machines.
LH: I think the point is that the music is already being created within the vibe that we naturally feel. And since we're both connected to the same kind of sound, that finds its way along with the lyrics. Everything happens at the same time, as one thing. Lyrics are never something overly studied. We don't sit down to analyze them so much. Everything comes out intuitively. There is a track and suddenly everything flows very quickly. It's like a catharsis.
It can also happen that the lyrics are already written and then we make the music on top of them.
GO!: Right now we are experiencing a huge change in the way we consume music: TikTok, Instagram and all that. Even songs like “Kiss Me Until My Lips Fall Off” found a second life thanks to the Internet. How do you adapt to such a fast and ephemeral form of communication?
LH: I don't even use TikTok. I don't know what's going on there. We are not connected at all to that world of the Internet or social networks. The band's music does not exist within that universe. They are private situations and we make music exactly how we feel it. It is completely disconnected.
Sure, it happens and it's okay. I guess it's a good promotion and it reaches especially young people. But we have never put any effort into that. We will always be like this. Are old school.
GO!: And that's incredible. Because now it seems like everything has to become two-minute singles for social media, but you guys still take your time to make music.
LH: I think that will be the end of music when you start thinking only about creating content for the internet. We don't believe in that. Stay away from that. We never made music thinking about a specific market. We just did what we wanted to do. Even if it was completely out of fashion, we still did it.
GO!: What is the secret to continuing making music and not falling into monotony?
LH: Keep an open mind. For example, now there are many bands doing revival goth. For me that is already dead. Completely finished. Don't follow trends, that's very boring. You just have to follow exactly what you feel.
GO!: In Latin America there is a very special connection with melancholy and darkwave. After so many years coming to Mexico and living with Mexican fans, do you feel that that energy ends up influencing your music in some way?
LH: We are like that naturally. But we are also not musicians who sit around and think about how to make music specifically for fans. Everything always starts from within. So it's hard to do something thinking that way. Maybe Mexicans don't like what we do, we don't know. We just make music and then, luckily, it seems to connect with them. And that is very nice for us. But it's always a surprise. We never know how people will react.
GO!: Their music is often associated with melancholy and darkness, but they have also built a very strong community around Lebanon Hanover. How do you understand this duality?
LH: It doesn't feel like a duality. Again, it just comes out of us naturally. And if people can understand it and join us in that, it's a beautiful thing. It's something very personal. I really don't understand how it works. Music has its own language in some way. People just respond to something we create and that feels perfect. Beautiful.
GO!: What is the biggest difference between Lebanon Hanover in the studio and Lebanon Hanover live?
LH: It's very different. Live everything is much more improvised. We want to give energy to the show. Each time we feel the songs in a different way and sometimes we even play them differently. We do what we feel at that moment.
GO!: It is very difficult to capture all the emotion you are looking for in a single shot inside the studio. That's why I much prefer live shows. Of course, the studio version is important because you can listen to it while traveling or on the subway, but live we want to deliver another experience.
LH: Now we even add more equipment to generate more spontaneous sounds. We don't want to just play the album on stage. We want the songs to evolve live.
GO!: How do they choose the setlist? Because they have many songs and different stages within their discography. How do you build the show?
LH: We try to make it dynamic. We start with something at medium speed, then we go down a bit to slower moments or ballads and then we go back up to more danceable songs.
We also try to include songs that we know people love a lot. We want to offer a little of everything. There are variations between albums and that is intentional. As you said before, it's about giving more life to the songs. Really develop them live and not just replicate them exactly the same in the studio.
GO!: For someone who will discover Lebanon Hanover for the first time, what would be the best song to enter your discography?
LH: wow… just one song is complicated. There is a lot of variation in our music. We have songs with 12-string guitars, others that are very danceable, others minimal wave… maybe something from the third album. Something that is like in the middle of all that. But it is still difficult to answer. It depends a lot on mood of each person.
GO!: And finally: describe Lebanon Hanover in three words.
LH: Sad. Dark. Melancholic. Optimistic? No, I wouldn't say that (laughs).
