At last we have Noah Histeria back on stage, a place where you’re clearly in your element and having a great time. Were you eager for this? Very? The Tótum Revolútum crowd is buzzing about your return (you played the third edition, the wildest one in terms of band count — 18!).
Eager doesn’t even begin to cover it. It’s taken us 5 years to get back on stage — 5 years during which it’s felt like we never actually stopped, but the line-up change after Resurrection, the pandemic and its psychological fallout, kids coming along, an album that seemed like it would never get finished, having a tour already booked and having to pull out over serious health problems… It seemed like it just wasn’t going to happen, I’d already accepted we’d never play live again. But here we are, back again, and on Saturday we’ll be in Barcelona for the eighth time, by far the city we’ve played the most and that’s welcomed us best from day one. And on top of that, it’s Tótum at Calàbria, and the one 6 years ago was really special. Like I said, “eager” really doesn’t cover it.
2. Last week you were in Madrid, Saturday we’ve got you at Tótum Revolútum, and you’ve also got 3 more dates lined up in the Valencian Country (30 April in Gandia, 7 June in Xàtiva, and 22 June in Valencia). It looks like everything’s returning to what a normal band schedule should be. How did it feel coming back?
We knew coming back would be a long-distance race — we have to win back the people who lost track of us, and try to find people who, over the last 5 years, for whatever reason, have connected with this kind of music some call progressive, even if it’s a catch-all drawer where anything with the freedom to develop ideas without anyone timing you fits in. There are young people just starting to poke their heads into this world, and we want to be the entry point into the genre — why not?
And yes, it’ll be a new normal, like people used to say during the pandemic — the intensity can’t be quite the same, since at the very least I’m getting older, but we’re here to enjoy it, the way we enjoyed the two shows we played in Madrid. Really good vibes — we’re debuting a new rack system, everything through in-ears, no monitors, and being able to have an individually customised mix is pure bliss. We’re doing this mini run of shows (more will follow), trying to stay strong live, and in time giving ourselves the chance to make new music again — we’ve got the path sketched out and a lot of curiosity to see whether we’re at that sweet spot where, every once in a while, magic can happen.
3. You’re presenting Ojepse, your new album released in 2022. I get the sense it was a difficult production (written in 2020–2021, recorded in 2022, and given a second mix in 2023). What can you tell us about this slow-moving chapter? And why a second mix?
The pandemic, like it did to so many bands, nearly killed us. Only three of us were left standing: two guitarists and yours truly on vocals, and there was no way to put together a live band. We decided we’d try to make the album on our own, recorded from home, and we’d see if we could finish it. We had three songs with a fairly solid structure built up during rehearsals, and the other three were made staring at each other’s faces over a laptop screen. We hope we never have to repeat that experience — music shouldn’t be made that way, at least for us it was a really tortuous process. We handed over a monster of a multitrack session to Raúl Nácher, who’d already mixed Hautefaye, our previous album. He worked his magic again, or at least that’s my opinion.
I don’t do it much, but every so often I put it on in the car to check whether the record smells stale or still has a certain freshness to it. I still think it sounds great, but I worked on lightening it up, trimming a few sections, adding some elements probably imperceptible to anyone but me, and dropping a song we were never really sure about including in the first place, though we wanted to take the risk at the time. I think this new version, the Doc’s Cut (those in the know call it the Redux Version), flows better, is more musical, but loses some boldness and asks less of the listener. Everyone can pick whichever one they prefer.
3b. Ojepse, OJEPSE, or how do you write the letters backwards???? This is driving me mad…
We refer to it as OJEPSE these days, but we wanted it to look like a mirror reflection: OႱƎꟼꙄƎ. That’s art for you — sometimes we set our sights so high we forget people actually need to be able to type the title of your album. Next time it’ll be easier.
4. The whole concept of the album invites a live show that performs it in full, and I think it fits the definition of a concept album really well, but it also has some connections back to your earlier work — some call that style, or a signature. Will there be any nods to previous albums, or are you going 100% all-in on the new record?
A large part of the people who’ll be at Calàbria (hopefully a lot of them) know us through Hautefaye, which has been our most successful record, partly because we were able to tour a lot, and we were at a point where all five of us had our heads focused on the music and on growing Noah together. We won’t disappoint the people who come to hear songs from that album, but I think during the show they’ll understand the connections that go beyond the lyrics between Hautefaye and OJEPSE, and maybe the EP too, because for us they form a kind of self-referential trilogy — I’m not sure it’s actually closed yet, but that was at least the idea. OJEPSE was supposed to be a kind of Hautefaye II, the story of a defeat and its 43-day cycle. In the end it didn’t turn out that way, because the people making it weren’t the same ones. But it’s more of a continuation than it might seem, and in some way we think that’ll come through live, along with its connection to Blade Runner. I think it’ll be worth it.
5. We’re also celebrating the 10th anniversary of your self-titled debut EP — you’re not exactly quick when it comes to putting out records… the previous one, Hautefaye, was from 2017. Are you real perfectionists, or does everyday life simply mean you can’t see each other as much as you’d like to write and rehearse songs?
There was a period, while writing Hautefaye, when everyone was fully committed, but the most we could manage was rehearsing two, and occasionally three, days a week. But in Noah’s early days we could barely manage one rehearsal a week, and that’s with all of us being from Xàtiva. These days, more of the same. With only 4 or 5 hours together a week, it’s impossible to turn things out quickly that we’re actually happy with, and on top of that, by consensus. It looks like we’re slow, but I think we’re actually fairly nimble. Maybe we do mull things over a lot, but the thing is, the songs are what remain forever (or at least until the magnetic tapes give out and everything ends up lost, like tears in rain), on top of how much time and money they cost to record, so morally you can’t allow yourself to put out something that doesn’t move you, at least during the first few months of a song’s life. Time puts things in their place after that, for better or worse, but that’s just how it is.
6. It’s not the fastest runner who goes furthest, but the one who never stops walking — with new travelling companions (you’ve got a new lineup full of talent). Are they all from Xàtiva?
I’m the only one left from Xàtiva, and I don’t even live there any more! It made me laugh the other day, opening Instagram (luckily I don’t have to check it much these days, good old Xavi takes care of it) and finding the description: “Progressive rock from Xàtiva”. The new members are a real blessing. You’ll see for yourselves, but they play frighteningly well — I don’t know how I managed to trick musicians this good into joining me. On top of that, they’ve got soul and sensitivity, and they put it into every arrangement. We’ve actually gone back and reworked practically every song into a two-guitar format, and I’m in love with the harmonic changes we’ve brought in. These are people who already understand what Noah is about — in fact, it barely took them any time at all to get it, and now they genuinely enjoy it. They’re hyper-motivated, and all I can do is tell them not to be quite so much, since the stars that shine brightest are the first to burn out. But like I said, it’s a gift I wasn’t expecting — it took its time, but it finally fell from the sky for me. Hopefully it lasts, but whatever happens, no one can take this away from us: we’re back.
7. Saturday you’re sharing the bill with Aberhosan Mystery, whose members you’ve already crossed paths with in Barcelona, at the legendary Nota 79 show. A night we remember well, since it also coincided with another Tótum Revolútum, and a lot of people did a double venue-hop that day. How’s the day shaping up? NOTE: on the production side, you’ve clicked really well right from minute zero.
I’m really keen to see what Àlex Miralles pulls off — he’s a spectacular guitarist and he’s teamed up with real talent. I’m still blown away by the level of the bands I’ve had the luck to play with, I feel like a bit of an impostor standing next to genuinely professional musicians. We learned our craft by just playing a lot, but when you play with pros, all you can really do is stand there wide-eyed and soak up as much of their art as you can. I think that’s one thing we’ve actually been good at — being a sponge for the influences that have passed close by us.
In fact, we first crossed paths with Àlex and his brother, who play in Poire, back in 2017, at that same Nota 79 show, where Javi (our keyboardist) couldn’t make it. I remember Hautefaye had only just come out, a matter of days earlier, and 1 October was also fast approaching. And nothing has ever been quite as moving as that “Pueblo levántate” moment from “Coloso” — no one has ever sung it back to us that loud. I held the mic out to the crowd and… magic. Not many bands playing prog get sung back to like that, right? Gives me goosebumps just remembering it. Hopefully Saturday will be something similar, because I’ll say it now, Coloso is coming — and it’s coming as a surprise.
8. If you’d like to add anything else, or anything important, to encourage people to come along on Saturday…
I’ll just add that I hope people come along, but if someone misses it because of work or whatever the reason, know that the plan is to come back soon — Moonloop and Face the Maybe are around too, and we’ve been trying to put together a show with them for almost 6 years now, and it has to happen, no matter what. Thanks to Tótum and, especially, to you, Xavi, and also to Jordi Amela for backing us since day one.
Photos: Alberto Rubio Mediavilla