(Hagan click aquí para leer esta nota en español)

Well, here you can read a small interview I conducted with the cool guys from Mal Yo (remember them?). They are as funny as ever, and they have begun playing more shows around Montevideo Way to go, folks!

Band Information

Name: Mal Yo

Genre: Rock Pop

Band Members: Diego da Silva (guitar & vocals), Rodrigo Camejo (bass) and Sergio Alastra (drums & backing vocals)

Been Together Since: 21st of November, 2009 (first gig).

Main Claim To Fame So Far: We were number one in the ranking of Cadena de la Costa FM 102.1 (La Paloma)

Some Questions

Where did the name of the band come from?

It came from Sergio’s head – unable to think of anything better (like always) he thought up that name, as a way of asking advance pardon from the listener for what he is going to be put through.

How will you make to leave your mark in the history of Uruguayan music? Is that a concern, or will you just let time determine the role played by Mal Yo?

We play for fun. We love music and we don’t think about “leaving a mark”… if it happens, then that’s great. But come to think of it, we are not really ready for such a challenge.

What is the first thing that someone who is outside of Uruguay will think about when he listens to your songs?

We have seen that our page got a lot of visitors from abroad, but they didn’t stay for long. The probably thought the music was a pile of crap, or something like that!

In which sense being in Uruguay gives you an edge over musicians in other parts of the world? And how does it hinder you?

Well, residing here doesn’t really give you a lot of advantages, The market is small, it is hard to find pubs to play, and even to arrange your own gigs. Musicians here usually earn a living by doing other things that are unrelated, not being able to devote half as much time to it as we’d like… though that doesn’t apply to us and our ineptitude.

How are you building up your following? What role do social tools and services like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook play in your strategy? Would you say that kind of service has redefined how artists and fans connect, or do you believe that nothing beats a face-to-face with your audience?

We use all three, but Facebook is the main one for us. Lots of people have become acquainted with us like that, friends of friends and so on. We advertise our gigs, we upload pictures, videos and make comments. Our goal is to get through to people, and it is actually happening not only in Facebook, but also live. We have good chemistry with the audience. After each gig, we stay to meet people, take pics that we upload to our site… a close, nice group of friends is beginning to manifest itself. That is unbeatable. Well, that’s what we pay these guys for – to go and support us at gigs!

In your opinion, which artists in the history of music have not received the recognition that they deserved? Why did that happen?

This is one for Sergio, the oldest band member…
Sergio: Eduardo Mateo, without a doubt. He was the forerunner of the genre known as candombe beat, and no radio ever played him. He is only revered by musicians. And the reason why… I suppose his imageband philosophy weren’t “politically correct”.

What song by other band do you wish you had written?

The three of us will answer that!

Sergio: “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, it’s structure makes me think of a musical orgasm, it begins tenderly and it ends in an absolute climax.
Diego: “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, one of the greatest songs in the history of music, it’s got everthing (almost) – a ballad, opera, rock… a work of genius from uncle Freddie.
Rodrigo: YMCA by Village People, no doubt about it… what a smash!!