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Hola!!
I’m Karina, and this is my first time writing for the coolgrrrls site. I’ll be reporting from my home country Argentina, South America.

Because I know from experience most people overseas think Argentina is a city in Spain or something you take when you’re hungover, let me first set a few misconceptions straight for everyone. Argentina is not an Italian car’s name but a country, proudly hosting corrupt public administration, dulce de leche, dramatic currency devaluation, steak-based meals eight days-a-week, ritualistic Sunday Family BBQs, self-deprecating humour, questionable taste in booze, mad football fans, rock fans who behave like mad football fans, rude swearing on daytime TV, senators and presidents formerly Formula 1 racers and cheesy FM balladeers and stand-up comedians and soap opera actors, and woaah!!!! Stop ……because we also have the coolest music scene in Latin America, right here in Argentina. Yeah. Now, I know, you must be thinking, whatta hell cool are you talking about? Ricky, Shakira, Enrique, Christina?!?! Well if you think those bombom-shaking, bandana-wearing, salsa-spilling beasts of overexposure are our own diabolic creation, then you need to blame some other country, we got nothing to do with those! (hate mail anyone …?) Instead, from now on, I’ll be setting the record straight, and giving you the scoop on all the greatest rock ‘n’ roll acts, the local live scene and its most trendy & crazy clubs, all spiced up with more fun true facts about living in hell and lovin’ it, in South America’s most underrated & beautiful country Argentina.

I’ve been asked to introduce myself, so here it goes. I was born in the city of Córdoba, Argentina, where I currently live. I’m the lead singer & guitarist in a band called HYPERSTATIC, and my daytime job is being a graphic designer. I used to be a drummer, for over 10 years I played with quite a few local bands in Argentina till ’96. Then I moved out and landed in Hong Kong, and aside from working as a designer for a few mags and stuff, it’s where I switched to the singing spot in a band called Flux, formed by 2 English guys, a Canadian and a Chinese drummer. We recorded a self-financed album, did the obligatory low-budget video clip (lotsa fun!), played all around the HK pub circuit & theaters & festivals, and even made a Singapore live appearance. At some point during ’99 we all got tired of the poor Asian rock scene, and following someone’s advice, we decided to take the band camp somewhere warmer. That someone is Julien from the Aussie band Moler, I’m sure you all know his name as being Helcat’s longtime bandmate. So early 2000, three of us settled in Melbourne, Australia, under our new name HYPERSTATIC, where we gigged our asses-off with an Aussie drummer, and recorded the single “Supernothing” with local producer Lindsay Gravina (Moler, Nick Cave & the Birthday Party, The Living End) We had some radio action, a few good reviews, but unfortunately our visas expired, and had to pack it til further notice. So here I am, back in good ol’ Cordoba, Arg, playing with an all-star team of Argentinean rockers, as HYPERSTATIC. Of course you’ll be reading a lot about us right here, but you can always check out our website http://www.hyperstatic.ru.com.ar for more details. I should say that we also appear on the Australian Sixpack Records sampler “Longneck” alongside other Aussie bands, which the aforementioned Julien is currently plugging in college radios etc in major US cities. Look out for us with the track “Supernothing” out of our Oz single.

OK, let’s start somewhere. On Friday 21 June, in Cordoba, we played a gig along with local stoner rock band La Cosa. These guys haven’t been around as such for long, but at least half of them come from other well-known bands in the local scene, and they’re worth checking out. Their singer Germán (check out our self-portrait) is an ex bandmate of mine, way way back in ’92 -suddenly I feel old!. We used to gig the pubs with a bunch of misfits, the band sounded like a mix of old-REM-meets-Paul Westerberg for a hungover breakfast while listening to Motorhead…oh well. Cue 2002, and La Cosa features mainly LOUDNESS, a guitarist named Diego with a tendency to dissappear off stage while playing brutal Hendrix-influenced solos, a nerdy 18-year-old drummer, and a sound so visceral and raw that cannot be captured in a studio. Hence the band’s choice of not setting foot on one, all their recordings are purely live ones. During their gig, their singer’s performance usually includes some wild stage antics. That night, half-way thru’ their set, he decided to try some monkey-like swinging from part of the club’s decor overlooking the stage, but he only lasted a few seconds hanging there, falling on the floor over shattered glass from a beer bottle, broken a minute ago by himself, doh! You’d think that would stop him, but he got right up and proceeded to keep on singing, all for the punter’s amusement… I’m happy to report he’s doing fine. Just don’t try it at home.

HYPERSTATIC had played before them. Since I got back here, because the original ones are currently spread across the globe, the new members of the band are Ariel (guitar), who also fronts his own band Enhola, bassist/singer Charlie, formerly of a number of cool indie local bands, and (drummer) Alberto, who reportedly eats ridiculously complex drum patterns in a bowl for breakfast. We had an ace, fun gig ourselves too, and got to showcase a few new songs we recorded in March for our upcoming EP “Spin the Sun”. We also discovered good ol’ tacky rock’n’roll is great anytime, ‘coz our brand new cover version of Kiss’ “Sure know something” goes down darn well live, people are nodding along that old 70’s stomper as soon we kick in! Gotta get me those silver boots then…
OK grrrls that’s it for now, I’m hoping to have more cool stuff to write about pretty soon. Before I go, I suggest you click on www.proyectounder.com to start digging up cool stuff in the Arg. scene. This website is the biggest source for Latin indie bands online, you can download mp3 tracks for free, it also features biogs, contact deets, and links to each band’s official website, all the info updated by the bands themselves. It’s neatly organised by styles and influences, so you kinda know what’s your cup of tea before visiting any of the bands’ pages. (HYPERSTATIC is there too!) And don’t get put off by the fact it’s in Spanish, remember it’s usually a matter of replacing O’s by E’s (as in “alternativo” means “alternative”) and so on….email me @ hyperstatics@yahoo.com for translations if you’re in trouble!

Catch ya later!

xxxxx Kari