Analog on their debut LP Portable People

Analog is a Miami based 4 piece rock band who refuses to be tied down to any one type of rock sub-genre. Formed in 2012, the band draws heavily from different styles, borrowing sounds from all iterations of rock, garnished with a hint of blues, indie, and neo-psychedelia. Analog is back in the spotlight with their debut LP Portable People. Out now the album is the band’s first full-scale release since their debut EP Extended Pleasure. The LP was recorded at Romanelli Recordings in Hollywood, with Nick Romanelli as recording engineer for the project. It was mixed by Ferny Coipel at The Shack in Hialeah, and the album mastered by Zach Ziskin. We got to chat with the band about this exciting new release.

How did Analog start, how did you guys find each other?

Esteban: We had a lot of friends in common and the first incarnation of analog had a bunch of drummers and other guitarists passing by and we just found ourselves jammin’ at Albae’s living room.

Albae: Analog began years later after we met. We were friends first. Manu and I met through a friend when I was working at a restaurant. Long story short: I met Tekilla and Esteban Gomez through craigslist. It turns out the Gomez brothers were old friends with Manu. I wanted to start a band with them from day one, but at first, they weren’t interested. We would get together and jam in my living room with acoustic guitars and whatever we could find to serve as a percussion instrument. It wasn’t serious. Manu and I started playing under the name “Analog” in 2014. Esteban eventually started joining us on certain live shows. Then, after our 4th or 5th drummer left, Tekilla finally joined, and thankfully Esteban kept showing up. I’m not a great guitar player.

Portable People is your first full-length release since your debut EP Extended Pleasure in 2014, what took you so long!

Esteban: A hurricane. Sickness. Recording in Hollywood. Mixing in Hialeah. Life gets in the way sometimes.

Albae: Life. We couldn’t keep a drummer to save our lives. Every time you change members in the band’s line up, you pretty much start from scratch. But that doesn’t matter now, because it is finally here. Good things come to those who wait.

Tell us a bit about the sonic shift we can hear between these releases. What were your main inspirations for Portable People, musical and otherwise?

Albae: Well some of the songs in Portable People started in my bedroom from when I was a teenager. Some are reworked versions of our first EP “Extended Pleasure”. But in the end, we as humans just grow and are always changing, tastes changes, your outlook at life changes, it’s an ever moving dance, and we are here just to witness. As far as influences go, we all have different tastes in music. I love the fact that when we start working on a song, nobody really knows how its gonna turn out, we just know when we get there.

Esteban: We all like different bands but have some common ground which lives in the 90’s rocknroll, we just poured it in while writing and recording, I didn’t know where all of this was going but after hearing ourselves in the studio I pretty much formed a concrete idea inside of my head.

What does your songwriting process look like?

Albae: It depends, every song has its own story, and have different ways of coming to life. Sometimes I’ll bring a song to the group, that serves as a blueprint. Sometimes Manu and I work on the blueprint, sometimes it’s born in our rehearsal space. Once we have that, then we take it apart and put it back together as a group. Music comes first and melody is king, lyrics are the last thing I write.

Esteban: I cook my stuff in my bedroom and test it at band practice. If I have a random idea I just pull my phone out and record it right there, take it home and start development.

“Tame” the second single you dropped off Portable People, which also has an incredible video to go with it, tells the story of an affair gone wrong, was this inspired by real-life events?

Esteban: “Tame’s” video story comes from the great mind of Andres Monsalve, we just had one request: we didn’t want the band playing on it.

Albae: Maybe… We could make the argument that all the inspiration of the music we write comes from real life events. Or maybe we are just talking shit and have a very vivid imagination? Who cares? What is important is what it means to YOU. If you connect with it you can give it your own meaning, and that is already something great.

Do you have any plans to make more music videos soon?

Albae: Soon? How Soon is now? There are plans to make another video, but we cannot promise as to when that will be.

Esteban: More videos would be great but it is not something that worries my mind, I’m always wondering what new stuff we will write musically.

Albae (lead vox) you design the artwork for Analog, how important are these other creative aspects to you, and to the project as a whole?

Albae: They are very important. Our first channel of absorbing information is usually the visual one. In the end, its all system, you need both to create relevant artwork. Art that will hopefully make you feel something. You need light to cast a shadow. I see it more as one, it’s wholeness. When it comes to the visuals I’m heavily influenced in artists such as Tool and Radiohead. In the way that they put as much effort into the visual aspect of their music. that it has inspired me to go the extra mile and do the same for analog. After all, it’s the cover that will first drag you to our sound.

You guys have played extensively throughout South Florida, what makes a great show to you?

Esteban: A good exchange of energy makes anything great. I will always cherish the shows where people let themselves go and be taken over by m

Albae: The communion there is between the musicians, the music and the listener. When people say they don’t believe in magic, I tell them they should go to a concert of whatever music they like.

Do you have any plans for touring?

Albae: Yes

Esteban: Yes! We have a couple of surprises coming up and hopefully, conversations for a tour will soon start after all that.

What’s next for Analog?

Albae: More music

Miami’s Analog is back in the spotlight with their debut LP Portable People out now!