Published by Davide Pappalardo on January 12, 2020
Credits: Andres Torres Galeano
Following our interview with Theory Of Yesterday, we decided to focus on one of the protagonists of its roster: Bad Faith Actor aka Andres Felipe Bonilla. Here he talks about his music and the current South America scene, as well as the political scenario and what inspires him.
Welcome on Flux Andres! Bad Faith Actor is a new name in the growing South America techno-industrial/experimental panorama. Would you like to talk with us about your project? How was it born?
Well the project initially came about as an outlet for a lot of ideas and mainly energy I felt needed to be released. I’ve been working on electronic music for quite a while now and I’m always looking for freedom beyond any kind of restrains, just doing music outside the box.
In general, my productions and musical work tend to be very adherent to my personal reactions to life and they come about as a reaction to a lot of what happens on the daily.
Bad Faith Actor is merely one of those voices in my head that found a way to materialize in sound. It kind of happens as I go, and it lives as one of the many organisms in this world, coexisting with the very nature of life and death.
The Value Of X is your debute cassette on Theory Of Yesteday. It’s a release informed by well built soundscapes as well as hypnotizing and often crawling rhythmic patterns. But it has a harsher side too made of robust industrial elements. I would like to know from you about the conception of this work
The concept behind the album was constructed alongside the music, which in both cases talks about the deep-rooted truth which lies beneath ambiguity. This is something that interested me very much given the similarities between the organic process of making music and how it holds a dialogue which most of us don’t read yet we come to comprehend through sound. In the same way, society works under this principle in which by symbols, actions and information, we are given a broader perspective on how it works, breathes and lives as an entity on its own. To read between the lines or even to recognize what is not written takes you a step closer to the truth.
What does inspire you? What’s the soul inside the armored body of your music?
Everything in life shapes up the character of my music. It is very visceral and personal to me and I feel the type of sound that comes out is a reaction to what is experienced. So many songs have their own story as well as their personality and emotions, completing them is like breathing life into them. After finished, they live and react with the world on their own. I try to best describe so much I see in life through a palette of different textures and sounds, merely to enhance what is already there, floating in ether.
South America has acts like you, Alpha & Necromante/Magnus Opus, and many more. Even in the past it had important names linked to other industrial scenes like Aghast View, Cenobita, Hocico. It seems now the scene is ready to rise again with the peculiar style of that place made of dark vivbes and unrelenting aggression. What can you tell us about it?
I feel all that is happening with the scene here as well as the new wave that’s coming about in the world holds dear to the current affairs which permeates into our lives. I feel this type of crude expression comes from all the violent oppression people live through. The chaos and violence comes from the disappointment, anger and fear we experience, the uncertainty of a better tomorrow. All of these strong emotions need an outlet and I feel that a lot of great artist are appropriating of all of this to produce amazing music to heal, to inform, or to give hope. Music will always be therapeutic.
Any acts you would like to recommend to our readers? What about the music that has influenced you?
Well there is definitely a lot of amazing music out there, from old to new so I would suggest digging deep. So much to learn from music and the stories they hold. I’ve been very influenced by a lot of artist who are contemporary to me, people whom I meet online out of common interest and its always refreshing to hear what they have in mind. I’m just very fortunate to have the opportunity to listen to all of those who share this passion with me. There is plenty of amazing music happening right now from the likes of electronic dance to the more obscure and experimental so if you are around, do not miss the opportunity to go to a local gig or give a listen to an emerging act because it might surprise you.
Credits: Andres Torres Galeano
Music experience: how do you live it? Is it an extention of your work in studio, or something different?
Whenever I sit down to make music, I just let it happen, I’m not particularly fond of thinking of all the details, I just start playing with an instrument keeping close eye to the emotions I might want to portray and how to push this instrument to recreate them through their sound. I feel there is something very surreal about losing the grip and just experiencing sound as it evolves.
Thank you for your time with us. Anything you would like to add for our readers?
Thank you for inviting me over and I’m glad to have the chance to share my thoughts with your readers. I hope this inspires people to feel with passion and create despite the odds.