Interviews
Eddie Bouchard
El Horizonte

The bands debut album "Signatures At The
Crossroads" is set to be released on the 25th of
August.  I talked to guitarist Eddie Bouchard about
the history, present and future of the hard rockers
from the west.

Q. El Horizonte are a pretty new band and you guys moved down from Geraldton to Perth to make it happen.  Was it a big decision to move down and has it changed the band in any way?

It was a big decision at the time to move to Perth, as we were only quite young and we didn’t know what on earth we were going to do when we got there besides play music. So income was going to be a problem, but our belief in ourselves and our music kind of overshadowed that concern.  It hasn’t changed the band much but I guess it did make us more focused to make the music work for us and to try and make a living out of it.

Q.  You have entered quite a few competitions in the few years you've been in Perth.  Do you think it is important to enter competitions and is it an experience thing or a way of getting your music out to people?

When we first got to Perth we really didn’t know how to go about getting a gig as we didn’t know anyone and we didn’t have a demo, so the only way to get a gig was to do competitions. And shortly after that, other bands noticed us and gave us support slots. And the rest as they say ‘is history’.  So I don’t know if it is important to enter competitions but it sure helps if you can’t get a gig.

Q.  What is the songwriting process for the band?  As lead singer does Ben write all the songs or is it a collective product?  Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?

Of course Ben writes everything, all lead singers write the music, it’s common knowledge. Just look at Led Zepplin, the Who, Black Sabbath, Oasis and Kyuss for example….. No that is not true.  At the moment Ben and myself write the music, either Ben will come into the jam with a song, lyrics and melody or I’ll come to the jam with a song, some lyrics and a melody and then the band will "El Horizontify" it and finish it off.

Q.  I believe the debut album is just about ready to come out.  Do you have a release date, venue, name for the album?

Yeh, the album is called ‘Signatures at the Crossroads’  It is finally ready and will be in stores on the 25th of August with the help of Shock Records. We will be launching the album at the Amplifier Bar on the 22nd of August.

Q.  I'm guessing the name El Horizonte is spanish for horizon or something similar.  Is there a reason behind the name?

El Horizonte is Spanish for ‘the horizon’.  We were originally called ‘horizon’ but I found that there were quite a few cabaret bands in Australia called horizon as well so if we had of kept that name we probably would have been at risk of having legal issues in the future. As well as that ‘horizon’ was kind of obvious and we weren’t really down with that so we changed it to ‘El Horizonte’. 

A while back Ben and myself, were crayfishermen and lived on the Abrohlos Islands for 4 months on end.  During that time we always got the pleasure of looking out at an amazing horizon everyday. It was quite a profoud and powerful image and something we considered a good way to represent our band.  You cant get any bigger than the horizon…….it is deep,wide and brooding.

Q.  When playing live shows, is it important to make every show a spectacle or does it just happen naturally.  Do you feed off the crowds reaction or do you try to create a reaction?

We just want to give it all our energy when we do shows, whether there be 2 people or 2000 people.. it’s something we do because we are giving the audience our hearts and souls through the music and who we are on stage is who we are when we're off stage. We feel music is a powerful way to express yourself and we don’t take that lightly.  Making every show a spectacle is something we don’t think about or talk about, it’s just the way it is. 

We have had to work hard to get a crowd to react to us for so long, so now that is all we know. But hey, maybe we will find out one day though.

Q.  There is a lot of interest in Perth bands and Perth music at the moment, do you think there is a particular Perth sound and is it very different from bands from the Eastern States?
I don’t think that the music being made here is all that different from music being made over east.  Although I do think there is great diversity in musical styles here.  There isn’t really any so called ‘perth sound’.  Maybe back in the Jebediah days when the indie/pop thing was happening, but not now.  There is no perth sound….sorry.

Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment both from Perth and from elsewhere? 

In our lifetime we have been inspired by many great bands. Speaking for myself bands such as Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Faith No More, Deftones, Kyuss, The Who, At the Drive In, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Fugazi and The Beatles have been some to name a few. Good bands….ya know.  Bands that have spirit, passion and truth. At the moment I’m listening to Queens of the Stoneage and the Mars Volta. There latest offerings have been nothing short of amazing.

Q. What is your favourite live music venue in Perth?  Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?

Our favourite live music venue in Perth would have to be the Amplifier Bar, for the sound and lights. It’s consistently good.  Oh, and the girls that work there are oh so cute.

The only difference between the smaller venues and the larger venues such as outdoor concerts is that at outdoor concerts with the bigger stages makes it a little more exhausting for our band. The drum riser seems to be about 17 steps away as opposed to turn around and your there at smaller venues.  Although we have no preference, we are partial to all venues, big and small.

Interview by Justin

For more information visit El Horizonte's official site.