Fuji Rock: Onda Vaga interview

The undisputed heroes of this year's Fuji Rock Festival were Onda Vaga, an Argentinian quintet who played a total of eight times (nine, if you count their impromptu gig in the campsite) during the weekend. Time Out caught the group's Nacho Rodríguez – their designated point man for English-language interviews – just after a set at the tiny Naeba Shokudo stage, where they were joined by veteran folk singer Tokiko Kato.

What's your name?
I'm Nacho.

What do you play in Onda Vaga?
I play the cuatro. It's an instrument from Venezuela. It has four strings – it's like a small guitar.

How did you come to play at Fuji Rock?
We played at Primavera Sound [in Barcelona], and we met a guy named Jason, who arranges some bands… I dunno, my English is not very good. And then we have a promoter in Spain, and he came to Japan with another band, and he met Jason. So Jason remembered us, and he decided to bring us here, and then we contacted [local promoter] Sota and it all came together. It's fascinating for us.

Have you had such a busy schedule before? Do you normally play this many gigs?
Like this? It's unusual. We are playing, like, two or three times a day. It's very unusual.

It's kind of like a marathon.
Yep, a marathon.

Which show has been your favourite so far?
I dunno. Maybe this [on the Naeba Shokudo stage]. Each one, each show is getting better than the last. It's incredible, the people here – they have an energy that's so contagious. We are very happy, we are amazed.

Did you expect that before you came?
No. When we knew that we were coming here, we were like, 'What the fuck!' It's unbelievable for us. It's a long journey from home, the antipodes, Buenos Aires. It's very far.

How long does it take?
I dunno. But if you see it on the map, it's a long way.

What's been the craziest thing for you so far?
Being here. We've never been in a festival in a forest. That's very nice, it's very organic. All the people are very kind with us – all the time we're meeting nice people, respectful. We are very thankful, all the time: 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' It's great.

With the shows you're playing, do you do the same setlist each time?
No, never. We change it, because we don't get bored if we do it like this. Some songs we do in all the shows, because they're the songs that people like, and we changed, like, four or five every show.

What are the biggest inspirations for the songs?
I dunno, because we have five composers. For me, it's like thoughts or love or awareness. I dunno… life.

I don't know much about the music scene in Argentina, but are you considered a normal band or a strange one?
No, we are a strange band, because we have five singers, and that's not common, not at all. It's not usual to play cuatro in Argentina, and we are like a pop band but with acoustic instruments. When we started playing, we played without microphones, without electricity, in small places, and without a stage. We like to do that to break the rules. There was a time in Argentina when it was very hard to play, because there was a tragedy in a gig [the Cromañón fire on December 30, 2004], and many people died, so it was hard for musicians to play because the laws were very strict. It was a strange moment, so we decided to play like this, without microphones or without a stage, so we can play everywhere: in small places, in a party, in a house, in the street. When the laws were hard for music and it was hard to play, we decided to do it like this, so nobody can fuck us. [Laughs] It's getting better all the time.

What's the strangest place you've played a gig?
I think here. Because it's very very far from home, and everybody's so happy and… it's amazing, it's really amazing.

I ended up interpreting for one of your bandmates when he was hitting on a Japanese girl on Thursday night. Does that happen a lot?
With us? It's common, yeah. [Laughs]

Onda Vaga's 'Moshi Moshi: Best Album for Japan' is out now on Uncleowen