The Pixies: "Kim Deal was an icon, the image of the group, but it's time to turn the page"

Kurt Cobain once said that Nirvana hadn't invented anything;

that they had simply imitated the Pixies.

“I think they were just influenced by us, like we were by previous bands.

Kurt didn't give himself the credit he deserved.

Or surely yes, but that is the phrase that people remember the most, and it is the quote that we like the most.

Thank you Kurt.

Thank you very, very much, ”jokes by video call Joey Santiago (56 years old), the band's original guitarist, while preparing coffee at his home in California, United States.

In 1999, an entire generation of young people and teenagers met The Pixies: on the screen, Edward Norton shook hands with Helena Bonham Carter while they watched the world explode through the window and

,

that mythical final scene

(David Fincher).

But by that time the group had already been six years without playing.

Born in 1986, those from Boston knew how to anticipate the wave of grunge that swept the music scene at the beginning of the 90s. By 1993 they had already separated with five albums behind them, two of them,

(1988)

and

(1999), considered cult albums: two of the most influential and relevant works of American

rock .

Almost 30 years later, they arrive in Mexico City to put the finishing touch to Vive Latino 2022.

When they broke up, they were just another weird rock group that had toured opening for more popular bands—like U2—and recorded a handful of good songs: enough to live on

—at a time when the public still bought records—but not so well known as to have made the leap into the

.

In 2004 they got back together.

Time, Fincher's film and the undeniable influence they had had on groups that were commercial successes in the 90s, had made them a mass phenomenon that played before thousands of people and toured the world.

How is this change processed?

—2004 was a very exciting year, I admit it.

But the most exciting time for the Pixies was when we were just starting out: the four of us driving through the snow in a van, trying to get to concerts, sharing hotel rooms and trying to convince people that they needed to listen to us.

They were good times.

It was worth it, no doubt.

The Pixies in concert at the 2017 Lost Lake festival in Phoenix, Arizona (United States).FilmMagic (FilmMagic)

This Sunday is his first time outside the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The previous week, they have done three "warm-up" concerts to arrive ready for the big date.

Two weeks ago they released a new song, and Santiago assures that during these months they have recorded a new album that will be released this year.

“I keep playing because it's the only thing I enjoy.

I have to do something for a living and I can't imagine doing anything else.

During the break I played with other people, but it's not the same.

I'm even hesitant when they offer me to play with other groups because I don't want to share the Pixies sound, I'm stingy about it.”

Although they have been a key influence for dozens of groups —from Nirvana to The Strokes, passing through Pearl Jam, Mudhoney or Smashing Pumpkins—, their sound has always been unique.

They found their place in the contrast: soft and melodic verses and suddenly choruses that broke loaded with distortion and screams —a formula followed by those of Cobain in many of his hits, such as

;

the simple but hypnotic basses of Kim Deal in front of the dissonant and repetitive guitars of Santiago, inspired by groups like Black Flag and bands of the 60s;

the characteristic voice of Charles Michael Kittridge,

, which went from tremendously catchy pop melodies to vocal tears that seemed the work of a maniac;

surreal lyrics;

a battery that didn't skip a beat and, as the icing on the cake, Deal's unmistakable style, with a sweet voice like those that are said to tame the beasts.

“Before Kim Deal / After Kim Deal”

Despite its success —or perhaps because of it— controversy has always accompanied the group.

Rumors about the battle of egos between the main songwriter,

and Kim Deal, also a songwriter—and one of the biggest icons of the

, the paradigm next to Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth

of the

— have filled the pages of music magazines.

It was one of the reasons for the first separation.

And in 2013, almost 10 years after the band's return, Deal left the group, which caused an impasse that would mark the group forever.

"People are always going to see it as 'before Kim/after Kim.'

We're not the only group to change members, but it's clear that Kim was an icon, the face of the Pixies.

We understand, but it's time to turn the page.

And Charles, was he before him a difficult guy?

Possibly, it was all new to him, but now he is funny and joking.

He has moody moments and he doesn't hide them, but he's not the only grumpy guy in rock.

'Black Francis' and Kim Deal, from The Pixies, during a concert of the tour that brought them together in 2004 in Davis, California (United States). Tim Mosenfelder (Getty Images)

Kim Shattuck, frontwoman of The Muffs, took on the role of Deal for a few months, but it was short-lived.

Then came Paz Lenchantin, a veteran Argentinian bassist on the scene, who continues to this day.

“She is a great musician, she sings like angels, she brings a lot to the band and she also has a lot of respect for Kim, for the path that she paved.

She is not a version two of Kim Deal.

And by God, the pressure that she has suffered ... She feels it, and I feel that she has to bear that burden, ”confesses Santiago.

EL PAÍS also requested to interview Lenchantin,

and David Lovering —drums— but the three declined the proposal through a group press officer, who argued that Santiago is the one in charge of most of the interviews.

—This is the formation that I like the most, since Paz [Lenchantin] joined the group we have been more productive, we are in a very creative state of mind, that is why we want to continue recording.

We realize that people probably don't want to hear the new stuff, but the motivation is to be one of those bands that you say 'they're still making good music'.

We've never made the same record twice, but we stick to our style.

What is your favorite Pixies album?

—I like to say

, because it's the most ignored, but I understand why people prefer

or

.

Those are the albums that have kept us on the road.

With new music it's almost as if we have to convince the public again.

The Pixies have always been a particular band.

They do not respond to the typical model of those years, where you would get together with your friends in the garage at home, write songs with old and out of tune instruments and end up becoming a group by force of stubbornness.

They barely knew each other when they started playing.

Santiago and

ran into each other for a while in college, but they weren't close.

“We had a contract for the first album and we were in Europe touring in just a year, we didn't have time to really get to know each other.

Start a band with friends?

Sounds interesting… I guess I wouldn't like it,” he says with a laugh.

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