Ezekiel RodofiliMigret are a duo exploring sound and how it works for them, with the result being some rather affective music.
I had the good fortune of speaking with Fran about Migret‘s music, and the upcoming Art As Catharsis fifteen-year anniversary show in Sydney.
Photo by Nicole Seoane.
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Ez: For those who don’t know, how would you describe Migret’s music?
Betsy: Like indie post-rock.
We started in a more indie style, then we started to experiment with some electronic stuff, but post-rock is always in our hearts. We started incorporating drums, and doing a little more post-rock style, but I don’t know. I can’t really say it’s post-rock because I know it’s not. It’s like a mix of different textures, ambience, a blend of styles.
Ez: My understanding this project is relatively new. It’s only been around for a few years?
Betsy: We started in 2019, but we started with indie music. We did some singing in Spanish. We went to Argentina, we did a tour. Then when we were back here we tried to do different music. A little bit like electronic stuff. For two years we hadn’t done much. Then Fran started to play drums and I started to play guitar. We did a new song last year with post-rock textures.
Ez: That new song is “Fond of You“?
Betsy: That was something that I wanted to do. That was, let’s say, the last song from the older style. I wasn’t thinking much of the style we were doing, and after that we started to play new music.
Ez: Is Migret your first project?
Betsy: It’s my first project, but Fran, he had been playing for years in Argentina. He played in a hardcore, and then post-rock band. When we moved to Australia he started to do some electronic, then ambient music. He has his own project and he’s actually releasing a demo soon.
Ez: What’s your background in music? How did you get to a point where you wanted to be involved in music?
Betsy: I’ve been playing music since I was a kid. I always wanted to sing, so I was always trying to do music. When we moved here Fran was like “Okay, we need to do something”, so we started to play at home together. It was just the two of us.
In Argentina we had a lot of friends so we tried different things. I didn’t try much, to be honest, but when we came here and we started playing together, we ended up doing music. I don’t know how it happened *laughs*. I think we did a cover one day and we liked it, and then we started playing together.
Ez: This is an ignorant question as I don’t know the Argentinian musical landscape. Would you say that your music has some roots in traditional Argentinian music?
Betsy: The first indie style, maybe, but no *laughs* We don’t really do folklore or tango, or even… no, I don’t think so. We like post-rock bands from, say, USA. We don’t have much Argentinian music [in us], to be honest.
Ez: When it comes to making your music, how does it formulate? How does it come together?
Betsy: Sometimes it’s Fran playing something on the guitar and then I start to play with him with my voice, and then we add layers. Other times he’s like “I have this little part of this song, do you like it?” And then “Oh yeah, we can add this and this”. We have some music where we made a lot of changes. One of the songs that we did, “Tired Eyes”, we did with electronic stuff. When we added live drums, we completely changed it.
We have a lot of music that we never finish, or we finish and we say “We don’t like it, it’s not what we want”.
Ez: Does that happen because you don’t feel right about assessing a work until it’s close to a state of completion? Do you feel better looking at a piece of music after you’ve finished it?
Betsy: I think yes.
Ez: Is it that you don’t feel you can be certain about an idea until you’ve explored it?
Betsy: In the moment we’re doing the music we like it. Sometimes we don’t like how we sound after, and sometimes it’s not what we want in the sound. We record it and we say just “Oh, I don’t like this part, I don’t know where to go”. It’s always different, it’s not like one thing happening, but we try to be loyal to our style, and sometimes we have some different things coming into our mind.
Ez: For performing this music live, do you normally work as a duo?
Betsy: Just as a duo.
Ez: How do you go about presenting the music live?
Betsy: It’s actually hard *laughs*
It’s a hard to do our stuff with an electronic style, because the drums don’t have that impact. You can play with the volume with the way you want to sound it, but when you have the drums live, you can feel it in your chest in a different way. Playing with drums and as a duo, we have to use backing tracks, and it’s very hard to find the right sound balance live.
We’re still working on that. Sometimes we hear one thing in our ears but it sounds different, but because we’re only two, we find it hard to know how it sounds. But at the moment we live too far from other musicians. It’s easier for just us to practise and make music.
Ez: So performing as a duo and knowing which backing tracks to use is by necessity.
Betsy: Yeah.
Ez: Migret are going to be performing at the Art As Catharsis fifteen-year anniversary show in Sydney.
How did you come into contact with Lachlan?
Betsy: That was Fran. He sent a demo for his music to Lachlan and they started to talk. I think he also played a gig that Lachlan and Joseph Rabjohns played at Lazy Thinking.
Ez: At the show, are you gonna be playing more of the new stuff than the old stuff?
Betsy: We’ll be playing all the new stuff. At the moment it’s only on YouTube and Instagram. We haven’t released the new stuff on Spotify and Bancamp yet.
Ez: Other than being involved with what’s going on in the scene, is this a way to road test the music, to see how it works live?
Betsy: I think we’ve been playing the new style for a year. It’s not our first time playing this material live.
Ez: So sort of more performing it because this is what you wanna be putting forward.
Betsy: Exactly.
Ez: Why do you think a label like Art As Catharsis has been able to keep going as long as it has?
Betsy: I think because of the dedication and all the work they have been doing. All this live music is slowly disappearing with all the venue requirements, AI and all of that making it hard for artists, so I hope they keep going and can grow.
The people who listen to their releases are consistent, loyal, and they want things to happen. I’m pretty sure that [AAC] can still extend more to the new generations, and I hope they can get that. I hope thy won’t disappear.
Ez: Sorry if I make you repeat yourself with this one, but what does Art As Catharsis mean to you?
Betsy: A little bit of what I was saying.
Ez: *laughs*
Betsy: I think it’s art happening altogether. Mostly music but it’s everything, and it means that we’re still alive, you know? It means that we still have heart in art. When I say art, I mean society, as in human beings. It means that we are alive and we’re doing what we’re meant to.
I hope they keep going and growing, and I hope they can stay involved in the scene, sort out all the walls that we have nowadays new generations actually going to listen to music and all the issues we’re having with venues in Australia and New South Wales.
It’s hope. That’s what I think.