Last May 9, The Guatemalan Bohemia Suburban Band published Faithful to honey, Your seventh studio album, Production with which he marked a new chapter in his musical career.
The National Group has 33 years of work and during that period has published study albums and live albums. In addition, he has received local recognition, admiration and affection by having an extensive list of fans, who constantly attend their concerts.
Bohemia Suburban also has a Latin Grammy nomination and various awards that have privileged their productions.
At present, the group is made up of Giovanni Pinzón (voice), Juancarlos Barrios (guitar) and José Pedro “Pepe” Mollinedo (drums), who agrees that they have managed to preserve the identity of their roots, but recognize that they have reinvented themselves in each album and that has allowed them to expand the limits of their sound universe.
According to national musicians, The process of Faithful to honey, His recent record production began in July 2024, when they traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, And they gave life to this musical work that included an adventure with a renowned producer Tweeth González.
“This creative visionary, known for his work with Fito Páez, Soda Stereo, Gustavo Cerati, Ximena Sariñana and many more, contributed his experience and sensitivity to take Bohemia suburban to explore new dimensions,” said the musicians of the Guatemalan band.
For its part, Tweeth González shared details of work and experience when guiding the national band during a recent interview that offered Free press.
“To start, I tell you that For me it was an adventure to work for the first time with a Guatemala band”Said González, who participated with Soda Stereo and accompanied Gustavo Cerati and other music luminaires.
According to the Argentine producer, producing music and guiding a Guatemalan group was something that had pending due to several factors, including the production of an album in which it became involved in 1998 for a Colombian band that did it traveled to Antigua Guatemala.
“27 years ago I traveled to Antigua Guatemala and worked for a month in that city. On that occasion I got involved in an album for the band altered states, but, for different reasons that production was not published, ”said González.
“The direct experience I had with Guatemala was that and somehow always linked to music. In addition, I remember that, after a month living in that beautiful city, I met all its restaurants and everything was familiar. I do not know how it will look today,” added the Argentine musician and producer.
Mission fulfilled and beginning of a legacy
According to Tweeth González, Since 1998 he was left with the desire to work with a Guatemalan group and produce some record material, But now that he did it, he indicated that it was the beginning of a stage that will include more Central American artists.
“I always had that thorn of working with a band in Guatemala and now the opportunity was given with one of the most beloved and experienced as suburban bohemia. The musicians are already mature, with enough stage and with a way of working quite peculiar,” González said.
“The band has a team that is formed by the guitarist (Juanca) and the drummer (Pepe), who are like those who knead the dough say, and then, the oven puts Giovanni when he arrives with his voice, his melodies and his lyrics,” he added.
According to the Argentine producer, Suburban Bohemia divided the production of his recent album and the stay in Argentina helped the Guatemalans to create something special.
“Bohemia musicians lived a lot with me. Having them here in Buenos Aires, for me it was a lot of fun because it is a city that has a super intense musical life. Then we constantly leave and made them observe the energy of here, something that probably influenced a bit on the album, because they spent many days here,” he added.
González added that recording a Guatemalan group opened the way to work with other musicians in the country or region.
“Hopefully this is the first of many albums for Guatemala. I want to open a chapter and hopefully this motivates others, that they realize that you have to dream and that those dreams are possible, ”said the Argentine producer.
González said that probably in the coming months surprise with more productions in the region because it has offers from other Central American countries.
“At the moment I am evaluating more projects, it is only a matter that they are completed and possibly does the Central American trilogy with Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica,” he said.
The studies
Faithful to honey, The seventh Suburban Bohemian study album was recorded in two studies in Argentina.
According to national musicians, these enclosures are iconic spaces of Latin American music.
- Panda Studies: Cradle of legendary productions
- Unison: Gustavo Cerati’s mythical study
For Tweeth González, who participated throughout the process, he considers that recording the album outside Guatemala, was the best decision of suburban bohemia, due to the learning, knowledge and vision of other latitudes.
“I was present in the recording all the time, every second and I think they adapted to our idiosyncrasy and our way of working. In addition, at this point in my career and my life, that I consider myself a veteran, it seems to me that the Trip To do the work is as important as its result, so I contributed my knowledge, I wanted them to have a good time, beyond if the album wins awards or has millions of reproductions. The memory that had left of the trip, of arriving in Buenos Aires to an adventure, of making that production and of all that human part, is the one that is most valued, ”said the Argentine producer.
For tweety, constantly accustomed to great productions and with different challenges, record Suburban Bohemia was another of its missions fulfilled, because it took advantage of time with Guatemalan musicians and guides them to an excellent sound proposal.
“I had to make a difference. The band did not record records every day, so I had to exploit my experience as a producer, to show that this muscle is very trained and transmit it. In addition, we had a limit, which was time, but I like to work with limits because each musician had to do it to the maximum in a certain period,” he added.
According to González, the Guatemalans were responsible for focusing on their recent studio album, since they took advantage of resources in the studies of Buenos Aires, knowledge, guidance and time.
“The fact of making a album outside Guatemala It allowed them to devote themselves fully to the project. Being far from their country they had no distractions. It was also important to me, ”he added.
Since he joined the project, Tweety had the clarity of the quality he required, so he chose Panda and Unison studies, to record the recent songs of suburban bohemia.
“The selection of studies was not done because they were known or because the story of Cerati will appear. That selection was made because I like to provide security to musicians and I know that technical inconveniences would not stop inspiration. In addition, I have recorded a lot in them that for something they are historical studies of Argentine rock and wanted suburban bohemia to rind with the best possible quality, ”he added.
“We finished the project later with the mixture in New York, the US Here we go (2006). Hector I know more than 30 years ago, we are great friends and we could end up in his study, the mixture of Faithful to honey, You know, to add that American touch that is good for the album, ”he added.
According to the Argentine producer, he hopes that the admirers of suburban bohemia and music lovers in general appreciate the quality of work that was achieved with his recent study album. “I want them to value the sound proposal that Bohemia suburban proposes with Faithful to honey, An album with Latin American rock dyes, ”he concluded.