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Los Natas

Revision as of 00:22, 7 December 2019 by 216.26.183.3 (contribs) (Los Natas is finally finished!)
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Los Natas
Natas
Background information
Also known as Natas (1993 - 2001)
Origin Buenos Aires, Argentina
Genres Stoner Metal, Stoner Rock, Experimental Rock
Years active 1993 - 2012
Labels Man's Ruin Records, Small Stone Records, South American Sludge, Argonauta Records, MeteorCity Records, Orbital, Beard of Stars, Black Juju, Oui Oui, Buzzville
Associated acts Ararat, Solodolor, Santoro, Soldati, Poseidotica, Dragonauta, Eight Hands For Kali, Sandiablo, Audion, Manso Jeremias
Website Los Natas on Facebook

Los Natas (Known early on simply as Natas) were a stoner rock power trio from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Initially starting off as an ensemble mix of progressive rock and stoner rock, Natas would find their niche in 1998's Delmar, heavily inspired by the desert rock of Kyuss. With distribution from the likes of Man's Ruin Records and Small Stone Records, Los Natas would gain a reputation as one of the most well-known and influential stoner rock acts from Argentina, if not South America as a whole. Los Natas' musical influences draw from the base of the raw and psychedelic sounds of 70’s bands such as The Doors, Black Sabbath, The Who, Pink Floyd and Hawkwind among many others. LOS NATAS take us on a journey made of basic elements: vintage instruments and equipment to diverse, laid-back and groovy songwriting skills, while the band incorporates the use of the senses and perception of the listener to be part of a sonic trip. Beyond stoner rock the band has experimented with a wide range of sounds.

In their tenure spanning roughly twenty years, Los Natas managed to release seven studio albums amid a host of other releases. Los Natas also toured the United States and Europe among their native Argentina in their lifetime, sharing the stage with many major acts such as Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork, Nebula, Karma To Burn, Fatso Jetson, Kyuss Lives!, Marilyn Manson, Iggy and The Stooges, Motorhead, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against The Machine among others.

History

Natas: Delmar and Ciudad de Brahman (1993 - 2000)

Natas would be founded in 1993 by the trio of Miguel Fernandez, Walter Brodie and Sergio Chotsourian. Initially performing stoner rock in the vein of Kyuss, the band would quickly release a three song demo in 1994 entitled En Busca de la Especia (Later re-released in 1999 as part of the Unreleased Dopes compilation.). Work would begin on a debut album, ultimately leading to the band self-releasing Delmar in 1996. Word about the band would catch the attention of one Frank Kozik, who would sign the band with his label Man's Ruin Records and release Delmar in the United States circa 10 July 1998 with extra songs. This would further expose Natas to a worldwide audience, beyond their growing South American audience, as the band had largely performed in Argentina and Chile to this point. The band also notably released a demo entitled Rutation in 1998, featuring several songs set for the next album.

For the band's follow-up album the trio would record in the United States circa January 1999, while also performing two shows in the California area with Nebula and Gammera. The band would work at Louder Studios. Tim Green (The Nation of Ulysses, The Fucking Champs, Cherubs) would engineer the record while Dale Crover (Melvins, Altamont, Shrinebuilder) would handle production and additional instrumentation. While the band's sound still had a stoner rock nucleus their sound also evolved to incorporate progressive, psychedelic, space rock and various other elements.

Cuidad de Brahman would see release via Man's Ruin on 24 September 1999 to positive reception, solidifying them as a top South American act in the stoner rock scene. Following a tour of Chile and introducing a new bassist in Claudio Filadoro, Natas would return to the United States for a West Coast tour with Gammera amid consistently performing in their native Argentina. The bad managed to remain fairly prolific with other releases such as 1999's Unreleased Dopes (A compilation album featuring unreleased songs and demos) and two extended plays inEl Gobernador (1999; Also released as a split with Viaje a 800.) and Livin La Weeda Loca (2000; Also released as a split with Dragonauta.). However by the end of 2000 the band would be made aware of a Detroit, Michigan horrorcore/gangsta rap group known as Natas, who had been around slightly longer as they had started in 1992.[1] To avoid any kind of legal conflicts the band would opt for a slight name change for future releases.

Becoming Los Natas: Corsario Negro and Toba-Trance (2001 - 2005)

With their third bassist in Gonzalo Villagra, the band would opt for a slight name change and thus be re-christened as Los Natas. The band's first release under that moniker would be a split 7" with Dozer as work began on a third record. With Billy Anderson as an engineer and producer at Abasto Studios, Corsario Negro would be released on 26 February 2002 via new label Small Stone Records. The band would perform in Argentina and Chile in support of the album, before embarking on their first European tour the next year, sharing the stage with the likes of Colour Haze, House Of Aquarius, Astrosoniq, Rotor, brant Bjork, Magnified Eye and Circle to name a few.[2]

The next two years would see frequent shows in Europe and Argentina along with two albums via Finnish label Ektro Records: Toba-Trance I (2003) and Toba-Trance II (2004) which experimented on the band's growing "free rock" theme with a wide arrangement of experimental ideas such as songs resembling scores from film soundtracks, drone, psychedelic rock, Indian raga among other explored sounds.[3][4] The band would also release a full 90-minute album of re-recordings known as Munchen Sessions released on 9 May 2005 via Elektrohasch Schallplatten.

El hombre montaña (2006 - 2008)

Los Natas would work again at Abasto Studios with Billy Anderson, releasing El Hombre Montaña via multiple labels (Small Stone in the US, Oui Oui in Europe, Nasoni for the vinyl edition) on 3 June 2006 to generally positive reviews.[5] The band's touring of Europe would continue in support of the album. The next year would see the band releasing a double-disc collection of rarities and covers entitled El Universo Perdido De Los Natas via Oui Oui Records and MeteorCity Records. In an archived interview with Stonerrock.com circa 2006, Los Natas would speak about plans at the time, including the album's original title at the time and the Toba-Trance albums:

“ “[On the sixth album and a proposed live album] Mmm... it has been pretty confidential ‘til now but I guess we are doing it very soon, so OK. Yes, Billy Anderson is coming back to Argentina in March 2006 to track the new shit. It means something like: From the Ashes, the Mountain Man. It’s heavy, yes, like a sequel to Corsario Negro maybe. It’s pure Los Natas! Faster, sharper, straight to the heart thing. Not so bassy sounding, more into hurting highs.

Yes, its already recorded and mixed. The thing is that almost one year has passed since we recorded that Viernes Verde show. That’s too much time I think to (have passed) for a live album release. It was cool having a test on live recording but I don’t think it will be released as a professional CD.

[On Toba-Trance, special live shows and the Toba tribe]We played many Toba Trance shows to support the album, yes; mostly here in Argentina. Toba gave us the possibility to cut the show in two parts for different sounds, guitars and vibe. That’s good air for the crowd. We included some guest musicians on crazy little guitars, trumpets, classic guitar and even a DJ for storms, noise and landscape support and ambience. But no, we never did an acoustic show like the band Kiss! Yet!

These people live in the south of the country, they are very poor, and no one gives a shit about their health, territory, or food and education. They love Mother Nature and that’s their inspiration and fact in life. Very calm people, they jam for hours in the night on their tunes, along with taking peyote, with such hand-made instruments like little drums, snares, flutes, rocks, whatever. ”

”
 
— Sergio Chotsourian, Stonerrock.com [6]

The band would perform at Pepsi Music Festival circa 2007 among a host of sizable acts before touring Europe that year and the next, sharing the stage with the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Mudhoney, Brant Bjork, Hermano and many others.[7]

Nuevo orden de la libertad and Dissolution (2009 - 2012)

Los Natas would begin work on their seventh album recording at Monsterland and El Attic Studios circa 2008, with Patricio Claypole handling engineering and production. The band's seventh album would be formally announced,[8] with the band opting for more of a "movie editing" approach to the recording process and a more aggressive musical approach.[9] El Nuevo Orden De La Libertad would be released circa 26 May 2009 to positive reviews, even attaining #2 on The Obelisk's top ten albums of 2009.[10][11]

The band performed frequently in Argentina to support the album throughout 2009, following up with an extensive European tour in 2010 surrounding an appearance at Roadburn Festival. The band remained active in their native country through the rest of the year, notably performing at Pepsi Music 2010 which was headlined by Queens of the Stone Age and Rage Against The Machine.[12] In 2011 the band would perform on a less frequent basis but bandleader Chotsourian would also establish his own label in South American Sludge, one of the first releases being a re-release of the long-lost Rutation demo from 1998. The band's last known live performance would be the inaugural South American Sludge Fest on 11 June 2011.[13]

In 2012 Los Natas announced through their Facebook page and Argentinian edition of Rolling Stone magazine that the band was being put on indefinite hiatus, naming family matters, mental and physical health of its members as reasons for the band's members to largely go their separate ways.

Aftermath and Re-Releases

In the aftermath of Los Natas' dissolution, many of the members would embark on other projects.

  • Sergio Chotsourian would remain active with Ararat and Soldati along with several solo albums. Chotsourian would also maintain his label South American Sludge which was established in 2011.
  • Walter Brodie would remain active with instrumental rock group Poseidotica and stoner rock band Audion.
  • Original bassist Miguel Fernandez would be involved with several Argentinian groups such as Los Platillos Volantes and Vendaval among other collaborations.
  • Claudio Filadoro had been in a short-lived stoner rock band known as Sandiablo prior to joining Los Natas. Filadoro would also remain active with Buffalo during and after his run with Los Natas.
  • Gonzalo Villagra would found Audion with Walter Brodie in 2014 after Los Natas had broken up. Villagra has engineered several albums prior to joining Los Natas.

Notably South American Sludge and Argonauta Records would reissue Delmar, Cuidad de Brahman and Corsario Negro in 2016 on vinyl, with CD reissues to follow. Notably South American Sludge would also issue a live album recorded in 2010 entitled Death Sessions in 2016 to coincide with the vinyl reissues.

Discography

Studio Albums

Split Releases

Other Releases

Members

Last Active Lineup

  • Sergio Chotsurian - Guitar, Vocals (1993 - 2012)
  • Walter Brodie - Drums (1993 - 2012)
  • Gonzalo Villagra - Bass (2001 - 2012)

Other Members

  • Miguel Fernandez - Bass (1993 - 1999)
  • Claudio Filadoro - Bass (1999 - 2001)

List of Known Tours

  • Cuidad de Brahman North American Tour (With Nebula, Gammera) (1999)[14]
  • Cuidad de Brahman Chilean Tour (1999)
  • West Coast USA Tour 2000 (With Gammera) (2000)[15]
  • 2002 Chilean Tour (2002)[16]
  • Europa Europa (2003)[17]
  • Europa Freedom Tour (With Colour Haze, Hainloose) (2004)[18]
  • Europa Kotur 2005 (2005)[19]
  • Los Natas Mini Tour Brasil (With Valverdes) (2006)[20]
  • Hombre Montaña Europa Tour (2007)[21][22][23][24]
  • Musica de Argentina - Europa Tour 2008 (2008)[25][26]
  • 2009 Mini-Tour (With Be As Karma) (2009)[27]
  • 2010 European Tour (2010)[28]

External Links

Official Links

Bandcamp Pages

Archival Links

References

  1. ↑ Natas on Wikipedia
  2. ↑ Los Natas Official via Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Allmusic
  4. ↑ Sputnik Music
  5. ↑ Lollipop Magazine
  6. ↑ Stonerrock.com via Wayback Machine An Interview with Sergio Chotsourian of Los Natas..., accessed 6 December 2019
  7. ↑ Last.fm
  8. ↑ The Obelisk
  9. ↑ The Obelisk
  10. ↑ The Obelisk
  11. ↑ The Obelisk
  12. ↑ / Last.fm
  13. ↑ Last.fm
  14. ↑ / Nebula Official via Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ / Man's Ruin Records via Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ Los Natas via Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Los Natas via Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ / Los Natas Official via Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ / Los Natas Official via Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ / Los Natas Official via Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ Last.fm
  22. ↑ / Stonerrock.com via Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ / Stonerrock.com via Wayback Machine
  24. ↑ / Los Natas Official via Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ Last.fm
  26. ↑ / Los Natas Official via Wayback Machine
  27. ↑ Last.fm
  28. ↑ Last.fm
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