Uruguayan rock artist, Rough Minds, the brainchild of Josema Ganz, is a huge fan of Britpop, with sounds reminiscent of Oasis, and similar English rockers like The La’s. To maintain his sound and visual aesthetic, Ganz enlisted the services of legendary producer and engineer, Stuart Epps, who worked with classic rock bands and revered musicians like Led Zeppelin, George Harrison, Oasis, Elton John, and Paul Weller, among significant others. With his latest single and music video for “Songs Out Loud,” the visuals are stunning as the director takes the audience through the streets of Montevideo, and uses vibrant colors to make it even more distinct. The video also cuts to frontman Josema playing his acoustic guitar. South America has a deep love for classic rock, along with a “recent resurgence of ambitious guitar-based music,” and Rough Minds play a heavy influence on this resurgence. Josema’s love of his home country and heritage is inherent as we also see him walk through his home city.
In our interview with Josema, he discussed why he loves British pop-rock influences of the 60s and 90s, teaming up with legendary producer, Stuart Epps, working with his fellow bandmates, what filming was like for “Songs Out Loud, along with his input and collaboration for it.
When did your love of music and guitar begin, Josema?
Josema Ganz: I would say the love for music and guitar started when I was in 5th grade in high school. It was there when I became a Beatles fan. By that time I also got my first guitar as a gift from my grandmother and I soon started taking guitar lessons.
I love that you blend British pop-rock movements of the 1960s and 1990s. What about those two decades do you love most about the rock music that came out of them?
Josema: I love the 60s for many reasons. The Rickenbacker guitar sounds amazing and is one of my favourite guitar brands. I love the organic sound of the 60s recordings. 60s songs are voices, guitar chords and picks, a bass line and a drum. No distractive special effects. Just music. The 90s is the latest best period of music in my opinion. The 60s influences got combined with modern recording techniques and as a result, many great bands appeared like Oasis and The La´s. When you watch a 90s gigs from these bands it is just a bunch of guys playing music on stage. No special lights or strange things. Again. Just music. It was a very authentic and genuine music scene.
To complete your British visual aesthetic and sound, you work with legendary producer and engineer, Stuart Epps. How did you both meet, and what is collaboration like working with him?
Josema: I got in contact with him accidentally. I didn’t know him. A couple of years ago I was sending thousands of mails to record labels, producers, and anything in the internet with the word “music”. One day I received an email from a man telling me that he really enjoyed what he heard and that he was willing to collaborate in production. It was Stuart. I started to read about him and his story. He asked me for the individual tracks which I sent by email and within days he developed the mixes for most of the songs I have recorded by now.
How did you meet the other musicians who performed on the song, and what is your songwriting process like?
Josema: I first met one of the drummers called Lucas. He recommended me a recording studio where I recorded many of my songs. I met most of the musicians through other musicians or record studio owners’ recommendations basically. The songwriting process generally consists in finding a key melody which would be the song riff or chorus. That key melody will define the song rhythm and speed. After that, the rest of the song falls by itself.
In the latest music video accompanying your latest single, “Songs Out Loud,” the visuals are stunning and colorful, with landmarks met along the way of your home city. What was filming like for you all?
Josema: It was a low-budget production with just me, a couple of accessories like a football ball, and some other things that could have been used. We just started walking through a city called “Old City” with no filming plans. We shot the video in two days and that was it. “Old City” has a rich historic tradition as it was the founding city from Montevideo founded by the Spaniards invaders. The video was originally natural coloured. The colour effects were added by myself. I did a short video course where I learnt the basics of video editing.
