People You Should Know: Tessie Stranger of Intimate Stranger

Intimate Stranger is one of the newest arrivals to the Austin music scene. Unlike most “new arrivals,” though, this band has already released a record and gone on an international tour. Having begun their life in Santiago, Chile, the doe-eyed pop/rock quintet made the decision a year ago to supplant themselves into another country and chose a home in Texas’ friendly capital city.

“We felt like it was a really good time for us to come and spend some solid time in the US,” says Tessie Stranger, the group’s lead vocalist and bassist. “after what we have achieved with the band in 2010 [Editor's note: Intimate Stranger's second album, Under, dropped in 2010 and received international attention. The group also played SXSW] it seemed like an opportune time to come and tour over here. Also basing ourselves here in Austin seemed like a good decision since our record label and management are here.”

Intimate Stranger’s label, Fringecore Records, also holds The Ganjas and Black Pig Liberation Front on its roster. The record company’s progressive mindset is reflective of its well-traveled meal ticket. While many music listeners avoid music that isn’t sung in the same language they speak, Intimate Stranger has the standout ability to cross that cultural obstruction. The band admits on its Facebook that it “tends to break barriers when it comes to labeling them with a genre,” and their music shows the unmistakable influences of their home country while betraying a love of the classic American and British rock and roll that is so well-known to American ears.

“I went to Chile in 2003 to learn Spanish and integrate myself into the culture. I was interested in moving somewhere far away and very different from anywhere I had been before. The last few years in Chile have been exciting for new bands and the indie music scene, there has been a real growth in venues, music media and people that really want to go out and hear new music. A lot of bands from abroad have started going to play in Chile and there is a good momentum there at the moment.”

Tessie is aware that her band stands at an arresting crossroads between local and world music that could be mined for exponential gains. She seems less interested in fitting into a defined shape for a genre than letting her band convey the universal in how it expresses its melting pot aesthetic.

“We’ve really been a part of this whole movement over the last few years and particularly over the last year have gained a growing fan base, playing at bigger venues, lots of
media coverage, radio play, collaborators etc…Its been a good year for us, and its important to keep up what we’ve built up Chile. But as an international band, I think its really important for us to travel around and get exposure in new places, like the US.”

“We spent time in Austin in March/April,” Tessie remembers when talking about first getting into town a year ago. “We arrived for SXSW, where we managed to get a lot of movement within a week. We played at the Waterloo Records showcase and the Chilean Showcase – which was the first ever time Chilean bands came to the festival and it was very well received. We got some great press here in Austin, including playing live on Fox and KEYE, and after the festival we went on tour for a month and a half. When we went back to Chile we were clear that it would be important to come back later in the year and follow up in places we had played and expand the tour to include the center and east and west coasts. It was definitely a positive experience for us and we are excited about traveling and playing to new audiences.”

Tessie is Croatian by birth, but she moved to the UK when she was young and then onto Belgium when she was 10. “I moved back to the UK after high school and spent a few years in Brighton at Sussex Uni, before moving to Chile,” she recalls. “Living in different countries and adapting to new environments has always been a part of my life. I think with the band it makes things interesting because I find the idea of being mobile and new places exciting.”

Tessie’s singing voice could be compared to Metric’s Emily Haines at her eeriest. Intimate Stranger’s music lets loose in more aggressive abandon than the precise Metric, though. Whereas mainstream pop sensibilities would fold and narrow guitarist Lau Stranger’s architectural licks, Tessie lays them out like checker pieces across a blank slate. The group recently acquired a new drummer, a hometown Austinite named Victor, whose clattering set dots the band’s compositions with cymbals like spikes and snares like machine gun blasts. On keyboards, Ismael Palma is essential in terms of aiding and abetting the caustic environment most of Stranger’s compositions rely on. For her part on bass, Tessie works solid lines on the low end but lets her mouth do the talking.

“Although Lau and I never really sat down early on and thought about what we wanted to create in terms of the style, somehow a recognizable style did evolve,” says Stranger. “Which I suppose embraced some of the different elements that have penetrated our sub-conscious over the years. I think we wanted to make songs that we would listen to ourselves, but it was more of a  natural and ‘free-flowing’ progression. Also I think the nature of the lyrics somehow influence the tone, as do our personalities and tastes. In this way what we produce reflects who we really are.”

She continues, “One thing that has always been the backbone of the Intimate Stranger sound is songs that have strong melodies and are danceable, with all the instruments working together as one unit.”

“Another aspect that comes up is the fusion of warm and gritty, in the sound and the emotion, where on the one side you have sweet and sincere vocals and melodies to the songs and on the other melancholy and noise and something more rough coming through.”

But that’s just the sound. What are all those ideas Tessie is playing siren to in her songs?

“In terms of themes, many of our songs seem to revolve around confused and chaotic dream-like states,” Tessie interprets. “Life Jacket (2008) is a little more playful and sings more like modern fairy tales, with animal imagery and inanimate objects coming to life, awkward characters. Whereas Under is a bit more abstract and ‘real life,’ in that it looks at the self and the search for our own beauty and fulfillment.”

Tessie elaborates further: “Over the years, our composition process has focused on integrating strong melodies with danceable rhythms. It starts with creating the strong base melody, (either by Lau or me) and then with that melody we find a distinguished vocal and song structure. Then we build around this with the other instruments. Everyone adds another level. Ismael on keyboards will bring in the sense of atmosphere that backs up the song, as well accompanying melodies and heavy bass lines. The function of the drums
is to keep a solid beat that gives you that driving and moving feeling through the song.”

Sessions for Under were recorded live at a studio in Chile in optimal, efficient fashion. Tessie credits heavy rehearsal and comprehensive pre-studio work for the quick turnaround. “The recording itself was pretty fast because we spent a lot of time preparing and rehearsing and creating demos in our home studio. We really wanted it to sound
like we do live, using the same instruments, effects etc… I think the sound is quite real and sincere in terms of production, which is what we wanted for these songs. We thought this was really important also because we wanted our shows to sound like the album and vice versa.”

It was a more ambitious project than Life Jacket, though. “There were also more elements involved, as the second album has keyboards, whereas on Life Jacket it was more DIY, even though it was finally mixed and mastered in London,” clarifies Stranger. “For Under, by the time we got the studios we knew exactly what we wanted the songs to be in terms of structure and sound. And the engineer had seen us play live and really understood the sound we wanted to get.”

So now the record is ready and the band has settled into town. They aren’t resting for a moment, though.

“We had our first show in Austin, since we’ve been back, last Sunday at the Beauty Bar at 10pm,” says Tessie. “Last time we were in Austin we played at The Parish, Emo’s and Maggie Mae’s. Beauty Bar is a smaller, intimate setting; it has a cool atmosphere.”

“That gig kicked off the first part of our tour, which includes a show at the Knitting Factory in New York next week, as well as shows at the Grey Eagle in Asheville and North Star Bar in Philadelphia, and The End in Nashville. We will be traveling pretty consistently over the next few months, promoting Under, as well as a new special release we have called Moments of Riot which includes a live radio session and some unreleased demos. In March we’ll be in Austin for SXSW to play several shows, including playing on the main stage at Plutopia 2011 (a big event that sits on the threshold of the the interactive and music festivals and will also feature Sonic Youth’s Lee Renaldo) and headlining the SXSW Chilean Showcase. After that we’ll be on the road again and plan on recording this summer.”

And that’s the itinerary. Check out Intimate Stranger; they’re both Austin’s newest band and one of its most worldly. This city is more eclectic with Tessie, Lau, Ismael and Victor making music in it, so let’s welcome them with open arms and make sure they want to stay.