Dengue Dengue Dengue, we interviewed the electro-Peruvian duo

The word dengue can refer to a tropical disease, but also to the desire for partying hard. In the same way, zenit and nadir are two concepts of astrology, but also two types of filmmaking techniques... And then, of course, Dengue Dengue Dengue also happens to be the name of a Peruvian band whose most recent album is precisely titled Zenit & Nadir. Wasn’t it clear that we're before a project with a special taste for polysemy?

What we explained so far isn't the most important part. What counts the most is who forms this incredible duo. And that is Rafael Pereira and Felipe Salmón, whom have become fundamental to understand what is happening in that music scene that doesn't look at geography (because it could be composed here, in Peru or in Japan), but has been showing a particularly sharp eloquence when it comes to tying the new technologies of production with the most organically ancestral and atavistic rhythms, melodies and instruments. The fact that they turn the Andean (and well, any kind of) percussion into their sound's backbone at home, is what makes Dengue Dengue Dengue much more disarming than what can be achieved here or in Japan. For obvious reasons.

Zenit & Nadir marked the first great accomplishment in the career of this duo who, lately, can't be explained without the accompaniment of two additional percussionists. Nor can they be explained without their masks, which are clearly based on the designs of African tribes but featuring, usually, materials and colors more typical of the Rave era. But, above all, they can't be explained without that literal sound mixer they shake to exhaustion, and in which the Andean tradition gets blended with both the infectious Afro-Peruvian polyrhythms and the most hypnotic electro dance. Directly shamanic.

That's more than enough reasons to chat with Dengue Dengue Dengue, am I right?

The word ‘dengue’ can refer to several things... What is the meaning that best represents you, and why the repetition in your name?

We repeat dengue several times exactly because of its different meanings. The name comes from a vinyl by Enrique Lynch that had the word dengue on the cover, repeated four times. In that case, dengue is a Cuban rhythm that Lynch used to play with a wheel rim, creating a very particular metallic sound. Also, in Lima, dengue is a jargon that refers, more or less, to the anxiety one feels before doing something they really like. It's usually related to the desire to party.

Something similar happens with the name of your new album: Zenit & Nadir. Most people may know these two terms as cinematographic techniques, with the zenith being a camera tilt from above, and the nadir a tilt from below. But presumably that wasn't your intention behind the title...

Actually, it was. It is an analogy of the opposite points of the album: analog versus digital, city versus nature... It is like yin and yang, where one seeks to create a balance in which the elements fit and complement each other.

What have you explored on this album that you hadn't explored before?

On this album we are exploring polyrhythmia, triple rhythms. We had already explored this a bit in the EP Son de los Diablos, for which we recorded some percussions with Pudy Ballumbrosio. But that was it. At the time, the organic sounds in our productions was obtained from samples. In Zenit & Nadir we recorded several sessions that, unlike a sample, were played purposely for the bases we had produced. Perhaps the biggest difference is during the live performance. Four people play this album live: two percussionists, Wladimir Coronado and Miguel Ballumbrosio, and the two of us. It is a completely different dynamic, and it has been very interesting to experiment with that format.

There is a maximum common denominator in all your work: percussion. Why is it you never get tired of it?

Yes, it's something that calls us a lot. Especially in electro music. Polyrhythmia is something where there is still a lot of room to explore. It's only recently that software and hardware are able to compose that way.

One of your biggest influences is the psychedelic cumbia of the 70s, a genre that isn't too well known outside of Peru. How would you explain it to someone who had never heard it?

It is a mix of surf rock from the 60s, cumbia and other tropical rhythms along with a lot of psychedelia. It's a very special hybrid created by the oil industry immigrants in the Peruvian jungle. These oil companies would bring in workers who came with music, electric guitars and even moog synthesizers!

That genre led you to Afro-Peruvian sounds... What's the deal with this fusion? Why you like it so much?

What led us to Afro-Peruvian rhythms was our interest in the music that's going on right now mostly in Portugal and Angola. In 2014, we signed with the label  Enchufada de Portugal, since its sound closely resembles what we had been exploring. It was then that we discovered the zouk, the kuduro and other African rhythms that made us realize how much in common they had with the Afro-Peruvians rhythms.

It turns out the exploration of Andean music is one of the most stimulating sounds of the present and the future... Why do you think it fits so well with the current musical taste?

Honestly I wouldn't say it's futuristic... Rather timeless, maybe. But, yes, we have noticed it a lot, lately. It happens to everything: something becomes fashionable and the sound gets saturated a bit. It'll pass.

It's like your masks, actually: they have something traditional, but also something futuristic. What is the story behind them?

The masks are inspired by several things, depending on the time. That is why we always try to change them according to the album we are working on. Sometimes we make them ourselves, even though lately we are collaborating with artist friends.

Besides, the masks are another example indicating how you conceive Dengue Dengue Dengue -as an audiovisual project in which the visual is as important as the sound... Is that right?

It is. Perhaps the other important element of the project is the videos, both the visual proposed in the shows and the video clips. We invest a lot of work and effort in that area too. Many aspects are conceived from the beginning, both sound and visual-wise.

And speaking of visuals: is there any other favorite garment of yours that competes in importance with your masks?

(Laughter) No... The masks are more than enough already.