It doesn’t matter whether you’re into astrology or if you’re a spiritual person or not; a solar eclipse is such an important event that we all look forward to it. Part of our planet goes completely dark, shadowed by the restless movement of the celestial bodies surrounding us. It’s magical, mysterious, and it’s surrounded by all types of myths and stories. To continue to build on this legacy, Björk and the label Smekkleysa are organising Echolalia, a one-of-a-kind party in Iceland with an incredible line-up, including duo Loscaballos.
On 12 August, we’ll experience a total solar eclipse, a rare phenomenon that’s causing a lot of buzz. Following her intense connection with nature, Björk has organised a one-day rave to celebrate it, with artists including Arca, Gummi Arnalds, Ronja, and a DJ set by Björk herself. And, of course, Loscaballos, a duo formed by Spanish-born, Reykjavik-based Curro Rodríguez and Juan M. Melero. They’ve known each other for over a decade (they’re both from Cádiz, in the south of Spain, but lived in Madrid for several years). Now in Iceland, they’ve been developing a taste for music-making, DJing, and performance. “In this country, people spend most of their time indoors because of the weather conditions, and that greatly affects the creative process. Isolation, especially during winter, makes us stay locked in the studio,” they tell us in this interview. Ahead of their DJ set, we sit down with them to discuss playing in unusual settings, how they balance each other, and conveying emotions.
LOSCABALLOS brings together Curro Rodríguez and Juan M. Melero. What made the two of you want to build a shared project?
First and foremost, we have been friends for fourteen years; during that time we have been collaborating, especially in the visual arts, then we both started making music on our own and it was only a matter of time before we started something together. Creating LOSCABALLOS was the culmination of something that has been ongoing for a long while.
Your name, LOSCABALLOS (‘the horses’ in Spanish), suggests movement, instinct and perhaps a certain freedom. Where did it come from, and does it still reflect what the project is now?
David Heofs, founder of Bandiz Studio, started calling us that because, when we lived in Madrid for a few years, we spent most of our free time going to the countryside and the forest to take pictures and walk for hours. He was the one who came up with the name, and it describes us pretty accurately. We’re basically two energetic and passionate wild animals.
If I’m not mistaken, you two live in Iceland. How does such a unique, natural environment affect the way you approach art and music?
Yes, we’ve been here for eight and a half years now. Iceland is almost the opposite of the environment we come from. We are both from Cádiz, so the culture shock is enormous. In this country, people spend most of their time indoors because of the weather conditions, and that greatly affects the creative process. Isolation, especially during winter, makes us stay locked in the studio and look for inspiration inside rather than outside.
“For us, DJing always goes beyond simply playing music. A lot of thought goes into the emotions we want to convey to the audience.”
You are due to play at Echolalia in Hafnarfjörður, during the total solar eclipse. Does playing in Iceland, and in the context of an eclipse, change the way you imagine the set before you’ve even started preparing it?
This is definitely a special gig; the context, the line-up and the total eclipse make it scarier and more epic. For this occasion, we just want to enjoy ourselves and make it memorable and fun for the audience, so the music selection will be really personal and special.
A solar eclipse is such a charged, collective experience. Do you see DJing as a way of shaping a shared state of mind, rather than simply playing tracks?
For us, DJing always goes beyond simply playing music. A lot of thought goes into the emotions we want to convey to the audience, and the eclipse is a huge plus when it comes to creating something unique.
Björk’s work has often made space for technology, nature and the emotional side of sound. Is that overlap something you recognise in your own practice?
There are countless inspiring elements in Björk’s work that have shaped our taste, but I’d highlight the constant search for a genuine and distinct approach to music. Rather than looking for the most futuristic sound, our process focuses on finding our roots and the music that resonates with us. To do that, sometimes you check the latest releases, but most of the time you spend countless hours looking for folk and traditional music from different countries. Once the selection is made, our job is to blend those universes together and find a narrative link that surprises the audience and makes them wonder what’s coming next.
The event comes from the world around Smekkleysa, a label and collective with a long history of treating music, visual art and community as interconnected. Does that context feel different from being booked for a standard festival?
Absolutely. When we arrived here, we attended every event taking place at Smekkleysa, and a few years later we were playing there, so for us it means a lot. Smekkleysa has been a voice for many alternative artists in Iceland for forty years, and for us as immigrants, it gives us a beautiful sense of belonging and achievement. It’s like coming full circle.
Earlier this year, you contributed a DJ set to Rádio Vaivém x Tremor, a programme built through an open call alongside the festival. What interested you about entering Tremor?
We had heard great things about the festival, and one half of this project was invited to perform at Tremor-Todo-Terreno, an artistic residency within the festival, so we decided to give it a shot. We couldn’t imagine how insanely good it would be there, from the programme and locations to the crew organising it. Shout-out to Tremor Festival. We love you. Book us for 2027!!!
“The goal is always to work with things that seem contradictory until they make sense together and keep the audience in a state of stimulation and surprise.”
Like Iceland, São Miguel in the Azores is a volcanic island with impressive landscapes and energy. What were the main similarities and differences you found between the two?
Both islands were born from the same ridge, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The similarities are quite noticeable in the rocks that shape the landscape and the smell of sulphur from the hot springs. However, the vegetation in the Azores is wild and grows everywhere, while in Iceland everything is a bit more hostile and eerie.
It feels like LOSCABALLOS are always ready to play in impressive surroundings. What about a sweaty, dark bunker Berlin-style? Are you interested in what clubs can offer, or do you prefer more ‘unusual’ settings?
We enjoy both settings; this project has many faces that go from more reflective and uncanny sounds to a full-on, sweaty, hot party. The goal is always to work with things that seem contradictory until they make sense together and keep the audience in a state of stimulation and surprise.
How do you negotiate the music selection between the two of you? Are you very much in tune, or are there disagreements that actually turn the set into something more complex?
Fighting a lot until we both feel that it’s perfect. We’ve been working together for so many years that sometimes it’s as if we spoke the same language, but at the same time, we are always pushing each other to find that hidden gem. Combining our tastes when curating a set is always a challenge, especially for an event like this, but we always manage to find the balance.
After playing contexts such as Tremor and Echolalia, what kind of situation would you most like to create yourselves: a club night, a radio project, an installation, something outdoors, or something else entirely?
Everything, just bring it all. We love challenges, and we mutate depending on the space or context of a set. This project is not only intended to be a DJ duo; we have also been working on live music and performance. So yeah, we’re really excited to find out where this will take us.
