Big Sir

During 12 years of sonic partnership, vocalist Lisa Papineau and bassist Juan Alderete’s mesh of meditative lyrics, electro-inflected boom-bap and prog-jazz has combined fury and philosophy in a way that doesn’t have to shout to be heard.

Formed in 1999, their band, Big Sir, brought together the operatic tone of Alderete’s fretless bass with Papineau’s penchant for soulful restraint. On Feb. 7 the band released “Before Gardens, After Gardens,” their first album in six years, via Rodriguez Lopez / Sargent House.

Despite their positive outlook on an album over half a decade in the making, the inspiration it took to make it has taken a serious, very literal toll on their bodies.

Shortly after completing their previous album, “Und Die Scheiße Ändert Sich Immer” in 2006, Papinaeu and Alderete were both diagnosed with life-threatening diseases. Alderete was found to have polycythemia vera, a rare bone marrow disease that makes the body produce too many red blood cells, while Papineau discovered she had multiple sclerosis. And just three weeks before the release of the album, heavily steeped in reflections on life and death, Papineau was also diagnosed with cancer.

Despite their health obstacles, both have been incessantly busy with projects ranging from Alderete’s work as the bassist for The Mars Volta to Papineau’s solo career and collaborations with artists like Air and M83 and ME & LP with Matt Embree of RX Bandits. But even with so many other projects to occupy their time, both admit that their shared sense of humor, affinity for bass and West Coast gangsta rap creates a bond that keeps them together.

Ahead of Big Sir’s gig at Harvelle’s in Long Beach on Monday, Papineau and Alderete spoke to Pop & Hiss about crafting their new album and facing mortality head-on.

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An interview is one of the most authentic and honest windows into the hearts and minds of the artists and musicians we’ve come to admire. And, in this particular case… an added dose of humility. Logistics and self-deprecating humor aside, there is no better approach towards familiarizing yourself with the music you know and love, than by speaking with the musicians who have created the compositions that their fans have come to hold dear to their hearts. Throughout the years Lisa Papineau and Juan Alderete of Big Sir have created a fan base dedicated to the evolution of their multifaceted sound.

With the two having such a diverse creative output that extends far outside of their album releases, Lisa and Juan always seem to give the time needed to Big Sir for stages of growth in the bands legacy to continue and 2012 marks the next cycle. The ethereally haunting vocal and synth work of Lisa Papineau along with the sea of effects bassist of The Mars Volta Juan Alderete utilizes combine for a compositional mastery in which the sum is greater than the parts. With this Los Angeles dynamic duo’s third full length album, Before Gardens After Gardens, set to release on February 7th of this year via Rodriguez Lopez Productions / Sargent House, Big Sir has created an authentic and diverse harmonious experience bound to have you yearning for more. When we received the album from Sargent House and dove in together, it felt like love at first sight.

Sound Colour Vibration was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak with Big Sir and get a firsthand look at the creative dynamic behind this band and their insight regarding a shared passion for music enriched with Los Angeles tradition, trust and mutual respect for one another, the influence of fearless whip-cracking manager and Sargent House matriarch, Cathy Pellow, creative contributions and unique signature musicality of fellow artists, and the strong camaraderie setting the foundation for their beautifully cultivated sound. Ladies and Gentlemen… It’s our pleasure to present to you Sound Colour Vibration’s exclusive interview with LA band, Big Sir.

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Big Sir the long time band of Lisa Papineau & Juan Alderete have a fantastic new album called Before Gardens After Gardens coming out on RLP/Sargent House on February 7th. You can stream or get a Free Download of the track Ready On The Line  HERE . We have the CD and some new merch now available for Pre-Order HERE and we are offering a great Deluxe Bundle for only $30. To find out more about the Album and all the special contributors that played on it go HERE.

Big Sir is Lisa Papineau and Juan Alderete. After a five year wait Big Sir have just finished their 3rd album and it will be coming out on RLP / SH in January 2012 with a lot of great special guest players including Cedric Bixler Xavala on drums. We have already been talking a lot about Lisa and Juan’s other projects; Sargent House put out Lisa Papineau’s solo album Red Trees in 2010 and is releasing the new EP she just did with our own Matthew Embree under the moniker ME&LP entitled Chez Raymond on August 9, 2011. Juan plays bass in The Mars Volta, as well as in the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group and Vato Negro. So we figured it was time to start talking about their new Big Sir album and to introduce to you this music if you are not familiar already. So we will be giving away for FREE Download their last album entitled Und Die Scheiße Ändert Sich Immer all weekend, just enter your email address - we won’t spam you and you can unsubscribe anytime if you don’t want any further news from Big Sir.  Enjoy and share it with friends! - Sargent House / Rodriguez Lopez Productions.

(Source: sargenthouse)

Lisa Papineau is one of our favorite singers and musicians at Sound Colour Vibration and we are very excited to bring this interview to our site. She was born in New England and is a current resident of Paris, France. Lisa has released two full length solo records, two records with her project Big Sir that includes The Mars Volta bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña, soundtrack scores and so much more. Now with a new Big Sir album completed and awaiting release along with a new project with RX Bandits guitarist and singer Matt Embree, she has created a legacy of music that is already showing its timeless nature. We contacted her to get some info on these various new projects and these are the results, enjoy! ~ by  Erik Otis

You are releasing an EP this July through Sargent House with singer and guitarist of RX-Bandits, Matt Embree. What brought you guys together for a release and where was the EP recorded at?

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 check out the feature on Lisa Papineau by Chris Martins in LA Weekly.

REPOSTED By Sargent House

Lisa Papineau performs “Rainmaker” a new song with Chris Tsagakis aka Technology on drums and Michael Morgan also on drums. We truly only got one take of this one and then we got shut down because it was loud. Lisa wanted to shoot at night and after the Fang Island glassroom well let’s just say my neighbors hate me. The shut down did at least bring about one of my favorite sessions of Lisa stripped down, almost a whisper performing “Sorry I Can’t English” if you missed that one check it out below. 

Singer/Composer Lisa Papineau is best known for her work with Tyler Bates in Pet and Big Sir with bassist Juan Alderete of The Mars Volta. But those aren’t her only projects; she has contributed vocals to Air, M83 and many others, as well as produced her own solo albums. Her most recent of which is Red Trees, released on Sargent House May 5th. She is exceptionally prolific! Lucky for me I received a press release that included a link to an mp3 of the single, White Leather Pants, otherwise I might have missed out.

Papineau is an inspiring artist who doesn’t let her battle with multiple sclerosis get in the way of her work. In fact, at the time this interview occurred (mid-May) she had just released Red Trees, was performing some dates in France and then was back in the recording studio making even more music.

Reading that fateful press release I got a picture of an adventurous woman with vast reserves of creative energy. Since I admire people who aren’t afraid to pick up and move to different states, or in her case, countries, I wanted to ask her about that experience and how she manages to be as prolific as she has been. Though she was in the middle of promoting her new release, and recording even more music, she took some time to answer my questions via email.

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