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AUBREY EDWARDS
i
i
L ocal arthouse Cine has
steadily grown from
a movie theatre into
a multi-media haven,
hosting visual art
installations as well
as live music all under the same
roof. Some of the most rewarding
programs feature a combination of
these art forms, and it's stimulating
to see how one work might compli
ment or inform the other.
In essence, it's the ideal venue
for Austin-based group Ola Podrida
to showcase its rich, sentimental
swirl of folk and shoegaze. While
its cinematic influences may not
be overt, main man David Wingo's
songwriting is innately informed by
the narratives and mood captured
on film. See, while other musicians
pay the bills by working day jobs or
waiting tables, Wingo supports his
music career with... his other music
career.
Wingo is an accomplished film
composer who got his start pen
ning the soundtrack for childhood
friend David Gordon Green's critically
acclaimed film George Washington
(released in 2000). He's since
written and performed original
soundtracks for All the Real Girls.
Guatemalan Handshake. Gentlemen
Broncos and many more, including a
documentary called Gerrymandering.
which is currently playing the film
festival circuit.
Besides a couple of
songs that rolled over
the credits of George
Washington and Great
World of Sound, these
tunes have been all
instrumental. But as he honed his
craft in the film world, he found that
his rock writing also grew stronger.
"[Writing film scores] has ended
up influencing my songwriting in
ways that I'm probably not even
fully conscious of," says Wingo. "I
am thinking in terms of images and
atmosphere, for sure. I've also got
ten more narrative in my writing
while trying not to make the lyr
ics too implicit—to keep a certain
sense of poetry and mystery—and I
didn't used to do that."
In fact, Wingo says when he was
writing songs in his 20s, he always
felt insecure about his lyrics, but
composing for film has shown him
that there is more to writing than
introspective confessionals.
"Once I stopped thinking in
terms of my own life and just limit
ing stuff to whatever I'm feeling
and started thinking more about
making it up—whether it be mak
ing up a narrative or maybe just
forming images or just throwing
words together to create an impres
sionistic type thing—it freed me
up so much."
It was only after this writing
epiphany that Ola Podrida came
together as a touring band and
a recording project. If you were
to just pick up the two recorded
works released under the name Ola
Podrida, the self-titled debut and
the recent sophomore album. Belly
of the Lion, without ever seeing
the group live, it would be easy to
mistake the group for a solo proj
ect. Besides a few drum parts laid
down by Matthew Frank, the records
were recorded entirely by Wingo,
a fact that he says was born from
circumstance.
"I think of [Ola Podrida] as a
band... that's always been my inten
tion," he says. "It wasn't necessarily
my choice to record the record on
my own; that's just sort of what
happened."
As Wingc moved from Austin
to New York and now back again,
he had trouble finding committed
bandmembers who had time to tour
and record. But now he says he
has settled indefinitely in Austin,
and the latest Ola Podrida lineup is
in it for the long haul. The group
recently returned from a successful
tour of Spain, and the U.S. dates
will include Andrew Kenny (American
Analog Set) on bass. David Hobizal
on drums and Colin Swietek on
guitar.
"The band I've put together in
Austin I am really happy with, and
everyone's excited about making
a record; so the the next time [we
record] it will definitely be a group
effort... which is kind of what I
always wanted in the first place."
Michelle Gilzenrat
( ' V
WHO: Ola Podrida, Dream Boat
WHERE: Cine
WHEN: Tuesday, July 20
HOW MUCH: $5
v y
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