Roll of the Dice: 6 questions with Sueños

Orange County shoegaze outfit Sueños recently released I Wish You Nothing But Love. The new record shows off the new wave of shoegaze, and TGEFM was joined by Christian and Diego of Sueños to discuss the record, their influences and what’s, up, dog.

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Congrats on the recent release of I Wish You Nothing But Love. What can you tell us about Sueños? What is the ethos for the band? Is there a mission statement from the start? A sound aesthetic or design? 

Christian: Crafting authentic melodies and heartfelt lyrics, our band’s mission is to create music that resonates with the human experience. We aim to connect with our audience by sharing relatable stories and emotions, offering a sound that speaks to the universal joys, challenges, and triumphs of life.

What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do”  Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?

Diego: I think for me the biggest shoegaze influences have to be Blue Smiley and They Are Gutting A Body Of Water. Me and Fern were listening to Spirit Of The Beehive radio when “Spin” by Blue Smiley played and I fell in love immediately. Anytime it plays I take a moment to really listen to it and enjoy it. No matter what I’ve got going on that song plays and always finds a way to make my day better. I think being able to convey that kind of emotion through the wall of chaos that shoegaze can be has really stuck with me and makes me want to find a way to convey mine in my own beautiful way.
Christian: My influences range a lot, from spanish rock to newer shoegaze bands and even hardcore.. Just to name a few would be like Caifanes, Hombres G, Nothing, Deafheaven, and Ceremony.

We’ve all got a few.. what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?

Diego: Honestly my biggest regret was not starting sooner! not getting my friends together to start a band sooner, not talking to people in my scene sooner, not being involved sooner! i started going to (hardcore) shows in 2016 and only last year started putting names to faces ive been seeing for years. it’s even funnier now knowing how chill everyone is and how supporting our scenes here in cali are. talk to your community!
Christian: As of right now I personally don’t have any regrets.

One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?

Diego: Stop depriving your ears of Execute, Lakuna, Big Blue World, Hex, Blossom, Total Pleasure, Fracture, Home View, our chicago homies Old Coke and Sleepwalk, Incari, Smother, and Smoked909 (shoutout to the IE!)
Christian: I agree with Diego on this one. Quick shout out to Orange County though.

Once the world has its hands on the split, what’s next for Sueños?

Diego: Practice hard and play shows. Definitely make plans to tour and do runs with homies in bands from other states.
Christian: Definitely more shows and more music from us soon.

What do you wish I asked about or that you had more of an opportunity to speak about during this interview?

Diego: I wish you’d asked me more about updog.
Christian: Probably where we are all from. Nathan our bassist and I are from OC. Diego our drummer and Fernando our rhythm guitarist are from IE.

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Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.