Observador is a collaboration between video artist, musician and Mexico City resident Jose Luis Martin and musician / designer Jorge Verdin.

Observador started after a literal seismic shift: the 7.1 earthquake that shook Mexico City and southern Mexico in 2017. In the aftermath of the quake, Martin became an aid relief volunteer and surveyed the tremors’ devastating effects. The experience shocked Martin into not only questioning his personal priorities, but also gaining an acute understanding of the devastating power of nature’ and providing him with a now or never sense of artistic purpose. Soon after, Martin began composing demos by sampling multitrack recordings of an EP by his previous band, Guaycura Sounds. Seeking advice on beat and sequence programming, he then passed on these demos to Los Angeles based Verdin, who took an interest in developing the tracks further. Over long Messenger chats, they exchanged ideas about the tracks, but also concerns about technology, geo-politics and the rise of extremism. 

Also exchanged over chats, were links to various tracks and artists that inspired: old school electronic music (Tangerine Dream, Edgar Froese) retro-futurist from the Ghost Box label (Belbury Poly, Pye Corner Audio), Warp signature bands (Boards of Canada, Autechre, Aphex Twin), to post rock icons (Mogwai, Blackspeed You Black Emperor, Talk Talk, David Sylvian).

Their shared fatalism took shape in a loose narrative concept regarding an AI entity surviving some cataclismic event and roaming a desolate Earth, collecting data and that the songs they would write together, would serve as a soundtrack for the journeys of the roaming AI they dubbed El Observador (The Watcher). This sci-fi framework, plus their shared interest in the stark landscape photography of artists Richard Misrach and Wim Wenders, lead them to the creation of tracks with a panoramic and at times, desolate sound that fit with the project’s post-apocalyptic scenario.

The existential dread, and the musical information shared by Martin and Verdin through their online chats, permeates all the tracks on “Observador” in the form of expansive minor-key atmospherics that also reflect the duo’s deep post-punk roots that inform the approach and execution of the musical ideas on “Observador”, their debut self titled album.