Sacramento Quartet Güero Release 'Mind's Eye' Single In Advance Of New Album 'Wednesdays' Dropping This Friday

Sacramento quartet Güero have released their latest single "Mind's Eye" today in advance of their sophomore full-length album, Wednesdays, arriving this Friday, April 7 via Dutch Records.

The guys once again tapped director Paul Bates to bring the song to life with a video which premiered earlier via Glide Magazine. Güero will celebrate with a hometown album release celebration on April 7 at The Starlet Room [tickets on sale].

Discussing "Mind's Eye," guitarist/vocalist Rik Krull noted, "We played this song for a while never really trying to tame it. When we play live in the greater Sacramento area, we tend to play a 2-3 hour set. During one of our gigs we had some time to fill and played 'Mind's Eye' knowing we could jam it awhile.

It ended up being an epic rendition, one that will never be played that way again. Luckily, we have, Russell our scribe who caught it on his phone. Maybe because we weren't really thinking it needed to be anything specific, everyone's part just fell into place, perfectly. Some of those things we played that night were developed into the recorded version since we were able to draw from Russell's recording.

We really like how we added the mellow beginning to the song and how, Mike changes to the four on the floor during the second verse. It's the little things about this song that we have grown to love."

Güero announced Wednesdays in January with the "Streams of Light" single, which Under the Radar called it, "a lost classic reemerging from a forgotten corner of the radio."

The album was recorded live at Pus Cavern Studios in Sacramento with ace recording engineer Joe Johnson and further elevated by Oakland producer and fellow musician, Akiyoshi Ehara (The Seshen, Geographer); who amping up and dialing down dynamics added greater tones, higher fidelity, heavy delays and string arrangements.

"We always incorporate something we haven't explored before and Aki was the maestro; he took our sound to another level. Nothing stands out as something which shouldn't be there or what one of us wouldn't play," added bassist Russell Volksen.

Whether casting drawn-out jams from their city's breweries or hanging with their friends in the skate community, Güero are a product of their surroundings and new album Wednesdays is no exception - extending a warm invitation from their place to yours, it's a soothing antidote for the hump days.

"We want to enhance the atmosphere of your environment whilst transcending a mundane existence," explains the band's keyboard player, Shea Ritchie, on why their cosmic swells and dreamy energy transcend expectations of the 'skate rock' memento they're reclaiming as their own.

"The world is so complicated; our music is a vibe to be used however the listener feels; put the record on in the background or dive deep and peel back the layers," they say. Emerging from the imagination of Rik Krull, Güero's line-up is completed with Ritchie on keys, Volksen on bass and Mike Ruiz on drums. Buds since working in skate shops, Rik and Shea were separated by the American Canyon winding between them until Rik moved to Sacramento. They met Russell on the scene and Mike's bands would provide their party soundtracks.

Growing up in a world of subcultures would later shape Güero's music with a unique documentary style; a genre-blending evolution from years spent watching kickflips caught on film while being introduced to music that would instantly get put on repeat. "When a skate video came out, we'd check out the music, it ingrained in us the need to keep digging," Shea recalls. Today, the band's practice sessions of jazz, psych, and even doo-wop are recorded by their 'Scribe', Russell on his phone's Voice Memos app.

Capturing each instinctive moment, the audio files are a permanent reminder of their authentic selves. "We don't play the same way every time," Mike explains of their fluid intuition from years playing together. "We take social cues from each other, mix things up to push us in new directions, catch that ride and flow into it."

Listen to the new single here:

Photo Credit: Mark Dillon @markthomasdillon

To post a comment, you must register and login.