Adam Torres - Balancing life and art

Ten years have passed between your solo debut and "Pearls To Swine". Can you tell us what has happened in your life during this time?

I've moved around a bit. I lived in Ohio, and for a few years in Ecuador, where I taught English and did volunteer work. I moved to Austin in 2011 and I've lived there ever since; I finished my master's degree and have been working for the state government for a few years now. I've always made music privately throughout this time, but I only recently decided to release it.

How has your relationship with yourself as an artist, and with your music, evolved over this time? Did you try to suppress it, or did you reach a kind of balance where you thought: "This will survive no matter what happens around it"?

I don't know. I just try to think about what's vital in what I do and how to access it, but nothing in terms of what might last. Like many others, my life experiences – especially the choice to step off the beaten path – are distilled into what I do. When you've been out on your own for so long, it becomes natural to do things for yourself rather than for others, because there's no one else around. I like this solitude in which I work.

First of all, I'd like you to comment on the title you chose. The Italian equivalent is a very overused slang expression ["perle ai porci", ed.], so could you explain to us the actual meaning of "Pearls To Swine"?

Sure, the title refers to the second track on the album, "Some Beast Will Find You By Name". But the idiomatic phrase comes from an episode of bigotry in the Gospel of Matthew. I'm basically an atheist, but I really loved the imagery and the power of that passage, and I also really like the idea of "devolution" and how ideals and beauty fade away over time. Beauty is a serious problem, and even the idea of beauty can be repellent, at a certain point. I wanted to write dynamic songs that would suggest this idea somehow, and the phrase "pearls to swine" felt right.

There's a clear break in your musical expression starting from "Nostra Nova": leaner arrangements, but I think the most relevant feature is having recorded the album live (aside from the vocals, if I'm not mistaken). "Pearls To Swine" has a very strong, raw emotional pull, it pulls you back and forth. It can also be a demanding album for a casual listen. What were your goals in terms of sound/atmosphere/arrangements in general for this record?

I wanted it to sound lean but "vast" – geographically speaking, in the sense that the songs had to sound like the American West, because that's where I live and where I was born and where my family comes from. The landscape is a character in this record, and it too is crumbling, "devolving" into something unnatural, like on the last track, "City Limits". I wanted the atmosphere of the record to carry the listener outward, to make them dream about the landscapes around and within themselves.

I've read in many of the articles about you or "Pearls To Swine" that you're described as a "prodigy" of the singer-songwriter world. I can understand why, after listening to "Nostra Nova", an incredibly beautiful and layered debut. Rock-solid songwriting, as is also the case on "Pearls To Swine". How do you look back now on that record and those days?

Thank you for those kind words. It's honestly hard to say what's different between then and now. I feel more comfortable experimenting with my voice, with how it can bend and move, than I used to. But time isn't linear, and who I was then and who I am now is still a person interested in similar things, similar ideals, and similar ways of seeing the world. My habits and my working methods are more tried and tested, for better or worse, and maybe a bit set in their ways in some respects. I'd like to take more risks now, more than before, and all I hope is to keep creating, learning and growing.

I read that "Nostra Nova" featured so many instruments and styles because you were searching for your musical voice. Do you feel closer to it now, or is that no longer something you worry about?

I feel closer to it now, because I've spent a lot of time getting comfortable with my identity. How I play guitar, how I sing, it all comes from a place I feel is uniquely mine, and one I finally feel at ease with.

How influential have the current members of your band been on "Pearls To Swine"? You can definitely recognize that feeling of "looming apocalypse" that Thor Harris brings to a track like "Outlands"…

The band members inspire me immensely. The percussion on the record, played by Thor Harris (conga, vibraphone, cymbals, triangle) and the drums by Matthew Shepherd and Rodolfo Villarreal III are a focal point of the album, along with Aisha Burns's violin parts, which counterpoint my vocal melodies and lyrics. Dailey Toliver's bass parts are the mortar holding it all together, and so they're vital too.

With Shearwater you share the deep-seated theme of the sacredness of nature and its relationship with the human soul – or at least that's how I clearly perceive it. "Juniper Arms" is inspired by the book "Desert Solitaire", a kind of Colorado answer to "Walden". Can you tell us about the book and its relationship to your song?

Thank you. I'm deeply struck by how we humans can and should connect with nature, and how that connection gets damaged over time. The concept of nature is easily grasped, because we try to assign it preset definitions and values. The idea of a place that's less affected by social, economic and technological shocks can be therapeutic, and that, in part, is what my song "Juniper Arms" is about.

Many have recognized your talent, the artistic drive in your music, as a true equivalent of the great names of the past. That's certainly something rare today. If you had to choose, which name stands out for you and your music?

It's kind of people to say that. I wouldn't know, I don't think about these things much, but I'm flattered that people relate to my music that way.

I also read that there was a bit of disillusionment behind your withdrawal from the music world after the release of "Nostra Nova". How do you find this world, from your perspective, ten years on?

In a way, it's invigorating to exist in a music world that's different from the one of ten years ago. It's easier to communicate with people and listeners and with other musicians now. But things are much more ephemeral (and they'll be replaced by an even more ephemeral musical future), it's really overwhelming to realize how much music is being produced and how to manage to make it all your own.

What are your plans for the "Pearls To Swine" tour? Can we hope for a European tour with the full band?

We're all touring for the next two months here in North America. We'll probably announce more dates for early 2017, and there are plans to bring the band to Europe next spring.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google