November 14th, Spanish experimentalist Suso Sáiz joins us alongside Suzanne Kraft at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ.

In the early ’80s, a group of young conservatory-trained musicians came together to explore a “new music” drawing from American minimalism, improvisation, ambient, and Non-Western traditions. Guitarist Suso Sáiz, percussionist Pedro Estevan, and soprano singer Maria Villa would form Orquesta de las Nubes (The Cloud Orchestra) and become a pivotal group in the burgeoning Spanish avant-garde releasing a string of albums on Madrid’s now cult favorite label Grabaciones Accidentales, which was also home to groups such as Finis Africae, Mecánica Popular, and Ishinohana.

Like many others around the world, our first contact with this scene of “Accidental Music” in Spain was through Dutch label Music from Memory, who released a few brilliant compilations of Orquesta de las Nubes, the one-time project Música Esporádica featuring American percussionist Glen Velez, and the solo works of Suso Sáiz. Filled with an otherworldly beauty and floating ambience, the collection of archival releases struck a chord with music lovers attuned to a deeper, more intentional way of listening, and also played a part in the following wave of contemporary ambient music.

Suso Sáiz remains at the forefront of Spanish experimental music. Over the years, he has collaborated with world-renowned musicians like Steve Roach, Jorge Reyes, Salif Keita, Christian Fennesz, and Gigi Masin while also producing for many Spanish groups, including pop-rock outfits like Esclarecidos, Duncan Dhu, Celtas Cortos and indie-rock bands like Los Planetas and Los Piratas. While his work in the ’80s explored minimalist new age and fourth world, his recent explorations have evolved into electro-acoustic experimentation and more texture-based composition.

“Evolution is necessary for me. I try to repeat myself as little as possible, and I trust that my music has changed during all this time. I think my principles were previously more anchored in traditional concepts, structures, harmonies, and rhythms. Little by little, they disappeared, at least on the level of evidence, and my music became more horizontal, static, and reflective. Timbre became my main interest as a means of expression and experimentation with textures.”

A dream lineup for us, Suso Sáiz will perform at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ on Friday, November 14th with an opening solo set from Suzanne Kraft + musical selections by the team behind In Sheep’s Clothing. Tickets are available now!

Below, we’ve highlighted a few essential releases and projects to dive into the expansive world of Suso Sáiz.

Musica Esporadica

“The idea of getting together Orquesta De Las Nubes with Glen Velez, Layne Redmond and Miguel Herrero in a recording studio arose when Glen and Layne visited Spain to hold a seminar on frame drums techniques. We had met Glen some years before during an event that took place in the amazing “Aula de Música de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid”… In 1985, during one of those sessions, Miguel Herrero joined us. On that time Miguel and meI used to play together in a club each week, where we made a bizarre fusion between pop and repetitive music… The recording was made with an incredible fluency and about 12 hours after, we had recorded Música Esporádica. Fluency, spontaneity, close friendship was the fuel that fed us.” – Suso Sáiz

Orquesta de las Nubes

“With Suso’s sparse use of guitar loops, synthesizers, and drum computers in combination with the hypnotic percussion of Pedro Estevan and the wordless drifting vocals of María Villa, Orquesta De La Nubes would evolve as a group with a truly unique musical language; an ethereal and almost otherworldly musical realm… Developing at first as a live act, through a number of performances in Madrid and beyond, Orquesta De Las Nubes was very much connected with, and inspired by, the avant-garde arts scene in Madrid at the time. Throughout their shows, a close circle of friends, including a number of painters, sculptors and designers, would collaborate with the trio to create unique imagery and elaborate stage sets for the group’s performances.” – Music from Memory

Suspended Memories

Forgotten Gods is Jorge Reyes, Steve Roach and Suso Sáiz’s first collaboration as Suspended Memories. “Each member of SUSPENDED MEMORIES has dug up the roots of his cultural inheritance, seeking the shadowed origins of the musical experience on the path to discovering a valid ritual music for today. Each has recognized the necessity of creating a super-charged ambiance that transports both musicians and listeners to a plane of psychological intensity that cannot be achieved simply by bombast or by volume.” – Stephen Hill, Hearts of Space 

Suso Saiz + Suzanne Kraft

“Whilst having first connected at a Gaussian Curve release show in Amsterdam back in 2017, in which both musicians also performed, the two really got to know each other during a three day recording session that followed immediately after; ‘We would have good chats and laugh setting up and in between long takes but, for the most part, we almost didn’t talk when recording.’ An instant apparent chemistry between both was present and which, via effortless experimental jams, resulted in over 30 hours of raw material that would sit silently untouched until the tracks were slowly narrowed down to a potential album in late 2018.”