Q&A: From Bedroom Covers to Chaos and Clarity: How Pacifica Found Their Voice.
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY DANY MIRELES ☆
Photo by Jaxon Whittington
PACIFICA’S STORY DIDN’T START WITH A POLISHED STUDIO—a major label sign, or even a clear artistic path. It began with two people on YouTube who bonded over grainy covers, tangled guitar cables and a mutual love for The Strokes. What was lacking in conversation was made up for in instinct. Two strangers who understood each other perfectly once music started.
That sense of raw connection threads in their brand new album In Your Face!, a project that blends metaphor and honesty, distortion and clarity, and imagination for emotional truth. The duo carries their Argentinian roots proudly: the explosive energy of their home crowds, the lineage of legendary Argentinian rock, and the devotion to performance that ignites audiences from all around the world. Whether they are at home in Buenos Aires or preparing to tear up stages in Asia and Mexico, their cultural identity fuels not just their sound but their chaos.
This album is a testament to their growth as writers, performers and two people who have navigated tours, couches, chaos and countless late-night conversations together. In conversation with the Luna Collective, the band dives into the evolution of their friendship and the shift to creative courage that shapes this brand-new era for them.
LUNA: You started as YouTube cover artists bonded by a mutual obsession with The Strokes. What do you remember most vividly from those early days of making music together?
PACIFICA: What I remember the most is a feeling of musical connection that I hadn’t felt before, with somebody I didn’t know at all at the time. It was funny because we were so socially awkward with each other, but musically, we connected instantly. I hold those memories really close to my heart because we were like two babies getting to know each other, almost scared of each other, but somehow able to communicate perfectly through music.
LUNA: In what ways do your Argentine roots influence the energy or storytelling of Pacifica, even when making a very LA-facing alt-rock record?
PACIFICA: I feel like our Argentine roots really show up in the way we present ourselves. We even have a few songs directly inspired by Argentine rock, and there’s such a strong rock culture in Argentina that never goes away—it’s the same three or four historic artists everyone listens to, so it’s kind of inescapable. We hear it all the time, and I think we carry that influence into the way we perform. We’re very energetic, and we really want to be there with the crowd. Crowds in Argentina are crazy, and that sets the standard for what we want people to feel at our shows. Wherever we are in the world, we try to bring that same energy to the stage, and usually the audience rises to meet it.
LUNA: In Your Face! is described as turning recklessness into revelation. What was the spark that made you want to center this album around chaos and emotional loudness?
PACIFICA: I think it came from a place of wanting to be honest with this album. With the first one, Marciana and I were still getting to know each other, and that meant that when we were writing, we had a bit of a front up. We wrote a lot about imaginary things or about other people because we weren’t yet able to have those deeper conversations about what was really going on with us, and that showed in the music. By the time we made In Your Face!, we had gone through so much together, we toured, traveled, shared the same bed, stayed on people’s couches, and of course, we got to know each other more and more. So we wanted this album to be more vulnerable and honest, to ask ourselves who we were as a duo and what we actually wanted to say. We’re chaotic, we can be immature, we change our minds constantly. We’re up and down and a little crazy. So the album comes from wanting to show what was truly going on in our heads at the time.
LUNA: If Freak Scene introduced your sonic identity, what did you feel In Your Face! needed to say about who Pacifica is now?
PACIFICA: This album needed to be a little bit cleaner. As I said, we were trying not to hide, which also meant using fewer elements. The vocals are more upfront, and the guitars are way less distorted. Of course, there’s still distortion, but overall, it needed to sound a little poppier and cleaner. Having the vocals right at the front was intentional so we could say more and be more direct.
LUNA: You’ve said the album captures “feeling everything too loudly.” How does that intensity show up when you write together?
PACIFICA: We write about intense feelings, but the actual writing process is always very calm. It is never an experience of feeling everything all at once and immediately typing it out. Usually, we start by having a conversation about what is going on, what we are trying to say, and what we are feeling. The intensity shows up in a very calm way, with us simply saying things like maybe we can try this or what about that. We are actually very chill when we write, which makes it funny because the songs themselves sound so wild and chaotic.
As for the song with the biggest evolution, that was definitely “Let Me Have This.” It was the first song we wrote for the album, and it is very old. We played it many times before we even had a full demo, and it went through a lot of transformations both sonically and lyrically. It used to be much darker, and it was loosely about my mom in a strange way. We played it live for a long time, but it never quite fit this new era, so we kept trying until we realized we had another song in the same key with verses we really liked. We used the chorus of “Let Me Have This” and the verses from the other song, and that is how it finally came together. Fans had listened to the demo for so long that when the album version came out, they were confused because it was nothing like the one they knew.
LUNA: What was the most unexpected behind-the-scenes moment that happened while making In Your Face!?
PACIFICA: At that point, Marti and I had only ever written with each other for the first album, so going into this record felt completely different. We went to Los Angeles because we wanted to find the right producer, even though we had no idea who that would be when we arrived. During that month-long trip, we ended up writing with a bunch of people we had never met before. It became this funny, exciting experience where you introduce yourself to someone for the first time and within minutes you are already writing a song together. Some sessions went really badly, others went surprisingly well, and sometimes the connection just was not there and the music did not flow. But the whole process was fun and challenging, and it pushed us to grow as writers simply by stepping out of our comfort zone and collaborating with new people.
LUNA: Was there a track that nearly didn’t make the album but ended up becoming essential?
PACIFICA: Yes. Actually, my favorite song on the album is “Wasted Drunk.” We had not planned on recording it. When we went in to produce the record, it was not even on the list of songs we intended to work on. But I am so glad we ended up doing it. I loved it from the start, and I love it even more as an acoustic piece. I love what it says and what it means, and it truly became one of my favorites. I am really happy it made the album.
LUNA: What’s something you allowed yourselves to do on this album — lyrically or sonically — that you wouldn’t have dared on Freak Scene?
PACIFICA: Lyrically, I think it came down to being brutally honest and relying less on metaphors. If we wanted to say something, we just said it, even if it was a little harsh or didn’t make us look the best, or if it meant admitting to something unflattering. On the first album, it wasn’t that we were filtering ourselves, but that level of honesty just didn’t happen naturally yet. This time it did. And honestly, this whole conversation has been so great. I love having the chance to share more insight into the album.
LUNA : What is something fans should look forward to in your upcoming tour?
PACIFICA: We’re playing a show here in Argentina, and it’s going to be the official album presentation, so I’m super excited. It’ll be our biggest show ever. And yes, we’re also playing Tecate Pa’l Norte in Mexico this March. I can’t really say much more just yet, but there’s definitely more coming. That’s all I can say for now.
Photo by Jaxon Whittington
