Bonson Berner is the brainchild of Argentine musician, photographer and architect Lisandro “Pato” Aloi. Following a period of both musical and physical exploration with avant-garde Argentine rock band Siga la Flecha – which played everything from international festivals like Pepsi Music (2005 – 2006 – 2007) to prestigious local jazz clubs and hidden musical tombs – Aloi left Buenos Aires and closed his architecture firm in order to set up sonic shop in Los Angeles. Soon, Bonson Berner came into being, and with it its first effort, the rousing Passport: an electronic, indie-rock extravaganza which met with major praise as it made the rounds across California. BuzzbandsLA stated, “Bonson Berner’s electro-charged rock bridges the gap between indie-rockers like The National and another well-known band with Argentine bloodlines, Diego Garcia’s Elefant. The first single “Running Days” is as urgent as it is concise.” Featuring the talents of producer Guillermo Porro (Actually, the other BB voice) and mixer Eric Corne, Passport was an idiosyncratic beast. The themes of universality, energy and global love exploded with a sound of electronic grunge and latin post-punk revealing shades of Depeche Mode, Joy Division and Manu Chao. Aloi found in Bonson Berner an ideal creative vessel: he directed the videos, he designed the album art, and filled his lyrics with all the stories, impressions and feelings he’d gathered traveling across the globe as a photographer.
Considering Aloi’s constant need of expression, which he describes as “the sound of endless voices coming from different directions”, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it didn’t take long for Bonson Berner’s second album, Reflection, to come along. This time, however – the voices met. Reflection – intimate, brooding, passionate – is Aloi’s most personal album to date. The Porro-Corne tandem is back on board, building on the sonics of the previous album; exploring the roots of rock ‘n’ roll with a fresh and inventive electronic approach. Bonson Berner (science equipment misspelled) scores major metaphorical points as a name; for this is a project that is both primal and scientific, melancholic and eager, global and specific, pure yet hybridized.
Reflection will be released on Forty Below Records, March 10th, 2015.