The Brvtalist is pleased to present the first release from Rubber Mind Recordings. Ecstasy & Transmutations is a six track various artist release which combines friends and collaborators from across the globe. Over the past few years, the Bogota, Colombia-based project has become known throughout the world for its event series which fuses performance, music and ritual to create a powerful presence which extends beyond any particular genre or style. Today we present two track - the premiere of Greek artist ANFS’ contribution to the release titled “Piperi” as well as “The Last Breathing” by Rubber Mind founders Common Poetry.

To mark the release, we asked founders Lina and Sebastian a few questions about the first record, the project, life in Colombia and more (see below).

To order the release visit Bandcamp.

-JRS

The Brvtalist: What was the concept/goal with the first release on Rubber Mind?

Rubber Mind: The concept behind this first record, Ecstasy & Transmutations, arises from a ritual experience in April 2019 with the poison of Bufo Alvarius, a toad that inhabits the Sonora desert in Mexico. For those unaware of this unique species, it's a magical animal that secretes Bufotenina and 5-MeO-DMT through its glands after producing them for 10 months underground in hibernation. This psychoactive discharge can be removed without causing any trauma and can be consumed by combustion. Some archaeologists propose that this substance was used for ritual and healing ceremonies 3,000 years ago in this region of Central America. The experience is very powerful, for us it was a death experience, ego dissolution and merging with the cosmos in absolute darkness.

Graphic, editorial and audiovisual art is a representation of the psychoactive episode, it is very difficult to find the precise words to describe our experience, but we believe that art has that power, express the inexpressible.

The idea of producing records was always present. Since 2019 we have been working on the curatorship and materialization of this project, for us it is a great honor to have brought together artists and friends who previously performed in Bogotá during the Rubber Mind ceremonies, for this occasion Vanity Productions, Unhuman and Common Poetry. For the 2020, prior to the pandemic, we planned to present the Greek artists ANFS and Morah, as well the Colombian project Black Propaganda in Bogotá.

The purpose of this first release was to connect artists from the globe. In narrative terms, the compilation brings together six emotional compositions that sonically defines Rubber Mind, abstract music and heavy electronics, industrial soundscapes intertwined with ritualistic hypnotic sequences that transcend corporality and lead to a cathartic trance experience. The track list order opens portals, evokes moments of tension and transmutation culminating in an ecstasy of repair and relief...

TB: Performance art and ritual is a big part of your project. How did you want to inject some of these aspects into the physical release?

RM: We have always worked with physical creations, is very important for us. Specifically, a record could be a fetish object for many people.

Many of the performance actions that we present at events or in this case, a vinyl, contain art work which has been inspired by ancestral and primitive practices of our Native American culture or wrongly called “pre-Hispanic”. In this sense, the rituals related to ecstasy, the human-animal body, transmutation, non-identity and the harmonization of the cosmos are always present.

The photography, vinyl cover and video clip are compositions that combines the concepts previously mentioned and alludes to the originally naked and honest body, which transits between light and darkness. A symbolic action that means more than what is seen or heard.

TB: How has the pandemic been in Colombia? How have you handled any lockdowns?

RM: We live in a beautiful country dominated by terror, fear and inequality. Cases are increasing and the virus has reached places like the Amazon where the medical system is precarious and there is still no certainty about the number of cases or when it will be possible to resume routine activities. On the other hand, the corruption of the tyrannical government does not stop, the murder of social leaders is on the rise and the exploitation of natural resources seems to remain its best business. The political and social situation in Colombia is quite alarming.

In our case, events and projects in public spaces have been prohibited, in general the whole panorama is very uncertain and unexpected. We are living from what we love - or at least we try - and we do not have state support that can sustain the daily life of artists or agents of culture in this emergency. This, together with the devaluation of the Colombian peso, is something that has always hindered the production and execution of some projects, not only for us, but for the entire country.

TB: What's coming up next for you?

RM: In a few months we will present the second vinyl of Rubber Mind Recordings, this will also be a compilation of various artists from around the globe, again it will be a limited special edition. Additionally, we have some audiovisual projects in mind and hope to be able to hold another ceremony soon...

Finally, we want to thank people, artists and projects that have supported us in these three years of Rubber Mind, it is thanks to their support that today we can present and share this first vinyl.