"Sonic Youth miss me so much"

First, guitarist Lee Rbaddo, who announced in 2011 that Sonic Youth was ending "for a while". A few years later, singer Thurston Moore defined the band's status as "a parenthesis," while bbadist Kim Gordon was more direct and in his 2015 memoir he was talking about a "break." Various interpretations for the indefinite break of the influential New York quartet, the ultimate alternative rock band, whose official website is still active seven years ago, updating the parallel activities of its members.

Three dates that bring back to Chile Steve Shelley, the group's historical drummer, who enters today and Sunday will perform in Santiago, Concepción and Valparaíso. A return with a special flavor, nearly a decade from his first memorable visit to the country with Sonic Youth, which began precisely with his show with Rbaddo and other musician friends in the former prison of the port city.

"This evening in Valparaiso was wonderful, as was the first concert in Santiago with Sonic Youth, of which I keep the best memories," says Shelley, who this time with Riviera Gaz, the trio he has formed with Brazilian musicians – and ex Forgotten Boys – Paulo Kishimoto and Gustavo Riviera, with whom, at the beginning of this month, he released his first album, Connection.

"C is a group that was born out of friendship which makes everything easier. A unique energy is produced. It's something we appreciate and we feel lucky to be able to do it, because in the end we are, a group of friends making music, "says the 56-year-old musician, whose Interpretive style, powerful and dynamic is characteristic. but still at the service of the song, he made school in American alternative rock of the 80s.

Recognized for his work at the service of the independent record industry, commanding the labels Vampire Blues and Smells Like Records, Shelley He is also a tireless explorer of new destinations and musical allies. In addition to continuing drums for Moore and Rbaddo's projects, he adds occasional concerts with bands such as Sun Kil Moon and Mercury Rev. "I play and learn new places for a long time, and I can not really find anything better, what to do," says the musician, who also works with Rbaddo in organizing the Sonic Youth archives.

In this sense, although seven years have pbaded since the end, motivated by the breakdown of the marriage between Gordon and Moore, his mother-band continues to occupy an important space in their daily lives. "It's something that I miss a lot, a part of my life that will always be special, I feel lucky for what has been accomplished, we work hard to do it and I miss it, but things are changing and life goes on, "he confesses