Who is Lucia Ponticas?

Lucia is a woman who loves music and animals, which still believes in humanity and seeks to make this world a little better than it was.


Many people might know you for playing in other bands like Vigilante, why the urge to start your own project?

To sing, has always been my first passion, but after singing in a couple of bands, I decided to do my own music to interpret the music and lyrics that really motivated me. So I started raiding with keyboards and secuences, then I was trapped in live music for quite a while, mainly by giving priority to my studies in architecture.

So this dream was left to one side of the road for several years. It was time to express myself in a new dimension and let out a part of my mind that was asleep.


With Vigilante you did a lot of shows, even played in Europe, how do you look back at that time and what is the memory you treasure most?

With Vigilante I could grow a lot as a live musician, especially in Europe where we went on tour, like the support band of Agonoize (Tortour2007), playing in Denmark, Norway and Italy, and traveling across Germany (playing in 5 citys), to finish at the Electronic Plea5ures Festival in Berlin.

This trip marked my memory very much, because we could represent the strength of Latin American music, and I can be able to be rated as a musician, with respect and a professionalism that is not very common in my country.


Can you give an introduction to Fenix?

FENIX is a musical project that was born in 2008, which focuses on achieving a very personal mixture between electronic instruments and voice, playing between industrial and electronic music untethered.

Also, the humanity must reborn from its ashes many times during its history. Every time there has been an abuse such as war, slavery, racism, sexism, genocide, and so on ... We must have to rebuild our strength and faith to keep going and believe again.


How do you create the music for Fenix? What kind of equipment do you use?

I start searching for sounds and melodies that inspire me to create new instrumental tracks, then I experiment with the voice and lyrics, relative to the mood and the idea that I want to communicate.

At this stage I want to simplify my life (in the begining i occupied many equipement : sequencers, synthesizers and samplers) and now often I use only software (Cubase, Reason, Live, Wavelab, etc.). And midi controllers to generate and play the tracks.

Then I overlay the analog layers to differentiate my music from the more pure electronics, with the voice and guitar in some cases.


What is the hardest for you to do in the music of Fenix?

The hardest thing for me is knowing when to stop. I am a very perfectionist person, so I never really find a track ended. I have to fight with this pressure, all the time.

I have stored and forgotten, many tracks that I can not find satisfactory with my expectations. This is why i release an EP and not a full album.


Fenix is an act that is very socially aware and has a strong message, what can you tell us about this?

The main interest for this project is to harness this medium to motivate people to react to abuses around us, and against a political and monetary system, which oppresses the humanity with physical, mental and spiritual slavery and poverty.

Another very important issue for me is the defense of the Animal Rights. I'm a vegetarian who wants to help support and strengthen respect for all the species (not only human). I am firmly opposed to all forms of torture, abuse and cruelty committed against animals.

As my musical model i can choose Björk, as the woman who led me to believe, that a woman alone can be able to freely make and interpret her own music. I´m also marked by bands like Skinny Puppy, Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, among other Industrial, Metal and Electronic bands that influenced me.


In your opinion, what can people do to make this world a better place?

I believe that before all the prevailing pessimism, apathy and complacency, we must overcome with passion and optimism to build, contribute and react.

They made us believe that our efforts are in vain, that the system is stronger than us ... But nothing is farther from the truth.

The reality in what we live, are directly generated by ourselves, with each step, every opinion and every change of concience.

Everything you do, however small, makes a difference.


You made you first ep "Not my war" how are the responses on it so far and do you feel you have find your sound or will in continue to develop?

The responses were very contrasting, because I had a great reception when I had only instrumental tracks, but when I added my voice the mayority lost interest, so I had to find a new audience who would like a more experimental or passionate electronic music (more Latin maybe).

I still can not find my sound, much less an specific genre of classification. I believe that music is an embodiment of the soul of the artist, so as my mind is always full of old and new influences and ideas, I think that my music will continue on a path of constant discovery.


How do you look back on the making of this ep?

On the one hand it was very difficult, because I had accumulated a lot of ideas that I wanted to express. It took me a lot of trouble to get the most coherent and related tracks, to conform a harmonious whole. I made many tracks and only 5 seemed to materialize the message that I wanted to convey at that moment.

But ultimately this EP, gave me a feeling of peace and spiritual balance, which rarely have felt. It was loke a long and deep session of exorcism,  that clarified and eased my mind of a lot of weight.

Fenix was always think as a study project, because my first need, was allways about expression and was not about broadcast. But now that my music has been more welcome, the live show now becomes another facet of expression to be consider in the future.


It seems that there are coming many new talented bands out of south America, what can you tell us about the scene overthere?

I believe that the new possibilities for communication and diffusion (globalized through the Internet), are allowing to display the Latin American artists, who previously did not have the resources to show their music.

There is a very large potential, of very good musicians who are bringing new ingredients to the already established music genres (Vigilante/Chile, Psyborg Corp./Colombia, Rabia Sorda/ Mexico, Dead Jump/Brazil, Arian 1/Peru, etc.)

I think we added a lot of passion and bring a new sound, based on a very diverse and contrasting musical and social culture.


Any last words for the readers?

Thank you for supporting underground music across the world... I hope you enjoy FENIX.


www.myspace.com/fenixspace