Coffee Break with Last Men On Earth

Last Men On Earth is a music project created by Eugenio Pérez and Sebastián Passo, Argentina DJs and producers. With sonic roots coming from experimental rock, the duo work on their art by focusing on innovation. They like to see their music as a fusion of organic rhythms, turned into electric melodies. Both governed by emotions, they aim to convey human thoughts and sensations through the simplicity of an electronic device.

hi guys, it’s nice to have a chat with you. First of all, when did you meet and how was this collaboration born? 

We met when we were 12 years old, in junior high school. After a short time of getting to know each other, we quickly discovered that we had things in common and similar taste, especially regarding music. As teens, we started playing instruments and had our own rock bands, with the dream of one day being able to live from music, which we realized over the years wasn’t going to be an easy task hahaha.

Several years later, while both of us were caught up studying for our degrees, we discovered electronic music and from there on, everything changed. We both quit our jobs and studies to fully dedicate ourselves to this genre, and that's when the project Last Men On Earth was born.

We would like to know about your workflow when working together in the studio. How do you usually assign tasks, who works on what generally?

Honestly, we both do everything. We learned together how to make music, produce it and also mix it, becoming obsessed with the art itself.

Nevertheless, each of us has a different workflow and complementary ways of doing things. Eugenio has vast technical knowledge while Sebastian, is a bit more intuitive and perceptive when working. Despite these differences, we find many common points in our way of seeing and feeling music, which allows us to create remotely without affecting our output. Communication is key, and being friends for many years helps a lot. 

What would you say are the upsides and downsides of working as a DJ/producer duo?

The advantages are plenty, starting with something simple: two heads think better than one. Always having a second opinion while decision-making, we believe, is one of the most important parts of any duo. In addition, the division of tasks helps speed up the work we must do.

Logically there are also disadvantages, one example worth mentioning is that in the DJ world, there is a lot of travel involved, which sometimes makes it difficult for some promoters to cover the necessary expenses for two people.

Being from Argentina, how would you describe the electronic music scene there, and what impact would you say it had on your sound?

The electronic music scene in Argentina has grown enormously in the recent years. The audience is globally known for being very passionate, and pretty much all DJs want to come and play here. 

Unfortunately, our sound and genre isn’t wildly known yet, a big part of consumers mainly listen to Progressive House with one of the genre's greatest exponents being from our country, none other than Hernán Cattaneo.

Despite this, it's been growing quite a bit, first thanks to artists like Santiago Garcia, Kevin Di Serna, Ditian, and Crudito Sava, and then, to the new generation of emerging artists where many of us got to know each other by making music and eventually became great friends. This is how the collective 'Amancay' was born.
A group of Argentina artists who try to innovate and bring some freshness to the predominant sound here.

We're very happy to see how many young people approach us nowadays through Amancay's social media to send us their music, wanting to be part of the project. We hope it keeps growing and thus drawing more attention to our craft, where not much room is given yet.

You just released a new EP on Nandu’s label ‘Out Of Options’, called ‘Ikigai’. Could you please tell us about the story behind this release?

It all started with "I Remember Towels"...

After the release of “Kakra”, we started planning an EP with Rasmus and it was the first track we sent to him. 

A short time later, "Since I Was A Child" was born, with a sweet and tender imprint that fit well with the vibe of “I Remember Towels". 

Everything was starting to take shape but, we both knew that we still needed a track designed specifically for the dance floor, so that's when we made “Off Meds”.

It wasn't until we finished the EP that we realized how much influence the Japanese culture had on these three songs and our youth.

That's when we found the ‘Ikigai’ concept, which talks about your 'reason for being', your passion, what makes you feel alive every day. 

For us, our 'Ikigai' is music, of course. So the name fits perfectly to complete this piece.

What gear or VSTs did you use to produce the 3 tracks of this EP?

Well, regarding hardware, the truth is that currently, considering our lifestyle, we believe that the more portable we are, the better. We sold synthesizers, guitar pedals, and other tools to finally travel and learn how to make music on the road.

As for VSTs, we keep changing them over time, getting bored, or maybe buying a new one and experimenting may lead to new track ideas. I think Omnisphere and Trilian from "Spectrasonics" were used quite a bit on this EP.

We don't want to forget to mention that our music involves a lot of sampling, something that we love and always find inspiring and fun. You may have heard Japanese anime vocals, loads of textures, household object hits, and more. Every sound is surgically selected, and we spend hours and hours searching for each sample. Unfortunately, we're not like those producers who finish tracks in 2 hours :)

Which track is your personal favorite and why? 

It's like asking a parent which child they love more hahaha. 

We always try to make songs which have something different or ‘special’, sometimes we achieve it and sometimes we don't, that's what making music is all about. 

In this case, even though we like and feel defined by all three, we have a lot of affection for "I Remember Towels".

You also just released a mix on our Soundcloud channel, called ‘Ikigai’ (written in Japanese). How would you describe it in 3 words?

Yes, we made a mix recently!
All the music used is unreleased except for the songs from our last record (‘Ikigai EP’), and all of it is made either by us or by artists from 'Amancay', so we could choose these three words:

‘Friendship, Blooming, Modern’

It is your second collaboration with Nandu’s label, the first one being your well-acclaimed track ‘Kakra’, which was supported by artists such as Dixon and Âme (and which we really loved). How was this track created, and what was the process to release it on the label?

"Kakra" began with a combination of frenetic percussions and some hypnotic vocals. At first, it was challenging to put so many sounds together in one song, but over time it took shape. It was definitely not one of those tracks that flowed naturally, it demanded many hours of work and creative effort, but it was well worth it.

It all began when Rasmus contacted us asking if we could share our edit to ‘Weval - Changed For The Better’ and he took the opportunity to ask us for music for his label. Despite feeling unsure about the track, we sent it to him, and the rest is well-known…

Are you working on exciting projects for this year?

Right now we are finishing some collaborations with friends plus other originals. We have a lot of unreleased music that we hope will be released in the coming months. After that, we plan to spend the rest of the year touring and getting to know more countries and wild dancers, which is one of the most beautiful things about this job.

And last but not least: how do you like your coffee?

Eugenio: not a big fan really, I prefer tea (we could inaugurate the 'Tea Break' section on Melodic Diggers haha). 

Sebastian: black and unsweetened, please!