Balthazar Aguirre of BALTHVS had a chat with KGNU DJ B Smith about their upcoming spring tour and new music. Balthazar shares excitement for their return to Colorado, where the crowd is known for its openness to live improvisation and musical risks and reflects on how the Grateful Dead’s spirit of improvisation influences their sound. (Interview date: 2/6/2025)
B Smith: Balthazar Aguirre is here chatting with me today. Balthazar, so good to see you again. How are you doing today?
Balthazar Aguirre: Wow, Brian, what an intro. That’s a long one
B Smith: Thank you so much for coming by. I’m so happy to see you. You’re certainly no stranger to the station. We’ve had the opportunity to chat almost two years ago now and things have come so much further along for you guys in those past two years. And, with just heading into kicking off the spring tour and some big festival news just announced, how are you feeling going into this run? What do you think fans can expect from this round of live shows?
Balthazar Aguirre: Oh, man, much like you said, it’s been quite a busy year and it’s getting busier by the day. And I love that a lot of our business is happening in Colorado. We got multiple dates going on and we’re just stoked for the tour. We remember Cervantes. It’s nice not to be in the side room, but in the main room now. And we remember what we played last year. We’re not gonna play any of that. We’re gonna play different stuff, new stuff, and I don’t know. We’re just ready for it.
B Smith: Yeah. And congrats on moving up, moving over from the other side to the ballroom. That’s certainly a big increase in the number of people who are able to attend. And with so many musical influences, like you said, when you’re prepping for a show, you have psychedelic funk, Latin rhythms. How do you organize all of that in trying to decide what to play for a room? How does that work?
Balthazar Aguirre: Oh in the case of let’s say Cervantes, since we were there last year, we just look at the setlist from last year, and it’s we already gave them that, so people are, a lot of the same people are gonna come to this, in a few weeks, so let’s give them something entirely different, and because we have so many different styles and so many songs, we can work with a 70 song repertoire there’s plenty to choose from and we have a certain idea, but we also in the good spirit of humanity and the present, we like to keep it organic. And sometimes we don’t even know where we’re heading into.
B Smith: I love to hear that. How do you think a Colorado crowd compares to other places? When you look out from the stage what do you see? What are you looking to get back from us?
Balthazar Aguirre: I would say it’s like It’s a crowd that loves The Dead, for example, and it’s no stranger to the jam band scene. The people of Colorado love actual musicians playing real music and improvising live, and that’s the spirit of what they’re into. They want to see the magic. They want the band to take risks and to try different stuff and they’re extremely open to it and you can feel the vibe and you can connect with them. It’s such a friendly place and you feel a comfort to stretch out. You don’t want to play the songs as they are in the studio. You want to play something different and not every crowd is like that. Some crowds, you just want, you just play your song and you’re done. Whereas the Colorado crowd, most of the time, is just very open for some magic to happen at some point during the concert.
B Smith: I’m smiling ear to ear because I remember a specific moment from when you guys played the Velvet Elk. Was it October or November of 2023? It was towards the end of your set and I think you might’ve stumbled into it. I don’t know if you planned it, but you dropped into Misirlou by Dick Dale. And I think the whole room, like collectively their minds exploded. Like we were ready to run through a brick wall at that point. It was just so much fun. And I think something like that was possible because, the room was so small, you’re a foot away from all of us, but moving into a stage like Cervantes where, you’re a couple feet up and a couple feet back, how do you think that might change the energy or the vibe of your approach?
Balthazar Aguirre: Oh, I think it’s just gonna be maximized and fortunately a ballroom still captures both the acoustic and the magic of a closed space and you still have that level of intimacy with the crowd. It’s very different with the festivals and, it’s been amazing to just go through so many festivals outdoors and get to get that experience up on your own, within you, and so the ballroom is just gonna be magic. I know we’re just gonna have a lot of fun. It’s still that perfect level between big and a nice sound. But it still retains personal. I think if we go beyond that, then the dynamic will change. I
B Smith: agree. I think the ballroom can be a lot of fun. And, the way it has that U shape with the mezzanine up top, I don’t know, it can create that kind of intensity where you still feel all the eyes in the room are on you. I know I’ve been telling all of my friends about the show and I certainly I’ll be there and excited to dance along with you guys. You had mentioned earlier that the Colorado crowds have come to expect a certain level of musicianship, maybe some improvisation. Obviously I know that you guys have had some influence coming from, just your interest in the jam band scene. Obviously this leads to a question about the Grateful Dead, but how do you feel like maybe the Grateful Dead has influenced your sound and how do you feel like it continues to evolve?
Balthazar Aguirre: Oh, it’s even though we don’t take from the same fruit, like from the same tree of Americana and country and rock and roll because we’re in Colombia we still take that free, open ended spirit. And I also developed myself as a musician back when I was very young in experimenting with psychedelics and being with other musicians in that state. And obviously as a professional, I haven’t done that in years, but you still draw from that experience to be able to talk telepathically to your other band members and sometimes you feel it with the audience and the audience is on a trip on their own and you get that feedback from the crowd and instead of just playing a script, you’re actually moving and adjusting in real time to all the energy that’s happening, and our songs are designed in a way that even though we can just play the song, we can stretch out at any moment, and both Santi and Joa know that I put some pretty hard curveballs every now and then, and suddenly, I’m in a different space, but they expect it because we love to keep it very organic between us and the crowd and not do some, it’s beautiful when professional bands do amazing shows with click tracks and, and sequences and makes it sound so professional and tight, but we just. It’s a different crowd and I believe The Dead were always like that. They weren’t afraid of making little mistakes or not being perfect because it wasn’t about perfection. It’s about capturing a certain moment of the present between you and the audience and the other musicians and I think that’s the spirit that we like to walk along.
B Smith: Absolutely, and I think that’s the social contract between the band and the audience, at some point in the end, we’re all in it together and creating something bigger than our own experience. And I think that’s what makes music so meaningful and so much fun. With all of this touring, and all of the festivals that you guys have been playing there’s a lot going on for you for BALTHVS. Beyond this run, what’s next? Any new music or any secret projects in the works?
Balthazar Aguirre: Yes actually, if you guys head into Spotify or I think it’s Spotify right now or Apple too, you can pre save directly from the app our upcoming single. It’s like Harvest has been an amazing year for us and being able to play this new album, but now we’re heading into new territory. On the eve of the day of our show in Cervantes, February 21st, we release our second single off the fifth album, which doesn’t have a name yet. And we hope to be able to play it and people are going to be able to listen to it there that day. And we’re also releasing another single the month after and the month after, as we’ve always done since we’re a band. So the music never stops and we just can’t wait to share it with you guys.
B Smith: We can’t wait to have you back here in the Centennial State. We have a pair of tickets to give away to see BALTHVS at Cervantes Masterpiece on Friday, February 21st. We were talking about so much live tracks. I queued up one that was in my lineup that was pretty excited to play today. This one is Hotline Bling, the Drake cover from BALTHVS. Balthazar, thank you so much for calling in today. Again, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and I can’t wait to see you in a couple of weeks.
Balthazar Aguirre: Yeah, we’re going to do it in person. So thanks for having us. Take care.
