You might have seen Juan Luis Carrera as a bass player for the Warmers (rip) a few years ago, he is active on other fronts meanwhile, mostly behind the buttons.
He is busy as recording engineer, you must have seen his name mentioned on kick-ass records from bands like the Boom, the Sorts, Golden, Monorchid, Kerosene454, the Crownhate Ruin, etc.
He also runs Slowdime Records together with John Wall, Slowdime is a kick-ass label located in Washington DC, I can't believe you never heard of it really!!!
Juan Luis also spends a lot of time touring with bands to run sound, he has been on the road with June Of '44 & Trans Am, to name 2.
That is how I met him in Belgium a few years ago ; Juan is a very talented, and also nice guy!
This interview has been done by electro-mail on January 5 of 2001.

photo kindly borrowed from the warmers@southern

Hello Juan Luis......have you been home this year? What have you done...?

yes, i've been home some this year...i'd guess at about 75 days.

Gosh...!

this is what the year 2000 looked like for me:
ran sound - Trans Am/europe January 4th - February 3rd
visiting my girlfriend - Parma, Italy February 4th - 17th
sound & tour managed - Quickspace/usa March 28th - April 5th
recorded basic tracks - Convocation of... for *GSL/Baltimore,MA April 7th - 9th
recorded basic tracks - Abilene for *Slowdime/Chicago,IL April 21st - 23rd
ran sound - Him/usa April 29th - May 11th
record & mixed - Cut for *Gamma Pop/Senagalia, Italy May 14th - 22nd
recorded basic tracks - Canyon for *Slowdime/Washington DC May 26th - 30th
ran sound - Modest Mouse/usa June 1st - 14th
ran sound - Sue G. & Rick Brown/usa June 15th - 20th
ran sound - Sleater Kinney/usa July 9th - 30th
visiting my girlfriend - Washington DC August 5th - 31st
ran sound - Modest Mouse/usa Sept 4th - Oct 9th
sound & tour managed - The Sea & Cake/usa Oct 17th - Nov 22nd
packed & move - from Washington DC to Benton Harbor, MI December 4th - 9th
recorded basic tracks - North of America for Progeria/Brooklyn, NY December 14th-16th
visiting my girlfriend - Parma, Italy Dec 20th - January 19th/2001

Why is it that you decided to stop playing in a band and wanted to concentrate on doing live sound and work as a recording engineer?

i wouldn't say that i decided to stop playing in a band, but that i put it on hold.
when the warmer's ended (oct 1997) i saw it as an opportunity to pursue my interests in recording..live sound followed.

Do you see that as a definite choice?

most definitely!

Have you played in other bands besides The Warmers?

Lungfish tour in 1997. i filled on bass for Sean Meadows when he got sick early on in the tour and wasn't going to be able to finish. he asked if i could finish the tour for him & since i new the other members i gladly accepted. those guys definitely made me feel like i was part of there band for those 20 shows.

Lois - Amy Farina played with her and somewhere down the line they decided they need a bass player.

Junk Man Ran - 2 shows

Junction - for 2 shows

Fuse - a band i played in when i live in Arizona with Eric Astor (drums), Alex Dunham (guitar) & Jim Wall (guitar).

True Society - the first band i was in..can't you tell by the name.

I read on the banned in dc list that there are still a few unreleased Warmer songs, is that true? If yes, what's gonna happen with those songs?

yes, it is true the warmer did demo 4 or 5 songs that we played out but never released. i original planned to mix those songs last year, but haven't gotten around to mixing them. when i do, if Amy (Farina) & Alec (MacKaye) like the mixes we will then decide where to go from there. maybe will released the rumored white record.

You were born in Arizona, right? How come you ended up in DC and got involved in the DC music scene?

i was not born in Arizona, but in San Juan, Puerto Rico where i lived until i was 5.
my family then moved to Arizona.
i moved to WDC because of my friend Alex Dunham.
if it wasn't for him i wouldn't have know the DC music scene existed as far as getting involved that all just sort of happened.

What is the Pirate House?

the group house i lived in Washington, DC from July 1995 until October 14th 2000.
the pirate house story could be better told by Guy Picciotto who was one of the original people who move into the house in 1990/1991.

Okay Juan, I will forward that question to Guy. (meanwhile I did that and you can read the Pirate House story here)

Anyways... Freddie (Erskine) told me you want to start your own recording studio, can you give me the details?

since about 1998 i've day dreamed about buying the Pirate House so i could build the basement out for a small studio. when the house did come up for sale it turn out to be a little to much for me to buy & build a studio. while a friend of mine Bill Skibbe & i where recorded Abilene last year we discussed our idea's of a factious studio.. the next thing i knew he's calling me up telling me he & his wife bought a building in Benton Harbor Michigan and wanted to build a studio and asked if i would be interested in getting involving. Let me start by saying Bill & his wife are amazing people..he's help build Electrical Audio & Soma studios so he has experience building studio's already..on top of that he build these great compressor & microphones under the name Skibbetronic... & his wife Jessica make soaps & works at Touch & Go as a publicist. how could i say no to such a great opportunity the construction has already begun..Bill is basically building the whole place with his wife and help from his parents & friends. he's
hoping to have it up and running by the end of 2001. i'm very excited about this place.
we are calling it Key Club Recorders at the moment.

Is their a band out there that you would love to record?

i'd like to record 764-hero.

Are their any recording engineers that you really admire?

of course i do. here's a list of just a few engineers i admire:
Don Zientara, Ian Mackaye, Guy Picciotto, Brendan Canty, J. Robbins, Bob Weston, John McEntire, Steve Albini, Tim Green, Phil Manley, Calvin Johnson, Christina Files, Andy Hong & David Lenci.

What are the quality's of a good recording engineer?

patients, the ability to accept failure and the ability to accept decisions that one might not agree with sonically.

When you tour with bands to run sound, do you always know them, or can they be strangers for you?

there always has to be a common thread between the band & i. whether I know them personally or we have a mutual friend.

Did you ever have a hard time while being on the road with a band?

the hardest time i've every had on tour was when i quit smoking. i'm sure i drove amy &alec of the warmers a little made with my insanity.

How do you see the future for Slowdime now that you & John aren't home much?

hopefully well. john & i are working to restructure the way we run slowdime.
honestly things will just be a little slower & spread out more then before.

(F.Y.I. John Wall, the other half of Slowdime, has moved to Missoula, Montana to study law.)

What can we expect from Slowdime in the new year?

CD's from Canyon, Abilene, Pines of Nowhere & Victory at Sea.

Do you have a girlfriend?

i do..her name is Barbara Delendati she lives in Parma, Italy.

What records are in your record player right now? and what are your favorite albums all time?

What i'm listing to at the moment: Fugazi "end hits"
Favorite Records: Talk Talk "the colour of spring"

What is the best show you ever saw?

Sonora Pines at the Black Cat (main stage) 1998

What is your wish for the new year?

to record a little bit more then i did last year.

I hope that wish will come true, I also want to wish you good luck with Key Club Recorders & Slowdime & all your other projects. Hope to see you again very soon, it's been awhile!! Thanks for making time to do this interview.
Take care & stay well, Kris.