Supertriste: Shoegaze from Chile and Latin American Melancholia

Formed in early 2022 out of a pure, shared desire to play live, Supertriste has quickly become one of the most vital voices in the Chilean shoegaze underground. Hailing from Iquique—an isolated city in the extreme north of a highly centralized country—the band members Hector Venegas (singer,guitar), José Roco (bass), Rodrigo Collao (guitar), Johan Castillo (guitar), Jorge Peña (drums) channel the physical and emotional weight of the desert, borders, and distance into a massive, melancholic wall of sound.

Their 2025 album, Bloop, is a towering, fuzz-drenched achievement. Named after the mysterious ultra-low-frequency ocean sound recorded in 1997, the record serves as a sonic metaphor for the band's own journey of ascending from the abyss to the surface. Capturing the heavy reality of their environment, it is no surprise that Bloop rightfully earned a spot on the Tape Wounds Best Shoegaze Albums of 2025 list.

In this interview, we catch up with Supertriste to talk about their unexpected DIY journey, the artists that shaped their sonic DNA, and why Latin American shoegaze carries its own distinct, heavy melancholia fueled by social tension, inequality, and historical memory.

"In Latin America, the melancholy comes from the context: inequality, social tension, historical memory, and centralism."

Can you take us back to the beginning of Supertriste? How did the band first come together, and what sparked the initial chemistry between you?

Supertriste was formed in early 2022 solely out of a desire to make music and the ambition to play live. There was friendship involved; we were friends before forming the project, which was an advantage when it came to generating chemistry both on stage and in composition.

When did shoegaze first enter your lives? Was there a specific record, moment, or scene that drew you into that sound?

We feel that our approach to that sound was through bands like DIIV, Deftones, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, and Nothing. However, at that time we didn't know the definition of the genre; we labeled it more as "indie rock" until we started getting much deeper into it. Albums like Koi No Yokan, DIIV's Deceiver, Whirr's Feels Like You, and TAGABOW's Destiny XL give us a lot of nostalgia, just to name a few.

Artists that left a mark on us, apart from our main influences, were bands like Los Tres, Radiohead, Ling Tosite Sigure, Tame Impala, Lucybell, Sonic Youth, and even the grunge of bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana. There were several others that indirectly made us reflect what we listened to in what we were creating.

Beyond the typical genre icons, what are the "unexpected" influences—maybe a specific film, a non-musical artist, or an obscure album—that helped shape your sonic DNA?

"Grisáceo," the first song on the album, was born thanks to a movie called I'm Thinking of Ending Things, which impacted us a lot and even opened up a range of concepts for future songs. We were also influenced by artists like Basquiat, King Krule, or even Skrillex.

I loved your 2025 album Bloop. I read that the title references the mysterious ultra-low-frequency sound recorded deep in the ocean in 1997. What drew you to that phenomenon, and how does it connect thematically or emotionally to the album?

We identified with that image since we come from an extreme zone of Chile (Iquique), an isolated territory within a geographically vast country. In that context, making your way or moving to the capital becomes a considerable challenge, and overcoming that distance was one of our main ambitions. Furthermore, the music we make is often categorized as noisy, a quality that is also attributed to that enigmatic sound. That is why we wanted the album to function as a journey: an ascent from the bottom of the abyss to the surface, a metaphor for our own path.

Do you each have a favorite track on Bloop? What makes those songs stand out to you personally?

"Nube" and "Grisáceo" are the ones that stand out the most for each of us. We feel these tracks have marked key points in our way of composing; "Nube" being the first song composed for Bloop, and "Grisáceo" because of the way it was born and the concepts it encompasses.

What has been the most surreal or unexpected moment for the band so far?

We would say the reach we have achieved with Bloop; the mere fact of now answering questions for a magazine that is outside our national media is something we saw as surreal a long time ago. We would also like to mention our participation in a festival network held here in Chile called "Rockódromo". To participate, you have to apply, get selected, and win a "competition" that takes place in regional festivals prior to Rockódromo, which is the "main event". We applied for several years, even with personal projects outside of Supertriste, but we were lucky enough to be selected the same year we released Bloop, and that was truly very, very unexpected.

How would you describe the current local scene in Chile? Is there a strong shoegaze community, or does the genre occupy a more underground space?What is the local scene in Chile like? Do a lot of people listen to shoegaze? 

The current scene in Chile is something that is being highly praised. Every day new bands and new minds appear, contributing musically to our culture, and we think it's great to be part of this whole movement. Personally, we feel that shoegaze occupies a rather underground position compared to what is being listened to and created in our country, such as post-rock and its derivatives. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that people enjoy listening to shoegaze just as much.

"coming from Iquique, isolation is not a metaphor: it is real. The desert, the border, migration, the distance from Santiago... all of that influences how we live and how we make music."

How does the Chilean or broader Latin American shoegaze scene differ from the classic British or American scenes? Is there something culturally specific that shapes how the music is written, performed, or received?

In Chile and Latin America, the reality is very different. We make music through self-management, from cities far from the center, in a long and highly centralized country. In our case, coming from Iquique, isolation is not a metaphor: it is real. The desert, the border, migration, the distance from Santiago... all of that influences how we live and how we make music.

When I listen to Latin American shoegaze, I often sense a very particular kind of melancholia. Do you think there’s a distinctly Latin emotional tone within shoegaze? If so, how would you describe it? Where does that melancholia come from?

Shoegaze here mixes with hardcore, with post-rock, and with the alternative rock that defined our generation. In Latin America, the melancholy comes from the context: inequality, social tension, historical memory, and centralism. In Chile, there is always a latent sense of instability, and that filters into the intensity and how the noise is felt.

For anyone who just discovered Supertriste, what other Latin American bands do you think absolutely everyone needs to be listening to right now?

Currently, Candelabro is giving people a lot to talk about in the country; they are even going to participate in Primavera Sound in Barcelona. Personally, we would like to recommend Tenemos Explosivos, Asia Menor, Estoy Bien, Cóclea, Trementina, Siniestra Pandora, and Chico Bestia, which are other examples of shoegaze in Chile. We would also like to add our alternate personal projects, which are Corales and Bonsai en Llamas.