PULGAS

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Pulgas is the recording project of Simon Martinez (Flanafi) and Zane Shields. The duo met during college at University of the Arts in Philadelphia (now defunct) and bonded over a shared love of music and recording. Since then, they have continued to release music sporadically when they can get together, creating quickly and releasing quickly after, in an attempt to keep the art pure without fixation on promotion or speculative opportunities. Each album focuses on sonic exploration rather than attempting to regurgitate sounds that already exist. The creative process of the new album My Home is Made of Tin began by recording full songs to tape and then repurposing those ideas in abrasive and uncompromising ways. Written and recorded over the course of a month, the spontaneity of the music holds present when you listen. “Conceptually pushed forward by vague undertones of the commodification of everything we hold dear to us in life, nightmares, money, angels, and love.” When asked about the abrasive soundscapes, Simon mentions the 1990s horror film, Death Machine. “Specifically the scene where Richard Brake attempts to evade the death machine and meets his demise gruesomely."

The last Pulgas release dates to 2023, with the release of two songs under …spent the last few years living in a fucking cave. Simon Martinez and longtime collaborator Alex Kulick visited Zane Shields in Sedona where he was staying, spending six days writing and recording, largely amongst the caves and ruins. A video document was captured and many additional songs were explored on this trip. The duo also produced Bilal’s cover of ‘Seen and Not Heard’ by The Talking Heads, set to release in October for an official David Byrne covers album. Simon and Zane have another collaborative album in the works with producer and singer Salami Rose Joe Louis, set for release early next year. Simon also co-produced three tracks on the most recent Salami Rose Joe Louis album, Lorrings. Flanafi (Simon) and Pulgas (Simon + Zane) opened for Fievel Is Glauque on their most recent US tour. 

Zane Shields has taken a non-traditional life path his friends often call nomadic. He was living along the Ganga River in Rishikesh, India during the creation of our marketing materials for this album. Zane’s life changed when he began studying transcendentalism as a young teenager, he found the need to stay outside both physically and mentally. “Pulgas is a combination of pulling from what we love sonically and pushing it past its known limits, milk into clarified ghee. The 199 creative approach sprung from a joke but it sums it up basically: say yes to everything and record it all and don’t stop laughing. This continues to be how I see music: it should be lived and not just listened to.” He has kept his footprint light. Continuing to travel, never staying in one place too long, keeping himself an open vessel. If there is an idea, he will find a way to record it. “I feel that my lifestyle of being a house-less being contributes to that in a way where at the core there is this luminosity and the sounds are floating images, passing colors.” When asked about the creative process between the duo, Zane relayed, “Simon is the king of music and I am the court jester. I am the man who comes down from the mountain shining a light into your ears asking if you have really listened to anything or if you have simply just heard things. There are so many ancient codes in this music, tune in, drop out, as a mentor has said.” 

Simon Martinez has kept his life a bit more traditional, growing an artist’s favorite artist reputation for his solo music that he releases as Flanafi, as well as becoming a go to collaborator for his songwriting and session work, regularly performing and recording with the likes of Bilal, Moses Sumney, and Jazmine Sullivan. His work as Flanafi has continued to gain traction with albums such as The Knees Start To Go and sixth night. sleepless. you made the world. Wallowing, organically growing his cult following. Simon performed at Coachella this year as lead guitar alongside the Philharmonic.

In Zane’s words, “Simon is the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am the eternal void of darkness.”