Ives Sepúlveda of The Holydrug Couple: «Moonlust is the mountain, and the albums that followed are the rivers that flow from it»

The Holydrug Couple, a cornerstone of Chilean psychedelic rock led by composer, guitarist, and singer Ives Sepúlveda, will take the stage at Centro Arte Alameda this Wednesday, October 8 at 8:00 p.m. to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a pivotal album: Moonlust.

This anniversary has brought the album’s songs into a full-band format and taken them on tour: “It’s sounding great live, and these dates in Mexico helped us a ton to really lock in the sound,” says Ives.

The concert at Centro Arte Alameda will be a chance for Chilean audiences to hear a fresh, powerful version of tracks like Baby, I’m Going Away and Light or Night—and, most notably, the album performed in its entirety.

Moonlust (2015), released by Sacred Bones Records, marked a turning point in The Holydrug Couple’s discography. It revealed a more introspective, texture-driven side that resonated strongly with fans of the genre.

“Moonlust really helped set the template for what would become the aesthetic, the sound, the idea of Holydrug Couple,” explains Ives Sepúlveda. “We’ve kept making music from 2015 to now; I’d say some records are different, but they’re all connected. Moonlust is the mountain, and from it flow the other rivers—the albums that followed.”

And there are plenty. Since Moonlust, the project has rarely slowed down, delivering at least two studio albums, a soundtrack, several singles, and their latest EP Bolero Tampoco, which they presented in November 2024 at Centro Arte Alameda and in multiple shows across Mexico. “I don’t know if the sound has changed—what I do believe is that it has evolved,” Ives reflects.

On this new tour, The Holydrug Couple are performing as a full ensemble: “Each member brings an incredible amount of improvement,” says Ives Sepúlveda. “Chichi, the drummer, plays the same parts from the record but expands them, making everything very dynamic. Agustín on bass can reproduce exactly what’s on the album while adding arrangements that make the songs feel more current—groovier and more fun. And Lio keeps the synths exactly as they are on the record; he’s very perfectionist.”

This process of reworking the music meant revisiting Moonlust’s compositions from a decade ago. “I had to go back to the original tracks of some songs to notice certain details in specific arrangements,” says Ives. “Bringing the album into a band format has been super fun and also challenging, because the record wasn’t tracked as a band—it was made more like an electronic music record, I feel.”

The concert on Wednesday, October 8 at 8:00 p.m. at Centro Arte Alameda promises to bring this celebrated work by The Holydrug Couple vividly to the stage and into the present: “We set out to play the album as-is—to perform it live exactly as it sounds on the record, with the same arrangements, with everything,” notes its composer. The evening will also make room in the setlist to revisit other phases of the band’s career.

Tickets are available on the Passline platform.

El Ciudadano