With surprisingly little fanfare over the past 15 years, Costa Rica’s Las Robertas have become one of world’s most affable and enduring psych-rock outfits. As the San José-based band has steadily refined its blend of ’60s/’70s classicism, ’80s college-rock jangle and ’90s shoegaze, the rest of the world is starting to take notice. Recognition has come in the form of invitations to Coachella, Primavera Sound, Levitation and other high-profile festivals.
Punctuated by the soaring single “Everything I Wanted To Be,” Las Robertas’ fantastic fifth LP, All We Need Is Now (Kanine), embodies personal growth, resilience and a wandering spirit inspired by the otherworldly landscapes of the band’s home country. MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland reached out to vocalist/guitarist Mercedes Oller to learn more about the group’s creative process, the new album’s mindfulness slant and the lingering influence of Las Robertas’ native geography.
The title All We Need Is Now feels like both a statement and a philosophy. What personal experiences inspired the idea of living in the present?
Maturing and experiencing extremely adverse and difficult situations in life led me to practicing mindfulness and presence. Living one day at a time. Also, we started working on this album post-pandemic, and going through that experience changed the way we viewed life. And I believe that tons of people share the same feeling. Besides that, the situation worldwide is and has been extremely dense, destructive and overwhelming—factors we can’t control. Nothing is permanent in life, and everything is extremely fragile.
Costa Rica seems to be woven into every aspect of the album. How did it shape the atmosphere, imagery and even the sound of the songs?
There’s definitely a big influence overall in our music from the nature that our country has … and cultural things, for sure. It’s insane how it sometimes feels like you’re in a dream: the blue mountains that surround us, colorful tropical flowers, the rainforest, insects, animals, bodies of water, the shining sun and rain. All these elements inspire our lyrics and the visual work of the band. The appreciation of these natural elements has grown within us as time goes by. There’s also some magical energy when you’re out in nature here. I think it influences not only us but a lot of artists and people from our home.
The album radiates warmth and optimism, even when the lyrics wrestle with fear and uncertainty. How important was it to balance those deeper emotions with a sense of hope?
Warmth, optimism and the dreamy factor is something that comes naturally to us, besides our musical influences. Perhaps it’s because we live here, and honestly, that magical energy I mentioned plays an important role in it. We’re so lucky and grateful to live in a country like ours. Where we live definitely plays an important part in the music that we make—and it comes naturally without thinking.
As a six-piece band, how do songs typically evolve from an initial idea into a finished Las Robertas recording?
There’s different processes for different songs. Most are written by myself, Russell (Sánchez, guitarist and Oller’s husband) and Felipe (Oller, bassist and Oller’s brother). Normally, we work on the idea at home, bring it to practice with the rest of the band, then start to work in all the parts. We’ve also had songs that started out as a jam in practice, like “Third Door,” from our previous album, (2023’s) Love Is The Answer. But all the main ideas of songs start at home with an acoustic guitar.
After nearly two decades together, touring internationally and building an audience far beyond Costa Rica, what does success mean to Las Robertas today?
I was actually speaking about this specifically with our drummer Fabrizio (Valenciano) the other day at a radio show. I think Las Robertas is a passion project. Due to the circumstances of distance and our location, it’s very difficult to live off music. If we lived in Europe, for example, it would be a different situation for us. We all have our main jobs that allow us to also pursue music. Almost everyone plays in different projects. We feel extremely lucky to keep having opportunities as a band, so we just go with the flow and are constantly working on music and practicing.
See Las Robertas live.
