Cakes and the Wilco, Nels Cline guitar strap project

Fhoto: @charles_harris_photography

We will soon be taking a vacation, and for a few months now we have been meaning to tell you something incredible that happened to us last year. In this year 2023, that story was condensed and culminated into something even more incredible. It was the fact that Nels Cline, the guitarist of Wilco, wore a very special strap of ours at the Harpa in Reykjavik due to the story behind it. But as with all journeys, the important thing was the path and not the destination.

Along that path, beautiful and thrilling things have happened, and the reason behind it was a fortuitous crossing of paths at a bakery in Puerto Lumbreras. As the story has its charm, we have summarized it in the form of a dialogue because every time we recall it, we burst out laughing. So, we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

 

RightOn!: Let's start from the beginning. How was the Nels project forged?

Ezequiel: Well, I consider myself a person two steps below normal. One late summer afternoon, I entered my business and there were two guys with really cool t-shirts. Without hesitation, I told my colleague to let me attend to them. I don't know why, but something told me that those customers were special. Something about them sparked something in me, and instead of procrastinating, which is my specialty, my curiosity about those t-shirts made me take care of them.

R: That day was really awesome, yeah! We had just come from a festival in Malaga where we had been invited by Jamiroquai's bassist, with whom we are collaborating. The rest of the festival wasn't really our thing, but out of respect for this artist, RightOn went to Malaga, and it was an unforgettable experience!

E: That's true, I remember it perfectly. It was right at that moment when I realized how special you guys were, and I asked you about the kind of straps and other stuff you had in mind. That's when a series of questions started from both sides, and after each answer, we saw that we were on the same page.

R: Hahaha, that's right! We started talking about the people from Denia and the area, about a bunch of friends we had in common...

E: Of course! About my dear Sonia Navarro and Fod, Carlos Tarque, Ovidi and Álvaro, and many others.

R: And that's when "the ticket thing" happened...

E: Hahaha, the ticket thing really surprised you, huh?

R: Yeah, it's true. When a guy you know nothing about takes out 50 bucks from his pocket, writes down his address on a piece of paper, and says, "Send me whichever strap you like!"

E: Hahaha, I'm not very normal, I must say. I remember your faces when I gave you the money and, seeing you astonished, I said in my Murcian accent, "Hey! Don't you make guitar straps? Well, send me one, whichever you feel like!" I still remember Toni Gil's face saying, "Wow, this has never happened before," and Toni Sanchís asking me, "Don't you prefer to check our website and choose the one you like the most?" In the end, you asked me, "Tell us at least what guitars you have, and Sanchís will choose a cool one for you."

R: Exactly, and we sent you the Woodstock II strap, which caused quite a stir...

E: Hahaha, yeah, I caused a bit of a commotion with the Woodstock strap. My initial intention was to keep it because it's amazing, well, it was...

R: What do you mean, it was?

E: Basically, it was because I don't have it anymore. Let me explain... My original plan was to take a cool photo of my Strat and the Woodstock strap, so I thought about waiting until I lit the wood-burning fireplace. Since my Fender is a Sunburst, I thought the combination of the strap's red, my guitar, and the flames could make a fantastic photo, but...

R: Oh my goodness... that guy!

E: And the days went by, and it was scorching hot, and there was no need to start a fire. Then one morning, I received a message from Toni Gil saying, "Luisa is asking what the hell strap you guys sent to Eze, we haven't heard from him. I hope you haven't played a trick on him or forgotten about him." I felt a massive wave of embarrassment. My unfinished little project was going down the drain. But then, a spark ignited in my battered brain. I picked up the phone without hesitation and proposed to Toni that I would grab the strap that same afternoon and try to give it to Jairo Zavala. My wife Eve is a huge fan of Depedro, and that night we went to Almería and gave it to Jairo.

R: Did you know Jairo?

E: Nah... I didn't know him personally, but he was like family. Both Eve and MiniEze are his number one fans, and his music is always playing at home, whether it's Calexico or his solo project. So, I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone? I'll try to promote Toni, bring him a gift to the concert, and maybe, if he's available, we can have a minute with him and fulfill one of Eve's dreams. With the help of Sanchis, who gave me the number of Héctor Rojo, a RightOn artist and the bassist for Depedro and Coque Malla, we embarked on our first project with the RightOn family. Both Jairo and Héctor were incredibly kind to us, and they will forever hold a special place in our hearts. They even invited us to their concert in Murcia a little while later. If they're great musicians, imagine how great they are as people! And that's how I ended up without a strap... hahaha.

R: But don't forget the second part...

E: The second part? Oh yeah, because I sent some "shitty" photos, Toni Gil gave me another strap as a gift! It's a beautiful Neil Young strap with the dove and the peace symbol. With that one, I was able to take a nice photo with a painting by artist Sonia Navarro that I have at home, with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. I also made a cool story with the theme "Keep on rockin' in a free world."

R: Damn, Eze, you really go off on tangents! Let's get back to the Nels topic...

E: Sorry, you know my mind never rests! The Nels project has been incredibly beautiful and amazing. In August, we got tickets to go to the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik to see Wilco during Easter. I'm a huge fan of Americana and alt-country, especially Wilco. This band is known for doing what they call "Residencies," where they organize cool festivals in amazing places around the world. I had already been to one of their festivals called Sky Blue Sky in Mexico twice, where they do many activities with the participating musicians, like music writing workshops, percussion instrument building, or out-of-tune Masters Classes. There's even a Mezcal tasting session... And Nels Cline is usually very involved in these activities.

R: Don't tell me that these internationally renowned stars come down from their pedestals and mingle with the common people...

E: Well, they are really great guys, and during these special moments in their "Residencies," whether it's at Sky Blue Sky or their other one they do called Solid Sound, they like to feel like one of us and are always among us, watching the other concerts or having a tortilla with jalapeños early in the morning next to you. Maybe part of the great admiration I have for Wilco is precisely because of that, because I think of them as my buddies... I have several cool anecdotes, like when John Stirratt approached me while I was watching an amazing band like Durand Jones & the Indications and said, "Damn, these guys are rocking it," and I nervously replied, "Well, you guys just killed it on the other stage... it's incredible!" And he laughs and tells you to go grab a drink with him at the bar. Or eating next to my admired Calexico and having Joey Burns and John Convertino ask you for salt... Or having to help Patrice, Kamasi Washington's wife, get up three times because we're all too drunk and laughing together because we can't stand up. Or having a top-notch drummer like Justin Brown from Thundercat come up to you and say, "Eze, have you noticed I'm the only dark-skinned guy at the festival?" And I reply, "Because you haven't seen me on the inside today," and we laugh our heads off until the early hours of the morning at Heaven, playing American roulette... Well, life's little pleasures.

R: Eze, Nels project...

E: Hahahaha, sorry. So, one morning I proposed to Toni, what if we took a risk and created a strap inspired by the Harpa Concert Hall in Iceland, and I would try my best to give it to Nels.

R: Dude, how did you manage to give it to him, if you actually did?

E: At first, I tried to contact Yuka Honda, who is Nels' wife, and we had seen a concert together by my admired band Spoon. But as expected, people like them usually ignore Instagram messages. So, I did some digging on the internet and managed to find the email addresses of Nels' representatives in both America and Europe, and without hesitation, I sent them an initial email explaining my intentions and, of course, that I didn't want to bother Nels and it would only take a minute.

R: Just like that, out of the blue?

E: I had to take a chance. If the strap wasn't even designed yet and I had nothing to offer them, with only a month left and nothing but enthusiasm and audacity... well, and also a good truth, that we were going to make a beautiful strap in tribute to this residency in Iceland, Nels' musical career, and our admiration for him, inspired by Harpa... but anyway, after four or five days, they wrote back from the US and said it would likely be possible to meet with him.

R: That's where we came in, and against the clock, we made the strap.

E: Exactly, and what a strap it was!!! I wanted to personally go up to Pedreguer, and another artist, my friend Antonio de Haro, a composer, Fender artist, and bassist among others for Pablo Alborán, also wanted to come with me from Murcia to get some custom straps that you were making for him. We started another small side project with artists Alberto Porlán and Germán Sevilla, and the four of us went to Pedreguer to get the straps and, while at it, record an original song by Alberto titled "Inefable" at your facilities.

R: We had such a great time that day!!!

E: You treated us amazingly!!! On that day, you showed me all the strap samples, the materials, the different options, designs, etc. And as soon as I got back home, I compiled all that information, along with the two prototype straps you gave me. I took the best photos I could and sent them to Marlee, the representative, and she was as amazed as I was with the strap. She promised to do everything possible to arrange a meeting with Nels, and as soon as we arrived in Reykjavik, she asked us to write to him.

R: So, you made it happen!!!

E: It was a dream come true. As soon as we landed in Keflavik, I sent him an email, and he put me in contact with the road manager, and the magic happened... We arranged to meet the next day in the Harpa hall, and there we were, Eve, Marta Estrada, who is the number one Wilco fan in Spain, and me, waiting to see what could happen. Ashley came and said, "Follow me, Nels is waiting for you." She led us through the backstage to a private room, and there was Nels, as always, majestic, tall, and elegant, welcoming us with a smile and thanking us for our interest. We gave him the strap, and he was as blown away as we were. He held it in his hands and started praising it, how it was constructed, the motifs identical to the basalt columns typical of the volcanic formations in Iceland that inspired the Harpa. The little pockets for picks, the back part for perfect adjustment. He looked at us, nodded, and said to Ashley, "These people know how to make straps. I've never seen one like this before!"

 

R: Damn, Eze, that's awesome!!!

E: I was overwhelmed with emotions, and politely, without knowing what else to say, all I could come up with was, "Well, Nels, we don't want to waste your time. We'll leave you alone." And he said, "Waste my time? No way! I still have half an hour free. Tell me more about the project. You're putting me in a tough spot because now I have to choose one of my guitars to showcase the strap!" God, Marta, Eve, and I didn't know where to hide! And he said, "Come with me. Don't you want to see my guitars?" And like little kids, he led us to the Harpa stage and opened a huge flight case, and there they were—all of them! Each one ready with its corresponding strap, pristine and shiny! Suddenly, he said, "Look at this one, it's my favorite. Take it!" Marta cautiously reached out her hand and grabbed the '59 Jazzmaster. She looked me in the eyes, and for a moment, I thought she was going to faint. I was also ecstatic by the beauty of those guitars, and behind us were all of Jeff Tweedy's guitars as well.

We joked that Tweedy had twice as many guitars as him, and we shared other anecdotes, like the time Sonic Youth had their entire truck stolen during a joint tour. And there I was, innocent as can be, pointing to the top of the auditorium and telling Eve, "Look, sweetheart, that's where we'll be sitting on Thursday and Friday." And Nels told us that if we didn't have tickets for Saturday, he would invite us to the concert because two people from New York couldn't attend due to work-related issues. It was freaking crazy! Nels was giving us those two seats!

R: Oh my goodness, Eze, that's incredible, isn't it?

E: It was beautiful. He treated us as if he had known us all his life! And on top of that, he said he would wear the strap, congratulated the people who made it, loved it, and asked us to meet again before we left Iceland! I left the auditorium floating, on cloud nine. It was hard for me to grasp what had just happened. Marta was on cloud nine too, and Eve looked at us in amazement, as if to say, "What the heck just happened? Pinch me because I still don't know if it's real!"

R: Mind-blowing, right?

E: If that was mind-blowing, let me tell you about the three concerts... 69 songs without repeating a single one, incredible atmospheres, amazing musical developments, intimate moments of communion with the audience, jokes with us, praises to the people of Iceland, and a lot, a lot of great rock. There were moments when the Harpa shook in every sense. And, of course... the overwhelming excitement every time he took out the Jerry Jones Neptune Danelectro type with the RightOn strap! And he played it in all three concerts! Every time we saw the strap, it was like an orgasm!

R: Well, Eze, what's keeping you busy now?

E: The next cool concert I have planned is in Antwerp. I'm going with my friends from the Azkena forum to see My Morning Jacket at De Roma. Should we make them a strap? Hahahaha, just kidding! But we already have tickets to complete the circle in December this year with Sky Blue Sky 3. So, you know we need to do another cool project, this time going for the whole band... The ball is in your court, RightOners!