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Jan 22, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Krölhaus Good Bison

Home means something different to everybody. For Pablo Alvarez, a.k.a. Good Bison, his home was skateboarding growing up. Born in Bogota, Columbia, Alvarez emigrated to Miami as a child with his mother. The young Alvarez immersed himself in the diversity of Miami, finding a love for Star Wars, hip hop, and skateboarding.

After moving west to LA Alvarez explored his musical inclinations, even getting into The Guinness Book of World Records for the Longest Consecutive Rap after freestyling for 26 straight hours over a live broadcast. After exploring a variety of sounds, including lo-fi pop, hip hop, and electronica, he settled on the style he brings to the fore on his upcoming EP Scattered Storms, combining elements of surf rock, punk pop, indie rock, and hip hop.

“Lunatic,” Alvarez’s latest work is a blisteringly short taste of that mix of styles, leaning towards easygoing hooks, indie rock slacker vibes, and rhythmic conversational delivery. Alvarez himself is similarly dynamic, opening on an introspective run through the chorus before the percussion kicks in giving the track a driving new sense of urgency. His delivery shifts and listeners can catch some of his hip hop talents packed into an easygoing summer ride. The track runs refreshingly short, but Alvarez makes the most of the time, working his eclectic influences for a compelling spin through his world.

Alvarez says of the song, “The lyrics for “Lunatic” are about the concept of “home” and how to find it, and since skateboarding was my home for such a long time, it made perfect sense to feature it in the music video. We shot everything in an abandoned water reservoir hidden in the hills. We had to walk like 20 minutes, and then go in through a hole in the fence. It reminded me of the type of spots we would skate as teenagers in Miami. I was always sneaking into places and getting chased out by security. Running away from the cops. Even though I don’t skate anywhere near as much as I did when I was younger, it’s still a huge part of who I am. The skaters in the video are supposed to represent my thoughts, and I’m doing my best to ignore them. Pretty much everyone involved in making this had a skating background, so it all came together naturally and it was a lot of fun to work on. I used to film my friends and I skating and then edit the clips together in Windows Movie Maker. Shooting this video felt like a throwback to those days.

“Lunatic” was one of the first songs I wrote for “Scattered Storms”. When I was working on the guitar, the words just kind of poured out of me. I didn’t have to think about them too much, it was almost like they already existed within the chords I was playing. Even though it’s the shortest track on the EP, it still takes me on a journey whenever I listen to it. The way the drums come in as the verse starts gets me so hype. It’s a nice surprise no matter how many times I’ve heard it. I feel like listening to “Lunatic” and watching the music video, people will get a pretty good idea of what it’s like hanging out with me. It’s hectic, but somehow also super chill.” Check out the song below and watch for Good Bison’s forthcoming EP Scattered Storms, out January 29.