A Paraguayan duo JODI are true pioneers of homemade DIY recordings.

The brother duo of Jörn Wenger and Dirk Wenger were active since the late 60s, experimenting with sounds. After playing with beat band The Rabbits, Jörn formed JODI along with his brother Dirk. Building their own studio in the basement of his parent’s house, they managed to record many hours of music. In 1971 a very rare album called ‘Pops de Vanguardia’ was released. The duo continued working together and got to sign a contract with EMI-Argentina and released a series of albums and singles, but under the name of “IODI.”

“The synthesizer offers an infinite source of sounds and possibilities”

How do you feel that after so many years your music is being reissued. Did you ever think this would be possible?

Jörn Wenger: This was a surprise that I never expected. Thanks to a call from Argentina from my friend Eduardo Pietruzyk this became reality. Eduardo presented our first vinyl from 1971 and it was accepted to be reissued by Guerssen label from Spain. We signed a contract with Guerssen for the 1971 ‘Pops De Vanguardia’ to be released on vinyl and CD back in 2016. It was 30 years after the birth of JODI.

What was it like for you and your brother to grow up in Paraguay? Did you inherit a love for music from your parents?

The best musical support we received from our parents and grandparents. Music accompanied me throughout my life. We were born in Asuncion and my basic instrument was the piano and my brother was interested in the percussive part. Together with my brother we got to play songs as back then there was no TV. I remember listening to Oscar Peterson and Louis Armstrong on old 78rpm vinyl records.

What are some early moments that involve music?

Since my parents had a record player, we listened to everything. Lots of vinyl, classical music and a lot of jazz. Until groups like the beloved The Beatles arrived. That was an important musical moment for me as The Beatles songs had a wonderful melody, vocals and arrangements. That influenced me later on. There were also bands like The Bee Gees, Herman’s Hermits et cetera.

Was it difficult to get records back then? Did you have a favourite radio or how did you hear new music?

Of course I listened to BBC London and US radio stations. They were important contributions to our development.

“Jodi never performed live, we were always studio mice”

What was the scene like in Paraguay for beat and rock music? What were some bands that shared stages with you?

The Paraguayan rock music world was just beginning and it was quite complicated, since our country was under a very strong dictatorial regime. Long hair and beards were not allowed and radio stations were highly controlled. Of course our music was not picked up by the radio stations, because they were a bit weird sounds at the time. Jodi never performed live, we were always studio mice. We tried in Brazil and Argentina, to see if someone would be interested…but it was a hard time.

What led you to form The Rabbits? Who were other members of the band?

Of course the music guided us to find other music fans and the first steps were our school band The Rabbits where we released an EP recorded on a local label, Guarania. This didn’t last long, because my classmates wanted to perform live, and we didn’t like that. So we broke up and formed JODI (Jorn and Dirk).

Tell us when did you travel to Germany to study and what was that like for you?

On a trip to Germany, I was lucky enough to be able to participate in talks that Stockhausen gave at the Folkwang University in Essen. Meeting this genius was a profound experience for me. I got to know his studio that he had in Cologne and I became friends with him. I bought my first synthesizer, an EMS Synthi AKS, which I still have today. Those sounds that came out of this instrument were new and even more so for South America.

It must have been a very influential moment to meet Stockhausen? Do you feel it had any impact on who you became as a musician?

It was amazing to see his recording studio in Cologne. Stockhausen changed my perception of music. The synthesizer offers an infinite source of sounds and possibilities.

When did you build your own DIY studio and what kind of equipment did you have?

The first vinyl and four EPs were recorded on two recorders. We didn’t have a reverb, so we used the bathroom where we had a good echo. Our studio was pretty spartan in the beginning, but over the years I invested in tape recorders. 2-tracks, 4-tracks, 8-tracks and at the end 16-tracks. I have to confess that the best recordings were made with 4-tracks. One could not go wrong and when you already have 16-tracks…one is somewhat comfortable, but one is less demanding.

I love the phrase “Spontaneous Pop.” How would you describe it?

“Pop espontaneo” was our anthem. In the end I would compose and record so many weird sounds in many songs and save them. Sometimes after years, I’d listen to them again and keep adding new tracks and that’s what I’m currently doing. Of course, with all the facilities that digitization offers us today, it is a revolution for me. The most important thing is not to remove the noises from the tape, a lot must be left out because it seems that the song breathes. Apart from The Rabbits EP, we already recorded four JODI EPs in our studio. All editions were pressed in 300 copies.

What’s the story behind ‘Pop espontaneo’?

‘Pop espontaneo’ was released by Guerssen in 2018…then ‘Alarm In The Jungle: The Synthetic Side of Jodi’ and ‘Spherical Distortions’ were released digitally in 2021. Last year Groovie Records from Portugal released ‘Alarm In The Jungle: The Synthetic Side of Jodi’ on vinyl and this was a very pleasant moment for me.

How did you get signed to EMI?

EMI from Argentina told me that if I would sing in Spanish and write romantic songs, they would release a test single. That’s how it was…’Olvidalo’ / ‘Te Estimo’ was released almost only in a limited edition for Argentine’s radio stations and we were lucky that we were accepted.

Also EMI insisted in the contract that we change the name to IODI instead of JODI. Once the contract was signed, we started with melodic songs, which entered the Argentine market, such as ‘Pienso En Ti,’ ‘Sueño De Tus Ojos…which were released in several South American countries.

What about your 1985 release?

Since I reached an agreement with EMI, that we are not going to perform live, they required us to deliver six to ten songs monthly. Anyway, many songs were not accepted, because they were not so romantic anymore. EMI released three LPs and several singles. The last LP with EMI came out in 1985. This last vinyl, I did it under pressure, because I felt that EMI wanted only techno sound. Believe it or not, I never had this record, because it was not to my liking. After finishing with EMI, I was only recording for myself, sometimes with local musicians and my brother had already stopped playing music.

Is there any unreleased material by JODI or related projects?

Currently I continue to digitize old songs and upload them on the platforms. It’s called The Luxury Archives by JODI. I release an EP every month with six songs from 1968 to 1988, which is a lot left over. I believe that being able to restore these old songs, I come to feel the different stages of my life and my little follies.