Premiere: Experimental Miami Duo Audrey Horny Shares Trippy "Taste" Music Video

It was krautrock that brought Miami natives Frank Guzman and Rick Diaz together. Guzman was spinning music as DJ Woozles at an Emerson Dorsch gallery opening in 2015 when Diaz, a musician who also goes by Rick Fantasies, struck up a conversation about a Holger Czukay song. Their nerdy musical chat about Czukay, the bassist for the influential German band Can, led to the genesis of Guzman and Diaz's experimental electronic project, Audrey Horny.

"I had recently purchased a sequencer/drum machine [a Korg Electribe 2] and suggested we jam," Diaz says. "It was very organic because Frankie had not really been in a band, and I had not really owned a drum machine to sequence my music — a blank slate for both of us to experiment on." Their combined expertise has resulted in a fruitful collaboration, producing two albums and one music video so far and planning much more to come.

The 34-year-old Guzman and 33-year-old Diaz were born one day and one year apart. Diaz is a scene staple, multi-instrumentalist, and artist who has made music as a solo artist in Miami for nearly two decades, in addition to working with bands such as 90s Teen and Hahahelp.

"It's hard to describe my adoration of Miami punk and noise history in words, which is what makes me try to put it into my art as much as possible," Diaz says.

Guzman got his start as a DJ in 2005 at La Covacha, a Latinx dance club in Doral. He found his way to playing music for the art world after the owners of the now-defunct coffeehouse and bar Lester's recruited him as their resident DJ during Wynwood Art Walk. He hadn't considered making music himself until Buffalo Brown of CogNomen asked him to remix a song in 2016.
"Shortly after, Rick asked me if I wanted to start a band with him," Guzman says. "I really couldn’t believe that two of my favorite Miami musicians — Buffalo and Rick — were asking me to create music for them, and in Rick's case, with him. I was honored and scared at the same time, but couldn’t say no."

Guzman and Diaz's project Audrey Horny has supported acts such as Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and avant-garde sound artist Tatsuya Nakatani. The duo also performed at the 2017 edition of III Points Music Festival and is slated to open for the British band Kero Kero Bonito at Gramps this Friday, November 15.

The pair's curious and goofy moniker is a reference to one of director David Lynch's characters — the glamorous Audrey Horne from the famous (and famously confusing) cult series Twin Peaks. Diaz says he and Guzman appreciate Lynch's "adventurous sense of direction when it comes to accidents and details." There's a touch of that Lynchian craft in the visual accompaniment for Audrey Horny's song "Taste," the group's first music video.

The song is a hypnotic soundscape off the duo's double album, Data Transfer File I and Data Transfer File II. Both releases were recorded by the godfather of Miami noise music — Frank Falestra, AKA Rat Bastard — and mastered by the prolific sonic genius Dino Felipe.

The Guzman-directed video merges the fun and latent danger of youth with a potent infusion of Audrey Horny's weirdness.

"Rick and I had a few brainstorming sessions before we came up with the concept for the video, which essentially is inspired by The Cat in the Hat," Guzman explains. The Dr. Seuss story explores the trouble two children and a fantastical feline get into when the kids' mother goes out for the day. "Everything fell perfectly into place... Rick also plays the dad alien perfectly."
"We knocked it out in one session," Diaz explains. "The prosthetics were probably the most complicated part. I took about an hour and a half in makeup and am only in the video for about 20 seconds max." Ozzy Concepcion and Julian Esquivel edited the video, with cinematography by Walter Rivera.

Diaz says "Taste" is the first of many Audrey Horny music videos in the future. "We're already well into production on the third album and have another two albums on the back burner, so expect a lot to come!"

Their albums can be found at the usual online music haunts and also on a very cool lipstick-like 16GB USB flash drive sold at Sweat Records, Technique Records, and Yesterday & Today Records. "We decided cost-wise it would be smartest to self-publish," Diaz explains. "Since we are selling to mostly friends, we wanted to give the biggest value."

Listeners can get a "Taste" of Audrey Horny's vibe by checking out New Times' premiere of the music video above or catching the band live at Gramps this Friday. The duo will also host an album-listening and video-viewing party Thursday, November 21, at Technique Records. The gathering will offer listening experiences of both Audrey Horny albums, a video screening, croquetas, specialty cocktails provided Finka Table & Tap, and surprise goodies distributed by the two young stars of the "Taste" video: Blake and Pierce Garcia.

Audrey Horny. With Kero Kero Bonito. 8 p.m. Friday, November 15, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-699-2669; gramps.com. Tickets cost $18 via etix.com and $20 at the door.

Audrey Horny Album-Listening and Video-Viewing Party. 7 p.m. Thursday, November 21, at Technique Records, 880 NE 79th St., Miami; techniquerecords.com. Admission is free.