Eye Carumba Releases his Debut Album: Gruesome Flower

The cover of Eye Carumba's debut album, "Gruesome Flower".

By Tatyana Casamiquela

Eye Carumba, aka Santi, is a multi-faceted musician known for funky, danceable beats, smoothly layered harmonies and introspective lyricism. Originally from California, he spent the last year in Orlando leaving an impression on the local music scene just as the creative community has left an impression on him. I was first introduced to Eye Carumba at an event he hosted last November called Halloween II. What I remember most from that night was Santi’s energy. His performance was one that radiates joy. I couldn’t help but smile the whole time. This sense of uninhibited joy and pure passion for music translates into his latest project, Gruesome Flower. Gruesome Flower is an eclectic collection of whimsical, danceable songs matched with poignant lyricism. 

Santi started making music at 7 years old. He would mess around on the keyboard, citing Nintendo songs and theme songs from his favorite shows as his first sources of inspiration. As time went on, he explored music through marching bands which led him to jazz. Soon he turned his attention to rock, making music with a couple bands, and even creating a whole album during this time, which remains unreleased. 

Around 2020, he started to explore his desire to create music on his own. Since starting that journey, he has dabbled in many genres, from lofi to rock, pop, and more. These years of tedious practice and passionate exploration reflect in each song he puts out now. 

During a particularly difficult time in his life, Santi turned to his art to make sense of things. The result of that is his first album, Gruesome Flower. As Eye Carumba settles into his new home in Venezuela he reflects on the making of this album. 

“I was pretty solitary while I was making this. Basically all the songs were made at a point in time when I didn’t have a lot of people around me. I was going through a difficult time and I had just moved from California. So it was kinda a starting over thing, me going to Florida and everything. 

These were all very reflective tracks because I had a chance to step away from any sort of noise, like other people even. And I was very immersed with this stuff. I mean frankly when I’m around more people I’m typically recording less music. I think that’s how this ended up being something where I gave 2a lot of attention to the details.”

Santi used this album to explore themes relating to interpersonal dynamics and introspection. 

“I’d say there’s definitely different sorts of modes of relationships and love and things like that. And I guess concern, you know? For example, songs like “Lucy and the Sandman" come from more of a place of reflection on maybe bigger things, things that are bigger than just the relations between a person or a dog like the “Lucas Infinito” song. That sort of is the overall concept that ties these things together: what’s your relationship with yourself? What’s your relationship with others? It’s not anything too conceptual but these songs were all written around the same time and these were the sort of things going through my head.”

Additionally, he chose to play around with song length. Opting to go against the grain with longer songs. The title track is 9 minutes long and the closing track is 8 minutes. 

“There’s also in terms of like the music itself there’s definitely a theme with the songs being a little on the longer side and they go through phases. Though in the future I have a record that I’m planning out where the songs are a little shorter because that’s definitely more accessible. It’s just fun to do little bite-sized songs. I don’t know, for some reason I was in the mood to do long ones when I did this.”

Personally, I find it very refreshing. In a world where everything is so fast-paced and our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter each day, long songs teach us to slow down and be present. 

Talking to a multi-faceted artist like Eye Carumba about his inspirations you see his unrestrained, pure love and admiration for musicians across a broad spectrum of genres. 

Like your 8 year old cousin telling you all about their newest toy collection, he will list off artists and projects with a knowledge that only results from hours and hours of immersive research. After taking a second to attempt to narrow it down, with a huge smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes he told me about some of his favorites. 

“It’s hard!! It’s tough. God. I don't know. Haha.” 

“There’re some modern day artists that when I've heard their music it’s been like ‘Man, I would really like it to sound like that’ and I don’t know if that’s exactly what happened here. It might be a little cliche but the more recent Cameron Winter album I was really into. It kinda gave me that sensation of like this guy is also doing it on his own. It’s just like got a lot of funky colors and stuff like that. I’m pretty sure he produced that record by himself, Heavy Metal. 

Also love Magdalena Bay, they’re freaking astonishing. 

You also got people like Bob Marley. Bob was one of the people that opened my mind to very poignant simplicity.

Finally, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, they’re probably my favorite band in the world. They opened me up to doing whatever freaking genre I want to do. Explore any kind of musical genre and not put myself in a box.”

Santi’s journey has taken him away from the Orlando music community and down to South America for the time being. He reminisces on his time in Orlando with a heavy heart and so much love for the local scene. 

“I got a lot of respect for a lot of major players in the Orlando scene. Like Maisy, Foxlair, Lemon Denim is dope…shout out to Zayne Johnson!! These are people that have really given me a lot of hope this is all worth it. Also shout out to Lil Indies jam, they’re great! For people that want to play an instrument, you can go on Tuesday nights. I’ve had a lot of great experiences, they’re very welcoming to any skill level. (The Orlando scene) has been a big reason why I’ve been able to express myself in recent times. I think a lot of people can say the same, like places like Austin’s, it’s just really invaluable…I miss it.” 

As far as his future goes, Eye Carumba promises we can expect to hear more no matter where life takes him. 

“I’m gonna keep putting music out and I wanna stay connected with Orlando in any way possible, maybe keep doing collaborations with Florida artists and things like that.”

To wrap things up, Santi would like to extend a special thank you. 

“I really freaking appreciate anyone who listens to this because I put a lot of myself into it.”

Go stream Gruesome Flower and what the hell, let’s dance.