MUSIC / MUSIKA GAZTEGARAGAZTE • GAZTEGARAGAZTE • GAZTEGAR Opening new paths

I have been requested to write an article on present Basque Between metal and triki-pop music, about the groups heading the euskaldun musical move- ment. This is not an easy task, because new artists keep showing Looking back to the groups which organized a revolution in up to record their Basque rock with their punk songs, and there are wrath and the social and polit- even more starting to ical content or their lyrics, we rehearse and making can see that there is little left of their first concerts. all that passion in the present Certainly rock music, groups. It is significant that the or pop music are not only bands still alive are those older than twenty in who have managed to be suc- Euskal Herria Ðat least cessful in the Spanish State as a successful move- (La Polla, MCD, Barricada), mentÐ but it has al- and that all of them sing in ready become an im- Spanish. portant reference for In relation to musical as- young people. pects, hard sounds are still the It is true that music sung in Euskera has most popular in Euskal Herria, reached a certain level although during the last ten Mikel Urdangarin. years they have come closer to metal. Su Ta Gar were the first to do heavy in Euskera Ðsome- thing which seemed impossible in the eightiesÐ and a whole gang of groups have followed in their footsteps. Some groups have looked directly to the sacred cows of classic yelling heavy ÐIdi Bihotz, Asgarth, Hiru beltz, UrtzÐ and others have come closer to the postulates of the most aggressi- ve metal Ð Anarko, Koma, Soziedad Alkoholika, Flitter, ErasoÐ. Besides this metallic batch, another one has appeared, which is just as successful, but more related to traditional Basque culture. Kepa Junkera and Jose- ba Tapia have renewed the triki- tixa with their experiments, and other younger musicians have Su Ta Gar. made of the triki a product of wide commercial possibilities of acknowledgement, but this should not keep us from seeing mixing it with pop sounds. Maixa the great shortcomings of our music. Until now, although there Ixiar were the first, and they are some exceptions, Ðthe Fermin Muguruza projects and little went from the classic duet with elseÐ the groups singing in Euskera have not been able to cross our frontiers. Our market being so small, many of them have be- pandero, trikitixa and voice to come discouraged and have abandoned. I believe it is important form a bona fide group. But the to remember how successful some groups such as Hertzainak, most successful triki-bands have Itoiz or Zarama, have been in Euskal Herria and how unknown been Alaitz eta Maider and Gozate- they were outside our country. gi. Combining the sonority of the Things are still the same now, the rising bands in our land re- trikitixa with the most catchy melodies, they have managed to main practically unknown in or France. Strangely appeal to a wide and very young public. Although the boom of enough, with the alternative European circuits, some of them the triki-pop seems to be slackening lately, new groups who try have performed more often in Italy, Switzerland, Germany or to squeeze the genre a little more keep appearing Austria than in countries which are closer. ÐEtzakitÐ.

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who doesn’t hide his love for Billy BraggÐ and Fermin Mugu- ruza. We cannot forget Ruper Ordorika, the singer who acted as a bridge between the old singers and rock in the early eighties. Born in Oñati, he is still active and fit, as his latest works prove Ðthe latest recorded live at the Kafe Antzokia in BilboÐ. Another veteran who is still in his prime is Fermin Muguruza. The ex and ex is still one of the most innovating musicians we have in Euskal Herria. After he published a record with Dut ÐIreki ateakÐ, a risky and anti-commercial venture, last year he published his first record by himself: Brigadistak sound system. As the name suggests, the singer from was surrounded in this work by friends from all over the world in this particular homage to in all its variants. His bother Iñigo – who was also in Kortatu and Negu GorriakÐ has suc- cumbed to his Caribbean and Antillan inclinations in his latest project, Joxe Ripiau. Petti. Although pop is not the most popular style in Euskal Herria, it does have its own public thanks to groups such as Bide At the service of emotions Ertzean Ðwith members of the group Deabruak TeilatuetanÐ, Lorelei Ðlead by the writer Asier Serrano and the member of EH Heavy and triki-pop have been the most successful genres, Sukarra, NortonÐ or veterans such as Juan Carlos Perez (ex but there is absolutely no doubt that innovations have come to Itoitz) and Xabier Montoia (ex M-ak). from other styles. From the files of the most risky and emotional hardcore, for instance, Lisabö Ðwith no official Looking to the future record as yetÐ, Kashbad, and mostly Dut. These groups have managed to Basque modern music is still under twenty, attract the attention of the critics be- and this fact is es- cause they have never been self-cen- pecially obvious in relation to the tered. most modern and In other musical arenas, but with electronic sounds. the same barrier-breaking spirit, Some musicians and DJs ÐJavi Pez is a forerunnerÐ have already started to take off, but until very recently it has been very difficult to find any records of this genre. It is espe- cially meaningful that the first compila- Anari and Petti have Alaitz eta Maider. tion of electronic mu- traveled the road to he- sic published in Eus- artbreak, intimacy and kal Herria ÐBasque electronic DiasporaÐ includes mainly mu- nakedness to the last sicians who work outside our frontiers. We must also report that stop. We can hear the first hip-hop music in Euskera is only a couple of months old echoes of Nick Cave, and has been done by Selektah Kolektiboa. These are only the Fermín Muguruza. PJ Harvey and Will first steps in new trends that will ripe their fruits in the next few Oldham in Anari, and years. of Mark Lanegan, There are thousands of other groups Ðfrom to black me- Mark Eitzel and Nick Drake in Petti, but they have both proved talÐ, but of course we cannot report all that is being done in Eus- they have their own great personalities. There are some other kal Herria in a few lines. singers who stand out in the Basque music scene: Mikel Markez Mikel Lizarralde Ða veteran in spite of his youthÐ, Mikel Urdangarin Ðthe great Photographs: Xouse Simal, Mikel Martinez, discovery of the last monthsÐ, Morau Ða very personal singer Gari Garaialde, Martin Jauja

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