2023-11-12 10:18:23
The night of March 22, 2014 una young and promising Basque alternative rock band known as Belako set foot in the Girona regions for the first time. He did it at the El Torín hall in Olot, serving as the opening act for the British Neil Halstead (Slowdive), who as part of the In-Somni festival presented a tribute concert to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground.
Almost a decade later, the Mungia quartet returns to Girona’s stagestoday consolidated and recognized both in Spain and in various parts of the world. He will do it next Saturday, November 25 at the Porqueres Civic Center, as part of the second edition of the Incívic festivaland all presenting I keep wateringfifth studio album of his career published last September.
“With I keep watering what we want to express is that we’re still here, twelve years after we started as a project” Belako’s drummer explains on the other side of the phone, Lander Zalakainwhich claims the resistance of the project “in a world of music that has its dark sides and where there are still certain very established things like this routine of record and tour and so on.’
The Basque group Belako, first name for the second edition of Incívic de Porqueres
“The balance we make of these more than ten years of trajectory is very good. We have grown, matured and become adults. We have seen what the world is like, what the world of music is like. A few myths have been debunked. Maybe we thought that the world of music was more open and tolerant and we realized that it wasn’t so» adds Zalakain about the evolution of a band that has already toured all over Europe, part of Latin America and the United States, performing at renowned festivals such as SXSX in Austin (Texas), Primavera Sound in Barcelona or Mad Cool in Madrid.
One of the most recognizable features of the quartet founded in 2011 is their ability to play with a wide range of sounds and genres, which greatly complicates the possibility of labeling them within a specific scene, although in their beginnings they were placed between new wave and post-punk. “It’s something we’re very proud of,” says the drummer.
“This has been perhaps our biggest challenge in terms of recorded discs. In the end in our music there is a lot of rock, but also a lot of pop, melodies, and at the same time there are details reminiscent of jazz or bossa nova. We like to play with all this, although always with a consistency» sums up the musician, who, however, emphasizes that they have never liked labels.
Asked if they feel a certain pressure every time they publish a new work, the Basque nods. “It’s a self-imposed pressure by ourselves, since we have a great obsession with not repeating ourselves or getting bored. And so far we have always succeeded, and may it continue.” “We are very happy with the result of this last album and it is important that the four members who are part of Belako feel that way” he adds.
Music and politics
Capable of addressing in their very diverse thematic letters, Belako has never hidden his political positions, with special attention to the fight against gender-based violence (Over the edge), but also against homophobic and transphobic attitudes, racism and in defense of minority languages.
“We don’t pretend to teach any lessons, but we live in the world we live in. If someone does not agree with the fact that the world is sexist and that there is racism and homophobia, it is better not to come to see us» asserts Zalakain, who recognizes that taking a political position can often lose a certain audience, a fact that does not worry them “at all”.
Among the thirteen cuts that are included in this one I keep wateringhighlights Sangre total, first song sung entirely in Spanish in these twelve years of the band’s career. “After testing this theme in English and Basque, the languages we usually use, we found that Spanish fit perfectly” points out the drummer, who shares the project with Cris Lizarraga (voice and keyboards), Josu Ximun Billelabeitia (guitar) i Lore Nekane Billelabeitia (low).
In Porqueres, Mungia will share the stage with the Galician duo Fillas de Cassandra, Ultralágrima, Borifax i Dj. Ryna.
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