Rock is one of the most popular music. Its origin dates back to the 50s and since then, this style has revolutionized society. Seven decades have passed since this music began, there have been many changes, but despite the passing of the years, rock is still present day by day.
Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin are some of the great protagonists of this musical genre that have moved the world decade after decade and have been role models for small and young bands.
In this report, and over the next few weeks, we remember some of those Xàbia rock groups that set the trend. Young people, musicians and rock lovers who took to the stage, filled rooms in the 90s and some of them are still active today.
Today we talk to:
- 1.
- 1.1.
- 1.2.
- 1.3.
- 2.
- 2.1.
- 2.2.
- 3.
- 3.1.
- 3.2.
pink
One of the best known bands is 'PINKA', known by many in Xàbia as 'La Pinka', was formed in '92 by the "crazy idea" of a group of friends to create a rock band. With the aim of spending the weekends sharing the common bond they all had, music, Guillem Bolufer (voice and guitar), Joan Bolufer (guitar), Tòfol Cardona (drums) and Moisés Cruanyes (bass) faced this challenge. A purpose that in a short time became greater; "Word spread and they started asking us to play Casups, country houses, small bars, and over time, on large stages throughout the country. We couldn't not try," says Guillem.
PINKA took this opportunity with enthusiasm, "it was a very big transformation that we digested over time and I think we treated it with great enthusiasm but mainly with great sense both at the beginning and today".
And it is that PINKA has been active for 30 years. His progression has been constant "and very brutal. We have had to adapt to many circumstances and changes over the years, both musically and technically. At many times we have had to talk and recalculate our goals and concerns. It is not easy to maintain a live band 30 years and want to continue growing", says Guillem.
PINKA's intermittent moments have been few, "although the most loyal public may think that they have been even too much", indicates the band and they add that "each musical project takes months of work and that, although we have never been a 100% professional, the rhythm of work and the demands have required it several times. In addition, we have known how to respect the personal moments of each one to avoid pressure".
Its beginnings and trajectory
The current PINKA band comes to be the one from its beginnings, "the members of the band are the nucleus that we have now and that is basically the same as always. Only small things have changed at that level and mainly depending on the
moment and the demands of each performance. We understand that something for us is the fixed band as such (with its implications and tasks) and another is the band that we take in concert, with hired people who are already more than friends and practically part of the family", the singer has stated.
But Bolufer has also remembered those with whom they have shared many moments, "many people are still linked when they can, need to and believe they should be and enjoy the projects, moments and mainly the human part that blends perfectly with our musical proposal. We are many people who form PINKA and this makes the group maintain its essence and at the same time constantly evolve".
The enthusiasm and desire of a group of young people marked the beginning of PINKA. "The beginnings we feel today very distant but nevertheless very present since we follow people who started the project and who have shared many things together. Behind and very present, there are rehearsals with cardboard boxes, guitars with strident sounds and, in general, few resources to work with guarantees, but with an illusion that made the universe move".
Today, PINKA "we are fortunate to be able to have a studio where, while we compose, we enjoy a quality of space and material to perform the created songs that has little to do with our beginnings, so we greatly value that new aspect due to the trajectory and the baggage that we carry. There are many and very diverse places, environments and groups with which we have played". And it is that, geographically, PINKA has been present in: Catalonia, Balearic Islands, France, Portugal and Andorra. They have also performed on the Valencian Regional Television Channel 9, Punt 2 and À Punt and have been present at the main Valencian music festivals in the territory.
On the other hand, PINKA has been part of the tunes for TV3 series and has been played by the vast majority of Spanish State Radios such as Cadena SER, Cadena 100 or Radio 3, among others. And it is that, PINKA's songs have historically gone "a little outside the movement that was called 'music in Valencian' because we have always made a proposal based on very international and cosmopolitan rock music embraced with lyrics of a high poetic and literary level. and with no political charge", they indicate from the band.
During these 30 years of life, PINKA has released some 50 songs distributed in three demos: the first of them on K7, 'Dolç Verí' and three long-playing albums in CD format: 'De cap', 'Somnis' and 'Dia i Nit'. Along the way there have been many more songs "that we don't rule out recording some of them at the moment we consider appropriate".
Among the most outstanding, recognized and awarded are 'Somnis', 'No pares' and 'Comença', although the rock band xabiera personally reviews 'Dolç Verí', 'Al darrere del meu núvol d'ambició' or 'Sóc lliure' like their own songs that identify them as a band.
musical accolades
It should be noted that this rock group from Xàbia has obtained several awards for its musical work. In their three decades dedicated to music they have managed to be:
- Winners of the Music Circuit in Valencia
- Finalists of the Ovidi Montllor Awards
- Several awards from specialized magazines for his songs like Enderrock
PINKA's future
For the time being, PINKA's immediate future is to follow a path very similar to that of its beginnings, but with its proper maturation. "I work and work in the shadows and wait for the right moment to return to the stage at the level that circumstances require. We have been working for almost nine months with a lot of intensity of work and a substantial increase in rhythm, always faithful to the artistic proposal itself" .
PINKA calculates a few more months of impasse to recover the rise to the stage "but we see it very close. In any case (and as a fixed appointment and already fixed) we can say that we will not miss our 30th anniversary appointment in the same place where it happened our first public concert; in the 'Desnivell' (Xàbia)", indicates the band.
Guillem Bolufer wanted to remember that "Pepe (owner of Desnivell) was the person who offered us our first opportunity in public and, as I have said, we never forget our roots or the people who have accompanied us unconditionally on our path. Xàbia always It has been our engine and yes, due to the circumstances, we have been lucky enough to be prophets in our town. This fills our soul and helps us so that these "Somnis" "start to shine" again. We will meet soon ".
excess
In the same year as the previous group, in the summer of 1992, a rock band emerged in Xàbia, Excés. The passion for music of a group of friends and their beginnings in playing instruments led them to look for a bass player and set up the band.
Tòfol and Tomàs were the permanent members who remained in the group from its beginnings to the end, but during its four years of activity, there were several musicians who formed part of the band: Tòfol Cardona (drums), Tomàs Vallés (vocals and bass), Venturo Berenguer (guitar and voice) and Hans Snijder (guitar). Then Tomàs (guitar and voice), Tòfol (drums) and Kiko Vidal (bass). Later, Tomàs (bass and voice), Pau Cruanyes (guitar) and Jose "Terror" (guitar). In the final phase they were Tomàs (bass and voice), Tòfol (drums), Julià Meneses (guitar) and Esteban Buigues (guitar).
At the end of 1996, Excés ended its career. The band needed musicians again, Tòfol and Tomàs, they were the only ones who kept going "but we were a little tired of continuing to pull the car alone so we let them be", indicates Tòfol.
During the four years, the musical evolution of Excés went "from learning to play the instruments and compose the songs to varying the style of our beginnings. At the beginning there was a mixture of punk-rock with melodic lyrics and a social lyric base in Valencian, which was leading to a mixture of hard rock and punk with touches of metal and grunge, where the social and melodic lyrics were continued". Although they did not record any CD, they did make three demos in which the evolution of the band can be seen.
His concerts
The first concerts of the young rock band took place at friends' parties, "at that time it was possible and many people came from Xàbia and other towns in the region. From then on we got concerts around the region (Benissa, Poble Nou, Ondara, Pedreguer,...)", says Tòfol.
But his presence went further, Excés had the opportunity to do a concert tour at the Rock Brace in the institutes of Torrent, Picassent or Alicante and act in Pubs like the Four Winds o Terminal and opening for the group Last Ke Zierre.
Among the themes, the component and promoter of Excés stands out as his own: Ànsia de Llibertat, Vent de la mar, La Parella or Sens tu. Of versions, made in Valencian: R'n'r by Porretas, Vull ser Batlle de la Polla Records, La Casa que Vull and A cavall del vent by Lluís Llach or Got the time d'Anthrax.
New projects
As we have mentioned, Excés finished its stage, but what happened next? Tomàs focused on the dolçaina and Tòfol was part of PINKA to this day, but what unites music cannot be separated by man and for a year now, Tomàs and Tòfol have been playing together again, they are in a versions, which for the moment has not yet seen the light.
antirabika
It was in 1996 when a new rock group sounded among the youth of Xàbia, it was Antirrabika. Formed by a group of young people, wanting to learn to play instruments, and given the ease of being able to access them by a friend, they began to meet. Without previous meditation the band was created. The curiosity of its name comes from the "old rabies vaccine badges that we used as necklaces and without much thought we gave ourselves that name," says Pau Cruanyes, one of the components.
During the nearly seven years that the band was active, there were several musicians who formed it: José Javier Mata, David Añó, Miguel Ángel Buigues, Luís Tormos and Pau Cruanyes. Also during his years were Hans Snijder, Toni Buigues or Tolo Catalá.
The beginning
His beginnings were playing at private parties and then in bars and pubs in the Marina Alta such as Orba, Benidoleig, El Verger, Dénia, Xàbia and others outside the Marina such as Biar.
Listening to national fashion bands such as Reincidentes, La Polla Records or Soziedad Alkoholika and influenced by punk, rock, hardcore, heavy or trash metal music; In 1996 Antirrabika released its first demo, 'Planeta Hambre' with self-released recordings, which was presented at the Circuit Rock of the Valencian Community.
Antirrabika did not release any records, "if we had the opportunity, thanks to the Town hall, to record some songs in the studio in the year 98 that would form part of a compilation called 'Foc a tres' together with other bands from Xàbia of that time such as Excés, Pinka or la Inercia", Cruanyes says and remembers that although they did not record an album They did distribute, hand in hand, self-published or concert recordings.
the last concerts
The end of Antirrabika came in 2003. Each component had its commitments "and mainly we did not have enough time to dedicate everything that we liked and little by little we were left less", indicates Pau Cruanyes. But the work carried out was not forgotten, before the dissolution, the band was able to record the last songs that it had composed as a souvenir and was able to say goodbye to its public. It was after their dissolution, at the Fogueres de Sant Joan festivities in 2004, that they performed their last concert.
On this occasion we have remembered three of the many groups that started in the musical world in the 90's. What bands will we present next week?...
