Spain has always been fertile territory for garage music. It dates back to the prehistoric times when el Apago sprung up in Madrid’s trendy Malasaña district as the epicentre of an unprecedented lysergic explosion, a phenomenon whose echoes are still reverberating in the impressionable minds of the new generations of music makers across the whole of the land.
Alba Mean
Spain has always been fertile territory for garage music. It dates back to the prehistoric times when el Apago sprung up in Madrid’s trendy Malasaña district as the epicentre of an unprecedented lysergic explosion, a phenomenon whose echoes are still reverberating in the impressionable minds of the new generations of music makers across the whole of the land.
But let’s focus on the here and now. London 2014 where, due to circumstances that we need not name, large numbers of Iberian agitators packed their bags and left their homeland in search of new horizons, where they hoped to be able to continue their artistic development. They’ve settled in the land of the barbarians, and not only have they made a name for themselves on the London scene, with their battered old guitars and guttural shrieks, but they have also become the true instigators of this sound, which is constantly reinventing itself and always has the power to seduce.
We spoke to Alba Mean, who plays keyboards for Mean Bikini, a group of pissed-off girls who have the nerve to openly declare “I CANNOT PLAY GUITAR”. The fact is that they don’t need to.
Would it be fair to talk about a London garage scene with Iberian influences? Well, I’m not sure, I think that the London-based bands with Spanish members are a mixture of various styles, and that’s what’s popular over here. I think people are tired of listening to groups who only play garage, and so there’s more eclectic stuff going on too.
We know that you’ve dragged yourselves around pretty much the whole London circuit, and must have had just about everything thrown at you. Any stories to tell us? Well, the best thing is when someone you don’t know writes to you to ask if you’ll come and play in some dive because they think you’re really cool. And then you go there and there’s a great vibe and you spend the whole night partying along with people from this whole other world that you’d never have got into otherwise. I also remember after one gig when a Canadian girl came up to talk to me because she wanted to buy a tape of our stuff, and then we later met again, and now she’s one of my best friends.
Mean Bikini
What are your current projects? With Mean Bikini, bringing out our album on vinyl, and with Retrofuture recording our first nine songs.
Tell us a bit about your origins and influences. When I was little, I was a big Elvis fan, and so I suppose those are my origins! Some of my influences are classics like Joy Division, The Stooges and Devo, but at the moment what really excites me is going to see new groups playing round here.
We saw you playing keyboards for Retrofuture along with KAD in the Stag’s Head, so could you tell us a bit more about this other project that you’re involved in? Well, it’s a project that I started up with my flatmates, after we all moved in together. All three of us have parallel projects, and so we thought that we should start something together, since we share tastes, and a home! As Retrofuture, we’ve been really well received right from the start, and so we’ve got high hopes for the recording and our upcoming gigs.
Any recommendations for bands or nights that we can’t afford to miss? My favourite London band is Fat Whites, who also organise gigs in South London with other bands that they love, and where they play as well. They tend to be in the Queen’s Head in Brixton. I’m also a regular at the Dirty Water and Garageland gigs and DJ nights.
And finally, do you think there are big differences between the Spanish and London scenes? The first band that I played in was in London, so I don’t really know a lot about the Spanish scene, but I think the main difference is probably that it’s a lot easier to form a band, to find an audience here: most of my friends are in one or two bands. And if you start out with a new band, it’s easy to get gigs straight away, most pubs have space for live music and promoters are always looking for people to play. That said, earning money from it is another story, because there are so many costs involved, for the promoters and venues as well as the groups themselves. On the other hand, in Galicia, where I’m from, there are loads of great groups, and the scene is really vibrant and varied, but it’s really lacking support.
Mean Bikini will be playing on the 4th February at the Windmill Brixton.
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Mean bikini
4 february,en Windmill, Brixton
22nd february en Coventry.
http://meanbikini.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/meanbikini
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Retrofuture
1st march, en Powerlunches, Dalston
21st the Grosvenor, Brixton
[su_note note_color=”#eaeae9″]Translated by Alison Walsh[/su_note]
