karlos osinaga, the return of those who never left myriam gartzia
there are two ends to the rope
“There has been a natural progression in Lisabö since the early Demo days. We approached our latest record, Ezlekuak, in exactly the same way as when we first started, we recorded everything ourselves. The Demo was delayed by eight months and I think the project really changed in that time, it could have been something else. We were trying to do things our way , but like most things that have happened in Lisabö, things just happened whether we liked it or not. Take playing with two drummers... just seemed to happen. The progression has been fairly natural so far, you know. You record a demo, give a few gigs, and before you know it, the whole thing has really taken off and started to grow.”
avant-gardes and extremes
“We were wild about Dut back then and it’s possible to find a certain point of connection there. I don’t think we were a part of anything. At the time we were making the type of music we liked and that always gives you great satisfaction. It’s a gift. I don’t think we were doing anything innovative, but it’s true that there needs to be different shades and colours. In the Basque Country, like everywhere else, the music scene has a clearly defined format, and it seems that anything that strays outside of that or does something a little different is labelled as being innovative or “strange.” As far as we were concerned, what we were doing was perfectly normal.”
navy blue
“We really felt it was important to keep up the level of intensity on this record. What I mean is that you have really believe and feel for what you’re doing. Keep it up there at a high level. That’s the most important thing. I mean whatever the format or model, you play slower music or whatever, fine, but you have to maintain the emotion, and that’s what we haven’t lost. That’s the vision and ambition each one has. The actual form the music takes isn’t that important. What’s important is for you to feel it.”
the cape
“We haven’t played live since 2002. It’s been really difficult for us to get all the machinery on the move again. A lot of things have happened and it was always easier to record stuff than it was to play live. There are songs we never played live and now we’ll have the chance to do that.”
steamy window
”Martxel (Mariskal) has been doing stuff with us for ages. We were asked for a song in the Plaza festival, and he came up with one that spoke of something that could happen to anyone. The song was called “Egun bat nonnahi” (A day anywhere) and it ended up on an EP (Acuarela). It’s just not on to have such a diamond of a song and not make use of it. He went through some really rough years and that boiling point was clearly present in his songs, an added value to his lyrics if you like. It takes us to a really profound moment in time. It’s a luxury to work with lyrics like that.
each one’s needles
“There are loads of advantages to self-production nowadays. It’s true that, in my case, I have access to lots of means and that enables you to do a lot of stuff. But today, any band can record a record for next to nothing. Technology has democratised these means and you don’t have to rush record everything in two weeks and end up with something that doesn’t really represent what a band is capable of at all. You here it all the time, the record doesn’t capture the live performance. That’s because they’ve recorded the record in ten days. Nowadays you can record your record in your rehearsal room. Maybe it’s not going to be that well recorded, but it transmits what you want muchbetter. You don’t need to sell 2.000 copies to break even, and you can distribute it yourself on the internet. A new domain has been created. For a minimum investment you can have yourself a record. All you need is to be a little bit serious about what you do to manage.”
each one’s rope
“There is a serious crisis in the music industry, but you have to remember that we musicians are not the industry. Before, they would get behind a band, record a demo with them, but that has all been lost and it’s something we need to get back. These days, bands go straight to the record companies because they’re lost and, truth be told, it’s not that difficult to control that process, it’s very much at hand. The amount of information available has increased and has as such lost some of its value. Nowadays, you have music and any other type of product free at the touch of a button on, say, the internet. There are different values now. There wasn’t that variety in the Basque Country before, that much competition. The choice is more difficult now. You didn’t really need criteria before, but it’s certainly necessary now.”
“There has been a natural progression in Lisabö since the early Demo days. We approached our latest record, Ezlekuak, in exactly the same way as when we first started, we recorded everything ourselves. The Demo was delayed by eight months and I think the project really changed in that time, it could have been something else. We were trying to do things our way , but like most things that have happened in Lisabö, things just happened whether we liked it or not. Take playing with two drummers... just seemed to happen. The progression has been fairly natural so far, you know. You record a demo, give a few gigs, and before you know it, the whole thing has really taken off and started to grow.”
avant-gardes and extremes
“We were wild about Dut back then and it’s possible to find a certain point of connection there. I don’t think we were a part of anything. At the time we were making the type of music we liked and that always gives you great satisfaction. It’s a gift. I don’t think we were doing anything innovative, but it’s true that there needs to be different shades and colours. In the Basque Country, like everywhere else, the music scene has a clearly defined format, and it seems that anything that strays outside of that or does something a little different is labelled as being innovative or “strange.” As far as we were concerned, what we were doing was perfectly normal.”
navy blue
“We really felt it was important to keep up the level of intensity on this record. What I mean is that you have really believe and feel for what you’re doing. Keep it up there at a high level. That’s the most important thing. I mean whatever the format or model, you play slower music or whatever, fine, but you have to maintain the emotion, and that’s what we haven’t lost. That’s the vision and ambition each one has. The actual form the music takes isn’t that important. What’s important is for you to feel it.”
the cape
“We haven’t played live since 2002. It’s been really difficult for us to get all the machinery on the move again. A lot of things have happened and it was always easier to record stuff than it was to play live. There are songs we never played live and now we’ll have the chance to do that.”
steamy window
”Martxel (Mariskal) has been doing stuff with us for ages. We were asked for a song in the Plaza festival, and he came up with one that spoke of something that could happen to anyone. The song was called “Egun bat nonnahi” (A day anywhere) and it ended up on an EP (Acuarela). It’s just not on to have such a diamond of a song and not make use of it. He went through some really rough years and that boiling point was clearly present in his songs, an added value to his lyrics if you like. It takes us to a really profound moment in time. It’s a luxury to work with lyrics like that.
each one’s needles
“There are loads of advantages to self-production nowadays. It’s true that, in my case, I have access to lots of means and that enables you to do a lot of stuff. But today, any band can record a record for next to nothing. Technology has democratised these means and you don’t have to rush record everything in two weeks and end up with something that doesn’t really represent what a band is capable of at all. You here it all the time, the record doesn’t capture the live performance. That’s because they’ve recorded the record in ten days. Nowadays you can record your record in your rehearsal room. Maybe it’s not going to be that well recorded, but it transmits what you want muchbetter. You don’t need to sell 2.000 copies to break even, and you can distribute it yourself on the internet. A new domain has been created. For a minimum investment you can have yourself a record. All you need is to be a little bit serious about what you do to manage.”
each one’s rope
“There is a serious crisis in the music industry, but you have to remember that we musicians are not the industry. Before, they would get behind a band, record a demo with them, but that has all been lost and it’s something we need to get back. These days, bands go straight to the record companies because they’re lost and, truth be told, it’s not that difficult to control that process, it’s very much at hand. The amount of information available has increased and has as such lost some of its value. Nowadays, you have music and any other type of product free at the touch of a button on, say, the internet. There are different values now. There wasn’t that variety in the Basque Country before, that much competition. The choice is more difficult now. You didn’t really need criteria before, but it’s certainly necessary now.”
