Genevas, Karavana, Niña Polaca and Colectivo da Silva have something in common: they dedicate their youth to music in an industry that, they tell us, is not making it easy for them
There is a generation that still has a lot to say. It is about the one that was born and grew up surrounded by crisis, that glimpsed a change of millennium and that has witnessed the cultural hangover consequent to the Movida Madrileña and the rock of the 90s. It is a generation that has lived hearing that all time past it was better, because “you have to see the young people of today”.
But it is also a promotion that has known how to turn a deaf ear, and that has risen up on its own initiative to learn and, above all, promote real changes.Well, if something defines today’s young people, it is that plea against injustice, be it of a sexual, climatic or cultural nature, that discourse of people who, burned by so much hypocrisy, have taken on a strength worthy of little Miss Sunshine to dance shamelessly looking to the future, breaking taboos and overthrowing appearances. And, as it could not be less, there is an emerging music scene that is proving it. Arde Bogotá, El Buen Hijo, Camellos, Leblanc, Carrera… are fresh, incipient groups that promise an authentic creative revolution.
The Ginebras have just released the single “Álex Turner” .
There are Surma (vocals) and Beto (bass) from Niña Polaca, Magüi (vocals) and Sandra de Ginebras –the latter is also guitar for Niña Polaca–, Emilio (bass) and Jaime (drums) from Karavana, and Carlos (vocals) , Pablo (drums) and Andrés (guitar) from Colectivo da Silva.
But not even each one connects with their respective band, but they do it mixed, showing from the first moment one of the most deeply rooted features of this new cultural movement: «A pretty cool scene is forming between us»,Emilio assures, to which Magüi adds that «Dorian once told us that 20 years ago the scene was super competitive, the musicians didn’t get along, and that’s why they freak out with us, that we have a lot of camaraderie». “It doesn’t make much sense to be against those who do the same as you, people your age with the same interests,” says Surma.
Above, from left. To right, Manu, Víctor and Carlos. In the row below, from right. From left, Pablo, Guillermo and Andrés, from Colectivo da Silva. And in the center, wearing a Russian-inspired hat, Alberto.
The four groups –with styles that range between rock, indie and pop, but are open to all influences– agree that, as the song “Pinta Malasaña” by Niña Polaca states, “it seems to me that two masters are not They’re going to feed me.” They assure that for young people who start in this industry the main difficulty is that, no matter how much preparation there is behind it, the money seems unattainable.
Jaime assures that «for example, to play at a festival they ask you for things that cost money, and your life is complicated», which Emilio sees as normal, “because when you start you can’t pretend to be the best paid, you grow little by little.” But, in the face of problems, solutions: “It would be cool if they lowered the price of tickets that went up due to the pandemic, because not everyone can afford them,” says Beto, while Carlos points out that, if the Minister of Culture –“or of the Treasury”, clarifies Surma–, would ask him “to lower the VAT on culture and, above all, greater regulation of the artist.
We cannot have the same regime as a freelancer, because our work is discontinuous, and we have the same rules as a person with a store open every day of the week. We cannot possibly live in a music industry where the musician is stifled and squeezed until there is absolutely nothing left. It is very difficult to maintain this dream that we are living, we make music for the love of art, but with a limit». In this sense, Surma adds that another need they feel is that of “more syndication at the national level , an industry structure would help organize everything that is in music, because there are many pirates running a riot from which more performance could be obtained. ».
Polaca, formed in 2018.
A necessary speaker
With this, and clinging to what Emilio verbalizes that “things will not always be like this”, they let themselves go, turning, singing, creating, out of pure passion for music. And it is that, their lyrics denote it, this art serves to let off steam: «In Niña Polaca we do self-therapy with letters. We made them without thinking that anyone would listen to them» says Surma and, like Genevas, «we are inspired by things that happen to us, that seem universal to us», adds Magüi. In the case of Colectivo, Carlos points out that «in the generation that surrounds us it is better to carry a simple and direct message.
