Despite my ID states I was born 35
years ago (June, 1977), it won’t be until 1988 when my life started to find its
sense. Three months after crossing my 11th birthday on the calendar
a real master piece landed on my hands: Metallica’s
fifth studio album “…And Justice For All”
(Elektra Records – August 1988). Without any doubts, in my life there has been
a milestone from that moment onwards. You don’t really know how and why, but
there are some apparently non-remarkable events that will mark your entire
life. I was 11 years old by then and this moment marked mine.
Soon I started entering the roots of
hard rock and heavy metal. By then I was in an English school where the
influence of NWOBHM was a must. Rapidly
different albums from many of these bands started to sound familiar. Motörhead, Judas Priest, Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, Saxon,
Raven, Def Leppard…I have to admit that initially, my feelings toward
this kind of music were a bit weird. Just like for your first beer sip. But it didn’t take long to start
having some kind of feelings towards this melodic voices, guitar riffs, and
overall, double bass drums and solos. By the end of 1989 I was absolutely a
heavy metal fanatic. 
In the 90’s my family and I moved to
another city, Seville, in southern Spain. In my new school I met two fanatics
of metal that also helped develop my music addiction. I continued listening to
new paths of rock. I discovered American Glam music,
with Poison and Motley Crue being their highest
representatives.
Nevertheless, although many bands
came into my life, Metallica was the one and only. In 1991 the Black Album was launched, and it became one of most
sold albums in rock history. Although many Metallica fans said the band had
betrayed them, I think the black album represented the summit of their music
evolution. Regrettably, after this album, The Four Horsemen of the Bay Area
have never produced a better piece of work.
I have listened to many bands
(AC/DC, Anthrax, WASP, KISS, Judast Priest, etc) but never reached my
admiration as Metallica did. I was obsessed. In those days, where the Internet
did not exist and mobile phones were affordable just for a few, the only way to
get new band material, rarities, and similar, was by reading specialised
magazines and searching the “buy&sell” sections. From the age of 11 until
my 16s I spent much of my free time in Sevilla Rock, a local music shop where I
spent most of my pocket money. My CD collection grew and grew over 500. I
started contacting people to buy rarities and B-sides of several bands
(specially Metallica, of course).
Anyway, as you may see, from a young
age music has become an inspirational motor for life. I do not understand my
life without a soundtrack that comes along with me 24-7-365. Every single
moment, instant, or memory brings a song to my mind that makes me smile, drop a
tear, or feel like driving mad…gosh, music is my
aeroplane!
However, years passed by and my
music taste changed. I always focused on rock music, but inevitably different
bands entered my life. I started opening my mind to psychedelic rock with The
Doors and Pink Floyd, classical rock music such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple,
The Who, Janis Joplin, Jimy Hendrix, progressive rock like Yes and Rush, etc.
Music from the 60s-70s started being a must on my playlist. I enjoyed being a
music provider to my friends and colleagues. I was considered amongst my friend
a freak of music, or an erudite J That’s how one of my best friends
always says about me, and it really makes me smile. Every time I met someone
who knew a band that I wouldn’t, it was like a real push for me, and my life
gained new senses. As a youngster, I was filled with energy and needed to bring
it out.
I started going to concerts of local
bands in Seville. National bands came to play from time to time, but Seville
wasn’t considered important or a reference in the musical scene. Def Con Dos,
Reincidentes, or Extremoduro were very common in my music agenda. By that age,
my 13s-14s approx, I was going through a rebel stage of my life, and many of
these bands were encountered withing the “protest-rock” scene.
In 1992, during the Universal Expo, Guns N’ Roses came to play to Seville. It was the
first time I would ever watch a top international rock band, just in the summit
of their career. GN’R has just released their successful double album “Use Your Illusions I & II” and they were,
together with Metallica, the reference band at international level. (Anyway,
I must say that GNR’s debut album “Appetite for
Destruction” might be considered the best rock album in History. No
doubt).
However, coming back to that 92
concert, it is funny to see how, by then, I had no knowledge at all about the
two supporting bands that, after some years, became reference music in my life:
Faith No More and Soundgarden.
Absolutely amazing groups. I recently saw FNM performing at BBK Live 2010, and they were amazing. Can’t add a
word.
From 1988 till 2000, I shared all
kind of music and bands with friends and pals. I started playing drums in
several music bands. Particularly need to mention Circular Design, my
first music band, with its long Sunday sessions, in-Garage rehearsals, and
plenty of concerts played with no more attendants than our friends and families;
and Neorama, musical project where I developed my main capabilities as a
drummer and percussionist. Besides, a band formed by very different people but
with great humanity and friendship.
Within my discography you may find all
kinds of rock genders. I have great memoirs of my adolescence attending many
music festivals watching top bands such as Slipknot, Audioslave, Muse (when Showbiz
was released), Mano Negra, Manowar, Def Con Dos, System of A Down, Extremoduro,
Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Super Skunk, AC/DC, Arcade Fire, Chemical Brothers, Pearl Jam, Marilin Manson, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, Barricada, Biffly Clyro, Jet,
Iron Maiden, Bloc Party, Bon Jovi, Kings of Leon, INTERPOL, Editors, and a long
and extended etc.
In conclusion, I wasn’t pretending to
write my own History of Rock, but indeed a recognition of what music has meant,
and means to me. Music represents my mood, emotions, concerns. I cannot
conceive life without music, and this is the reason why I have to be enormously
grateful to all those bands (top sellers, unknown and vanished bands) thousands of music
halls, ignored festivals, bankrupted indie labels, and to all
of those who keep making the best drug ever: Music.
There are no walls or frontiers that
music can’t knock down.
