Support and love from E Street Band guitarist/ radio DJ Steven van Zandt, a record deal in the United States and a prominent place on the International Pop Overthrow festival in Liverpool… life could be worse. And still, it seems that outside of Spain no one has ever heard of the band who got all these nice little things: The Gurus.
The Gurus are Emili Ramirez (vocals, guitar), Sergio Bartel (vocals, bass) and Josep Pons (drums), also known as the Spanish trio whose music has developed from sixties music inspired by the early Beatles and from highly experimental psychedelic music to melodic and more straight-forward rock like the early Oasis and Status Quo.
As a long-time fan – I found one of their albums by accident in the second hands section of a record shop years ago and have been devoted ever since – I was happily surprised when I found out that they would perform in Liverpool. After all, I never saw their albums for sale ever again in regular shops, when another album was ordered through a record shop I had to wait for a year before it arrived, they never seemed to tour and at the time they didn’t have a proper website. In short, a mystery had to be solved.
So after I watched the IPO gig I got myself together, introduced myself and it was decided that for a nice little chat, we had to go to the bands’ favourite place: a place where they could smoke. It was supposed to be a quiet place as well, but it turned out that more people go to café’s. Nevertheless, the conversation, accompanied by My First Voice Recorder® and two translators, was a big success, with lots of Spanish discussions, international laughs and discographies being rewritten. It was also a conversation about managers, record deals, writing songs, being discovered and being too loud. It was, in short, the story of the Gurus.
*The Gurus did speak English, but needed help from the translators sometimes. In order to make this transcription more clarifying though, I decided to mention the translators virtually only when they didn’t translate but added things unsaid by the band. (And yes, I do see the irony).
ALTSOUNDS: The first mystery that I like to be solved has to do with the chronic lack of live appearances. Why do you hardly play live gigs?
Emili: Because we don’t have manager.
AS: Really?
E: We don’t have a manager, really.
Sergio: It is impossible.
E: It is impossible to find any manager.
AS: Is it that bad?
E: Do you want to be our manager?
(Laughing)
AS: Neh, I’m busy…
(Laughing)
AS: So you do want to play live but you can’t?
S: Oh yes, of course.
E: Exactly.
Josep: We do play live around Spain, but on an international level it’s pretty hard without a manager to find places to play. We do festivals, we do small concerts, we do bigger concerts, for like 1000/ 2000 people in Spain.
AS: What’s it like in Spain?
E: It’s hard to play live in Spain. There are no places to go.
Translator: In Spain, it’s not like in the UK where you can make so much noise. So lots of time they can’t play, because they don’t let you play loud.
J: Smoking…in Spain no problem. But you can’t play loud!
E: (makes an ‘Oh my Lord’ gesture) Ooh…ooh…ah…
Translator: They always tell you to keep it down.
E: And all the neighbours…whooo…the neighbours are going ‘whooo’.
Translator: Maybe (only) in a small bar they can play. They can’t be loud. They are very strict, like quite hours.
AS: So what about moving to England then?
E: Yeah, we’re talking about it.
J: Que, que, que?
(Discussion)
S: It is an option, it is an option.
E: It is an option. But we need a manager first. We can’t come here for nothing.
S: We want to make a tour, for England…you know…
Translator: …whatever place…
S: …Scotland or Ireland…the United Kingdom…you can go to a lot of places.
Translator: They have already toured in the United States.
AS: What exactly do you like about playing live?
E: The drugs and the drinks after the gig.
(Laughing)
E: No, it’s a joke, I’m joking.
S: We like to play rock ‘n roll, always, any place.
AS: I’d like to talk about your albums. You have made three albums so far, as far as I know. Can you describe your albums a little bit?
[Josep corrects me in Spanish – there are actually four albums, but the first was in Spanish only.]
S: The first album is from 1992….no, 1998…excuse me…
E: It was in Spanish.
S: …and we sang only in Spanish.
E: Spanish pop.
S: It’s only in Spain, for the people of Spain.
This is the point where I decide to show them my homework. The only ‘complete’ discography I discovered, found on Allmusic.com.
2003 Ultra Sensorial (Universal)
2004 The Gurus (Rainbow Quartz)
2004 En La Oscuridad (Bip Bip)
2006 The Swing of Things (Rainbow Quartz)
2008 Now (Rainbow Quartz)
All the Children Sing By (Bip Bip)
J: It’s not Bip Bip.
S: (points to En La Oscuridad): That’s the first.
J: It’s not Bip Bip. It’s Original Records.
S: It’s Original, 1998.
E: And it’s from 1999…no…
S: 1998.
AS: And the second album is?
S: The second album is…
E: All the Children Sing.
J: Oscuridad.
E: All the Children.
Sergio takes over my homework and makes a couple of minor changes.
S (points to All the Children Sing By): This is second…that is 2002. (Points to The Gurus) The third.
J: Original Records. Bip Bip…no.
While Emili objects to Josep’s punctuality, Sergio hands over the real discography.
The Official Gurus discography by the Gurus
1998 En La Oscuridad (Original Records)
2002 All the Children Sing By (Bip Bip Records)
2004 The Gurus (Rainbow Quartz)
2006 The Swing of Things (Rainbow Quartz)
2008 Now (Rainbow Quartz/ Rock Indiana)
AS: So your first album was in Spanish?
S: Yeah, yeah, of course.
AS: What was the music like back then?
E: Pop.
S: Like the music that we have now.
J: Indie.
S: Indie rock music, psychedelic.
(Discussion)
E: Ah…pop, Spanish pop.
S: It’s like the sort we played today.
On the sleeve of third album "The Gurus" there is a picture with the words ‘All the Children Sing By’. And years ago, a review was written about an album called All the Children Sing By, and the reviewer mentioned the same songs as the ones on The Gurus.
AS: All the Children Sing By and The Gurus…are those the same albums?
E: We made this album (All the Children), a mini album, with only eight songs. And when we signed with Rainbow Quartz they told us to make more songs and we made four songs to do The Gurus; that includes the songs of All the Children.
AS: Why do you play in different styles every new album?
E: For not get boring.
S: We have a lot of songs….many songs…we write a lot of songs.
E: We like all kinds of music. Not only…not only…
S: You can’t play always the same.
E: A rapper, we’re not. If we make a hit, than we rap it.
S (Re-enacts conversation on stage): ‘What song do you want to play today? That song? Okay.’
J: With each album, we try not to repeat ourselves; we try to make it sound a little bit different.
AS: For the people who are not familiar with your music can you describe your music a little bit?
E: Rockabilly-grunge.
(Laughing)
AS: The third and fourth albums, the ones you can buy from Rainbow Quartz, that was like sixties music, like the Beatles and the Kinks.
S: Yes, of course.
AS: Why do you like to play that kind of style?
S: Well eh…we have a lot of sixties music, the Beatles, the Kinks, Pink Floyd…but we (just) love rock ‘n roll music. That’s our favourite music.
E: When we play, it sounds this way. We don’t think ‘let’s do this’. When we play it’s this music.
AS: And the Ultra Sensorial album, what was that about?
E: It’s not ours.
AS: So it’s just wrong.
Translator: Yeah.
E. But good name for an album.
(Laughing)
S: Maybe it’s the next one…
(Laughing)
E: Is that The Gurus?
AS: According to Allmusic.com …
(Discussion, resulting in more laughing)
AS: It’s hard to find your albums in Europe. Is the Rainbow Quartz deal for the United States only?
Translator: It (the album Now) is supposed to be in Spain and Europe, but it’s hard to find. (But) they did a version for the US and a version for Europe.
AS: Sounds like a crappy record deal. You got an album out and nobody can buy it!
E: Yeah, yeah, it’s true. We make the songs, we make the master and they publish. But we don’t understand…
AS: Why is that?
E: We need a manager.
(Laughing)
J: Rainbow Quartz doesn’t want to make that record, they really only sell records in the US and in Canada and they kinda forget about Europe and the UK. So we really can’t do anything about it. Where we would be famous would be especially in Spain and around here, but unfortunately…
S: Yeah, that’s the problem…
E: People in Spain don’t believe that we are with a New York label.
(Laughing)
Translator: (But) the record (‘Now’) came out in the US and a player for Bruce Springsteen (Little Steven van Zandt) heard the record and loved it and when he came to Barcelona he asked to meet them. And invited them to their concert.
He has a radio station and he played their songs ("He Was a Man" and "Second Scene", both from ‘Now’, appeared on his radio show Little Steven’s Underground Garage a couple of times last year).
AS: Tell me a bit more about your Springsteen adventure.
S: When we knew that Bruce Springsteen & the E street band was coming to Barcelona we send an e-mail to Steven Van Zandt that if it was possible to talk with him for a little while and our surprise was that he invited us to the concert. We went to their gig in the Camp Nou, the F.C.Barcelona stadium, and we met Steven Van Zandt. It was incredible for us because we respect him and his boss Springsteen, of course! He knows about us since 2002, he’s a great fan of our band. He likes a lot of our songs, like "Big Sea", "He Was a Man" and "Second Scene". He is a great musician and an even better guy! Springsteen & the E street band show was for 80,000 people, and it was simply perfect, magic, they’re masters, you know...
AS: I like to talk about your history. Why are you called the Gurus?
E: Because, we were first called Buboavus but it’s very difficult to remember and they said ‘please look for a name easier’.
S: It (Buboavus) is Latin and it means a something like an ‘ancient owl’. That was to make a tribute to an old man from our village, Castellbisbal but nobody could pronounce the name correctly, especially in Spain which was really difficult and complicated. We changed to ‘The Gurus’ name, because it’s sound easier, and it’s more international.
Translator: There were a lot of names already registered or taken, so they were looking for something no one had.
E: We made a list.
Translator: They tried to find the one that nobody had.
E: (And) Gurus is the same in English as in Spanish.
AS: How did you start the band?
Translator: They (points to Sergio and Emili) have been friends since they were ten. And they played around in….
S: …other bands.
Translator: When they were sixteen they started the band with another drummer.
S: He (points to Josep) is much better than the other drummer.
Translator: They started the group…
S: …in 1996 exactly.
AS: How did you get a record deal?
Josep: The first?
AS: Yeah.
S: Someone heard us play, he really liked it and wanted to invest money.
(Discussion)
AS: That was the first album, on Bip Bip Records?
J: No, Original Records.
E: They released the album and then they disappeared.
(Laughing)
E: We went to Madrid, looking for the man…he had disappeared. So we looked for Bip Bip, and they had disappeared! Always the same.
In Spain people like Spanish music, Rumba you know, Flamenco. Rock ‘n roll doesn't go down that well.
Translator: The man gave them the money for their first record. He got a better job, an important job, and he left and forgot about it.
AS: And the record deal, with Rainbow Quartz?
S: He was from a company from Barcelona.
J: No, no, no, no.
(Discussion)
S: The second one was Bip Bip Records. Rainbow Quartz went to Bip Bip Records and selected some groups they liked and did the next records.
Translator: David Bash, the director of the festival, he came and selected.
J: No, no, it was Jim McGarry.
Their spelling and pronouncing confuses me and I ask Josep to write it down for me.
E: Hey, you can write!
S: He is the boss of Rainbow Quartz.
J: Jim said that he loved us, he always said that.
E: He said ‘I love your music’ and then he left.
AS: But despite his love, the record is hard to find.
Translator: In the United States, you can find them. Not in Spain or whatever, but in the United States, yes.
J: They don’t make a lot of copies. Maybe they send twenty and if they go out, they don’t send any more, so they kinda like, disappear (from the market).
AS: So, with a record out once in every two years and hardly a chance to play live…Are you full-time musicians or do you need a regular job to survive?
E: We don’t get money with this, but we don’t have jobs. Spain is in crisis.
J: No jobs.
E: We are practically tramps.
J: Maybe here there is a job for me, living here.
E (turns to Josep): Do you want to be our manager?
(Laughing)
AS: What kind of jobs did you normally do?
E: We work as a lot of things…
Translator: …Painters…
E: …Painters…
S: Basically factories.
J: Driving trucks.
S: And he (points to Josep) is a truck driver.
Emili imitates the sound of a truck horn.
J: But now...eh...no.
AS: Do you get a lot of attention?
E: Nothing.
J: In Spain basically nothing. The people are talking about us…
S: We’re doing the music.
J: Only one magazine…with photo…and radio…no.
E: (Getting attention on) radio in Spain is very rare. Rock ‘n roll don’t exist in Spain. (Discusses his finding with Josep.) One, one radio station…and they have one hour…
Translator: They’re not the kind of people who are knocking at the door. They love to play, they are well known, but they’re the kind of people who maybe stay aside of the other groups.
AS: I like to talk about your music as well, your writing. What inspires you to write songs?
Translator: For example, something they hear on the news that inspires them to write stories. Like the song Parasites…there was a shooting at a school in Columbine… that inspired that song.
(Discussion)
Translator: (But) usually they try to find words that somehow make sense and they just keep throwing words together until they like it.
(Laughing)
E: I don’t mind the lyrics, I don’t mind the lyrics. The Gurus music is about…rock ‘n roll is only ‘baby, baby, baby, baby’ and I like it. I like the songs, the sensation.
Translator: They care more about the actual sound of the music than the words.
S: Normally we (he and Emili) play together, we write together. But occasionally we make eh…
E: We have an idea and when we get together we say ‘I got this ‘whoo hoo’’. Just that, that’s it.
AS: So you just sit in the same room and write together?
S: Yeah, yeah, like Lennon and McCartney or Leiber and Stoller.
E: Four eyes see more than two.
Josep turns to the translator.
Translator: When they are writing, he’s at the bar.
(Laughing)
Translator: (And) they sing in English because they feel like it’s the language of rock ‘n roll. They feel that they have to sing in English.
(Discussion)
S: Rainbow Quartz wanted us to sing in English. If you want to play it is important that you sing in English. That’s one of the reasons, one of the reasons.
AS: You seem to be influenced by the music of the sixties and the seventies. Why?
E: We like new music too. We like Nirvana too and grunge…
S: Oasis.
E: Status Quo.
S: Status Quo!
AS: You love them?
Both: Oh yeah, whoo hoo hoo!
E: Beatles.
AS: Which song do you like the most, of your own songs?
J: Ticket to Ride.
(Laughing)
J: The last album, or the first…
AS: Anything?
(Discussion)
Translator: Each album has a song they like (the most). They’re really proud of everything, so it’s kinda hard. They never had that question, so they don’t know…
AS: A perfect reason to think about it now!
J: We can maybe choose five, but only one….
AS: Okay, choose five.
(Laughing)
E: Very good.
(Another passionate discussion follows…)
J: Big Sea, It’s Only Love…
Translator: That song (It’s Only Love) was in a Spanish film, a very well known film, Isi Disi (a parody on metal music and a very popular film in Spain).
(Discussion)
J: Hard Work?
S: Hard Work.
J: Hard Work.
(Meanwhile I try to find as many ways as possible to spell the title of the film wrong.)
S: It’s a very horrible film, a horrible film. I tell you, it’s true.
(Musical discussion continues)
J: He Was a Man?
S: He Was a Man.
Translator: He Was a Man.
(Discussion)
Sergio: Second Scene?
Josep: Ah, Second Scene.
Sergio: Second Scene.
Josep: Second Scene.
AS: What?
Sergio and translator: Second Scene.
AS: I was also anxious to hear about your personal favourite songs.
Translator: More than songs, they feel they have to pick…
J: …disco’s (albums, red.)
E: …bands.
Translator: …bands
S: Or records. Maybe bands.
S: Revolver, The Beatles.
E: Nirvana In Utero.
S: In Utero from Nirvana.
S: What’s the Story Morning Glory by Oasis
J: Definitely Maybe, Definitely Maybe.
Sergio: No, Morning Glory.
(Discussion)
J: Tommy by the Who.
S: Tommy by the Who.
S: Eh…On the Levels
E: On the Levels, Status Quo
S: Status Quo.
(Discussion)
J: London Calling.
S: What?
J: London Calling by the Clash.
S: No.
(Intense argument)
E: Calling is not…
J: For me, not for him. Status Quo for him.
(Laughing)
S: One moment.
E: Let’s go outside!
The argument continues for another minute, without a clear result. So I decide to ask one more question.
Despite the support of Steven van Zandt & a record deal in the United States - they’re not exactly the luckiest band on Earth. And it might take another while before their dreams finally will come true.
AS: But how are you doing in Spain at the moment?
Translator: It’s very well known and well considered with people who know about this (kind of) music. But they feel that they got more attention in the US than in Spain, where they really should be famous.
A week after the interview – by coincidence also the week I discovered why interviews usually don’t take place in busy café’s – I asked the Gurus to clarify their label adventures a little bit, as everyone was throwing in names and disagreeing about the labels.
S: In 1997 we met a rich man from Madrid called Pedro Cervera, who wanted to pay our first record, and he established a label called Original Records. And that was when we released En la Oscuridad in 1998, but after he disappeared. I think that he’s working now in the SGAE, the Spanish society of editors and artists. We signed up with Bip Bip Records, based in Barcelona. They’re specialized in the ´60,´70 and the psychedelic-rock bands from Spain. We have only one record with them, All the Children Sing By, in 2002. And after we signed up for Rainbow Quartz, the label of Jim McGarry from New York. Actually we have a new record label in Spain too: Rock Indiana from Madrid.
So there you go: five albums, four record labels, part of the soundtrack of a popular Spanish film and Steven van Zandt as a fan. And everything is accomplished without a manager. Although they obviously need one to get more live gigs (and maybe a slightly better record deal), it’s not bad at all for a band unable to perform in their own country, unable to perform elsewhere and only a little bit able to speak English.
The mystery is solved: no gigs because of the absence of a manager, no way to get their albums, because the record company doesn’t try to sell them in Europe and their website…well, they do have a website now:
The Gurus on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads.
Here you can find a couple of their new songs, video clips and even gigs data (only three left this year!).
If you are not one of the lucky twenty people who found their albums in the record store and you still desperately need some Gurus related stuff, there’s always the Internet. Through
Rainbow Quartz & Turquoise Mountain you can buy their Rainbow albums and on YouTube you can find a couple of video clips; Good Morning from the Gurus, Flats & Jobs from The Swing of Things and It’s Only Love from the film Isi Disi.
And if you’re an artist manager looking for a band…well, you should know what to do by now. That's not exactly a mystery to be solved anymore!
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Say No More interview 18/4/08
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Q&A Interview: The Gurus
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