Fermin Muguruza

Last updated
Fermin Muguruza
FerminMuguruza.jpg
Background information
Born (1963-04-20) 20 April 1963 (age 59)
Irun, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • producer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1983–present
Website Official website

Fermin Muguruza (born 20 April 1963) is a Basque rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, record label manager, and co-founder of the ska punk band Kortatu, active from 1983 to 1988, and of the crossover group Negu Gorriak, active from 1990 to 1996.

Contents

Born in Irun, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain, he is the brother of musicians Íñigo Muguruza  [ es ] and Jabier Muguruza  [ es ] and is one of the personalities interviewed for the documentary film The Basque Ball , released in 2003.

Musical career

Fermin Muguruza onstage with Kortatu Fermin Muguruza - Kortatu 3.jpg
Fermin Muguruza onstage with Kortatu

Muguruza has taken part in more than twenty albums, and is one of the most important artists from the Basque Country.

In 1983 he founded a fusion ska punk band called Kortatu with his brother Iñigo and drummer Treku Armendariz, among the first to popularise ska in Spain. They were clearly influenced by The Clash, in fact, Muguruza decided to create the band after seeing Strummer's band in a gig in Donostia on May 2, 1981. [1] His song "Sarri, Sarri", a Basque cover of Toots & the Maytals' "Chatty Chatty", grew into a highly popular song during the 80s, where he makes an explicit reference to Joseba Sarrionaindia's artful escape from prison in 1985.

In 1988 the group disbanded, but Fermin and Iñigo would come together again in 1990 to create the crossover group Negu Gorriak, along with Kaki Arkarazo, who had produced Kortatu's last records. In 1997 he collaborated with Dut. More recently he has developed a solo career, always defending the use of the Basque language and the need for social justice.

Views on society and politics

In interviews he has persistently denounced the policies of the Basque, Spanish and French governments and police bodies as well as of Spanish nationalist groups. At an international level, Fermin Muguruza holds acute left-wing views that lead him to criticize the U.S. government, corporations and the globalization process, all of which he denounces as imperialistic and homogenizing.

In an interview with Freemuse, Muguruza speaks about his experience as a musician under the democracy of today. He has performed in concerts where fascists would come to his concerts with bombs, threatening him and his Basque hip-hop music. However, he experiences censorship within Spain for his political and social messages, but still performs and makes music, saying "authorities are afraid of my music because it is a tool against ignorance. And these authorities want the ignorance so that they can do what they want". [2]

Musically, he has been inspired by the, in his opinion, oppression of Spain over Basque Country. And although most of his lyrics are in Basque, his compositions are a melting pot of different cultures, with a big influence of Jamaican and electronic music (especially drum and bass), which he commonly mixes over Basque instruments. In his track "Euskal Herria Jamaika Clash!, Fermin Muguruza mixes Jamaican rhythms with sounds from Basque traditional musical instruments to produce unique musical hybrids that feature Basque heritage and culture. [3]

Discography

Kortatu

Negu Gorriak

Fermin Muguruza eta Dut

Fermin Muguruza

Related Research Articles

Basque music Music of the Basque region and people

Basque music refers to the music made in the Basque Country, reflecting traits related to its society/tradition, and devised by people from that territory. While traditionally more closely associated to rural based and Basque language music, the growing diversification of its production during the last decades has tipped the scale in favour of a broad definition.

Negu Gorriak

Negu Gorriak were an underground Spanish group from the Basque Autonomous Community. Their musical style combines various styles of rock music such as hardcore punk, hip-hop, ska, and reggae, although it is impossible to separate the band from its political ideology and its identification with the Basque Country and its language (Euskara).

Kortatu Basque ska punk band

Kortatu was a Basque ska punk band from the Basque Autonomous Community formed in Irun in the summer of 1984.

Irun Municipality in Euskadi, Spain

Irun is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.

Arnaldo Otegi Basque pro-independence politician

Arnaldo Otegi Mondragón is a Basque politician who is currently General Secretary of Basque nationalist party EH Bildu. He was member of the Basque Parliament for both Herri Batasuna and Euskal Herritarrok. He was one of the key negotiators during the unsuccessful peace talks in Loiola and Geneva, in 2006.

Basque Country national football team Sports team in Spain

The Basque Country representative football team represents the Basque Country in football. It selects players from the Basque Country autonomous community, Navarre and the French Basque Country and is organised by the Basque Football Federation. It is not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA and therefore only allowed to play friendly matches against FIFA or non-FIFA affiliated teams.

Jay Ziskrout was the first drummer for Bad Religion, forming the group with schoolmate Brett Gurewitz in 1980. Ziskrout performed on Bad Religion's self-titled EP and half on their debut album How Could Hell Be Any Worse?. He decided to leave the band with only half of the songs recorded due to the other band members not listening to him. Bad Religion replaced him with his drum roadie, Pete Finestone.

Reincidentes Spanish rock/punk rock band

Reincidentes is a Spanish rock/punk rock band. They were formed in the 1980s as Incidente Local, by Manuel Pizarro on drums, Juan Barea on guitar, and Fernando Medina on bass and vocals. They performed their first live concert in 1987 at University of Seville. After they became finalists at a local rock contest and were joined by sax player José Luis Nieto, they recorded their self-titled debut album in 1989 released by '"Discos Trilita". After signing up to the "Discos Suicidas" label and participating in Seville Expo '92, they started touring Central America. Later, Selu left the band and Finito de Badajoz became the new guitarist. In 1997, the band signed to BMG and shortly thereafter their live album Algazara became their first gold record in Spain in 2000.

Obrint Pas Spanish band

Obrint Pas was a Spanish band from Valencia, Valencian Community. Their music is a mixture of rock, ska and reggae with dolçaina rhythms, a traditional Valencian instrument, often with social and political lyrics promoting Catalan nationalism.

Arrano beltza Basque and Navarrese symbol

The arrano beltza is an ancient Basque and Navarre symbol depicting a black heraldic eagle upon a yellow background. Today, it is mostly used by Basque nationalists as a symbol of sovereignty and independence.

B.A.P.!! was a Basque-language hardcore punk from Andoain, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain, formed in 1984. The band's name BAP had various explanations including; Babarruna ta Aza Popularra!!, and Brigada Anti Policial. The name was soon shortened to just B.A.P.!!, and cited as BAP.

Korrika

Korrika is a biennial event in the Basque Country that creates awareness of AEK’s adult Basque language curriculum and Basque language, and is also a fund raiser; AEK is an adult education organisation for the teaching of Basque language. It is one of the largest demonstrations gathering support for a language in the world, and the longest relay race worldwide, with 2,557 kilometres in 2017, running day and night without interruption for 11 days. The Korrika is celebrated beyond its fundraising goal, encouraging, supporting and spreading the Basque language itself.

Joseba Sarrionandia

Joseba Sarrionandia Uribelarrea is a Basque writer who has published a large number of books of poetry and short stories, as well as novels. He has been awarded on numerous occasions for his work, and is nowadays a respected literary personality in the Basque Country.

Basque Country (autonomous community) Autonomous community of Spain

The Basque Country, also called Basque Autonomous Community, is an autonomous community of Spain. It includes the provinces of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa, located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, bordering on the autonomous communities of Cantabria, Castile and León, La Rioja, and Navarre, and the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Sorkun Basque singer

Sorkun is a Basque singer. She has recorded two solo albums, and formed part of the punk-rock band Kashbad during the 90s. She has also recorded with other groups such as Negu Gorriak and Flitter, and has collaborated with Fermin Muguruza.

Santiago Brouard Basque politician and doctor (1919–1984)

Santiago Brouard or Santi Brouard was a doctor and Basque politician. He was one of the leaders of Herri Batasuna, and deputy mayor of Bilbao. He was killed by the Spanish government's death squad, the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), in one of its highest-profile acts. Broaurd was shot by GAL gunmen Luis Morcillo and Rafael López Ocaña as he left his paediatric clinic in Bilbao.

Basque Radical Rock Musical genre

Basque Radical Rock, was a musical genre born in the Southern Basque Country at the beginning of the 1980s and, although there was no specific event, it is considered to have ended in the last years of the decade. Basque Radical Rock bands were particularly influenced by punk bands like Sex Pistols and The Clash. It was considered an underground movement, born in opposition to the values proclaimed by Francisco Franco and spread by thousands of people who felt with the Spanish transition to democracy their Basque national and social aspirations were betrayed.

Oskorri

Oskorri is a folk band formed in the Western Basque Country in 1971. It is one of the most renowned folk groups in the Basque Country, with songs such as Euskal Herrian Euskaraz becoming popular in the region. Their first album was based on Gabriel Aresti poems. The group's name in Basque means "red sunset". Year after year, highlighted by his work capacity and capacity for experimentation. They began fusing jazz with traditional Basque instruments until they have come to find a style that defined within the European folk scene. It is one of the most veteran folk bands of Euskal Herria.

RIP (band)

R.I.P. was a hardcore punk group from Mondragón, Basque Autonomous Community (Spain), and were part of the Basque Radical Rock musical movement in the early 1980s. By 2014, three of the band's classic four members — lead singer Karlos "Mahoma" Agirreurreta, bassist "Portu" Mancebo and guitarist Jul Bolinaga — had died.

Joxe Azurmendi Basque writer

Joxe Azurmendi Otaegi is a Basque writer, philosopher, essayist and poet. He has published numerous articles and books on ethics, politics, the philosophy of language, technique, Basque literature and philosophy in general.

References

  1. "The Clash Velodromo de Anoeta, San Sebastian - 2 May1981". homepage.mac.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  2. Muguruza, Fermin. Interview Archived 2008-05-03 at the Wayback Machine . FreeMuse. 4 Apr. 2007. 20 Apr. 2008.
  3. Muguruza, Fermin. "Euskal Herria Jamaika Clash". YouTube. 20 May 2006. 15 Apr. 2008.