Fermin Muguruza
Encyclopedia
Fermin Muguruza is a Basque
rock
musician, singer, songwriter, producer, record label manager, and co-founder for the ska punk
band Kortatu
, active from 1983 to 1988, and for the crossover
group Negu Gorriak
, active from 1990 to 1996.
He is the brother of musicians Iñigo Muguruza and Jabier Muguruza and is one of the personalities interviewed for the documentary film The Basque Ball, released in 2003.
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 1980 gig in Donostia. 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
.
His socio-political views have created problems, especially in Spain outside the Basque Country, where he is often accused of being an apologist for ETA
, a Basque paramilitary organisation banned as a terrorist organisation. He denies such accusations, expressing a desire for a peaceful process of independence, which he considers in abeyance until both parts leave behind their prejudices. This position, which Muguruza frequently argues for during interviews, contrasts with his lyrics, which don't express criticism of ETA's violence — some of them, especially from his early career in the band Kortatu, show respect for ETA members: For instance, the song "Sarri, Sarri" (a Basque cover of Toots & the Maytals
' "Chatty Chatty") applauds the escape of two ETA members from prison. In interviews he has persistently denounced the actions of the Basque, Spanish and French governments and police corps 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, Muguruza experiences censorship within Spain for his political and social messages, but Muguruza still performs and makes music, saying “authorities are afraid of my music because it is a tool against the ignorance. And these authorities want the ignorance so that they can do what they want”.
Musically, he has been influenced by the oppression that, in his opinion, Spain has 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.
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
musician, singer, songwriter, producer, record label manager, and co-founder for the ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
band Kortatu
Kortatu
Kortatu was a ska punk band from the Basque Country formed in Irun in the summer of 1984.Kortatu was born in the context of the first democracy years in Spain since 1936. They had a big significance for left-wing basque nationalism as precursors of a new wave of music: Basque Radical Rock...
, active from 1983 to 1988, and for the crossover
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
group Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak were an underground Basque Crossover group. 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...
, active from 1990 to 1996.
He is the brother of musicians Iñigo Muguruza and Jabier Muguruza and is one of the personalities interviewed for the documentary film The Basque Ball, released in 2003.
Music career and socio-political views
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
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
band called Kortatu
Kortatu
Kortatu was a ska punk band from the Basque Country formed in Irun in the summer of 1984.Kortatu was born in the context of the first democracy years in Spain since 1936. They had a big significance for left-wing basque nationalism as precursors of a new wave of music: Basque Radical Rock...
with his brother Iñigo and drummer Treku Armendariz, among the first to popularise ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
in Spain. They were clearly influenced by The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, in fact, Muguruza decided to create the band after seeing Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
's band in a 1980 gig in Donostia. In 1988 the group disbanded, but Fermin and Iñigo would come together again in 1990 to create the crossover
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
group Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak were an underground Basque Crossover group. 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...
, along with Kaki Arkarazo, who had produced Kortatu's last records.
In 1997 he collaborated with Dut
DUT
DUT is an acronym for* Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, China* Delft University of Technology in Delft, the Netherlands* Da Nang University of Technology in Da Nang, Viet Nam* Durban University of Technology in Durban, South Africa...
. More recently he has developed a solo career, always defending the use of the Basque language
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
and the need for social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
.
His socio-political views have created problems, especially in Spain outside the Basque Country, where he is often accused of being an apologist for ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
, a Basque paramilitary organisation banned as a terrorist organisation. He denies such accusations, expressing a desire for a peaceful process of independence, which he considers in abeyance until both parts leave behind their prejudices. This position, which Muguruza frequently argues for during interviews, contrasts with his lyrics, which don't express criticism of ETA's violence — some of them, especially from his early career in the band Kortatu, show respect for ETA members: For instance, the song "Sarri, Sarri" (a Basque cover of Toots & the Maytals
Toots & the Maytals
Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group and one of the best known ska and reggae vocal groups. According to Sandra Brennan at Allmusic, "The Maytals were key figures in reggae music...
' "Chatty Chatty") applauds the escape of two ETA members from prison. In interviews he has persistently denounced the actions of the Basque, Spanish and French governments and police corps 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
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
, corporations and the globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
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
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
would come to his concerts with bombs, threatening him and his Basque hip-hop music. However, Muguruza experiences censorship within Spain for his political and social messages, but Muguruza still performs and makes music, saying “authorities are afraid of my music because it is a tool against the ignorance. And these authorities want the ignorance so that they can do what they want”.
Musically, he has been influenced by the oppression that, in his opinion, Spain has 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
Music of Jamaica
The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles. Jamaica's music culture is a fusion of elements from the United States , Africa, and neighboring Caribbean islands such as...
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
(especially drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
), 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.
Kortatu
- Kortatu/Cicatriz/Jotakie/Kontuz Hi! (1985)
- Kortatu (1985)
- El estado de las cosas (1986)
- Kolpez kolpe (1988)
- Azken guda dantza (1988)
Negu Gorriak
- Negu Gorriak (1990)
- Gure Jarrera (1991)
- Gora Herria (1991)
- Borreroak Baditu Milaka Aurpegi (1993)
- Hipokrisiari Stop! Bilbo 93-X-30 (1994)
- Ideia Zabaldu (1995)
- Ustelkeria (1996)
- Salam, agur (1996)
- 1990-2001 (DVD + Live CD) (2005)
Fermin Muguruza
- Amodio eta gorrotozko kantak (1984-1998) (1998)
- Brigadistak Sound SystemBrigadistak Sound SystemBrigadistak Sound System is a studio album from Basque artist Fermin Muguruza. It was released in 1999 and produced by Esan Ozenki Records....
(1999) - erREMIXak (1999)
- FM 99.00 Dub ManifestFM 99.00 Dub ManifestFM 99.00 Dub Manifest is a studio album from Basque artist Fermin Muguruza. It was released in 2000 and produced by Esan Ozenki.Muguruza doesn't belong to any musical genre in particular but some punk, ska, jazz, jungle and funk influences can be found. Most songs contain political themes, with...
(2000) - KorrikaKorrikaThe Korrika, or Running, is an exhibition race held bi-annually in the Basque Country in order to celebrate and support the Basque language....
. mundu bat euskarara bildu (2001) - In-komunikazioa (2002)
- Irun Meets Bristol. Komunikazioa (2003)
- Sala Apolo, Barcelona 21/01/04 (2004)
- 99-04 DVD + CD (2005)
- Xomorroak (Bizitza lorontzian) (2005)
- Euskal Herria Jamaika Clash (2006)
- BASS-que Culture DVD + Remix CD (2006)
- Asthmatic Lion Sound Systema (2008)
- Asthmatic Lion REMIX + beste harribitxi batzuk (2009)