Niko Etxart is a Basque singer-songwriter and musician born in 1953 in Altzürükü

Aussurucq

Aussurucq is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is located in the former province of Soule.The village features a dynamic scene related especially to Basque culture...

, Soule

Soule

Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...

 (Southwest of France). He's widely reputed in the Basque area for being a forerunner of Basque rock and bridging the gap between Basque old tradition and modern music trends.

Early life

Niko Etxart was born in Aussurucq. When he was two years old, his parents moved to Paris. However, unlike many others, he received the Basque language and culture as a child, in particular through the Basque centre in Paris. When he left school in 1972, his only wish was to be a singer. By this year he founded a group named Tinka with two other friends.

Music

After living in Paris since his early childhood, moved out in 1974 to the rural land of his parents in Soule with brand new ideas about music, taking up rock and roll and singing in Basque

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...

. He put together the band Minxoriak in 1976 without giving up his solo career as a musician, so besides working with the band till the mid-80s, Etxart staged performances on his own as well as releasing various albums. Some of his songs have attained considerable popularity both in the Spanish and French Basque Country.

In the late 90s and the noughties, he has taken up composing traditional pastoral

Pastoral (theatre of Soule)

The pastoral is a traditional kind of play from the Basque Country held in the region of Soule , France. It features a set range of characters and acts repeated on all pieces...

s, as well as staging traditional vocal songs along with his father Dominika and Robert Larrandaburu. When performing with instrumental background, he's supported by the band Hapa-Hapa (Zuberoan

Zuberoan

Souletin , is the Basque dialect spoken in Soule, France.-Name:In English sources, the Basque-based term Zuberoan is sometimes encountered. In Standard Basque, the dialect is known as Zuberera , locally variously as Üskara, Xiberera or Xiberotarra...

 Basque for 'panting'). Among his most abiding hits Euskal Rock'n Roll, Baga biga klik, Tumatxa, Eperra (traditional) can be counted, to mention but a few.

Significance

In a time when the Spanish Basque Country still remained under the yoke of Franco's dictatorship, with Basque language and culture quickly losing ground to French, and Basque society struggling between modernity and loyalty to conservative old traditions, not only did Etxart switch to new contents but more controversially he brought along new forms: electric guitar, jeans, long hair, secularity, etc., which didn't go down well with Basque conservative circles and political and cultural activists.

The musician showed a rocker outlook, even releasing a hit, "Euskal Rock'n Roll", that made it to the 17th position in the Spanish charts (Los 40 Principales

Los 40 Principales

Los 40 Principales is the main musical radio station in Spain with more than 4,000,000 listeners. The station was founded in 1966 and in 2006 the station celebrated its 40th anniversary...

). However, thereafter he has evolved into gentler tunes, while sticking to rocky manners and look.

Audio sample

Discography

Albums

• Nahasteka (1979)
• Has' dantzan (1980)
• Min Xoriak eta Niko Etxart (1980)
• Tumatxa (1983)
• Baikor (1990)
• Gili-gilikatzen haüt (1996)
• Ürrüti Jauregiko Peirot (2002)
• Eperra (2003)
• Minuette (2005)

Single

• Euskal rock n' roll (1979)