Vetusta Morla Explained

Vetusta Morla
Origin:Tres Cantos (Madrid)
Years Active:1998–present
Label:Pequeño Salto Mortal
Current Members:
  • Pucho
  • David "el Indio"
  • Álvaro B. Baglietto
  • Jorge González
  • Guillermo Galván
  • Juanma Latorre

Vetusta Morla is a Spanish indie-rock band originally from the city of Tres Cantos located near Madrid, Spain. The band was formed in 1998 and took its name from the giant old tortoise Morla, a character in the children's book The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. "Vetusta" means "extremely old" or "decrepit" in Spanish.[1]

The history of Vetusta Morla began in the summer of 1998 at the José Luis Sampedro Secondary School in Tres Cantos, Madrid, where a few students decided to perform at the institute's culture week and founded a rock band. This project was more like a hobby for the participants; lead singer Pucho was engaged in graphic design, drummer David "el Indio" ("the Indian") Garcia worked as a teacher, guitarist Juan Manuel Latorre had a program on Radio 3, and keyboardist Jorge Gonzalez taught physics.

The first demo, "13 Horas Con Lucy" ("13 Hours With Lucy") was released in 2000 and won a few local music awards. Winning the Concurso de Rock de La Elipa en 2001 brought them to the attention of a professional producer, David Hyam, who produced the band's first EP, La Cuadratura Del Circulo, which wasn't released until 2003. At the end of 2001, the new bass-player, Alvaro Baglietto replaced Alejandro Notario and from then, the band's composition has not been changed.[2]

For several years Vetusta Morla tried unsuccessfully to find a label. Indie music labels were not attracted to the commercial sound of the band and large ones did not see prospects for their music. The situation changed in 2006, when, after performing at the international Festival Anti-Crise in Beirut, the musicians decided to start working on the project seriously and quit their day jobs to fully devote themselves to music. To solve the problem of lacking a label, they created their own, Pequeño Salto Mortal (Little Fatal Leap).[3]

Due to the "hobby" aspects of the project, Vetusta Morla performed intensively at various festivals and on radio and received some awards but their first album wasn't released until February 2008, after the band had been in existence for almost a decade. This album, titled Un día en el mundo (A Day in the World), contained twelve songs, one of which, "La Marea" ("The Tide"), had first been released on the La cuadratura del círculo EP in 2003. By the end of the year, Un día en el mundo appeared on almost every music chart in Spain and was called the best Spanish debut rock album.[4] That same year Vetusta Morla went on their first big tour.

Three years later, in the spring of 2011, the band released their second album, Mapas (Maps), which also became popular. It had a more complex and minor-key sound than Un día en el mundo.[5] The next year, having rich tour experience and two full-length albums, the band decided to undertake an experiment by recording with the Regional Symphony Orchestra of Murcia in order to raise money for the restoration of the Narciso Yepes Conservatory building in the city of Lorca, which had been damaged in an earthquake in May 2011. The concert was officially released almost a year later in the spring of 2012.[6]

Later that same year, the band completed another interesting experiment and released an original soundtrack album for a video game called Los Rios De Alice (Rivers of Alice) from Delirium Studios. The disc consists mainly of instrumental compositions with only one track, "Los Buenos" ("The Good Ones"), a song in their usual style.[7]

At the end of 2013, the band announced the release of their third album, La Deriva (Drift). The first single "Golpe maestro" ("Masterstroke") was released in Spain on February 23, 2014, and the album itself on April 8, 2014. This was accompanied by numerous concerts and music videos.[8] Their, Mismo sitio, distinto lugar (Same site, different place), was recorded at Hansa Studios in Berlin and released on November 10, 2017.[9]

In 2017, the band took part in an unusual audiovisual project from the Spanish national broadcaster Radio 3. Called Suena Guernica, (Singing Guernica), it commemorated the 80th anniversary of the painting of the same name by Pablo Picasso. As part of this project, famous Spanish musicians performed several songs in a front of the painting, which hangs in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. Vetusta Morla performed three songs: "Alto!" and "Golpe Maestro" from their third album and "Puente de los franceses", a folk song from the Spanish Civil War.[10]

In 2020, the band released an experimental album MSDL - Canciones dentro de canciones ("Songs in Songs"), which the musicians themselves describe as a nesting doll, where the songs from the fourth album were rethought in a different format.[11] In 2021, they announced the upcoming release of a sixth studio album, Cable a Tierra (Cable to Earth).[12]

Awards and nominations

Awardwidth=3%YearCategoryNominated workResult Ref.
Critical Eye Awards2008Modern MusicVetusta Morla[13]
Latin Grammy Awards2018Best Alternative Music AlbumMismo Sitio, Diferente Lugar[14]
Best Alternative Song"Consejo de Sabios"
2020Best Recording PackageMSDL - Canciones dentro de canciones[15]
2022Best Pop/Rock AlbumCable a Tierra[16]
Best Rock Song"Finisterre"
Best Long Form Music VideoMatria
MTV Europe Music Awards2011Best Spanish ActVetusta Morla[17]
Premios Odeón2021Best Alternative ArtistVetusta Morla[18]
Best Alternative AlbumMSDL - Canciones dentro de canciones
2022Cable a Tierra[19]
Rolling Stone en Español Awards2023Album of the YearBailando Hasta el Apagón[20]
UFI Awards2009Best ArtistVetusta Morla[21]
Best AlbumUn Día en el Mundo
Best Rock Album
Best Song"Valiente"
Note: At the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Mismo Sitio, Diferente Lugar was also nominated for Best Recording Package, the nomination was received by Rubén Chumillas as the art director of the album.

Recognitions

Band Members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Notes and References

  1. Abad Nebot. Francisco. 2001-01-01. RESEÑA de: Real Academia Española. Diccionario de la lengua española: vigésima segunda edición. Madrid: Real Academia Española de la Lengua, 2001. Epos: Revista de filología. 17. 488. 10.5944/epos.17.2001.10203. 2255-3495. free.
  2. Web site: Vetusta Morla Biography & History. 2020-09-13. AllMusic. en-us.
  3. Web site: Если долго-долго-долго. История Vetusta Morla. 2020-08-30. ru.
  4. Web site: 2018-02-05. El 'indie' también es para los niños. 2020-09-03. Ethic. es.
  5. Web site: Vetusta Morla: "Mapas". 2020-09-03.
  6. Web site: Esmerarte Se publica el concierto de vetusta morla con la Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia a favor del Conservatorio Narciso Yepes de Lorca. 2020-09-03. es.
  7. Web site: 2013-12-18. Los ríos de Alice: Una aventura (gráfica) onírico-musical Cactus. 2020-09-03. es.
  8. Web site: Vetusta Morla - Temporada Alta. 2020-09-03. en-US.
  9. Web site: 2018-06-07. Vetusta Morla: mismo sitio, distinto lugar.. 2020-09-03. Vip Style Magazine. es-ES.
  10. Web site: Suena Guernica - Radio 3. 2020-08-29. RTVE.es. es.
  11. Web site: 2020-05-23. Vetusta Morla: "La obsesión por regalar canciones no nos hace ningún bien". 2020-09-03. El Confidencial. es.
  12. Web site: 2021-07-08. Vetusta Morla announces new album: "Cable a Tierra". 2021-07-12. Spain's News. en-US.
  13. Web site: RTVE.es. 2008-10-21. Vetusta Morla, Premio Ojo Crítico de 2008. 2020-08-29. RTVE.es. es.
  14. Web site: 19th Latin Grammy Awards Nominations. 21 September 2018. latingrammy.com. 23 September 2022. 17 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201117161749/https://www.latingrammy.com/files/19thlatingrammyaward.pdf. dead.
  15. Web site: 18 June 2020. Nominados al Latin Grammy se anunciarán en septiembre. 22 August 2020. AM Querétaro. es.
  16. Web site: 23rd Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards Final Nominations. The Latin Recording Academy. September 20, 2022. September 23, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220923181649/https://www.latingrammy.com/files/23rd_latin_grammy_nominations.pdf. dead.
  17. Web site: El Pescao, Nach, Russian Red, Vetusta Morla y Zenttric, nominados a los MTV Europe Music Awards. Europapress. October 10, 2020. September 20, 2011. Spanish.
  18. David Bisbal, Rosalia, Pablo Alborán & More Earn 2021 Premios Odeón Nominations: Full List. 2021-06-12. Billboard. en.
  19. Web site: C. Tangana arrasa en las nominaciones de los Premios Odeón. February 26, 2022. February 24, 2022. ABC.
  20. Web site: Conoce la lista completa de ganadores de los premios RSEE. Rolling Stone. October 30, 2023. May 22, 2024. es.
  21. Web site: Vetusta Morla Thriunfant In The Ufi Awards - Bilbao BBK Live News. 2020-09-03. www.festivalticker.de.
  22. Web site: 2009-01-13. LOS MEJORES DE 2008. 2020-08-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20090113185950/http://www.mondosonoro.com/especiales/resumen2008/resumen2008.html. 2009-01-13.
  23. Web site: Tras la 2 - Mejores Miradas. 2020-08-29. www.rtve.es.
  24. Web site: Esmerarte 2 Premios Rolling Stone para Vetusta Morla. 2020-09-03. es.
  25. Web site: premiosgraffica. 2019-11-18. Desvelados los 10 Premios Gràffica 2019. 2020-08-29. Premios Gràffica. es.

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