THE YELLOW MELODIES´
INTERVIEWS
1-INTERVIEW FOR "LA
VERDAD" NEWSPAPER (MURCIA), BY JAM ALBARRACÍN, ON
11-10-97,
BECAUSE OF THEIR CONCERT IN THE FINAL OF MURCIA JOVEN ´97´s
CONTEST.
2-INTERVIEW FOR THE "LA
OPINIÓN" NEWSPAPER (MURCIA), BY ÁNGEL H. SOPENA, ON
24-10-97,
AFTER HAVING WON THE MURCIA JOVEN POP-ROCK ´97´s CONTEST.
3-INTERVIEW FOR THE NUMBER
FOUR OF "YESCA JOVEN" MAGAZINE (APRIL – 98),
ABOUT THEIR VICTORY IN MURCIA JOVEN POP-ROCK ´97´s CONTEST,
AND MADE BY RUTH SÁNCHEZ PÉREZ.
4-INTERVIEW FOR THE WONDER
´ZINE (NR. 6 – AUGUST 98), BY JUAN NOTARIO.
5-INTERVIEW FOR THE "MARCA
ACME" FANZINE (NR. 5 – NOVEMBER 1998),
BY ESTHER MARÍA
MILLÁN.
6-INTERVIEW
FOR THE "ARGONAUTA" FANZINE (NR. 1 - APRIL 99),
BY BENIGNO SÁNCHEZ.
SECTION ONLY UPDATED in the SPANISH
VERSION!!!
1-INTERVIEW FOR "LA VERDAD" NEWSPAPER
(MURCIA), BY JAM ALBARRACÍN, ON
11-10-97, BECAUSE
OF THEIR CONCERT IN THE FINAL OF MURCIA JOVEN ´97´s CONTEST.
1 – WHAT DOES
A BAND LIKE THAT DO IN A CONTEST LIKE THIS?
What kind of adventure, jaaarl, were you
looking for?
2 – DOES ÁFRICA
BEGIN AT SEGURA´S RIVER? WHY DON´T THE BANDS FROM MURCIA REACH
FAME?
Where is África?
3 - WHAT DO
YOU THINK OF THE GOVERNMENTS CUTS IN CULTURE BUDGETS?
Ah, is there a culture budget?
4 – ER... DON´T
YOU MAKE HEAVY-METAL? THEN, HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR MUSIC STYLE?
Brit-eclectic-sixty-ninety-yellow-pluscuamperfect
pop, that we just call it Natural Pop.
5 – WELL, CIAO,
I´M GOING TO LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC. WHAT ALBUM WOULD YOU RECOMMEND
ME?
The last of Teenage Fanclub, any
of The Beatles, or a special compilation released on Pussycats,
called
Canción Ligera, which it´s only 900 pts. and
where it´s realeased a song from a band called the Yellow Melodies,
which I´ve been told they´re really nice!
2-INTERVIEW
FOR THE "LA OPINIÓN" NEWSPAPER (MURCIA), BY ÁNGEL H. SOPENA,
ON
24-10-97, AFTER
HAVING WON THE MURCIA JOVEN POP-ROCK ´97´s CONTEST.
Independent
Proud. Obstinate, and now proud. They need more affection than others.
They may have not been heard as often as they wished, but their recordings
and their live sound are envying examples of music made with the heart.
I´m glad about their improvement.
Yellow Melodies
have almost a psychedelic name, and they make a pop crowded of guitars,
touched by the magic of melodies. They call it "Natural Pop" and it´s
impregnated by their disproportionate love to The Beatles and other gods
of pop. How many current bands fit to the description? Probably a lot,
but not all of them give that sensation of a melodic source supported by
their particular expressive devotion.
In their concerts,
they sound basic, compact, with a strange carism, producing rewarding moments.And
their attitude? Rock´n´roll is unfair.
We met the
brand new winners of MJ97 Pop-Rock and they were still aroused afther their
triumph.
-GLAD WITH
THE RESULTS. DID YOU EXPECT IT?
-Yes, why not? We were rehearsing very
much, we´ve had some concerts and we´ve seen Popstal,
Amalthea
and
other bands. We didn´t have to feel losers before the final, and
although we were not the favourite for the local press, any of the 4 bands
could win. On the scene, we risked a lot and we made a great concert. Moreover,
the panel of judges don´t understand about pre-winners (unless in
this case)
-HOW WAS THE
CONCERT?
-It was good! We assumed the risk of staging
the first with an acoustic brand new song (Ireland). My guitar was
untuned just 5 minutes before starting, but we felt fine during the concert,
except for some little problems with the Rafa´s amp, and with a sampler
of John Lennon we had prepared to finish, but it didn´t work
at last. We only rehearsed for 15 minutes, but this has been one of the
times the sound has been properly.
-DO YOU FEEL
CLOSE TO ANY MUSICAL TRADITION OR MOVEMENT?
-Just to the music we make and that emanates
of a natural way. You can label however you want. We simply call it: Natural
POP.
-WHAT?
-I´m trying to define it: Natural
Pop is because the melodies and all our songs emanate of a natural
way. We try to avoid difficulties and make things easier.
-AH!
-I carry my tape-recorder wherever I go,
and maybe I´m running, or swimming, or drinking a beer, and then
a melody comes out: I have to take the tape-recorder and save it, so that
I don´t forget it and save it just the moment it comes out, with
all the energy of that moment. Afterwards I bring out the chords of the
song with my guitar, and I take it to the rehearsal room, so we all can
improve it.
-FIRSTLY WE
MET YOU AS RAFA SKAM, AFTERWARDS SKAM, A BIT LATER BEATLOSS. WHY SO MANY
CHANGES?
-When I founded the band, we were called
SKAM,
later we changed to beatloss, but we had some problems with name: very
close to The Beatles´ music, and we were told there were also
a band in Spain and another in France with the same name. And so we changed
to The Yellow Melodies, our current name, and we registered it at once,
so that nobody could use it. So if tomorrow you hear about a band from
Orense, for example, with the same name, they´ll have to change it.
It comes from a mix of "Yellow Man" and "Sunday Melodies".
It´s a more natural name, and we think that it describes the music
we make, as all we make turns around melodies, and yellow is a 90´s
pop colour.
-Have you thought
of right ways for the MJ album can be useful?
-It will be useful. It may be an album
of rarities, a promotional album or something like that. We want the album
can be well promoted and distributed, and can be released on Pussycats.
We´re doing our best for this album.
-There have
been some A&R from a multinational company interested in your songs,
but in spanish.
-We are independents, not "indies" and
we do just whatever we like, what we fancy, and we try to enjoy. If we´d
get it in spanish, we´d do it... Here there is a law: the more you
move, the more you get. We´ll keep on fighting, since we believe
in what we do. We´re proud of ourselves. We listen to english music,
and we think that our ideas and intentions can be close to what bands in
UK make.
-How do you
describe the current moment of the Murcia musical scene?
-We´re living a very interesting
moment in Murcia, but some bands don´t get higher because of some
extra-musical questions. We´ve written an ironic song (Dad)
inspired on the Murcia musical scene, in which we talk about those lucky
bands which have a "dad", and those other ones which have to fight every
day because nobody helps them.
-Anything to
add?
-Yes... WE ARE ALIVE!!!
3-INTERVIEW
FOR THE NUMBER FOUR OF "YESCA JOVEN" MAGAZINE (APRIL – 98),
ABOUT THEIR VICTORY IN MURCIA JOVEN POP-ROCK ´97´s CONTEST,
AND MADE BY RUTH SÁNCHEZ PÉREZ.
-Who are you
and how long are you together as a band?
-We´re 5 young people and we want
to eat the world: Carlos, keyboards; Ismael Pun-trah!,drums;Yellow
Raúl, bass; Nacho Noise nº 8,
guitar and
backing vocals, and Rafa Skam, voice and guitar. We´re
together as a band from November 96, although we were firstly called beatloss
and it´s since August 97 when we changed to Yellow Melodies,
because we liked more, it describes the music we make, and we had some
problems with our previous name: it was always badly written, people thought
we made Beatles´ covers and there were also some bands with
the same name, one in Spain, another in France, and another in Liverpool?
-What have
you done until this moment?
-We began to stage since February of 97,
and until this moment we have played in and out of our province, and we
have had more than 50 concerts, and then people say that there are no places
to play!
We have travelled to Madrid (by rocket)
to look for a company which could listen to us and support us unconditionally.
We also have recorded two demos
with 17 songs, and we have taken part in some compilations on national
record companies; we have won the Murcia Joven´s contest and
we recorded an album as its prize, and now we have been selected for the
Final of Villa de Bilbao´s contest... we are very proud!
-What does
this album mean to you?
-A demo for the record companies, locals,
... like a toboggan that can make us be more well-known and we can be heard
all over Spain... This album is going to be important for us more as a
promotional album than a sales album. We want it to open doors to our music.
-Which are
your next projects?
-Delivering the album wisely and having
gigs all over the country. Our basic goal is that a record company can
listen to our music, can support us unconditionally and can lead us to
the highest dreams. Pussycats should pay all the attention on us
and make us "famous and rich", as they always like what we do.
-How do you
see the Murcia musical scene?
-Very interesting: a lot of bands have
come out recently, and some of them are really worth; some interesting
fanzines and recording studios have also come out! There are a few locals
which are bringing some good bands, and there are even some pubs where
we are allowed to play!
-Which 10 things
would make up the Yellow Decalogue?
Repertorio B.
Nineteen... Yellow Flowers.
Good Roll.
The Groupies.
Rayo 15: the pretty bus-line.
The Traffic-light in yellow.
Grapefruits and Toblerones.
Toy motorbikes.
Natural-Pop.
Benicásim.
4-INTERVIEW
FOR THE WONDER ´ZINE (NR. 6 – AUGUST 98), BY
JUAN NOTARIO.
The Yellow Melodies
is a 5-member band from Murcia which has been known by their victory in
Murcia Joven ´97´s contest. They have realeased an album, a
CD with 9 songs called "Repertorio b", released on Pussycats
Records, one of the most important record companies in the latest times.
We put in touch with them and this is what they told us...
-Talk about
your beginnings and the current band.
(Rafa Skam talks, voice and guitar):
After winning a contest on the radio in April of 1996, I made my mind to
make up a band. Then I looked for Ismael (drums) and Carlos
(keyboards) who I knew before, becasue we had played together in a previous
band called
LA ESPECIE. After that, Raúl (bass) and
Nacho
(guitar) joined the band, and then we were called "beatloss", name that
later we would change to our current name... A month ago, Carlos
(keyboards) left the band.
-You have won
Murcia Joven ´97´s contest; you were selected in Villa de Bilbao
´98´s contest...
We didn´t expect the Murcia Joven´s
victory, but we took profit of the prize, we recorded the album... and
the Villa de Bilbao´s Final was much for us; it was just a
victory to be in the final. We had a great gig, and people liked it a lot,
but in the end the winners were the expected to win: FROMHEADTOTOE...
-As a prize
of your victory in MJ, you recorded "Repertorio b"; tell us about the recording,
and if you are satisfied with it...
When we won the contest, we were told to
enter the studio in one week, so we couldn´t pre-record anything
at all! We experimented and we could also helped by a mini-orchestra. So
we feel very satisfied with the album after having recorded that in such
conditions.
-On it you
include a GENE´s cover of "Your Love, It Lies"; are they an influence
for you? Which other bands have been reflected on the album?
It´s a song we usually play in live,
and we all like it, and that´s great! because we have different likes:
from spanish radical rock to pop bands like THE BEATLES, THE SMITHS,
SUEDE, TEENAGE FANCLUB, and so on. The different influences make the
album sound particularly, but it may sound to my influences, because I
write the songs.
-There have
been lately some bands coming out from Murcia: ART SCHOOL, ROSS,... What´s
happening in Murcia?
There has been a resourcing of pop bands
like POPSTAL, ROSS, ART SCHOOL, PARADE, and many other ones which
will sound in a little time.
-How are your
concerts? Do you prefer the scene or the studio?
We love both of them. In fact, we have
entered the studio 6 times since last year and we have had more than 50
concerts since then... People say we´re better in live than in our
demos...
-Are you having
gigs this Summer? Maybe in any festival?
We stage on 23rd July in Totana
(Murcia), on 15th August in Nerpio (Albacete), on 21st
at Jumiyeah!, a new festival in Jumilla (Murcia), with other bands
like AMPHETAMINE DISCHARGE, LA HABITACIÓN ROJA, SEXY SADIE,
and so on. On 11st September we play at Lemon Pop Festival
(Murcia)... We want to stage all over the country, but it will be since
October.
-Which are
your next projects?
Releasing something on Pussycats
(for example, an EP), taking the van and playing all over the country the
weekends, and following composing, playing, and so on.
-Add whatever
you want...
We´d like to thank this fanzine because
it´s the first one which interviews us.
See you soon
and thank you!
5-INTERVIEW
FOR THE "MARCA ACME" FANZINE (NR. 5 – NOVEMBER 1998),
BY ESTHER MARÍA MILLÁN.
Acme: WHO COMPOSES
IN THE YELLOW MELODIES?
Rafa: Rafa, this is, I am.
Acme: FOR THOSE
ONES WHO STILL DON´T KNOW YOU, WHICH ARE YOUR MAIN INFLUENCES?
Rafa: We´re very influenced by
POP bands, from 60´s until now, and they are british influences above
all. Bandas like The Beatles, Teenage Fanclub, The Smiths, REM,
and so on...
Acme: HOW WOULD
YOU DEFINE YOUR MUSIC?
Rafa: As POP made by ancient melodies from
the past but with a sound and arrangement from today... it´s something
we call NATURAL POP, because melodies are the centre of the universe of
our songs, and always come out in a natural way.
Acme: WHAT
ABOUT THE DEMOS? HOW MANY? ANY CD?
Rafa: We have realeased 3 demos: the
first one is called "Sunday Morning Sun", it has 8 songs and it´s
released in April of 97; the second one is called "Magic Land", with 9
songs and released in July of 1997; and the third one ver recent, we haven´t
distributed it, since the songs are not songs, they are "ideas", and this
is just the name of our 3rd demo, with 14 songs and recorded
in July of 98; and at last, we have released a CD, that we recorded as
a prize of a contest, and it has been released on Pussycats Records, but
we haven´t a contract with them; it has 9 songs, plus other hidden
ones of a different nature...
Acme: WHAT
DO YOU THINK OF MUSIC FESTIVALS?
Rafa: They are a chance for a crowd of
people to hear you, so the more there are, the better. We have been in
Benicássim´s festival, but listening to the bands, not playing.
We have staged on Festival del Sol, Lemon Pop and Jumiyeah!; what it´s
more important for a festival is a coherent chart.
Acme: ARE YOU
CLOSE TO FANZINES´ MOVEMENT? DO YOU THINK THAT FANZINES CAN MAKE
NEW BANDS BE WELL-KNOWN?
Rafa: Of course, that´s why we have
sent our album and/or demos to almost all the national fanzines, because
people who read fanzines are the ones who later go to the concerts, and
buy your albums...
Acme: WHAT
NATIONAL BANDS WOULD YOU POINT OUT IN YOUR STYLE?
Rafa: ROSS, SEXY SADIE, NEUROTICS, CECILIA
ANN, AUTOMATICS, LA HABITACIÓN ROJA, CHUCHO, MERCROMINA, SATELLITES,
PLANETAS,...
Acme: WHAT
KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN NOWADAYS?
Rafa: all POP kinds and from all ages,
but also current pop, because we want to be up to date, and listen to what
other bands are making
Acme: WHICH
ARE YOUR NEXT PROJECTS?
Rafa: As we are known here in Murcia, we´d
like to be known all over the country and then we´d like to play
all the weekends...
Acme: ANYTHING
TO ADD?
Rafa: I´m convinced of the importance
of the fanzines, because if you have read all this interview, you´ll
have the curiosity to know how we sound, so you´ll finally come to
our concerts and/or buy our albums...
CONTACT: Rafa
Skam - Avda. Monte Carmelo, 14 – 4º D - 30011 MURCIA
TLF: 968 /
34-40-45
6-INTERVIEW
FOR THE "ARGONAUTA" FANZINE (NR. 1 - APRIL 99),
BY BENIGNO SÁNCHEZ.
I
felt like talking to the yellow melodies, a pop band from Murcia that from
the very first moment I listened to their songs, I said to myself: "Here
there´s a great band", and I was really right: they won the Murcia
Joven´s contest (when bands could sing in english) in 1997, they
recorded "Repertorio B" the same year, and last year they reached the final
of the very well-known contest "Villa de Bilbao".
How has 1998
been to Yellow Melodies?
Rafa Skam: Really fine!: we were finalist
of Villa de Bilbao´s contest, we have played in several festivals,
and have also delivered our album everywhere, and even the album reviews
have been fine! but we have missed the support from a record company which
could help us in the promotion and so on.
What do you
think of the new murcia joven´s politics about singing in spanish?
R.S.: I think they´re going to change
again for the next year. They have realized about their great mistake and
want to mend it. In fact, they have allowed The Sueters to record
their album in english.
The Sueters,
the winners of murcia joven 98, what do you think about them?
R.S.: They´re nice. They were my
favourite ones in the final, and I´m very happy they have won this
year and they´re going to record the album in english (jeje). They
have very good songs, and if the album is properly delivered (the less
the CCAA deliver it, the better for them) on their own or with the help
of a company, then they´ll surely reach higher. Their performances
and attitude are incredibly good.
How did you
contact Pussycats Records?
R.S.: As you know, we have delivered our
demos all over the country, and then, in one of those journeys, travelling
to Madrid, to Festimad Mercado, Pussycats had a stand and we gave
them our demo and in a few days they called us back, and they told us they
were fan of our songs, and we took part in a Pussycats compilation.
And now they have stood by us taking another song for the compilation of
the TV serie: "Al Salir De Clase".
Did you have
any problems with "Comunidad Autonoma"?
R.S.: Yes, some. For example, they didn´t
allow us to put the Pussycats´ logo on the album, but at last,
they allowed us.
Your first
album has two different parts: the first part with 9 pop songs, and the
second one with 12 pieces of electronic music, who had the idea of including
the electronic part?
R.S.: I just had the idea: at first we
tried to record something strange against the contest, like a conversation,
for example, and no wasting our songs into an album that we could not control,
but in the end, we thought we could do something good and took profit of
all the instruments, synthes and so on that Pepe Moreno had in his studio,
then we designed some programmings, and we mixed all with with analogic
synthesizers, samplers, casiotones, a mini-orchestra of strings and wind,...
and with guitars in order to create a different and special atmosphere.
And we liked the result.
How long the
Winter Yellow Tour?
R.S.: Until the end of this winter.
In Spring, we´ll start the Spring Yellow Tour.
your projects
for this new year?
R.S.: Releasing an EP on Norte-Sur
that we have just recorded, with four songs in spanish. We are also releasing
a song in a compilation for the tele 5´s serie "Al Salir
De Clase", another one in a tribute to the spanish women´s voice,
where we play Corazones Estrangulados´ "aeropuerto".
And also we make a cover of Pixies´ "Motorway To Roswell",
for a tribute to the Boston´s band. We also want to play all over
the country. And we are working on a huge web page with a lot of information
about us.
And we are also shooting
a video-clip!!
Dou you know
how many albums have been sold?
R.S.: No, and I think they have been only
a few, because we were interested in promoting them more than selling them.
Are you satisfied
with Repertorio B?
R.S.: Yes, as we recorded it without a
pre-production. It was all very fast, but fresh! And this has been our
first album, so we love it specially, and it contains the songs that we
perform in our concerts.
What does murcia´s
music need to spread all over the country?
R.S.: What! If it´s ALREADY spreading
properly and successly! Now that I´m writing these lines, The
Sueters are on the Radio 3´s Diario Pop, but even every
time I switch on Radio 3 or Viaje a los Sueños Polares, they talk
about bands from Murcia: Ross, Parade, the Yellow Melodies, Vacaciones,
Me Enveneno de Azules, Schwartz, La Fábrica de la Luz, Hello Cuca,
Iluminados, Art School, etc... it´s wonderful... something (great)
is happening in Murcia... There are dozens of bands which are born here
and fastly spread all over the place, and everybody talks fine about these
bands...
How can you
be in two bands (Yellow Melodies - Vacaciones) at the same time and of
such different style?
R.S.: Two personalities
(jeje): but they´re not so different! We both do POP! Anyway, in
Yellow
Melodies I write the songs so I have an activer role, but I get fun
with the two bands and I love both of them!
Have you bought
some interesting and special album during 1998? Which? Why?
R.S.: My favourite international album
has been BELLE & SEBASTIAN´s "The Boy With The
Arab Strap": it´s great and an album to hear a lot of times without
turning boring, full of arrangements which make it really special and unique.
I have bought some special spanish albums too: SEXY SADIE´s
"It´s
Beautiful, It´s Love", really great! with a lot of good songs,
like Days Of Love. Another one is ROSS´s "Supersonic
Spacewalk" de ROSS, with songs like "I Can Believe" which
shows that Juan Antonio is a genius, just as Antonio
PARADE, with
his first album of the same name. CECILIA ANN´s "Un Segundo"
and the debut album of LA HABITACIÓN ROJA have been two notable
albums that have influenced me. I think this year the national albums have
been better than international ones.
Benigno Sánchez
