Marea

One of the more popular rock en español bands of their time, Marea established themselves as a touring act and released a number of increasingly popular albums, culminating with 28.000 Puñaladas (2004), a smash success upon its release. The band was formed in Berriozar, a city in the northern province of Navarre, Spain, by vocalist/poet Kutxi Romero (born Kutxi Romero Lorente in 1975), who had spent five years fronting a series of local bands. In winter 1997 he decided to form a straightforward, traditional hard rock band, after tiring of the trendy styles of punk and thrash he'd performed with his past bands; as a lyricist and aspiring poet, he wanted his songs to be at the forefront of the band and the music to be of a timeless nature. He first contacted drummer Alen Ayerdi, formerly of the band Begira; he agreed to help form the band of Romero's design. The next to join was bassist Edu Beaumont, aka El Piñas; then came guitarist César Ramallo and, lastly, guitarist David Díaz, aka Kolibrí Díaz. On Christmas Eve 1997 the band was officially founded as La Patera. By June 1998, the bandmembers had a half-dozen or so songs written, and they began performing them locally. The reception was such that the band began considering a recording session, which eventually took place over the course of five days in February 1999 at a nearby studio. A major-label contract with BMG followed that May, along with a name change from La Patera (since the name was already taken, it was discovered) to Marea; La Patera instead became the name of the band's debut album, released by BMG in July. After some touring and mounting problems with BMG, Marea signed a new recording contract, with GOR Discos, in April 2000 and began recording their second album, Revolcón, in July. GOR released the...