Interview with La Inquisición
Chat with Barcelona punk band La Inquisición
Formed in 2015, the Spanish band has released two albums, ‘LVX‘ and ‘Tenevrae‘ and several singles and EPs, the latest of which ‘Uroboros‘ was released last summer. The band‘s mystical and dark imagery immediately struck us and made us want to know more, which is why we contacted La Inquisición for an interview!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW IN SPANISH | ENTREVISTA (ESP)
Radio Punk: Hi guys and welcome to our ‘zine! Let’s start from the beginning: how and when did you form and how did you meet? What other bands did you play in before La Inquisición?
La Inquisición: More or less we’ve known each other forever, before forming La Inquisición we had a band called Secret Army that we thought had completed its life cycle, so we decided to form La Inquisición. Then we played in many bands of different genres, Malarians, Último Asalto or Seeds of Hate to name a few.
Radio Punk: Your themes are often dark and sometimes seem related to religious/philosophical aspects. Since our audience is not familiar with Spanish, would you like to explain the themes you deal with and what you want to communicate to your audience?
La Inquisición: I don’t think the subject matter of our lyrics falls into one single theme, we ask many philosophical, political, or even spiritual questions. If there is something that defines our intentionality it is: to tell a story, to create a narrative, always from a very personal point of view. In general, what we want is to convey feelings. Beyond any discourse, I think we approach different topics from a perspective where the narrative is part of the message and at the same time, we believe that language is a way of making music.
Radio Punk: You are a band that is playing around a lot, in Italy you were supposed to come but then there was Covid. Are you planning to come back? I know you have also played in different countries, in which situations have you had the best time and in which countries would you love to go and play for the first time?
La Inquisición: Now we are not playing much because we are preparing the third album. We have been playing everywhere for a long time, now we have a proposal for Italy, which we hope will come true! The truth is that we really enjoy playing…. We have a special memory for example of when we went to Mexico or Serbia, and we would love to go to Chile or Colombia because we know that people there listen to our music.
Radio Punk: …How is the situation in Spain? How is the Spanish punk scene, Basque, Catalan and in particular in Barcelona, your city?
La Inquisición: We are a bit disconnected from the scene in general, but there are some very good new bands and some less so… Each place has its own characteristics, in Euskadi right now there are a lot of very young people listening to this music, it’s amazing how at concerts of local and young bands more than 1,000 people gather. In our city and in Catalonia it is very different, for example, there is not such a clear generational change. But there are very good bands like Enemic interior or Brux.
Radio Punk: ‘El Himno de España’, one of the few songs I think I understand is an anti-nationalist anthem. Right? Do you also address more social and political issues in your lyrics?
La Inquisición: That’s right. As I said before, we don’t tend to focus on concrete issues, but rather on certain questions that we ask ourselves at specific moments, often conveyed in a visceral but always personal way. Actually, in general we would like to destroy the negative circumstances in the world, but sometimes we just reflect on them.
Radio Punk: …more generally staying in this area. How important are values like anti-fascism, anti-racism, anti-sexism, and anti-capitalism to you? Are there themes and struggles to which you feel most connected? And how important is DIY ethics for you?
La Inquisición: Each of us gives individual weight to certain ideas based on our way of seeing the world and we don’t have a specific agenda as a group. Although all the things you mentioned about fascism, racism, capitalism, and sexism are ideas that we deal with clearly and directly. Perhaps there is a part of the group that is more related to animal rights or anti-speciesist struggles and we all share a general worldview in which degrowth and a return to a simpler life, linked to nature, is necessary for the survival of the planet and the human species. For us there is nothing more beautiful than self-sufficiency, non-dependence, and independent thinking, so part of the so-called DIY ethic is a cornerstone of how we relate to life.
Radio Punk: Now that we’re into the discussion, tell us a little bit about yourselves outside the band. Do you do other jobs? Would you like to make a living from music? What other hobbies and passions do you have outside of playing music?
La Inquisición: Yes, of course. Music is not our job, it’s our hobby…. I sincerely believe that the watchword is not ‘living’ but ‘surviving’. There is a kind of idealisation of the job of musician, and it is a synergy that doesn’t interest us too much, the truth is that many of our colleagues who only dedicate themselves to this are like sharks, either you move or you die, either you play or you die. We think it’s great that there are people who drop everything to live their dream, we think it’s the most commendable attitude and maybe if we were younger, it would be something we would consider, who knows? But today we are happy with our way of doing things and we don’t depend on the band or anyone else for anything. Apart from music we enjoy being together, eating, going to the mountains, drinking beer, being with family and things like that.
Radio Punk: In Spain, it seems to me that the use of Spotify in diy punk is very widespread, while here in Italy it’s much less used. What do you think of Spotify? And what do you think about music in physical format in 2023?
La Inquisición: I don’t know, we think that the more people listen to us, the better. Spotify, like all companies in the virtual world, is a capitalist company that wants you to spend minutes on its platform or pay for subscriptions. In short, like all these technology entertainment companies, they want you to depend on them… To make themselves essential in your life. That’s why for us the real value is records… They are beautiful, you can touch them, you can put them on, and they have a lot of work behind them. It’s the epitome of the physical world, as opposed to something virtual and inert like platforms and screens.
Radio Punk: Last summer ‘Uroboros’ came out, do you already have new work in the pipeline? What future projects are there? Please come and play in Italy!
La Inquisición: While we are answering these questions, we are busy preparing what will be our third LP, as with everything, we are going at our own pace with no hurry. Needless to say, we can’t wait to come to Italy, hopefully the planets will align soon!
Radio Punk: Since you have a lot of experience having played a lot on the road, let’s close the interview by asking you what were the best and the craziest moments that happened to you on the road!
La Inquisición: There have been all kinds of moments in the band’s history, but something we remember with great fondness and that always makes us smile are the trips to Serbia and Mexico.
Credit photo: pic done in Manresa by Mr Beltza
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