Guadalupe Plata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoNvmqpqhe8&feature=related - Rollo & Grady

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Pns7Hado0Lo - Do512 Lounge Sessions

After learning about Ubeda-based, bottle neck blues trio Guadalupe Plata, we were wowed with the band’s intricate bluegrass style and musical presentation. We immediately grabbed the three of them after their performance at the Sounds From Spain showcase at SXSW for an exclusive interview. In this video, we ask Guadalupe Plata about how it feels to play for an international audience with a sound often associated with Southern Americana, how bluegrass is received in their native Spain, and the reasons the band is willing to give away their albums for free (free download below). Enjoy!
http://music.remezcla.com/2012/latin/guadalupe-plata-exclusive-video-interview/ - REMEZCLA

Amateurs de blues patibulaire et de sensations fortes, voici le groupe qu’il vous faut, Guadalupe Plata sera au 4Bis samedi 3 décembre en toute fin d’après-midi dans le cadre des Trans Musicales. Ce trio andalou fait revivre les belles heures du blues du bayou : il fut un temps où cela s’appelait rock’n’roll ; Pedro, Carlos et Paco vous enflamment le tout à la sauce punk’n’blues.

Qui aurait cru revoir émerger ce blues diabolique et crade du fin fond de l’Andalousie à l’aube du siècle présent ? En 2006, Ubeda aura fait jaillir la nouvelle sensation blues du moment. Il aura fallu que Pedro de Dios Barcelo et Carlos Jimena, tous deux amateurs de swamp-blues se décident à mélanger les rythmes hypnotiques de John Lee Hooker, la noirceur de Skip James avec le chant déjanté de Screamin’ Jay Hawkins pour attiser les braises de cette musique sortie des ténèbres. Il n’en fallait pas beaucoup plus pour mettre le feu et c’est avec l’arrivée à la contre-bassine (en zinc !) de Paco Luis Martos que le trio trouva sa forme finale. Voilà pour l’histoire, les « Black Keys » n’ont plus qu’à bien se tenir ! Nul doute que la Vierge noire de Guadalupe en Espagne, autrefois vénérée par Christophe Colomb, saura les protéger.

Je pense bien qu’il n’y a pas d’exercice plus difficile pour un groupe actuel que de faire du blues, beaucoup seront relégués dans le fond des salles de bars les plus sombres quand d’autres n’oseront tout simplement pas sortir du cadre de leurs soirées entre amis. Intemporel mais démodé le blues revient par la petite porte pour s’affirmer à nouveau. On le sent chez Guadalupe Plata : voila des gens qui ont le goût des choses bien faites, une verve et une énergie tout à fait originales. Nous avons bien affaire ici à un son nouveau, une actualisation musicale du bon vieux blues des marais à la sauce andalouse.

Repérés déjà au festival SXSW d’Austin et au Primavera Sound festival en 2010, nul doute que les Trans Musicales 2011 leur serviront de tremplin final pour continuer d’asséner ce blues profanatoire.


Longue vie au blues crade espagnol !
- alter1fo.com

There's nothing that I could translate into words that would more effectively describe Guadalupe Plata's music than what is perfectly and concisely articulated in this NSFW video:


However, for those of you that are unable to notice the subtle descriptive nuances of a stripper yanking 10 feet of beads out of her husband hole — I guess I can attempt to wax lyrical for your reading pleasure.

Hailing from Ubeda, Spain, Guadalupe Plata are a doom blues troupe that seem just as hell bent on making you dance Satan's death boogie as they are on blowing the dams on your sex juice reserves, disintegrating the structural integrity of your mind and warping everything you ever thought the blues was or could be.

Citing the genre's early greats like Elmore James and Son House as major influences, they perform on their debut album with the same soul and sweat as their Delta south heroes, all the while drenching their mentors' work in a filthy sangria mix of neck-breaking guitar licks, punk rock explosions and "possessed cante jondo" (Spanish Flamenco singing).

Consisting of drummer, Guadalupe, guitarist/vocalist Plata, and washtub bass thumping Paco, this trio of sinister Spaniards make their instruments take on terrifying, life-like identities — shakers and drum thumps become the strikes of venomous rattle snakes; guitar slides and scratches morph into burning flames, licking your feet; and bass thuds beat like electrified hearts trying to break free of their bone and flesh cages.

Album highlights include hoedown in Hades Pollo Podrio, the heart attack during a hot fuck Gatito, and Spaghetti Western closer Habichuelas Del Oeste, it's long, reverbed guitar bends stretching like pink clouds over a desert sunset.

If you like your blues played disgustingly dirty, Guadalupe Plata should have you lapping their tunes up like a bulldog eating a bowl of yogurt. - www.polaroidsofandroids.com

Probablemente, los integrantes de Guadalupe Plata no imaginaron que cinco años después de juntarse en torno al blues su música iba a tener tanta proyección internacional. Sirva como ejemplo que uno de sus temas, 500 mujeres, incluido en su primer disco, forma parte de la banda sonora de la serie How to make it in América, de la cadena estadounidense HBO.

Guadalupe Plata tiene sus raíces en Úbeda (Jaén) de la unión de tres músicos con una clara vocación de recuperar las esencias básicas del blues y el rock, tamizadas con el descaro del punk, el sonido sucio de garage y la energía vital del surf. "Es un blues de las olivas, de música de la tierra, de la pena y el trabajo, que forma parte de nuestro ADN", explica Paco Luis Martos, uno de los componentes del trío.

Todo empezó un verano de 2006. Dos amantes del blues, Pedro de Dios Barceló (guitarra y voz) y Carlos Jimena (batería), experimentaron con la música y los ritmos de Charlie Patton, Skip James o Blind Lemon Jefferson. La combustión fue inmediata, sobre todo desde que apareció el tercer componente, Paco Luis Martos, con un primitivo bajo elaborado artesanalmente con un barreño de zinc, un palo de madera y una cuerda de arrancar motosierras que llama la atención en todos los conciertos por su sonido muy denso y particular. "Era un instrumento que ya usaban los músicos negros como contrabajo", indica Paco Luis Martos, que compagina la música con su faceta de artesano.

Así nació Guadalupe Plata, una banda cuya declaración de intenciones pasa, según sus miembros, por un "blues crudo, sucio y serpenteante, letras de amor de ultratumba y una electrizante y original puesta en escena". Un grupo que se siente especialmente a gusto en sus conciertos en directo, que huye de las radiofórmulas y listas de éxitos y que también busca en el flamenco y la copla sus fuentes de inspiración. "No nos gustan los estereotipos, vamos a lo sencillo", subrayan. Quizá el punto de inflexión de este grupo ubetense hay que buscarlo en el año 2009, cuando ganaron el prestigioso premio Lagarto de Jaén y, poco después, el Circuito Joven Pop-Rock de Andalucía, celebrado en el marco del festival de música independiente Monkey Week, donde compartieron cartel con bandas internacionales como Heavy Trash o Kitty, Daisy & Lewis.

Ese mismo año la banda se autofinanció su primer disco en vinilo de 10 pulgadas bajo su propio sello, Sociedad Fonográfica Subterránea, que más tarde reeditaron en CD.

Su último año está siendo fulgurante. Hace una semana han actuado en el festival francés Les Trans Musicales, de Rennes, que apuesta por los nuevos talentos. Antes, en noviembre, su videoclip Pollo podrío estuvo presente en Londres en la muestra de videoclips españoles independientes, dentro del festival Spain Now que ha reunido lo más representativo de la independencia musical española, intentando resumir con diversos estilos y estéticas el estado actual del audiovisual español.

Pero este año quedará marcado por la salida al mercado de su segundo disco, Guadalupe Plata, una cuidada edición en vinilo con estampación en pan de plata y pop-up desplegable. El disco físico lo edita Folc Records y Subterránea. Son 13 canciones que han trabajado en tres espacios diferentes, desde El Puerto de Santa María a Málaga pasando por la Alpujarra granadina.

Y las perspectivas para el 2012 no pueden ser mejores. De momento, ya les han confirmado su participación en dos de los principales citas norteamericanas. Por un lado, en el conocido festival SXSW (South by Southwest) que se celebra en Austin (Texas) desde 1987, y donde Guadalupe Plata ha sido el único grupo español incluido junto con los barceloneses Mujeres. De otro lado, también estarán en el Canadian Music Week, el festival de música más grande de Canadá con cinco noches de conciertos y más de 900 grupos participantes en 60 salas. En su trigésimo aniversario, este año tendrá a España y a Portugal como países invitados, y Guadalupe Plata será uno de los integrantes del cartel. - www.elpais.com

In the words of Michael, our doyen of good taste at Crash-Avenue, “Guadalupe Plata are Spanish dudes doing screamin’, amplified Delta blues by way of chunky, nasty Memphis and Detroit punk.” Think of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion duelling with The Dirtbombs in the Castilla La Mancha…and, er, you’ll not even be close.

Other than a strong showing at SXSW 2010, they’re totally unknown in the States and over here. If there is justice in the world, however, that won’t be the case for long.

And dig the pyrotechnics by way of Jean-Luc Godard video for Pollo Podria. Bonkers, and brilliant. - madmackerel.wordpress.com

I've been catching up on Sons of Anarchy this week and so it only seemed appropriate to share a few tunes from Ubeda, Spain's Guadalupe Plata. No, founders Pedro de Dios Barcelo and Carlos Jimena are not Spanish Americans who grew up in 1980s Detroit. They are, ya know, real Spaniards. How they ended up trolling the depths of psych/garage/blue rock is anyone's guess.

I'm not guessing these three are headed for a Brothers-like eruption but I'm always keen to bump a band keeping the flame lit by Flat Duo Jets, Dirt Bombs and Blue Explosion. - www.thestarkonline.com

From time to time I’ll seek out music in my second language (Spanish) and end up with some fairly amazing results. With riffs straight from the best Tarantino films, Guadalupe Plata screams in from Spain, reminding you to yield to heavy blues guitar. This is blues rock that makes Jack White look like John Tesh. What’s that? I couldn’t hear you. No. Really. I cranked my speakers all the way up to 11(Travis Porter/Spinal Tap anyone?), and I can’t hear a thing.

You want more distortion on that amp? I’m sorry. You can’t have it. There is literally no more distortion to provide. (Hold on. Wait a second? Is that guy playing a metal string attached to a stick? Did he just nail that pickup on there?) Before you know it, you’re bobbing your head along to incoherent Spanish screaming, wondering how these guys managed to stay under our radar for so long. I’m not one to compare any new band to Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, but blues-soul like this doesn’t happen often.

Guadalupe Plata just became my official soundtrack for driving across the Southern California desert… in search of the body. I’m not sure whose body it is, but I feel like there should be a cadaver involved in this story. (And tequila. But not in the car, because we don’t encourage drinking and driving. Although, if your story involves a dead body, getting a DUI might be the least of your worries.)
- www.earmilk.com

I didn’t realize swampy garage-psyche was alive and well in Ubeda, Spain, but the proof is in Guadalupe Plata’s muddy musical pudding. Spanish soul-brothers of The Black Keys and The Dirtbombs, this Screamin’ Jay Hawkins/Son House-influenced trio are unafraid to inject some dirty boogie and serious stank into their punked-out take on the delta blues, not to mention an Elmore James-inspired slide Brian Jones himself would take a shine to. Pedro de Dios Barcelo, Carlos Jimena and Paco Luis Martos (with his chainsaw-string washtub bass) (I couldn’t make that up if I tried) then take their raw-dog Spanish blues and sock it to you once again with the incendiary video for their single Pollo Podria. Which I’ve watched a dozen times on repeat now, because…well…you’ll see. Let’s just say talented and hilarious go a long way with me. No album or tour to promote here, just a killer song and video to turn our dear readers onto, because that’s what we do. - www.myoldkentuckyblog.com

Damn, I can’t believe I waited this long to check out Guadalupe Plata. These creepy Spaniards do punk-blues better than anyone I’ve heard recently. Weirdo guitar riffs, sweaty chants, so much good Delta blues, all mixed through a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins filter and it rules so hard. A lot of people have compared them to that other garage-blues boy-girl band, but this is way better. These dudes played at SXSW, so of course I missed them — but I imagine their live set rips fucking asses to shreds. My current favorite ‘500 Mujeres‘ is brash and sexy, sung in Spanish, and blows the balls off of everything else trying to do the same thing, that I’ve heard in a long time. They’ve got two albums (Guadalupe Plata EP and the aptly named Guadalupe Plata LP) worth of similarly blistering, down home swamp rat blues that knocks other punks into bogs and stuff. For some unkown reason, both their albums are available via their bandcamp. - nuravebrainwave.com

Giving new life to their deceased influences, the Ubeda, Spain based trio known as Guadalupe Plata spice up their swamp rock foundation with blazing energy on stage and lo-fi techniques in the studio. Inspired by Fred MacDowell, Hound Dog Taylor's rotten slide, Skip James' obscure atmospheres, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Elmore James, Guadalupe Plata sound like a swampy explosion of Blues history.

On their new self titled album (released February 1st, 2011), the band jams more than wails, frantically executing high energy blues instrumental tracks full of wild slide guitars and deranged drumming. When the singing can be heard, it is lo-fi and distorted, violently hypnotizing, and sounds like spanish voo-doo chants. A true testament to the bands birth origin and Louisiana influence.

As heard in songs like "Lorena" and "Boogie de la Muerte", Guadalupe Plata know how to get down. The boogying bass lines and infectious rhythm could ignite a dust storm at any BBQ and the slide guitar breakdowns are entertaining enough to rock out to while weaving through traffic on your way home. "Veneno" showcases a slower groove that proves not only can they blast off a bayou boogie, but they have the ability to woo and weave through your ear at a comfortable pace and become an at home listen as well.

With an abundance of talent in their fingers, drum sticks, and throaty howls, it's a wonder why Guadalupe Plata hasn't seen more light in the US. But, with their recent showcase at SXSW in 2010, their generosity in releasing free albums, and their eye-catching videos, I have a feeling that Guadalupe Plata will have their shining moment. Perhaps a feature on the next soundtrack of a Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino grind house influenced flick? It's fate.
- blog.bandsoup.com

The White Stripes are dead. You’re sad. I’m sad. But I think I found something to help us through the grieving process. In fact, Úbeda, Spain’s Guadalupe Plata will make you forget that Screamin’ Jay Hawkins is dead (he is dead, right?).
Pedro de Dios Barcelo, Carlos Jimena and Paco Luis Martos are cranking out screaming, ramshackle blues influenced by swamps, serpents and Satan. In that order. Not just blues, but the kind of peeled-out, whacked-out riffs, licks and choogles that can fuel popular uprisings (take note, Kadafi). Adding to the sinister mystique are the band’s videos and press shots, which look like something out of a snuff film. The blues can be boring in the wrong hands—these guys will make you sweat a little.
Guadalupe Plata just released a self-titled LP (which follows their self-titled EP)—both are available for free download at their Bandcamp page.
- thedaysoflore.com

From: Andalucia, Spain
In 50 words or less: Like the Cramps, only more into Delta blues than Memphis rockabilly, this Spanish group is looking to trash Austin out. Check them out Wednesday (3/16) afternoon at Trailerspace Records (1401 Rosewood Ave.) for that first jolt.
Could share a bill with: Flametrick Subs, Dax Riggs, Gories
Produced by: Former Austinite Mike Mariconda, who’s been working with bands in Spain the past four years.
- www.austin360.com

After two attempts to catch these boys live at SXSW, for once my terrible sense of direction didn’t lead us astray. On the final day of SXSW, while everyone was nursing their hangovers or catching a flight home, we ventured to Side Bar to catch a hot afternoon set featuring our SXSW favorite, Guadalupe Plata. A badass, grimy blues trio from Andalusia, Spain, these boys bust out some soul-clappin’ dirty-down-blues. There’s no fancy horns or whistles in their game, just a raw dose of what rock and roll once sounded like.
What started off as a duo comprised of guitar shredder and vox, Pedro de Dios Barcelo with drummer Carlos Jimena became a trio when they added the utter coolness of a washtub bass player. It doesn’t get anymore swampy than that! Guadalupe Plata reverberate an authentic sound that will make even the squarest of squares cut-a-rug. With a mean guitar squeal and some badass Spanish lyrics, you better start learning your second language now if you wanna ride with these outlaws.
I can only hope Guadalupe Plata make it back to the states in the near future with a long stop in Los Angeles. These guys roar with the madness of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins paired with the thick Mississippi blues flavor of John Lee Hooker. Their riffs are muddy as hell and exude all the wildness of real rock and roll. The kind of shit your mama warned you about.
If you ever get the chance to see these fellas live, jump on it! They will pleasure your ears and limbs with a damn good time. Download their new album for FREE via Bandcamp.

To view more of our SXSW coverage (music, fashion, videos, interviews), click here!
Words & photography by Sandra Burciaga
- grimygoods.com

Hyperactive and swampy boogie blues at the hands of Spaniards, while looking wonderfully disjointed on paper, plays like the most natural thing on earth. Case in point, Guadalupe Plata's set at Nuvola's on opening night (3/16) of 2011's South by Southwest Music Conference.
Frontman Pedro de Dios Barcelo's vocals and guitar work present like a tour through the vices to be found at the crossroads, and Carlos Jimena (drums, maracas) and Paco Luis Martos (washtub bass) keep the rhythm section rolling right on over to the Darkside.
The world Guadalupe Plata creates and populates feels wrong in all the right ways, which is all the more impressive since most of what is sung is in Spanish. Their set at Nuvola was an early and welcome SXSW surprise.
- www.soundspike.com

Hailing from the small town of Ubeda, Spain, Guadalupe Plata brings an unromantic sound that seems influenced both by the forefathers of Delta blues and voodoo witch cults. Bassist Paco Luis Martos created his handsome bass from a zinc washtub, wooden stick and a chainsaw pull- string which thumps his way around the swampy, guitar-driven vocal pleads of Pedro de Dios Barcelos. Carlos Jimena’s kick drum marches you through sweaty, rockin’ tracks like Lorena, Boogiue de la Muerte (Boogie of Death) and Pollo Podrio (Rotten Chicken). The first track warms you up, but does not even prepare you for the greatness of the rest of the album. Be ready for some lo-hi-fi, straight-up sexy, dirty wifebeater wearin’ blues accompanied by a smoky joint filled with the likes of Charlie Patton, R.L. Burnside, Ty Segall and Captain Beefheart. Lose yourself in the cool pop-up artwork inside the album and listen while your mind goes to church and then to the strip-club with zombies, serpents and skeletons afterwards. - spidey.kfjc.org

Their live show is indisputable. With simple drums beating a relentless rhythm, a zinc washtub serving as a double bass in these times of crisis, and Perico's omnipresent guitar, the trio displays all their blues based fury. They see themselves as a reflection of the wildest bluesmen from the golden age of this genre: Skip James, Howlin' Wolf, Hound Dog Taylor and Junior Kimbrough. Of course, you can feel the traces of the blues masters but actually the result is much closer to the sound of the Crypt Label and their legendary compilations called Back from the Grave, an urgent and dirty music with garage overtones, lyrics to be spat out rather than sung. - Enrique Novi/INDYROCK

Guadalupe Plata may not have been the act on the lips of the people that were heading to the Primavera Sound 10 festival from the UK but for those that love the blues (and we don’t mean that in a drugs related manner) the act may just have been pencilled in for viewing.

The act had already wowed the crowd at this years SXSW festival so Primavera wasn’t going to spook them. It may still have been light by the time they arrived on stage but that didn’t stop their take on the blues from turning out rather well.

There is no point in saying we had Guadalupe Plata on our radar when we were heading out to Primavera but sometimes the opportunity to catch new bands avails itself during a festival. The walk back from the Vice Stage to the main body of the festival affords the chance to detour past the adidas Originals stage and good fortune saw us doing this just as Guadalupe Plata were starting up.

The video below shows the band starting up but we’re not sure of how many different tracks it has, sometimes the blues can be like that! The stop-start nature of tracks may just have been the band completing their sound check and getting their act together or it may have been the lurching time changes that appeal to us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0-xvvvJEq4&feature=player_embedded

Brilliant blues and a washtub bass, how much more authentic do you want it be? As a Spanish act, we may not get the chance to see too much of Guadalupe Plata but if you like the old fashioned blues played by modern acts, this band should be on your list.

If you want to hear some more from the band, this is their myspace page – go and check it out! - http://coldbloodedclarity.co.uk

Guadalupe Plata; extatisk alt-bluesrock från Andalusien - http://blogg.svd.se/kalifornienbloggen

Dig Guadalupe Plata. Straight outta Ubeda, Spain.Creepy Hi-LO-Fi swampy espanafied punkass monster blues.Jeffrey Lee Pierce would be Proud. Damn proud. As will you - http://realdeepblues.blogspot.com

Guadalupe Plata: I got this from a gent at the booth promoting new music from Spain in the trade show in the convention center. Guadalupe Plata are a 3 piece playing big, heavy blues ala Black Keys, R.L. Burnside and John Lee Hooker, played w/drastic fire and amazing chops, especially on the slide guitar. In addition to these masters their MySpace mentions Hound Dog Taylor, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Skip James, Son House and Elmore James. Who knew the Spanish had the dirty blues gene? Amazing stuff - http://www.blurt-online.com

Guadalupe Plata of Spain makes a pass at bayou blues, effortlessly combining hypnotic percussion, possessed guitars, and devilish bass for a fine tribute to old-school bluesmen, conjured with deep and abiding respect - http://www.austinchronicle.com

Two young swamp blues worshippers -- Pedro de Dios Barcelo and Carlos Jimena -- perform a chemical experiment by mixing the rusty-water-wheel chant of Hound Dog Taylor, the darkness of Skip James, the hypnotic rhythms of John Lee Hooker and R.L.Burnside, the madness of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, the sweet sound of Tampa Red, the killer slide of Elmore James and the essence of Son House. Phew. This, apparently, is Guadalupe Plata, who are playing SXSW 2010. They took some time out beforehand to talk to Spinner.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Possessed cante jondo [Spanish flamenco singing] lying on a base of hypnotic drum kit, post-war bass and a killer slide. Swampy blues to sum up.

How did your band form?

I think the previous answer applies to this one.


What are your musical influences?

Most of our influences are dead... Mississippi basses Fred MacDowell style, Hound Dog Taylor's rotten slide, Skip James' obscure atmospheres, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Elmore James...

How did you come up with your band name?

It is our patron saint and protector, covered by a silver ray aureole.

What's your biggest vice?

We have a very particular vice that consists in punching each other as if we were possessed, sticking our tongues out and biting the knife before using it. It is a very ancient tradition performed in Jaen's villages.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Gherkins, chewing gums and cigarettes.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

The Holy rosary live on Radio Maria.

Beatles or Stones?

Both, but there are moments where we would like to impale them, on the same stick of course.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

This summer we played on a field in a festival known as Parrilla rock [barbecue rock], an unfriendly looking man came out of nowhere with an axe. He didn't like the music and wanted to destroy everything; we all had to run away like sinners. - http://www.spinner.com

While doing a little festival exploring and finding our bearings we were taken in by the tunes of local band, Guadalupe Plata, at the Adidas Originals stage. Fortunately they were playing adjacent to the press area, Primavera Pro, so we were able to relax stage side with a drink in hand, bopping along to the music. Guadalupe Plata play raw and dirty blues and their performance was electrifying. Sure, all the lyrics were in Spanish so we didn’t quite know what they were singing but you don’t need to understand the language to know a song sounds good. These guys were our surprise highlight of the festival. - http://www.canvasmagazine.net

They live in their own world. That's the reason why they are believable. - Eduardo Tebar/ LA OPINION

The brilliant winners of the Lagarto Rock contest are one of these bands which appears once in a blue moon making way for the new. - Juan Jesus Garcia/DIARIO IDEAL