La
Secta
This article originally appeared in NFH #22 in
the winter of 1992.
Spain might seem to
be getting pretty far out on a limb for rock and roll to most people, but if you track
these things you might be aware that there are some cool bands there and some really good
fanzines; the group of people into good rock and roll is pretty small, but the people in
that group are really into it. La Secta's singer Gorka Pastor is one of those
fanatics...aside from his role as frontman for what is probably Spain's best band, he also
is one of the driving forces behind the cool Spanish fanzine "La Herencia De Los
Munster". He's a rabid Scientists fan, and in fact put out an entire magazine devoted
to the Australian grunge kings. Love of the Scientists is apparent in La Secta's music;
there's a dark and brooding grunge feel to it, but there's also elements of the Stooges
and more traditional rock and roll as well. Never the less, La Secta will never be
considered a straight rock and roll band; there's something definitely twisted about them
in the same way that the Scientists were twisted. You can get a chance to hear them on a
couple of single that have been released in the US on Sympathy, but that's just part of
the story; to really appreciate them you need to get their lp which you can get through
France's Spliff label (8 rue de la Treille, 63000 Clermont-Fd, France) or from Munster
Records (PO Box 18107, 28080 Madrid, Spain).
La Secta come from a
town called Bilbao in Spain, and they started from a group of friends who shared a common
love of underground rock and roll. When they started there was nothing even close to what
they were doing in their town; dark, obsessive music influenced by 60s punk. Much
practicing resulted in an evolution of the sound; more powerful, more guitar driven, and
more 70s sounding with the Stooges, Hendrix and MC5 being the best comparisons. They
played a long time in little pubs where they tried "to familiarize the public with
our raw sound. People never heard such a noise around here", says Gorka. "We
wanted to let people know that a rock band like us could be even harder than all the punk
bands around." The reaction from the public was apathy and from the music press was
that, though they might not be too bad, there wasn't much future for them. Then Munster
Records signed them for the first single "Don't Follow That Way" (also released
in the US on Sympathy). "That was really a kick in many people's ass. They had to
shut up."
That single was
recorded in France with Kid Pharoan as producer. From the Stooges it lifts the idea of
building a song around a basic, repetitive riff that it grinds into your head, but it
tosses away the metallic influences that so many bands that claim to descend from the
Stooges seem to prefer and replaces it with a dirty and grinding garage feeling. It's a
really great record; probably their finest hour.
Shortly after this
single the band recorded their Blue Tales lp, which came out on Munster in Spain
and on Spliff in France. Two tracks form this were paired for their second Sympathy
single, "The Beast" and "Don't Look Back". The guitar sound on the lp
isn't as quite as big and menacing as on the first single, but it's still a superb record
and delivers 8 tracks of serious dirt. "Don't Look Back", "Sick" and
"I Hate That Trip" are my faves; they aren't the speed pop/punk songs I so often
rave about here but instead are something darker and deeper...songs with good staying and
growing power that sound better on the 20th play than on the 3rd.
I asked Gorka if they
were happy with the results on the lp. "It depends on the songs", he replied.
"Some of them are great, others it could have been better. But it's always the same;
you don't see the wrong things until you're finished. But we're quite happy with the
album. Sonic Boom, our producer, did very well on some songs like "I Hate That
Trip" and "Pseudo". The reviews have been very good from the real music
mags. It had great reviews in the USA which was great and a nice surprise. To have the lp
gave us the chance to get better gigs in Spain and especially in France, but we've been
quite lazy. We should play more."
One thing you'll
notice about La Secta's records right away is that in contrast to other Spanish bands
whose records often are produced in a way that leaves them sounding a bit thin, La Secta's
records have consistently had a big, thick sound. "In Spain most of the records are
underproduced. That's because of the sound engineers or the producers and also it's
because the bands don't seem to care much about it. The fault is from the studios and the
bands. We did our first 7" and lp at Le Chalet in France. It's a good place and we
had great help. We also recorded some cuts in Donostia here in our country. The guy is
from a band called Negu Gorria K and he is quite professsional. We recorded some of the
"Our Kicks" songs there and they sounded great, even if it was too
expensive."
"Our Kicks"
was their next release; it's La Secta's tribute to some of their favorite bands featuring
one cover from each of T. Rex, Suicide, Spaceman 3 and the Scientists. It doesn't take
much listening to detect that the Scientists influence is as strong on their records as
the Stooges. "We've always been great fans of the Scientists", says Gorka.
"Since we started with the fanzine we really were into their music. They're one of
the most important bands there has ever been in this fucking world. Without them our music
would be senseless. We really believed in them while they were alive, not like lots of
people nowadays who say they were a great band but didn't give a fuck about them while
they lived in Sydney or London. We did "Demolition Derby" 'cos it was like a
challenge for us. We were impressed by the strong atmosphere of the song. We took the risk
and I think it came out pretty well."
In addition to these
records, they have a couple of fanzine discs worth trying to track down. "Sweet
Brownie" came out on a flexi with the German Hartbeat! magazine; it's about the
slowest thing they've done but it's also one of their best...a great brooding song. The
other is a track called "Perfect Time" that came out on a disc with the French
Abus Dangereux that also includes a Nomads track.
Now that their
records have given them greater exposure the possibilities for playing gigs have expanded
as well, and they've developed some enthusiastic fans, especially in France. Within their
town their presence seems to be spurring a greater interest in underground and garage
bands. But La Secta's slowly increasing popularity does seem to cause some confusion in
how to view them; one day they were heading for a gig and the police stopped their car
thinking that they were terrorists (La Secta are Basques and there is some unrest in Spain
between the Spanish authorities and Basque separatists at times). The police held them by
the highway for more than an hour before they were convinced enough to let them go. Then
the band arrived at the pub where they were to play and they found posters promoting them
like they were a top 40 mainstream band like Madonna. So in a couple hours they went from
terrorists to pop idols. At the end of the letter in which he answered all my questions,
though, there's a hint why the police might have thought Gorka WAS a
terrorist...apparently frustrated by the process of completing an interview in a letter he
closes: "I would like to do another interview, wilder, to let all my poison out. Next
time. Fuck the 5th Centenary! They just killed thousands of natives. There's nothing to
celebrate. Fuck 'em!"
Next on the agenda
for La Secta is a live lp release called Live in Bordeaux. They've been working on
material for a new album but there's nothing definitely lined up either for recording time
or a release date. Heavier gigging is also in the plans, but this will be confined to
Europe. Us Yanks will just have to be satisfied with the records. It's good enough for me.
