Catalan Sounds on Tour at SummerStage Festival 2015

Catalan bands Oques Grasses, La iaia, Sílvia Pérez Cruz and DJ Guillamino at the 30th anniversary of New York Central Park’s SummerStage Festival.

In June of 1986, Sun Ra and the Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra performed a free concert in Central Park, and the summer music landscape in New York City changed forever. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, SummerStage Festival has extended the season from May to October, showcasing nearly 200 unique artists from the iconic to the avant-garde, from opera to hip-hop, film to circus, and everything in between. The Institut Ramon Llull partners with SummerStage again this year to bring Catalan Sounds on Tour to New York audiences.

Oquess Grasses

Oques Grasses kick off their Living in the hol•les 2015 tour. At the end of last year, having sold out all tickets to Barcelona’s Sala Razzmatazz where the Oques celebrated Sheep Spirit Day, the Catalan band will tour around Catalonia, València, Alicante, Castelló, as well as Europe and America where they will be making their debut.

This summer we will see Oques Grasses in the line-up for festivals like Canet Rock, Festival de Guitarra de Barcelona, La Patum de Berga and many others, marking a new phase for the band who have played 160 gigs since 2013 and released two albums in one year.

La iaia

Folkie, friendly La iaia transfigures into the first power trio in the history of Catalan rock offering a daring blend of dreamlike and, thus, less explicit tracks. Imbued in a novel electronic, international, highly compact sound, they strive for transcendence through premeditated risk, artistic criterion, freedom of interpretation and a significant lack of concessions to the audience.

Their second album, On és la màgia? is an unquestionably brave, undoubtedly valuable and radically different album to what the vast majority of their hitherto loyal fans had, in all likelihood, expected. Rugged, over-the-top or disturbing when it suits, sensual and catchy if necessary, the new tracks flow like a coherent realm compelling the audience to listen and take part. Sounds and songs that are daring to the point of addiction, such as those that have not been around for forty years in Catalonia and which, when performed live, can only triumph. Indeed, the album reaches its goal:exceeding expectations, steering away from tedious acoustic comfort and shaping an ambitious work that allures the complicity and involvement of he who listens. All on the context of the creation of an authentic, modern sound, not shared by other artists from their generation, one unique to them and flawlessly identifiable.

Sílvia Pérez Cruz

Singer and songwriter Sílvia Pérez Cruz is becoming one of Spain’s brightest stars. Gold Award-winner for her two latest works and Goya winner (Spanish Cinema Academy Award) for the Best Original Song in the film Blancanieves, she walks comfortably through languages like fado, jazz, flamenco, folk songs or classical music.

After many collaborative projects (Joan Manuel Serrat, Javier Colina, Toti Soler, Israel Galván), Sílvia wrote, recorded and produced her first solo album 11 de novembre, which was voted amongst the best records of the year in Spain and France, and received the Gold Disc Award in Spain. Her latest album, Granada, in association with the guitarist Raül Fernandez ‘Refree’, has also gone Gold.

Classically trained with a degree in vocal jazz, she plays various instruments and has a delicate and precious voice. Some of her music references are Caetano Veloso, Nick Drake, Amália Rodrigues, Brad Mehldau, Marta Valdés, Jacques Brel or Enrique Morente.

DJ Guillamino

Guillamino walks on the human side of electronica. Handwriting beats. Mixing dub, funk, hip hop, bass and house in a pop pan, adding some spices from all around the world. And singing with a voice full of soul. For all these reasons, Guillamino is one of the most intriguing musicians in Barcelona. He is a Red Bull Music Academy veteran. Jacques Greene has just remixed his music. He’s played at Sonar several times, as well as in the USA, Canada, Japan, Chile, and throughout Europe. Guillamino’s songs are made for dancing.