Mixing world music and folk tunes, Dusminguet's in… Read Full Bio ↴From Radiochango:
Mixing world music and folk tunes, Dusminguet's influences are only limited by their own travels and findings. The introduction to travelling by Mustapha el Hafer in the first song of Postrof with the contribution of two musicians from Rif (Abdul Gandur and Ali Chrsitin) perfectly represents what this band is: an open travelogue.
Dusminguet was formed in 1995 in Catalonia in the multiracial pueblo of La Garriga. Joan Garriga (accordion and voice), Dani Portabella (guitar and voice) and Marti Vilardebo (drums and voice) began to mix the rhythms and sounds that turned them on : mainly rumba and cumbia, but also reggae, rif, ska, merengue, havaneras, funk...
Since 1995, the band has been emerging little by little, showing a wide repertoire. Initially conceived as a Catalan trio, the band was to take on board contributions and experiments with other musicians as Carlos Rivolta (bass) and Oscar Dominguez (drums, voice) join the group. Tomas, a former Mano Negra keyboard-player, going through a crisis after the breakup of the band in Madrid found in the La Garriga pueblo and in this beginner's band a warm environment and a promising project, which led him to join them at once. For the Spanish public, however, the take-off of this Catalan band was to take place when the Chewaka label (belonging to Virgin records) was interested in the band from La Garriga.
In 1998 they released their first album, with the mysterious title of Vafalungo, which they presented in the much internationalized MIDEM at Cannes. It is important to highlight the significant role that the Mestizo Promo house and its mentor Javier Zarco played in the band's career. This had always been an energetic center for them, on the professional, musical and personal level. However, as usual, it is on the road and from pueblo to pueblo that they will show their talents.
The band was to find in the Catalan patchanga, a rhythm closely related to the cumbia and to the rumba the natural vehicle to speak their minds in song. It was the most multifaceted and agile rhythm to play in the pueblo fiestas. Their idea was to form a band capable of playing a little of everything and making people dance. More than 800 concerts demonstrate the stage hunger of the band. They play at as many pueblo fiestas as they possibly can. Very few Spanish bands have been on so many different stages all around the country.
They go on to play with Macaco in the Méditerranéennes festival at Céret (which had welcomed Sergent Garcia y Zebda the year before), attracting the attention the public and of the critics. In April, 2001 they organize a 17-concert tour to France. Several Latin American tours as well as long trips to Rumania, Greece and Morocco give the band the opportunity to widen the range of musical influences in their work. Now, in the end of 2002, they are on tour around Catalonia realizing a dream they have had for quite a while and awakening from a nightmare that struck them not long ago.
This tour is also a way to gather strength and trust after the terrible tragedy that happened to them in Guadalajara. Carlos Rivolta, the band's bass player and "eldest brother" was electrocuted in April, 2002, during a presentation at the Mexican town. It was a tragic accident that deeply moved the band as well as all their friends and relatives. A tribute to Carlos took place on the September, 11th 2002 with the presence of more than 30 bands and DJ . The 12-hour concert on the Rambla of the Barcelona Raval was a much longed for farewell to "Rivaldo del Amor". On that day, many wounds were healed. Dusminguet had the opportunity of meeting the public again and found them eager to hear the band play. I, like everybody else, got gooseflesh as they played "Qu'est-ce que t'as fait à mon ami? Qu'est-ce que t'as fait, il ne peut pas mourrir"...
The friendship ties between Dusminguet and the "porteños" from Macaco as well as the brazuca (Catalan Brazilian) Wagner Pa was evident on this day. Nobody wanted to be absent to this musical farewell to the band's galactic bass player. This friendship is stressed by several contributions in particular to Dusminguet's second album Postrof, recorded in Morocco and mixed in New York with Mad Professor. The title Postrof, just like the title of the first album and the band's name, is the product of their lavish imagination and - just like their music - it seems to remind us of something, though it is difficult to pin it down.
Joan told us that the idea for the names originated in a graffiti which he had seen as a young man in La Garriga, and which disappeared with the passing of time. What was left in his memory was "Vafalungo Postrof, Go". This story is part of Dusminguet's imaginary world of La Garriga, the cozy, warm and mysterious pueblo where the first three members of the group live. Joan, Marti y Dani, all three from La Garriga, are the heart of the group. They write the lyrics and the music for almost all the songs. The last expected release from this trilogy is Go, which will probably be out by the end of February, 2003. In contrast to the second album, which is very rich in contributions and in which the band tried to express all their musical influences and affinities as well as to all their obsessions (it should have beer a double album, but Virgin refused and they had to leave out 6 songs) this third - and eagerly expected - album is said to be more intimate in conception.
The members of the band join Amparanoia, Manu Chao, Jarabe de Palo, Peret, Wagner Pa, Macaco to defend immigrants without documents in the La Merced fiesta (Fiesta day in Barcelona) in the Raval's low income neighborhoods or during the secret apperances of Sound System para la Realidad, whose aim is to raise funds for the zapatista march from Chiapas to Mexico.
Their view of the similarities between their work and that of related artists is the following: "With people like Manu Chao, Amparanoïa or Macaco, we have done quite a lot of things and we share similar points of view. When it comes to mixing sounds, we take our inspiration from different sources and strive to break barriers, but the works of each one of us are very different."
Like Manu Chao and Macaco, the band is finishing their contract with a major label. This album marks the end of a trilogy - the fading of the old graffiti on the pueblo walls. But Dusminguet's sound will be present in the fiestas of several pueblos. They will probably draw their inspiration from other graffiti, maybe record with a different label, but they will still be the same band with the same fiesta spirit, pursuing the dream of living for art.
Something we forgot to mention, because it did not make sense in the artistic description of the band: as human beings, they are also great!
Les Ampolles
Dusminguet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De les buides, de les plenes en beus tu
Jo no en veig pas vuit mai dalt de la paret
Això no ho sap pas ningú
Tria la més plena I beu plaent
Jo en bevia quan n'hi havia I no sols vi
No n'hi hauran pas set mai dalt de la paret
Mentre tu en vagis bevent
Amb l'ampolla que et fa riure, tu ets sonat
No n'hi hauran pas sis mai dalt de la paret
Fa riure com es van restant
La gent treballant I tu amb l'ampolla
T'esbroncava la veïna I el veïnat
No n'hi hauran pas cinc ni de trosqui ni a galet
Si mai no en tens tu ja prou
Tu ja saps com cau la pluja pel raïm
Com per gust xafen la fruita els nostres paps, paps, paps
Se'n recullen quatre I en surten molts menys
És la gana del camp
La cançó de les ampolles de petit
Te'n rifaves I cantaves, no pas ara
Siguin tres o bé dues, ni una ni zero
És el que n'ha quedat
The song Les Ampolles by Dusminguet seems to be about the simple pleasure of drinking from a bottle (ampolla) and the memories associated with it. The singer notes that there is no need to carry empty bottles around, as they can always be filled up with something to drink. They talk about choosing the fullest bottle and the pleasure of drinking from it. They also mention how they used to drink wine when there was some available, and how there will always be bottles on the wall to drink from. Meanwhile, they observe someone approaching with a bottle that makes them laugh, while others work around them.
The lyrics seem to be nostalgic, recalling memories of simpler times and the pleasure of something as simple as drinking from a bottle. The fact that the singer notes that there will always be bottles on the wall suggests that this is a timeless pleasure that can be enjoyed by anyone. The observation of others working while the one with the bottle is laughing could be seen as a commentary on the importance of enjoying life's simple pleasures despite the demands of work and other responsibilities.
Line by Line Meaning
Aquí cap ampolla no cal dur
Here, there is no need to carry any bottle
De les buides, de les plenes en beus tu
You drink from the empty and full ones
Jo no en veig pas vuit mai dalt de la paret
I don't see eight up on the wall
Això no ho sap pas ningú
No one knows this
Tria la més plena I beu plaent
Choose the fullest one and drink it with pleasure
Jo en bevia quan n'hi havia I no sols vi
I used to drink it when there was any, not only wine
No n'hi hauran pas set mai dalt de la paret
There won't be seven up on the wall ever
Mentre tu en vagis bevent
While you keep drinking
De la casa I de la vinya et veig venir
I see you coming from the house and the vineyard
Amb l'ampolla que et fa riure, tu ets sonat
With the bottle that makes you laugh, you are crazy
No n'hi hauran pas sis mai dalt de la paret
There won't be six up on the wall ever
Fa riure com es van restant
It makes you laugh how they dwindle down
La gent treballant I tu amb l'ampolla
People working and you with the bottle
T'esbroncava la veïna I el veïnat
The neighbor and the neighborhood scolded at you
No n'hi hauran pas cinc ni de trosqui ni a galet
There won't be five, not even in pieces or stones
Si mai no en tens tu ja prou
If you don't have enough already
Tu ja saps com cau la pluja pel raïm
You already know how the rain falls on the grapes
Com per gust xafen la fruita els nostres paps, paps, paps
How our fathers crush the fruit for taste
Se'n recullen quatre I en surten molts menys
Four are collected and many less come out
És la gana del camp
It's the hunger of the countryside
La cançó de les ampolles de petit
The song of the bottles from childhood
Te'n rifaves I cantaves, no pas ara
You used to laugh and sing about it, not now
Siguin tres o bé dues, ni una ni zero
Whether three or two, not one or zero
És el que n'ha quedat
It's what's left
Contributed by Hailey J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.