Record label

It has been some years since a group of music lovers, CD fans, and Youth Clubs and other gig venue organisers created Gaztelupeko Hotsak (“Gaztelupe Sounds”) in Soraluze in order to cut a blues album. After financing the disc, the distribution was self-managed. Then came the time to offer alternative singer-songwriters to fill spots and also to try out things with bertsolaris (extempore verse singers) taking part in a contest or two. Although the lyrics have a special importance, rock has a particularly important musical context. In other productions, the writer might give us the song, the musician tell the story, the graphic artist the cover-book and so on … Pop wants also to break new ground and create references like Power pop. There are links with heavy rock, echoes of radical Ska…

All this work through a relationship between writers, musicians, poets, graphic artists and the rest of a gang who live not exactly conventional lives. HOTSAK (“Sounds”) – not taking away anything – will possibly be the label that will bring out the most youth-based novelties onto the street.

In this line there will be reggae sounds. The Basque diatonic accordion works both live and when producing in the recording studio. Trash and rock-blues will come from the towns in the deep interior of the country and Cajun and Rockabilly from the coast. Jazz will turn up soon. This recording outfit has had the careful design and format of the album uppermost in its mind from the very beginning, both in image and the feel of the thing. The whole process has been handled so that, as far as possible, there are direct sales of the work.

To date there are more than 60 references and the number of gigs has been notable.