El Nitro and El Indio are what give life to La Plazuela. In other words, Luis Abril and Manuel Hidalgo are largely responsible for one of the proposals that are most stirring up the national music scene right now, with their combination of Andalusian popular culture -especially from Granada-, vindicating their roots, with a very current. A dress that is based on flamenco, electronic music and even funk.
They have no more than a dozen songs on the market and are preparing their first album with the production, among others, of Juanito Makandé and Bronquio (who has just published a magnificent album with Rocío Márquez).
Things, as they usually happen since the digital universe rules in music, have been very fast. The boys – now in their early twenties – began to show signs of artistic life in 2019 with a first ep titled Yunque, clavas y arcayatas. During 2020, the group from Granada shared two singles with their unconditional, Placeta de la charca and Principles of XX.
The pandemic arrived and the elaboration of songs was paralyzed although they did not stop playing in venues and bars in Granada. This past May they released a second ep, Jamila, inside which were three gems like Mi tarara, Perico el de la Tomasa and La antigua judería. And a sound ambition that is as attractive as it is transgressive: there is very organic neo soul, there is a lot of digitization, sampling, and a combination of flamenco melodies with synthesized architectures.
What they showed in these three compositions pivoted on the fact that they are not really married to any musical style. “In Granada there is room for all styles, and in fact that is what we hear and what we have always lived with”. And it is that a few months ago, at the end of last year, they were already pointing in that direction when they brought to light Campanas del olvido and Tangos de copera , where they clearly and brilliantly showed that their repertoire ranges from Andalusian rock to electronic flamenco without change song In short, a way of experiencing music and its cultural roots that have not gone unnoticed by fans or by the industry, as evidenced by his signing, already last year, by the multinational Universal.
They say that they have known each other since they were 3 years old, in the preschool of the nuns' school in Granada where they went. It was there that as a teenager El Indio discovered flamenco, Camarón de la Isla in particular. He was 13 years old. El Nitro, on the other hand, turned to rock and at the same age he created an ad hoc band. But he went to live in Mexico for a year and there he got a taste for flamenco fusion. These two ingredients ended up, when they met again in his Granada, in La Plazuela Techá, a band that had a YouTube channel and that has evolved to what they are right now.
Now, between concerts and some powerful festival, they are immersed in the elaboration of what will be their first album, which they hope to publish next year. El Nitro explains that the version they made of Mi tarara and that is included in the aforementioned Jamila ep can be very indicative of where their shots are going. In short: if Camarón made García Lorca's text his own and recast it in the key of progressive rock, La Plazuela takes him to his land, to his current Granada, to his habits, vices and enjoyments, with sound coordinates also of the present. He acknowledges that in the conception of his first feature “it is logical for us that flamenco is a bit of a source of inspiration, especially in the composition and in the lyrics. On the other hand, on a musical level, we use a lot of electronic resources”.
They reflect on their musical impact, the interest aroused among fans and record companies. “In 2020 we took out those two Placeta de la charca and Principles... and then there was a break until we released Tango de copera among other things because we were waiting for the contract with Universal. And in that period we already saw a change because Tango... began to work very well and when we released Jamila this year we already noticed that it was skyrocketing”.
They also agree in believing that the interest of multinationals is due to the fact that “right now in the industry in general there are many artists who are very similar, as the trend is very clear and as everyone wants to join the bandwagon of the genre urban and stuff. And furthermore, in the flamenco section the artist has always been left to command a little more in that sense. And from what we've seen, flamenco artists are the ones who know best how their projects should be”.
And this is when they say that “we're not flamenco but we think there's a similar identity”. El Indio clarifies that "we are fans of flamenco, very fans, but we are not cave singers or we have never worked in a tablao", and his partner acknowledges that "it is in our blood now but we have not grown up listening to bulerías and other sticks”. But “what we do has a lot of personality and identity; We are young kids and we are very clear about our project… and we believe that all of this makes it attractive”.
And they close the issue: "We were not in favor of signing with a multinational, but what made us change our minds was all the freedom they gave us in the artistic aspect."
One of the elements that they always mention is their origin from Granada, which has usually been presented as the cradle of restless musical initiatives such as Los Planetas or Lagartija Nick, Dellafuente or Yung Beef, or right now Chico Blanco. But they see a different reality: “in the city, flamenco is almost closed, and we are referring to the opposite of the union of flamencos and payos. The only thing there has been is the Morente family and a few things. Despite this, it has the advantage of being a relatively small and very multicultural city, and where music is conceived as a way of life like any other. But on the other hand, there is no such thing as a young flamenco because there are hardly any spaces in the city to play and exchange”.
In this framework is where you have to place the words of El Nitro. “One of the good things that we have as a project is that we have never been part of any movement in Granada. And perhaps a reflection of this is that musically the three Jamila songs have nothing to do with each other, and that is a great victory for us”.
Did you have any reference in terms of flamenco fusion? “We have learned a lot from Enrique Morente, especially from his album Pablo de Málaga, from El Lebrijano…, they were groundbreaking for us, but we didn't know how to do it with what is now because we stayed when flamenco merged with rock”.
So, where would they be located, in flamenco or in urban music? "Us? I would say that in Andalusian music, because we make music from the place where we come from. And it makes us very happy to be able to play at festivals like Sonorama or BBK and that at the same time they have given us a date for Seville's Bienal de Flamenco. It's fantastic".
