Five of the most prominent musicians in the Canarian music scene have come together to form a supergroup called Rabiche, whose debut album is being released on a new record label named Lambada Records. Diego Hernández, José Antonio Fajardo, Jorge Hernández, Manuel Campos, and Carlos Pérez will perform these songs live on June 1st, at 8:30 PM, at Arequipa 6 venue.
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What happens when some of the most intriguing musicians from the alternative scene of Canary Islands come together to record an album? The result has to be something unique and special. And that’s exactly the case with the debut work of the group Rabiche, a band born from the union of five musicians from the Islands with extensive careers and numerous parallel projects, who have just released a self-titled first album.
This is also the first project of the Lambada record store and café-bar, located at 5 Joaquín Costa Street in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as a record label, with the participation of RunRun and Hey Boy Hey Girl from Tenerife. The group will perform these songs live on June 1st at Arequipa 6 venue, starting at 8:30 PM. This work, originally recorded in a country house in Aguamansa, Tenerife, between July 22nd and 25th, 2022, has the special contribution that each member has shown in their respective personal careers.
Thus, the Tenerife native Diego Hernández (vocals, guitars, banjo, lapsteel) has a long solo career combined with projects like Keiko, Sociedad Liberada, and The Conqueror. On the other hand, the musician from Fuerteventura José Antonio Fajardo (vocals and guitars) remains one of the essential names in the island scene as Fajardo, in addition to the albums of the group Conjunto Podenco, or his work with Dragón and collaborations in the band San Borondón. The Tenerife native Jorge Hernández (bass, guitars, backing vocals) is currently part of Blue Rondo, but has also been a member of Isolina, The Conqueror, and Mentos, and acts as a supporting musician for Claudia Basterra. Manuel Campos (piano, keyboards, synth, xylophone) hails from Madrid and is part of the band Rosvita and has also collaborated with Fajardo. And Carlos Pérez (drums, percussion) is also a member of The Conqueror and has worked in the jazz field with numerous artists like Kike Perdomo. The recording was done by Julio Armas and Javier Ortiz took care of the mixing and mastering, contributing with acoustic piano, Rhodes, and Juno 106, recording them at the Brazil Studio on February 4th, 2023. Miguel G. Morales is the author of the photographs and Alejandro González of the design and layout.
The album includes dub remixes of the original songs by Julio Armas and the group has already performed at notable venues such as Boreal, FEX, or Lava Circular. The name Rabiche refers to one of the two endemic bird species of the Islands. And there couldn’t be a better name, as their sound, very elegant and précised, based on a mix of folk rock, slowcore, and post-rock, literally takes the listener on a journey through bucolic passages. The owner of Lambada, Jordan Santiso, describes how this adventure began. “Before opening this business, I planned to create a record label, but I put it on hold until this start-up worked, but it was a goal I had clear before opening as part of the Lambada concept from the beginning.”
It all started when “I heard a demo that José Antonio Fajardo sent me of what they had recorded in Aguamansa.” And knowing the musicians they were, “I said we had to release it.” In his opinion, the album incorporates the ideas that each one had, “from folk rock with hints of Americana and blues with a touch of the South, which is very evident in Diego’s guitar.” All combined with some slowcore and that deconstructed rock by Fajardo. Santiso emphasizes that releasing an album involves a rigorous process of recording the demos, designing the graphics, etc. “We financially participate in the final phase along with the mastering and physical, digital edition.” Precisely, by the end of this month, Lambada Records will release the first single from another band from Las Palmas called Alizulh, who “are two guys making experimental electronic music leaning towards pop,” and from which an album and a ten-inch with four remixes by four DJs will be released.
[–>Lambada is also part of a musical association called Tormento Colectivo that organizes the Fanfalate in El Sebadal at a venue on Tormento Street where several musicians come together for a live show.
José Antonio Fajardo, on his part, recalls that “the first person I told about doing this project was Diego.” The Tenerife musician contributes four songs and Fajardo adds another four “that didn’t quite fit for technical reasons in my repertoire,” while Jorge “composed another one that we incorporated.”
Fajardo acknowledges that “when Diego sings, you can see more of his style, and when I sing, you can see mine, but giving them a different context.” In fact, there are two songs that Diego Hernández recorded in his own versions. The musician from Fuerteventura highlights that “all of this was a teenage obsession I had with those albums that were recorded in country houses and acquired special connotations,” such as Standstill’s Vivalaguerra or those of The Band. “I wanted to live that experience, and the perfect travel companions were these musicians.”
“Since I met Diego, I wanted to do something with him. He brought Jorge and Carlos, and I brought Manuel Campos, whom I admire as a person and musician. And living together was fantastic; in just four days, we recorded nine songs and had time to do some overdubs, rerecord things.” Each song takes the listener to a different place between slowcore, post-rock, or folk rock. But for Fajardo, each song has a stylistic touch. “Although those elements are present, there are other songs like Quinquel or Universo fatal that take me to a more Latin point. The five musicians come from very different backgrounds that enrich each other: Carlos with his Brazilian percussion, Jorge from nineties rock, Diego from blues and American psychedelia, and me from the more pop-rock side. But in the end, from many styles, it sounds like Rabiche.” And he concludes: “We’re not doing any exercise in style, and if later on, we want to do surf music, we’ll do it without a problem.”
