Biography

Vetusta Morla is a Spanish indie-rock band, originally from the city of Tres Cantos, located near Madrid, Spain. The band was formed in 1998 and took its name by the giant old turtle called Morla, character of the children’s book The Neverending Story, written by German writer Michael Ende. “Vetusta” means “old” or “decrepit” in Spanish.

The history of “Old Morla” began in the summer of 1998 in José Sampedro Center, where a few students decided to make a performance at the institute’s culture weeks and founded a rock band. This project was more like a hobby for the participants: Pucho was engaged in graphic design, drummer David “Indian” Garcia worked as a teacher, guitarist Juan Manuel Latorre used to have his program on Radio 3, keyboardist Jorge Gonzalez taught physics.

The first demo “13 Horas Con Lucy” had been released in 2000 and was marked by few music awards. The next record was made with a professional producer. As a result, band’s first EP La Cuadratura Del Circulo was released in 2003. At the end of 2001, the new bass-player, Alvaro Baglietto replaced Alejandro Notario and from then, the band’s composition has not been changed.

Band Members

• Juan “Pucho” Pedro Martín Almarza (vocals, percussion)
• David “el Indio” García (drums, vocals)
• Álvaro B. Baglietto (bass guitar)
• Jorge González (percussion and electronic music)
• Guillermo Galván (guitar, keyboards and vocals)
• Juan Manuel Latorre (guitar and keyboards)

During the next years Vetusta Morla unsuccessfully tried to find a label, and their music was “too indie to be pop, too pop to be indie”. Indie music labels were not attracted by the commercial sound of the band, and large ones did not see any prospects of such music. The situation changed in 2006: after performing at the international Anti-Crise festival in Beirut, the musicians decided to start working on the project seriously. They left their main workplaces and fully devoted themselves to music. The problem with the lack of a label was soon solved by creating their own label – Pequeno Salto Mortal.

Due to the “hobby” attitude to the project, Vetusta Morla performed intensively at various festivals, radio, received some awards, but their first album was released only in February 2008, after almost 10 years of the band’s existence. The album was titled Un día en el mundo (A Day in the World). Twelve songs, one of which, “La Marea”, was firstly released on La Cuadratura Del Circulo EP in 2003. Until the end of the year, Un Dia En El Mundo appeared on almost every music chart in Spain and was called the best Spanish debut rock album.

The same year Vetusta Morla went on their first big tour. Three years later, in the spring of 2011, the band had released their second album, Mapas, which also became popular. It had a more complex and minor sound than Un día en el mundo.

Next year, having a rich tour experience and two full-length albums, the band decided to undertake an experiment – recording with the Regional Symphony Orchestra of Murcia as part of the collection for the restoration of the Narfiso Yepes de Lorca Conservatory building, which suffered from the earthquake in May 2011, in the city of Murcia. The concert was officially released almost a year later in the spring of 2012.

At the end of 2013, the band announced that their third album, La Deriva, would be released soon. On February 23, 2014, the first single “Golpe maestro” was published in Spain. On April 8, 2014, the album itself was released and widely presented to the public with numerous concerts and music videos.

The fourth album of Vetusta Morla, Mismo sitio, distinto lugar had been recorded at Hansa Studios in Berlin and released on November 10, 2017.

A few years earlier, Vetusta Morla had gone on another interesting experiment with Delirium Studios and released an album of original soundtracks for a video game called Los Rios De Alice (Rivers of Alice). The disc consists of instrumental compositions without words, and the only one song, “Los Buenos” is a full-fledged track in the usual “Morla’s style”.

In 2017, the band took part in an unusual project of Radio 3, which had been called ‘Suena Guernica‘ (Singing Guernica), and was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the painting of the same name by Pablo Picasso. During the project, famous Spanish musicians performed several songs in a front of the artist’s most famous painting, exhibited in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. Vetusta Morla performed three songs: “Alto!” from the 2014 album, “Golpe Maestro”, and “Puente de los franceses”, a folk song of the Spanish Civil War.

In 2020, the band released an experimental album MSDL – Canciones dentro de canciones (“Songs in Songs”), which the musicians themselves describe as a nesting doll, where the songs from the fourth album were rethought in a different format.

Awards

• “Copenhague“, the fourth track from Un día en el mundo, was chosen as one of the three best Spanish indie songs of the last 30 years, in a vote carried out among Internet users and listeners of Radio 3, in a song contest “Indispensable” launched by the Independent Phonographic Union and Radio 3, to celebrate July 4 as Independent Music Day. “Copenhague” got the third place in a vote, “Qué nos va a pasar” from La Buena Vida and, after it, “La revolución sexual” from La Casa Azul.
• On October 21, 2008, Vetusta Morla received the “Ojo Crítico” Award in the Modern Music category, one of the most significant cultural awards granted in Spain.
• Vetusta Morla’s first album, Un día en el mundo, occupied the second position in the MTV network’s classification, where the 2008 favorites were chosen.
• The group was awarded by Rolling Stone magazine as Best Group of the Year and Best Album of the Year, for Mapas, their second LP.
• The Madrid band starred in the first edition of the Independent Music Awards granted by the UFI (Independent Phonographic Union), in which it received four awards: Best Artist, Best Album for One Day in the World, Best Rock Album, and Best Song for “Brave.”
• The band was awarded by Rolling Stone magazine as Best Tour of the Year, after performing a total of 107 concerts, 6 of them with the Murcia Region Symphony Orchestra and 28 abroad.
• Awarded the 2019 Gràffica Prize for showing that music needs the visual to communicate. In his records, design, illustration, visual resources, the packaging itself, and typography are an indispensable part of understanding the concepts they relate musically. Also in the live stage and, specifically, in their scenography, a visual spectacle that emphasizes the need to also graphically narrate their stories. For uniting music and image in a unique and original format to convey ideas beyond music.

Studio Albums:

• Un día en el mundo (2008)
  • Autocrítica (04:42)
  • Sálvese Quien Pueda (03:22)
  • Un Día en el Mundo (04:12)
  • Copenhague (05:03)
  • Valiente (03:28)
  • La Marea (03:43)
  • Pequeño Disastre Animal (03:34)
  • La Cuadratura del Círculo (04:35)
  • Año Nuevo (04:26)
  • Rey Sol (03:27)
  • Saharabbey Road (04:37)
  • Al Respirar (03:35)
• Mapas (2011)
  • Los Días Raros (06:27)
  • Lo Que Te Hace Grande (04:12)
  • En el Río (03:07)
  • Baldosas Amarillas (04:16)
  • Boca en la Tierra (03:47)
  • El Hombre del Saco (03:05)
  • Maldita Dulzura (03:47)
  • Cenas Ajenas (04:02)
  • Mapas (03:51)
  • Canción de Vuelta (03:53)
  • Escudo Humano (04:35)
  • Mi Suerte (04:40)
  • Un Plan Mejor (04:14)
• La Deriva (2014)
  • La Deriva (03:39)
  • Golpe Maestro (03:48)
  • La Mosca en Tu Pared (03:44)
  • Fuego (04:05)
  • Fiesta Mayor (03:36)
  • ¡Alto! (03:13)
  • La Grieta (03:46)
  • Pirómanos (03:39)
  • Las Salas de Espera (03:40)
  • Cuarteles de Invierno (03:55)
  • Tour de Francia (04:15)
  • Una Sonata Fantasma (03:50)
• Mismo sitio, distinto lugar (2017)
  • Deséasme Suerte (03:49)
  • El Discurso del Rey (03:41)
  • Palmeras en La Mancha (03:37)
  • Consejo de Sabios (05:18)
  • 23 de Junio (03:27)
  • Guerra Civil (03:34)
  • Te lo Digo a Ti (02:27)
  • Punto Sin Retorno (04:40)
  • La Vieja Escuela (04:13)
  • Mismo Sitio, Distinto Lugar (03:42)
• MSDL — Canciones dentro de canciones (2020)
  • Deséame Suerte – MSDL
  • El Discurso del Rey – MSDL
  • Palmeras en La Mancha – MSDL
  • Consejo de Sabios – MSDL
  • 23 de Junio – MSDL
  • Guerra Civil – MSDL
  • Te lo Digo a Ti – MSDL
  • Punto sin Retorno – MSDL
  • La Vieja Escuela – MSDL
  • Mismo Sitio, Distinto Lugar – MSDL

EPs

• 13 horas con Lucy (demo, 2000)
• Vetusta Morla (demo, 2001)
• La cuadratura del círculo (demo, 2003)
• Mira (EP, 2005)

Videoclips

1. Copenhague (2008)
2. Un día en el mundo (2008)
3. Otro día en el mundo (2008)
4. Sálvese quien pueda (2008)
5. Valiente (2009)
6. Lo que te hace grande (2011)
7. El hombre del saco (2011)
8. Los días raros (2012)
9. Maldita dulzura (2013)
10. La deriva (2014)
11. Golpe maestro (2014)
12. Fiesta Mayor (2014)
13. Fuego (2014)
14. Cuarteles de invierno (2015)
15. Te lo digo a ti (2017)
16. Deséame suerte (2017)
17. Consejo de Sabios (2018)
18. La vieja escuela (2018)
19. 23 de junio (2019)
20. Los abrazos prohibidos (2020)