Aerolíneas Federales

Back in 1982, a new group forms in Vigo. The group hasn’t found its name yet, but it’s alright, Miguel Costas’ (who was in the hit band SINIESTRO TOTAL at the time) excitement to unleash his darker side finds its most complementary partner with Silvino Díaz, the charismatic musician who dives into the most serious aspects of punk and pop from the recently inaugurated decade. They are joined by Juan Dotras, “Flechy”, an essential figure of the local scene, who drinks from the fountains of the most underground music and who, though he doesn’t play a single instrument, joins the group, playing an electronic drum machine with singular charisma.

The songs pour out with the same speed as the hustle and bustle of the new times, songs like “La cartilla de racionamiento”, “Cita con la muerte”, “A dos velas”. And it will be one of these songs, “Aerolíneas Federales”, which gives the group its name…

Limitations with the drum kit and the group’s intentions to improve both the song writing and the live shows bring them the option of handing over the lead vocals to Flechyand bring in a new drummer. In 1983, they decide to ask Luis Santamarina, a beginning musician who is fully energetic and enthusiastic about working with them.

With these members, the groups enters a rock contest in A Coruña and they win first prize – a million pesetas! (remember them?) – and the idea to record an album starts forming, though for the moment there are still no offers… After a brief journey where it seems like they’re never going to get their big break, they decide to bring in 2 female singers and channel their style towards poppier waters, with influences from artists they admired like THE REVILLOS or THE B-52’s… Flechy wasn’t a huge fan of these changes, and he ended up leaving the group, handing the vocals over in equal parts to Miguel and the recently arrived Rosa Costas and Coral Alonso.

After a few months of rehearsals, new songs, concerts all around Galicia, a few quick trips to Barcelona to play in the legendary bar Zeleste on Argenteria Street, and even a chaotic performance in the Benidorm festival, AEROLIINEAS FEDERALES almost throw in the towel when they don’t find any labels that wants to turn the magic, freshness, originality, and nerve of their work into vinyl. Finally, they get the call they’ve been waiting for from the DRO label, where Servando Carballar is willing to bet hard on them.

The result doesn’t let anyone down – neither the record label nor the listeners – and the group’s first eponymous album sells thousands and thousands of copies and will turn the band into one of the most memorable and likeable groups in various generations’ memories, thanks to songs like “No me beses en los labios”, “Soy una punk” and “No sé ligar”.

After the first album, there would be 4 more, almost one a year, with uneven luck and less significance than the first, but they each have a lot of great new songs that will ultimately make a mark in the people’s memory, songs like, among many others, “Oh que pena me das”, “Mi video no tiene mando a distancia”, “Mucho whisky y RnR”, “Tu volarás”, “Bésame” and “Asesiné a mi novio”.

For five years, Aerolíneas cover practically the entirety of the Spanish map, playing concerts all over the place, participating in all sorts of events and filling up all the places their presence is required. They become regulars on the majority of the TV shows that include musical performances, and they are invited guests on all the public and private channels that exist at the time.

After this intense period and just after finishing their 4th album, the band is feeling pretty worn out and this ultimately causes Coral to leave the group… The rest of the group decide to continue and they bring in Silvia García as a new singer. The 5^th album isn’t recorded with DRO, since the group accepts an offer from the multinational company BMG to record with the recently created affiliate company called “Virus”, which was run by the group’s old friend Servando Carballar. Working with this kind of big company doesn’t work out well for the band and the album doesn’t turn out like anyone expected it to. AEROLÍNEAS FEDERALES continue working for a while, now free from any record label associations, and they record a new demo that is more of a return to their roots. The long road they’ve followed has left its mark on the group’s spirit and they amicably decide that it is time to put an end to things, but not without first making their own personal mark on the Televisión de Galicia program, “Xabarín Club”, to whom they give 4 songs from their latest demo, to be translated into Gallego, edited into videos and albums for the program, and which are a huge hit among the Galician youth.

Almost 15 years later, the members of the group begin to receive, individually, news about a person in Perú who has been promoting the release of an album in homage to AEROLÍNEAS FEDERALES – this person’s name is Leonardo del Castillo and, under the pseudonym “Leo Bacteria”, he has been a part of the alternative music scene in Lima. The tribute album is called “Alegra la cara”, like one of the songs from the 2^nd album (“Hop Hop”) and it has 21 versions of different songs by the band. This very same person begins to offer the group the possibility of a reunion tour to the capital of Peru to play a couple of concerts, which at first the group refused, but, because of Leonardo’s insistence, they end up getting excited and decide to try it. Destiny has brought the 5 original members from the first album together again and sent them on a trip to the Americas, which gives even more importance to their reappearance. The tour will be a huge success and the experiences they have during that week in Lima fill them with energy and strengthen the bonds between them, which pushes them to decide to release previously unpublished material that was shelved back in its day and never saw got to see the light of day. In order to do th is, they get in touch with Elefant Records and, with this label, they find the support and excitement the need to release what will be an album of demos and rarities that will come out at the beginning of 2012.