Serpentina

SERPENTINA is a duo formed by brother and sister Paco and María Tamarit. Their name is atribute to Spanish indiepop artist PARADE.
 

The band was born in the year 2000 as a solo project by Paco Tamarit. For some time he recorded some songs and even played two shows with a backing band formed by Dani Cardona (percussions), Alejandro Climent (bass), Luis Prado (piano) and Raquel Cabañas (“pirindolines”).

2002

In the year 2002, María Tamarit appeared in the recording of the song “Demasiado azúcar”. The band changed from then on to the current duo formed by the Tamarit brothers.

On that same year they recorded five tracks: “El apartamento”, “Demasiado azúcar”, “Love songs”, “Cambio de vida” and “Blancamañana”.

Juan Carlos Mataix, DJ and director of radio show Toxicosmos, invited the band to perform at the second Sunshine Popnight, on July 13th 2002, and SERPENTINA made its debut live as a duo.

2003

Early in the year, María moved to study in Cardiff (Wales) and in March SERPENTINA were invited to perform at the 24th anniversary party of the nationwide radio show “Flor de Pasión” (directed by DJ Juan de Pablos on RNE-Radio 3). Paco agreed to play solo, and on March 29th 2003 he played along with other bands as NIZA, L-KAN, LA MONJA ENANA...
In that party he met Gregorio Soria, from Spanish indie label Annika, and a few days later he received a proposal to make a record.
In March 2004 that record is released, and its name is “Blancamañana”.

2004

They played many shows, among them some festivals as Primavera Sound (Barcelona), Pocket Club (also in Barcelona, along with OTTO SHOW and AT SWIM TWO BIRDS) and Contempopranea (in Alburquerque, Extremadura, along with LA CASA AZUL, ENTRE RÍOS, CARROTS...).

The album received very good reviews, and influential Spanish magazine Rockdelux featured it on number 28 on their best-of-year list.

A previously unreleased track, “Mercurio”, was included on a compilation released by Madrid-based label Jabalina, called “This is my country” (along with other bands as THE PINES, PIPAS, CAMERA OBSCURA...) and the song “Soy una muñeca” was also included on the “Tapas pop” compilation in Japan, featuring Spanish indie bands (along with other bands as LA CASA AZUL, MIRAFIORI...).

They played live at the 34th edition of the Cinema Festival in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid). For this show they prepared a special cinematic set list.

2005-2006

They played three other “Flor de Pasión” parties: on June 25th 2005, at the venue Wah Wah in Valencia, along with UNA SONRISA TERRIBLE, Julio Bustamante and LOS CINCO IBÉRICOS featuring Víctor Ortiz (LOS HURACANES); on March 10th 2006, at the venue Siroco in Madrid alongside CORAZÓN, KIKÍ D’AKÍ, MATE...; and on September 2nd 2006, also in Siroco, with Cristina Georgina and HELLO CUCA.

2007

At the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007 they have been recording and mixing what will become their second album.


2008

In Febreruy  is released "Planeando en tu Azotea". It is a cd, musically speaking, more luminous, direct and immediate, perhaps less Baroque than their last album, with the majority of songs hardly going over two minutes of duration, following the norms of classical pop. As always, in the proposal of the Tamarit siblings, we find references to popular music across the decades, from easy listening (Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, Antón García Abril, Esquivel, Augusto Algueró), soft pop (Margo Guryan, LOVE GENERATION, OCTOBER COUNTRY, CHAD AND JEREMY, HARPERS BIZARRE), folk pop (THE GENTLE SOUL, PETER PAUL AND MARY, THE SEEKERS), bossanova pop (Claudine Longet, Chris Montez), psychedelic pop (THE BEATLES, Syd Barret, SAGITTARIUS) even French pop (Coralie Clément, Françoise Hardy, Marie Laforêt), melodic Italian pop (Pino Donaggio, Fabrizio De André) and above all, Spanish pop from the 60's and 70's (VAINICA DOBLE, SOLERA, JOSÉ Y MANUEL, NUEVOS HORIZONTES, Cecilia). Moreover, the new work catches glimpses of soundtracks by Danny Elfman and the music of Él Records (Louis Philippe), passing over North American bands from the 90's such as THE LEGENDARY JIM RUIZ GROUP and Scandinavian pop (early CARDIGANS, CLOUDBERRY JAM, SUPER). Therefore, in songs like “El Universo” or “Ven, Siéntate” we can delight in pop from the sixties, while in songs like “Yo que Hago Aquí” we taste the folkier aromas. “Tan Fácil” is delicious soft pop and “Dos o Tres Meses” and “Querido Miedo” are samples of the best Swedish pop. On the Baroque and cinematographic sides, we have “No Sé Por Qué” and “Mañana,” songs which introduce us to an ambitious group with a proposal completely original, one that distinguishes this band from the other musical artists of this country.

We chose “Querido Miedo” for the premiere video of the group. María Tamarit appears in the video as her slender, elegant self, along with the other half of the group, her brother, Paco a type of labyrinth which appears to be devised by the one and only Mondrian. While her elegant voice brings music to our ears, definitely one of the most exquisite voices in the national pop panorama, her unpredictable journey charms us as if she were Jean Seberg strolling through the Costa del Sol. Accompanying her at times, we also find the timid Paco Tamarit, who is joint at the hip with his guitar. With this amazing ensemble, the video is a clear tribute to the opening credits of movies from the sixties, where the influence of Saul Bass is indisputable. This not only demonstrates the fine taste and know-how of the team at art school, Trazos de Madrid, and the video directors Alonso Luján, Jose Luis Navas and Adrián Martínez, but clearly shows how to capture the most perfect and luminous mages of this magnificent song something that a Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Japanese, Indonesian or Pilipino group may often dream of composing one so fabulous.  

Discography in Elefant:
ER-1130 SERPENTINA "Planeando en tu azotea" CD Digipak (Febrero 2008)

Discography in other labels:
Annika 005 SERPENTINA "Blancamañana" CD (March 2004)