LA MONJA ENANA is formed by Juan (keyboards and programming) and Ana (vocals). This two piece started to get known in 1998 with a demo tape and several gigs. This demo tape was heavy airplayed in indie music shows such as "Flor de Pasión", "Diario Pop" and "Viaje a los sueños polares". Listeners of both shows chose this demo tape as the best of 1998. The band becomes a usual name in the club circuit of Madr…
LA MONJA ENANA is formed by Juan (keyboards and programming) and Ana (vocals). This two piece started to get known in 1998 with a demo tape and several gigs. This demo tape was heavy airplayed in indie music shows such as "Flor de Pasión", "Diario Pop" and "Viaje a los sueños polares". Listeners of both shows chose this demo tape as the best of 1998. The band becomes a usual name in the club circuit of Madrid, specially in pop nights as the one devoted to Dj Juan de Pablos in Siroco Club.
Their first CD-Single, "Pídeme un deseo" sees the light in August 99. Six delightful synth-pop tunes full of catchy melodies, dance rhythms and bubbling programming that evoke the funniest, swingiest side of the eighties. The Spanish lyrics reveals Juan (composer of all tracks) as a superb writter of science-fiction and suspense that always adds generous amounts of humour to the mix to make the result much more festive and enjoyable. To make things even better, the band’s live shows are a real happening, as Juan and Ana manage to get to stimulate the audience using all kinds of funny gadgets and visual effects.
On early 2000 "Pídeme un deseo" is chosen "Single of the week" by prestigious Uk music weekly Melody Maker. This is really exceptional as this magazine usually pays little attention to music not sung in English. This is probably the first time a Spanish record obtains that honour. Another very influential name in music, BBC Radio One Dj John Peel, plays LA MONJA ENANA in his radio show. They are also played in Boston’s WZBC college radio station. American label March Records includes the band’s rendition of ALASKA Y LOS PEGAMOIDES’ "Otra dimensión" in a compilation called "Little Molly has a treat for you".
On late 2001 the band is invited to play in the "International Electronic Music Festival" that takes place in Izhevsk (Russia) on December 1 and 2. This invitation ends up transformed as a Russian tour that takes the band to Moscow and Yekaterinburg. It’s not easy for a Spanish band to tour Russia, specially for a small indie band with only a CD-Single in the market. Many Spanish media cover the tour, like "Tentaciones", the supplement of newspaper El País.
Almost at the same time, American publishing company Prentice Hall releases "Conexiones", a textbook for Spanish learners that include the lyrics of two songs by LA MONJA ENANA; the proper songs are included in a CD to complete the book.
On March 2002 the band alliates with L-KAN and EL AVIADOR DRO in a project called "¡Qué mutada!". The album, released by Pias Spain, includes some tracks written by the three bands ("¡Qué mutada!" and "Moda mutante") and contributions by each of the bands: LA MONJA ENANA supplies two brand new tracks: "Los inocentes" and "Criticar". The project also includes an album of prints plus a comic created by Victor Gómez, who won a Goya award in 2000 in the animation category with his short film "El pollo". The three bands embark in a long Spanish tour to promote this album, on April and May 2002.
And now here is "Un cadáver que abre un ojo" ("A corpse that opens an eye"). The title shows Juan’s admiration for fifties pulp novels. The single includes five new songs that will be welcomed by all the fans of LA MONJA ENANA. Three years have passed since the band‚s debut, but their funny ways and their imagination remain intact, preserving that naïveness and freshness that was present in their very first demo tape.
The record is opened by "Números" ("Numbers"), an intricate novel about spies that transmit instructions to each other through combinations of numbers. Again, the scenery is a cold , grey and futuristic place, Orwell-like. To make the track complete, it features real recordings of short-wave voices repeating numbers. "Amor cuántico" (Quantic love) is a romance story between two scientists, that gets complicated due to the problems of quantic mechanics.
"Los días de Perky Pat" is a new tribute to Philip K. Dick. Taking the title of one of his short stories, the song is about the difficult times gone through some settlers on their hard daily grind on Mars; the only way to escape is by taking massive amounts of hallucinogenic drugs. "Everything is sorted out by taking some soma", say the lyrics. It’s curious how LA MONJA ENANA can create such funny, colorful songs out of quite lurid themes.
"Me enamoré de un robot" was originally included in Elefant "Elefant Dosmiluno" and remains as one of the band’s highlights; a story of love and robotics that mix candour and venom in a superb way.
The closing number "Estoy solo" is another futuristic fantasy told with many humour and cheekiness: the character is appalled to realise he’s the only survivor of a nuclear disaster; but pretty soon his despair will turn into happiness when he starts noticing the advantages of the situation.
