Doomed Confessionary: Mikel, Ortzi, Beñat & Oroitz (Rodeo)
Rodeo is a stoner rock band from Zestoa, Basque Country. Influenced by bands like Kyuss, Rodeo began to work on its own sounds in 2014. In 2019 the band exploded in the Basque Country and played loads of shows including the EHZ Festibala in France and BIME in Bilbao (October 2021).
In March 2022 the band released their 3rd album, »Moira« (Sixteentimes Music) which was received very warmly by the public & the critic. A tour in Germany and Switzerland with the Swiss band Gentle Beast in April was followed by another Basque tour in the summer. After performing more than 200 concerts they released the second LP of the year, »Hybris«, in November 2022 via Sixteentimes Music. Rodeo’s new album was recorded in Gaztain Estudioak, like all the music Rodeo released prior to the last album, »Moira«. The research of a fuzzy sound for this album follows the intention of the band to express the real Rodeo’s live sound and give to the listener the closest experience possible to a live show.
Rodeo are Mikel Illarramendi (vocals and guitar), Ortzi Alberdi (guitar), Beñat Subinas (bass) and Oroitz Urbieta (drums).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Rodeo is a stoner rock band from the Basque Country formed in 2015 that sings in our minority language, Euskera. We are always called a stoner rock band but we mix other styles like post-rock or post-hardcore in our songs. We have 1 EP and 4 LPs and we have played more than 250 shows.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
The biggest challenge is to keep the Rodeo family united from the beginning until today after almost 10 years. The 4 former members are the actual members of the band and after so many years and gigs, it is complicated to go in the same direction all the time.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Last years, we have had the opportunity of playing in big festivals and to tour in foreign countries but we are so proud of keeping on playing at small venues at the Basque underground scene. We belong to it and we will never stop playing in this circuit that always has given the opportunity to us.
What was your biggest regret?
The Covid pandemic was so hard for us. We released an EP just one month before the pandemic and we had an incoming tour planned for almost a year, with some festivals in Europe, and everything was cancelled.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
It is very hard to choose only one concert because for us, playing in small venues, feeling the people so near is very nice and we love it sometimes more than playing in big festivals. But if we have to choose one festival, Resurrection Fest in Galicia was very good. We had a very good time on the Japan and Korea tour too.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
The people that we are knowing at the concerts. We have known a lot of nice people and we are making a lot of friends. Some of them are from other bands and some others from the venues.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Currently we listen a lot King Gizzard & the Lizzard Wizzard, Los Natas, Viva Belgrado, Derby Motoretas Burrito Cachimba, Pelax, Truckfighters, Slomosa…
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
To try to preserve the respect with other musicians and venue workers. We don’t like people that act like rockstars and we always try to be as kind as possible with other people.
What are your guilty pleasures?
To drink a lot of beer after the shows! We are quite simple people and we don’t have special rituals or anything similar.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Zestoa / Basque Country?
Basque Country is quite special because almost every small town has its own venue that is managed by a youth association. Some of them are quite professional and some others quite amateur. There is a big programmation in our area and for new bands, it is quite easy to play gigs in quite good conditions. There is a big tradition of going to gigs so there are many options for new bands to play with more known bands.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
As we said before, we are making a new album so this year we are going to play only a few gigs and most of them are going to be here in the Basque Country.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
We want to finish writing the album and after that we will think about the next steps. Where to record it, the release date, the tour… We want to focus only on making good songs. We hope to finish it this year but we don’t want to put a deadline to finish it.
How can people best support your band?
Coming to our concerts and buying our merchandising from our Bandcamp webpage. But if they listen to our music and they like it, we are happy!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
As we said before, if someone is waiting for a new album, we tell them that they still have to wait some time until we have it but we want to say that it will be great and to be patient!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well