Thanks so much to Lucía, Eva and Roberto for the interview! I wrote about Galáctica on the blog and the same day the band members got in touch with me! I was very lucky! I had loved their band back in the early 2000s and after so many years I got the chance to interview them. I must say that the interview was conducted in Spanish and you can find the original here. I have translated to English all the questions and answers, so forgive me if there are any mistakes! In any case, it is a good time for all of you to discover this superb band from León, Spain!

++ Hola Lucía! Thanks a lot for the interview? How are you? Are you still in León?

Lucía: Hi! Thanks for the interest to interview us, it has really surprised us. I live in Madrid, where I was born; unlike my bandmates, I’m the only one that is not originally from León. I went back to Madrid in 2002 for university studies and I stayed.

++ Are you all in touch? When was the last time you picked up your instruments? Are you still involved with music?

Lucía: We are mainly in touch Roberto, Evan and me. It has been easy as we have continued seeing each other in Madrid and that has given us the chance to continue making different music projects now and then. Galáctica had two comebacks, one in 2005 when both of them were still in León and in 2008 when the three of us were already working in Madrid. Later, in 2014, Roberto and me, alongside two friends, formed a group. Eva joined us later. This project now is on a break until we all have the time to get together again.

++ Let’s start from the beginning. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Lucía: In my case I come from a very musical family. My father studied in the conservatory, my brother is a professional musician and at home classical music was always played. I think my first musical memories are of  J.S. Bach and The Beatles, who are what really introduced me to popular music. My dad had a band at the end of the 60s where he played covers of The Beatles and other bands, so the music influences for me were big in me. I signed for music school when I was very young and learned to play guitar, following my family steps, but I left it when I was about 16 as I got bored with the academic system. At that time I already knew that what I wanted was to sing (I had studied a bit of singing, but too little) and it was in 1999 when I joined Galáctica with that purpose.

Roberto: I grew up during a time of great Spanish bands like Radio Futura, the golden age of the songs of Berlanga, Décima Víctima and Golpes Bajos. Actually “Colecciono moscas” is one of the first songs I remember, thus my surrealist/dadaist influences. Hahaha.

Eva: I studied in the Conservatory of León and played viola, but I stopped playing it when I was 19 years old, already playing it well but annoyed with the system and seeing very little options to have a professional music career in Spain unless I dedicated myself to teaching in a system that, in my opinion, is old-fashioned and outdated. The other instrument I learned to play, aside from the recorder for music classes in school and the typical Casio organ, was a Spanish guitar that I inherited from my mother when she was young; she used to go to guitar lessons as an after-school activity. I barely learned any chords but I loved it. At home my dad used to play a lot of Jeanette.

++ Were any of you in other bands before being in Galáctica?

Roberto: I had been in random pop and rock bands in León since I was 16 years old. But before being in Galáctica I had a band called Bételges that made some pretty decent indiepop.

Eva: My first band didn’t even had a name nor we played live. I must have been 17 years old at that time and had done everything to buy a Hammong organ with a Leslie amp. When I met Roberto I joined Bételges, and it was then when I got on stage for the first time.

Lucía: I was never in any other bands because when I joined Galáctica I was 15 years old, and at the most I had sang in some school plays. ]

++ How was León back then, at the start of the 2000s? Were there any other bands in town that you liked? What were the good record stores or venues where you usually hang out? Was there a scene?

Lucía: I was born in Madrid, and went to live in León in 1992 and always saw that city with foreign eyes, it was hard for me to adapt to it. But halfway around the 90s, and even though I was still a kid, I remember that there was a scene that was interesting in a national level, with many new bands having fun and doing things in a different way. What was the norm was that bands sang in English but things started to change towards bands redeeming Spanish language pop. I always thought that León was in a privileged spot regardless being a small city. It may be because of the existence of the Purple Weekend festival and bands like Los Flechazos or it being close to cities like Gijón that also had a great musical scene and with it had a lot of creative exchange. The truth is there was a music scene in León that a lot of people remember to this day. I got into it being very young and my bandmates in Galáctica showed me almost everything. Up to that moment I haven’t been out much, to concerts or clubs. It was a sudden, intense and incredible experience.

++ How does Galáctica start? How did you all meet? Was there a recruiting process?

Lucía: All of them knew each other from bands they had played in together. I was the only stranger, I met Eva because I used to go to classes with her little sister. I had 15 years and dreamed of singing in my own band. At the time I considered it more of a fantasy than a real possibility, but the opportunity arrived when Eva’s sister told me they were looking for a female vocalist for a new project. I remember I got very excited. She gave me the contact details, I went to sing with them to their practice room and they told me I had the job. It was all very easy. And even better we became friends and everything started rolling. I always thought that Galáctica was something magical, there were no up and downs, we were always very active and very excited.

++ Why the name Galáctica?

Roberto: Because of our obsession with the space and glitter. We’ve always preferred what’s “robot”.

Eva: We wanted an straight-up name, one word and possibly feminine.

++ How was the creative process for the band? Where did you usually practice?

Lucía: At the start of the 2000s everything was more rudimentary and analog, we didn’t have access to home-recording systems nor we could send each other song ideas by email or whatsapp, so when we needed to share something there was no other option that meet face to face and play our instruments. The contact between each others was necessary and that I remember with nostalgia. Roberto would bring melodies and later I started contributing lyrics, Eva contributed with keyboard arrangements…. I can say that we were very meticulous and hard-working, we practice a lot and we took it seriously. During the year 2000 we practiced at an old practice room that our drummer, Amado, had in a town called Cembranos, near León. Afterwards we moved to other shared practice rooms, that I remember had the dirtiest bathrooms in the whole León province.

Eva: Even though León is a city with a big interest for every music style, for decades there hasn’t been any institutional help of any kind to provide bands decent practice rooms, clean and with minimal security measures. This problem is still going today, sadly.

++ And what were your musical influences?

Lucía: Each of us brought their own. I was a fan of British music, I had grown up with The Beatles, David Bowie and The Smiths, and was in love with britpop bands like Blur, Suede, Elastica, Pulp or Echobelly. I didn’t know many Spanish bands at the time, that is something I thank my bandmates for introducing them to me.

Eva: British pop from the 90s made a mark on me, and because of that and the influence of mod and sixties influenced bands like Los Flechazos I started to get very much into 60s musics in all of their styles (soul, beat, garage…). To that I’ve been adding more and more influences, for example melodic electropop, mod revival, punk 77 and today the new psychedelia…

++ Were you always fans of science-fiction? The future? Perhaps there are writers, movies or series that influenced you?

Lucía: We all are from the Star Wars religion. Particularly, about science-fiction, I’m in love with the books by Ray Bradbury, though I can’t really say if they had any influence in Galáctica.

Roberto: Science-fiction has always been there, it is an escape for our imagination to “impossible” worlds that take you away from this gray reality that is our real world.

Eva: I love movies like “Logan’s Run” or “2001: A Space Odyssey”… and all of them where there are bad guys that are very band with enormous desks and swivel chairs with many henchmen all dressed the same at to his service, but I do need to say that today’s science fiction is not for me, I don’t like it at all, and even less all the exaggerated digital special effects though there can always be an exception.

++ How did you end up signing to Mushroom Pillow and how was your relationship with them?

Lucía: I believe it is time now to tell our biggest anecdote: the day Mushroom Pillow decided to come and check us out playing live, we did our worst gig in Galáctica’s lifetime. It is true that there were many catastrophic circumstances that were out of our control, but it was a disaster and we were very sure that they weren’t going to sign us ever. But luck was on our side, some days later we played for the first time in Madrid at the Siroco venue on 18 November 2000 and we were really magnificent. Then they signed us. Justice was made.

++ Your first record was a mini-album, “Lujo Estelar”, in 2001. Had you recorded anything before this album? Perhaps some demos? Or were these your first ever songs?

Lucía: We have to remark that for Galáctica everything happened very fast: we were recording our first demo after six months of practicing and signing to Mushroom Pillow after just a year. The first demo was recorded during the summer of 2000 at the home of Mario Cooper in León. It had five songs, two of them (“Chica invisible”, “Ya sales en RockdeLux”) were included in “Lujo Estelar”. The other ones were recorded later.

Eva: I remember fondly when our demo was played in the legendary “Viaje a los sueños polares”, at that time in a hyper commercial radio (when they still let some indie music to be played).

++ A song that is catches one’s attention is “Ya Sales en Rockdelux”. Did you ever appear on the music magazine Rockdelux?

Lucía: We did, of course we did! I don’t have a copy, but I believe they took the song well, with good humor. I still can’t believe it.

++ Afterwards you release a CD single for “Electrónica” for which you made a video. How was that experience? Where was it recorded? And why did you choose “Electrónica” as the promo single for the album?

Lucía: The single was recorded at Feedback studios in León during the spring of 2002, but the promo video wasn’t filmed until September of that year. It was our first video, we filmed it in two different scenarios (indoors and outdoors) with two different set of outfits and I remember it as being lots of fun. I think they chose that song because our bosses thought it had the chance to be a hit.

++ In this CD single you included a cover version of “Mi Verdad” by Luna. What made you choose this song? I also read you made covers when playing live of the likes of Los Flechazos, Le Mans, even The Ramones. What other covers would you have liked to do?

Lucía: This was a song by a band from Ponferrada that had some success in the 80s. We thought it was fun and exciting, very much in the style to what we doing with Galáctica.
On another hand, our covers history is kind of crazy. I remember doing covers of bands so different among themselves like Magnapop, Easybits, The Charlatans, Ramones (an Spanish version of “I wanna be sedated”), Los Flechazos (“Quiero regresar”), Le Mans (“Un rayo de sol”) and Dinarama (we did “Rey del Glam” for a Carlos Berlanga tribute for the Contempopranea festival in 2003).

++ The album “El Fotógrafo del Más Allá” was published in 2002 and had 12 songs. There are many favourite songs but my favourite might be “Mejor Berlín”. In a couple of sentences, what’s the story behind this song?

Roberto: When you live in a city like León where everything is small and everyone knows each other your only obsession is to escape and traveling is a good medicine for that illness.

++ For the album you also made a video, for the song “Superdisco”. Two questions, what inspired this song? And two, tell me a bit about the video, any anecdotes or how did you end up working with Juan Marigorta who actually directed both of your videos?

Lucía: If I remember it correctly, it was a song that we made with lots of snippets from other songs that we never ended up using. The lyrics are inspired by one of the contemporary issues that worries young people: becoming an adult.
About the recording for the video, I only remember the part that we were playing altogether and the embarrassment I had when walking around the León streets while Juan Marigorta was filming.

++ There is a later record called “RMX” which I’ve never seen, nor it appears on Discogs, that was released by Miss Lucifer Records. Which songs were included in it? And who made the remixes?

Roberto: A friend and me started a label for when we had these crazy ideas. I have always been interested in working with people who make other people dance and understand the instincts that are awaken by the most simple electronic rhythms. And Diego Cadierno was always someone I admired because of that. I like the vision he had with our music and where he takes it.

++ Something that caught my eye was the band’s artwork. Who took care of them?

Eva: The art for “Lujo Estelar” and “El fotógrafo del más allá” were done by Marc Argenter, a Catalan artist that was influenced by pop art and the iconography of the 60s and 70s. We were very happy with his work and even today I think it is wonderful. I drew the logo of the girl and also the design for “RMX”, which was more minimalist as it was a record of electronic remixes that inspired me that style but with retro influences.

++ I read that in 2010 and 2014 you got together to record new songs. What happened to these songs? Where they released? I think there was the will to release them on vinyl, right?

Lucía: In 2010 we recorded a demo in a simple manner with three songs that we hoped to release. Because of those modern things (work, paying invoices, moving) we left them in the fridge. About 2014, we got together again in a side-project called Strauss Kahn with our friends Roberto Paramio and César Sánchez. Me, a very attentive girl, have uploaded them to Bandcamp https://strausskahn.bandcamp.com/

++ Are there more unreleased recordings by Galáctica?

Lucía: There are. We are saving them for the time when we become a cult band.

++  If you had to choose your favourite Galáctica song, which would it be?

Lucía: I have a soft spot for “Anticanción de verano” because aside from loving it since the first day that Roberto played the chords in our practice room, it was my first time contributing lyrics (the second verse). I was 16 years old and it may not be brilliant, but I was very proud. I like it because it is a very simple song and talks about a difficult relationship, close to the wrong idea of what romantic love is, but far away from innocence and naiveté. Other songs that I really like are “Electrónica”, “Dinastía”, “Sin estrellas” and “Pasados encuentros”. Also “Picnic 2003”, which is a song we recorded for our first demo with some very cool Farfisa arrangements that we never played again and today I feel that was a shame.

Eva: I really like “Electrónica” as I identify myself with the lyrics, I’ve never felt totally from this world nor that I fit within the majority of human beings.

++ Tell me about gigs. Did you play many? Are there any in particular that you remember? Did you play all over Spain?

Lucía: A little while ago, talking to Roberto, I noticed that I don’t remember not even half of the gigs we played, it is as if they were deleted from my mind. I know I’ve been to many places because I’ve seen photos or I’ve been told, but about the gigs I only remember a few. I can say that the Contempopránea 2003 was very special. It was around the end of the night, it was packed, and it went phenomenal. Even though it sounds a bit sad, I already suspected that it was going to be my last gig, so I wanted to leave a good memory.

++ And how was the Radio 3 concerts? How was that experience?

Lucía: That’s another thing I can’t remember. I remember being very sleepy and had bags under my eyes because we were playing just immediately after playing in Valencia. I watched it when they aired it but I haven’t watched it again. I don’t like seeing myself on viceo.

++ Were there any bad gigs? Any anecdotes you can share?

Lucía: Curiously, after all this time the worst experiences are the ones you remember the most and you keep telling to your friends. We have a ranking of worst-gigs that changes with time. The band that says that they don’t have disaster-gigs lies shamelessly. I have memories of uncomfortable venues, extravagant sound engineers, scant crowds… as a particular anecdote I remember that at the Easy Pop Weekend of 2002 I sprained my ankle 15 minutes before getting on stage. I swear I was sober. I cried of pain but I played the gig, I danced as if nothing had happened and returned to Madrid as a cripple. The concert though went well.

++ Did you split or not? And did you continue making music on your own after Galáctica?

Lucía: I left Galáctica in the summer of 2003, after being mentally tired. I had started studying fine arts at the university of Madrid and I was overwhelmed. But we’ve always been in touch, making songs sporadically. I have been away from music, but that hasn’t stopped me from collaborating live with bands like Ellos, Mostaza Gálvez y Perapertú (for who I did backing vocals for their record “Miramar”, released this year, 2018). I also recorded two songs with some friends on a short-lived electroclash band called Margaret Astro, in 2003.

Eva: Approximately from 2011 to 2014/2015 I played keyboards in a garage-rock band called Idealipsticks, from Guadalajara. With them I recorded an LP (“Humanimal”, 2013) and played many venues and festivals like Sonorama, FIV… You can see me with them on the video for the song “Very very” if you are curious! In 2015 I went back to León and joined the band Silver Club Bikini with some old friends who I had already worked with when they had a band during the time of Galáctica, with whom we also played Germany even. The band was at the end of a period and we decided to put it to rest and start a new one called Shining Lights with whom we’ve recorded a vinyl EP released by Clifford Records. As a curiosity I want to tell you that it was recorded at the same studio as “El fotógrafo del más allá”, this time around with Juan Marigorta producing, the same person who made the videos for Galáctica: at that time he was just starting and today he is a superb professional. With Shining Lights I have encouraged to sing; I had already done backing vocals with Idealipsticks and thanks to that I’ve started to feel more comfortable and sure of myself. I also contribute with the 60s freakbeat band from Bilbao The Extended Plays.

++ Ustedes, por lo que veo, se han reunido varias veces después de haber estado en silencio. Cabe la posibilidad de que haya más Galáctica en el futuro?

Lucía: With Galáctica you never know. Maybe the least expected day we give you a surprise and we burn MTV down.

++ During these years, the end of the 90s and early 2000s, many of the bands were labeled as tontipop. I can imagine that you weren’t the exception. What do you think about that? Did it help or not? Did you like it?

Lucía:  This is something that is interesting and about which I’ve reflected on for the last few years. That trend, “tontipop”, had a big impact but it was a label that sincerely I didn’t like. On one hand it did redeem a vision of a happy and frivolous life, that didn’t take it seriously. After many years now I see it almost as a political position, against a dominant discourse. But the music press has always been macho, patriarchal, and I always received that criticism with disgust. I think it had to do with the band having two girls and that the vocals were female. The critics that used that label used it with a sarcastic tone, treating us as dummies, not doing any effort to listen to us paying proper attention. That would have made them notice that with Galáctica we didn’t really talk about childish topics. That is a thought that is always on my mind, but when you are only 18 years old, you don’t know or can’t express these thoughts with the same clarity as I can do it now.

++ Did you get much support from the press or radio?

Lucía: I think that Galáctica’s journey would have been impossible without radio programs like  “Viaje a los Sueños Polares”, which was run by Luis Calvo and Joako Ezpeleta. They were the first to play our demo in the year 2000 and who put us on the map. Eternally grateful to them.

++ What about fanzines?

Eva: Roberto and me made many volumes of a fanzine called Galaxine where we reviewed demos we liked or not, records and films, we also wrote reports about festivals or concerts… we had contributions too, for example someone talking about some specific synthetizer or a film movement… We used to do it on a computer and later we printed them on black and white photocopies with a color cardstock cover (each number of a different color). The fanzine world was very interesting and it let one to meet other people that self-released and were nonprofit too, as you know no one made themselves rich by making fanzines nor intended to. The mailbox always had a surprise when you got home, we used to receive lots of demos, other fanzines that we traded for ours… I remember all that with lots of love. We did some badges too designed by ourselves. Something particular about Galaxine was that we were very acid and sarcastic when it came to some traditions of the most ignorant and uncultured Spain; it was around the time when all the reality shows and singing contests appeared on TV; television was changing, from “nutritive” as Aviador Dro used to sing to a trash vomiting  device aiming directly to millions of brains. We would forecast among jokes and humor a big cultural downfall at a big scale which never really happened and not even in our worst nightmares we could imagine.

++ Today, aside from music, what other hobbies or activities do you enjoy having?

Lucía: I dedicate my time to painting and illustration. We can say that it is my hobby and also my job. As important pieces go, I have done the art for the record “Vida y milagros” by Mostaza Gálvez, I’ve worked on the illustrated songbook “Armas para volar” by Dorian and actually I’m working on another illustrated songbook by Anni B Sweet.

Eva: As an Art Historian it is no surprise that I love visiting monuments, museums, exhibitions… These days I work as an assistant in a Contemporary Art museum with activities of independent culture management (commission of exhibitions, event organizing, activities production as the Purple Weekend since 2005). When it comes to music, aside from playing and going to gigs or small festivals, I collect records especially from the 60s and I DJ whenever there’s a chance. Actually I DJ much more than what I play live. Also I love fairs and vintage flea markets and I collect lots of things like fashion magazines. Clothes and accessories from the 60s and 70s are my ruin. For many years of my life graphic design was very important but now I kind of have it forgotten on a side.

++  Looking back in time, what would be the biggest highlight for Galáctica?

Lucía: For me I suppose it was playing in big places like Madrid or Barcelona, in festivals like Contempopránea and support Ladytron in 2003. But what I remember the most was being with the band for four years, making songs and having a good time.

++ How is León today? Has it changed much? If one was to visit, as a tourist, what would you recommend checking out? Or what are the traditional foods or drinks one shouldn’t miss?

Lucía: It is better that my bandmates give the recommendations, as it is their hometown and will know much better what to say. I don’t go much to León though my father is still living there. I suppose I’m a bad daughter.

Eva: León has changed like all of the medium and small sized cities in Spain after the big crisis we had and we still have; the population is getting older and those younger than 45 years old have moved to bigger cities or other more prosperous countries. Still, the cultural movement that still exists is impressive, literature, visual arts and music wise… there is no week when there aren’t gigs, there are many venues that book them regularly. About important events, the Purple Weekend festival is going to be 30 years old this 2018, there are electronic and experimental music events like TESLA, or during the city’s festivals, for some years now, there is “Come y Calle”… bands like Cooper are still on first division, anyways, even though the situation and the population decline, there is much life here.
Tourism is an important vehicle for the city and the province because the historic and artistic patrimony of León is huge; here I could talk and talk and I would never finish. We invite you to come to see the most beautiful gothic cathedral of Spain with one of the best collections of stained glass in the world, the San Isidoro basilica with their paintings of the royal pantheon, who some say is the “Romanesque Sixtine Chapel”, visit the León Museum so you can get an idea of the importance and richness of the historical Kingdom of León, do the Roman route, stroll along the walls… and to counter all the old and medieval art, visit the MUSAC, the Contemporary Art Museum of Castilla and León: just its prize-winning architecture is impressive thanks to its vivid colors inspired by the stained glass of the cathedral.
Another aspect that is worth mentioning of the province of León is its varied gastronomy – actually this 2017 we are Gastronomic Capital – and here our wine selection stands out, for every taste and of great quality. It is very typical to go for tapas (or go for wines), especially around the area called Barrio Húmedo, but also around the Barrio Romántico, the Burgo (everything is close by). Tapas here consist of an appetizer that comes freely with any drinks you order. The most common ones are the potatoes, mushrooms, croquettes, cold cuts, black pudding…
My favorite bar is without doubt Planet Móngogo since many years ago, if you want to know why, come and you’ll know why!

++ Thanks Lucía! Anything else you’d like to add?

Lucía: That we are very handsome these days. Greetings and thanks!!

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Listen
Galáctica – Mejor Berlín