La Vela Puerca is a

Uruguayan rock Uruguayan rock first emerged in Uruguay in the 1950s. The real breakthrough for rock in Uruguay, however, as in much of the world, came with the arrival of The Beatles in the early 1960s. Although the country has a small population and is far-remo ...

band formed in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

, Uruguay, in December 1995. Its founders and current members are Sebastián Teysera (lead vocals, frontman and main songwriter), Sebastián Cebreiro (vocals, songwriter), Nicolás Lieutier (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), Rafael Di Bello (guitar), Carlos Quijano (saxo alto) and Santiago Butler (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

). The band's first appearance under the name ''La Vela Puerca'' was at a street party in Montevideo on December 24, 1995. Since then, several new members have joined.

History

Beginnings

In 1996, frontman Sebastián Teysera entered a demo tape in a band contest. The rest of the band was not aware of this until they found out they were listed among the twenty finalists. It was only a month later that they received a phone call informing them of their success. As a result, they were awarded 80 hours of free recording sessions. These sessions would turn out to be vital for the making of their debut album.

Recent history

To date, the band has released four albums plus a re-release of the first: ''Deskarado'' (1997), ''La Vela Puerca'' (1999, ''Deskarado'' re-release), ''

De Bichos y Flores ''De Bichos y Flores'' is an album by uruguayan ska/rock band La Vela Puerca. It was released in the first week of October 2001 and quickly went platinum, showing a more mature side of the band's music. Several of the songs include appearances o ...

'' (2001), '' A Contraluz'' (2004), and "

El Impulso ''El Impulso'' is the fourth studio album by Uruguayan rock/ska band La Vela Puerca. It was released in April, 2007. The album was recorded and mixed by Julio Berta in the period November/December, 2006. The recording took place in three differen ...

" (2007). "De Bichos y Flores" and "A Contraluz" were produced by two time

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-winning producer,

Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for composing his film scores with his collaborator and acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu, which composed the ...

. Their fourth studio album was released under the title ''

'' in April 2007. The album contained 13 tracks and was produced by

Juan Campodónico Juan Campodónico ( Montevideo, Uruguay, 1971), sometimes working under his stage name Campo, is an Uruguayan musician, producer, composer, creator and former member of El Peyote Asesino, Bajofondo and Campo. He produced albums by Jorge Drexler (F ...

Bajofondo Bajofondo is a Río de la Plata-based music band consisting of eight musicians from Argentina and Uruguay, which aims to create a more contemporary version of tango and other musical styles of the Río de la Plata region. It was founded in the ...

and Campo. They have achieved a high level of success in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, and some success in Europe, particularly in Germany. On November 26, 2005, the band gave a special concert to celebrate their 10th Anniversary. The concert, which was held at the Velodromo in Montevideo, Uruguay, had a giant screen where footage of their European Tour and other various concerts were shown. In 2010 they celebrated their 15th year together. One of the most recent concerts was in October 2011 at the Uruguayan Bicentennial celebrations(1811–2011), which was a total success. In October 2011, the band released ''Piel y Hueso''. It was their first and, to date, only double album. One disc contains mostly guitar-driven songs, while the other contains six acoustic songs.

Discography

*''

Deskarado La Vela Puerca is a Uruguayan rock band formed in Montevideo, Uruguay, in December 1995. Its founders and current members are Sebastián Teysera (lead vocals, frontman and main songwriter), Sebastián Cebreiro (vocals, songwriter), Nicolás Lie ...

'' (1997) *''La Vela Puerca'' (1999) (''Deskarado'' re-release) *''

'' (2001) *'' A Contraluz'' (2004) *''

'' (2007) *''Piel y Hueso'' (2011) *''Érase'' (2014) *''Destilar'' (2018) *''Discopático'' (2022)

Band members

Current

* Sebastián Teysera: Lead and backup vocals, occasional harmonica and acoustic guitar * Sebastián Cebreiro: Backup and lead vocals * Santiago Butler: Guitar * Rafael Di Bello: Guitar * Alejandro Picone: Trumpet * Carlos Quijano: Alto sax * José Canedo: Drums * Nicolás Lieutier: Bass guitar

Touring

* Diego Méndez: Keyboards

Former

* Lucas de Azevedo: Drums

Trivia

The band's logo is a drawing of the

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is ...

of a pig smoking a marijuana cigarette. Every year, on December 24, the band honors their first appearance as La Vela Puerca with a free show.

References

External links

La Vela Puerca (official website)

La Vela Puerca at Rock.com.ar

Grupo de Fans de La Vela Puerca en Argentina

Web dedicada a La Vela Puerca por seguidores argentinos

Interview, April 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vela Puerca, La Third-wave ska groups Uruguayan rock music groups Musical groups established in 1995 1995 establishments in Uruguay