Álvaro Pintos (musician)
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El Cuarteto de Nos (stylized as Cuarteto de Nos) is an Uruguayan
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band formed in 1984 in
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
. Over the years, due to its particular sound that mixes elements of
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
,
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
comedy rock Comedy rock is a genre of rock music that is Comedy music, comedic in nature. It is often mixed with satirical music, satire or irony.V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and ...
and
Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...
, the group has developed an immense amount of popularity and praise in
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
and
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
countries. The band won two
Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...
in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
for Best Pop/Rock Album and Best Rock Song. El Cuarteto de Nos has released 16 studio albums since 1984, as well as two compilation albums on numerous record labels, including Ayuí/Tacuabé, Orfeo,
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
, Koala Records, Manzana Verde, Bizarro Records,
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
, and Warner Music. They have experimented with many
genres Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other form ...
, and are one of the most important and recognized bands from Uruguay and
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
in general. They've had four lineups with the current one standing since 2024 with the departure of bassist Santiago Tavella.


History


Beginnings

During the Uruguayan Dictatorship, the idea for El Cuarteto de Nos was founded by brothers Roberto Musso (vocals and guitars) and Ricardo "Riki" Musso (guitars and keyboards) in 1980. They played with the idea of a fictional city called "Tajo", writing songs about the characters therein. Bassist Santiago Tavella was recruited as a long-time friend who, just like them, was an enormous fan of artists like
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
. Leonardo Baroncini would serve as a guest drummer until Álvaro Pintos joined in 1984. Keyboardist Andres Bedó was also a fifth official member during the first two albums. Together, they played rock covers until they started developing their own material in university.


Emergence as El Cuarteto

El Cuarteto de Nos played their first show in 1984, an instrumental set in the "El Tinglado" theater. They also played at the "La Máscara", "El Circular", "Teatro de la Alianza Francesa" theaters while developing their own musical style. Their first
release Release may refer to: * Art release, the public distribution of an artistic production, such as a film, album, or song * Legal release, a legal instrument * News release, a communication directed at the news media * Release (ISUP), a code to i ...
, ''Alberto Wolf y el Cuarteto de Nos'', was a split album released later that year in November shared with another Uruguayan artist, Alberto Wolf, who had six of the twelve songs. Álvaro Pintos joined the group as a permanent drummer following its release. They would keep this quartet lineup for 18 years until Riki Musso departed in 2009 due to creative differences. In 1985, they stepped on a stage, located in a
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...
from Villa Biarritz, dressed up with
aluminum foil Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in American English; occasionally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves. The foil is pliable and can be readily bent or wrapped around objects. Thin foils are fragile and are sometimes ...
on their legs and
balloons A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...
tied to their heads.Historia del Cuarteto de Nos, un grupo raro
(in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.
In 1986, they edited their first LP, ''Soy una Arveja'' (). The following year, band members dressed up as elderly women to promote the song "''Soy una Vieja''" (). ''Soy una Arveja'' incorporated more electric guitars and surreal lyrics than in their album with Wolf, with many elements of new wave and
Avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
music. They made references to the fictional city of Tajo and used their characters to apply a comedic or humorous lens on serious topics, such as sex, greed, and death. In 1988, their second album, ''Emilio García'' (by then, the
fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
manager), was released. Andrés Bedó was no longer listed as a band member after this release. In 1991, the album ''Canciones del Corazón'' () was released in cassette, and it was the first moderate commercial success for the band. In 1994, after four years of working on new songs, they released their album ''Otra Navidad en las Trincheras'' (), which achieved quadruple platinum status almost instantly, making them the first Uruguayan band ever to achieve it. They became well known in Uruguay, no longer an underground cult band. Mocking their success, they called their 1995 album ''Barranca abajo'' (). In late 1996, El Cuarteto de Nos released their seventh album ''El Tren Bala'' (). This album was controversial in Uruguay, since one of its songs, "''El día que Artigas se emborrachó''" (), references
José Gervasio Artigas José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood. Born in Montevideo, Artigas enlisted in the Spanish ...
, the founding father of Uruguay. Attempts were made to ban the song,El día que "El zurdo" se emborrachó
(in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.
Cuarteto De Nos - Biography
(in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.
delaying the release of the album. Because of the diversity of musical styles presented, the record was well received, and it became a
gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
in a week, despite the censorship it received after the controversy. The popularity of the band started to decline in mid-1997 when they were working on their eighth studio album, ''Revista ¡¡Ésta!!'' (), which was released in 1998 to lukewarm sales and reception, which extended to their 2000 decade opener ''Cortamambo'' (), an album that gained a cult following over the years despite not being successful upon release. This album also resulted in Riki Musso leaving the group for most of 2001, due to issues he had with the album's creative direction. In 2004, the band recorded their best songs from every album to date with a better, more consistent production achieved 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 ...
, a long time fan of the group. In 2004, they released ''El Cuarteto de Nos'', a
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
of their all-time hits played and recorded again, plus three new songs, called "''Hay que comer''" (), "''No quiero ser normal''" () and "Fui yo" (), the album was made in a more rocker style and had a coherent production.


2006-2013: ''Raro'' Trilogy


A new formula with ''Raro''

El Cuarteto de Nos released ''Raro'' (''strange'' or ''weird'' in English) on May 20, 2006, as a departure from their previous work. Song lyrics were extended and sped up through the use of rap, hip-hop, and pop elements. The single "Yendo a la casa de Damián" () was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2007 in the "Best Rock Song" category. The band promoted their new album at several latin american stages such as Rock al Parque 2007 in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, Colombia and the Pepsi Music 2008 festival in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Argentina. ''Raro'' was the first of three albums described as the ''Raro trilogy'' (with the other two being ''Bipolar'' and ''Porfiado''), where the band would experiment with different musical styles, lyrics, and themes. ''Raro'' and the rest of the trilogy marked a turning point for the band, leading to a surge in popularity in South America. Throughout the trilogy, Tavella would sing the lead vocals on two tracks on each album, serving as a break that juxtaposed Roberto Musso's fast and energetic lyrics.


Departing of Ricardo Musso and the releasing of ''Bipolar''

On May 27, 2009, in the midst of the development of their album ''Bipolar'', it was reported that Ricardo Musso had artistic and administrative differences with the course the band had taken. ''Majareta Productions'', announced that the band would not split, but would undergo structural change. With the departure of Ricardo Musso, two new musicians had joined the band, replacing Musso's guitar, Gustavo Antuña and the keyboardist Santiago Marrero. Finally, after many setbacks, the album was released in September 2009. This album was well received, winning five Graffiti Awards in June 2010.Premios Graffiti 2010: Ganadores
(in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.


Closure with ''Porfiado''

The final entry of the ''Raro'' trilogy, ''Porfiado'' () was released on April 25, 2012, through Warner Music in South America, Mexico, and Spain. It was the first album the group released as a quintet following Ricardo Musso's replacement by Antuña and Marrero. The album was well received, being praised by the Argentine edition of
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
and
Página 12 ''Página 12'' (sometimes stylised as ''Página/12'', ''Página, 12'' or ''Página12'') is a newspaper published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was founded on 25 May 1987 by journalist Jorge Lanata and writers Osvaldo Soriano and Alberto Eliza ...
. '' Porfiado'' won the band several
Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
Awards in 2012. The album won the "Best Pop/Rock Album" category, with "Cuando sea Grande" () winning best rock song.


2014-Present: Newfound Success

El Cuarteto de Nos released ''Habla tu Espejo'' () in 2014. The album was much more serious and touched on darker themes than their previous work. It was particularly personal for vocalist Roberto Musso, touching on his family history of Alzeheimers, how to quell a child's fears, and self-doubt. The album was nominated for two Latin Grammys in 2015. ''Apocalipsis Zombi'' () released in 2017 and dove deeper into the pop-side of Latin rock. Originally a concept album, the songs drew from the common theme of zombies walking among society, or that society as a whole was populated with zombies and attempted to create an energetic and fun tone. Their final album of the 2010s, '' Jueves'' (), released in 2019. There were many producers on the album: Juan Campodónico (''Raro'' and others), Eduardo Cabra ( Calle 13), Héctor Castillo ( No Te Va Gustar), and Camilo Lara. Similarly, Musso went about writing the songs as "independent elements" rather than as pieces of an album. Their last record to date, ''Lámina Once'' (), released in 2022. The album's name comes from the
Rorschach test The Rorschach test is a projective test, projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychology, psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists u ...
, used to describe an individual's personality from unclear or ambiguous shapes. The group described the
Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
as a major inspiration for the album as they felt they were missing an eleventh inkblot plate to make sense of pandemic society, as Rorschach tests only consist of ten plates. At just shy of 33 minutes, it is the shortest album of their discography.


Departing of Santiago Tavella

On March 13, 2024, in the midst of their ''Lámina Once tour'' the band announced that bassist ''Santiago Tavella'' would no longer be a member of the band due to him focusing on different projects such as his own band Otro Tavella y los Embajadores del Buen Gusto and general tiredness with the constant touring of the band.


Members

;Current members *Roberto Musso – guitar and vocals (1984-present) *Álvaro Pintos – drums and vocals (1985-present) *Gustavo Antuña – guitar (2009-present) *Santiago Marrero – keyboards, bass (2009-present) *Luis Angelero – bass guitar (2024-present) ;Former members *Ricardo Musso – guitar and vocals (1984-2009) *Santiago Tavella – bass guitar and vocals (1984-2024) *Andrés Bedo – keyboards (1984-1988) *Leonardo Baroncini – drums (1984)


Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:100 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1984 till:08/07/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1984 Colors = id:LVocals value:red legend:Lead_and_backing_vocals id:BVocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:LGuitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:RGuitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData = at:02/01/1984 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1987 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1988 color:black layer:back at:05/25/1991 color:black layer:back at:08/25/1994 color:black layer:back at:10/17/1995 color:black layer:back at:09/14/1996 color:black layer:back at:10/17/1998 color:black layer:back at:11/11/2000 color:black layer:back at:07/24/2004 color:black layer:back at:11/11/2006 color:black layer:back at:09/27/2009 color:black layer:back at:04/25/2012 color:black layer:back at:10/15/2014 color:black layer:back at:05/12/2017 color:black layer:back at:09/10/2019 color:black layer:back at:08/07/2022 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Musso text:"Roberto Musso" bar:Riki text:"Ricardo Musso" bar:Antuña text:"Gustavo Antuña" bar:Tavella text:"Santiago Tavella" bar:Baroncini text:"Leonardo Baroncini" bar:Pintos text:"Álvaro Pintos" bar:Bedó text:"Andrés Bedó" bar:Marrero text:"Santiago Marrero" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Musso from:01/01/1984 till:end color:LVocals bar:Musso from:01/01/1984 till:end color:RGuitar width:3 bar:Riki from:01/01/1984 till:10/10/2009 color:LGuitar bar:Riki from:01/01/1984 till:10/10/2009 color:LVocals width:3 bar:Antuña from:10/10/2009 till:end color:LGuitar bar:Antuña from:10/10/2009 till:end color:BVocals width:3 bar:Tavella from:01/01/1984 till:end color:Bass bar:Tavella from:01/01/1984 till:10/15/2014 color:LVocals width:3 bar:Tavella from:10/10/2009 till:10/15/2014 color:RGuitar width:7 bar:Tavella from:10/15/2014 till:end color:RGuitar width:3 bar:Baroncini from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 color:Drums bar:Pintos from:01/01/1985 till:end color:Drums bar:Pintos from:01/01/1985 till:end color:BVocals width:3 bar:Bedó from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1989 color:keyboard bar:Marrero from:10/10/2009 till:end color:keyboard bar:Marrero from:10/10/2009 till:end color:Bass width:7 bar:Marrero from:10/10/2009 till:end color:BVocals width:3


Discography

Studio albums *''Alberto Wolf y El Cuarteto de Nos'' (1984) *''Soy una Arveja'' (1987) *''Emilio García'' (1988) *''Canciones del Corazón'' (1991) *''Otra Navidad en las Trincheras'' (1994) *''Barranca Abajo'' (1995) *''El Tren Bala'' (1996) *''Revista ¡¡Ésta!!'' (1998) *''Cortamambo'' (2000) *''El Cuarteto de Nos'' (2004) *''Raro'' (2006) *''Bipolar'' (2009) *'' Porfiado'' (2012) *''Habla Tu Espejo'' (2014) *''Apocalipsis Zombi'' (2017) *''Jueves'' (2019) *''Lámina Once'' (2022) *''Puertas'' (2025)


References


External links


Official website

News on Cuarteto de Nos

Harlem Shake del Cuarteto de Nos El Pais Digital


{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuarteto de Nos Uruguayan rock music groups Musical groups established in 1980 Latin Grammy Award winners