Kortatu was a Basque

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

band from the

Basque Autonomous Community Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous com ...

formed in

Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...

in the summer of 1984. Kortatu was born in the context of the first democracy years in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1984. They had a big significance for left-wing basque nationalism (which rejected the new constitutional project) as precursors of a new wave of music:

Basque Radical Rock Basque Radical Rock ( (RRV), ) was a musical genre born in the Southern Basque Country at the beginning of the 1980s and, although there was no specific event, it is considered to have ended in the last years of the decade. Basque Radical Rock ban ...

(Rock Radikal Vasco or RRV in Spanish). They reached a huge degree of influence in Basque and Spanish punk, as other bands like

La Polla Records La Polla Records was a punk rock band from the Basque Country, formed in 1979 in Salvatierra/Agurain, a small town in Álava, Spain. Its founders were Evaristo Páramos "Evaristo" on vocals, Maleguin on bass, Fernandito on drums and Txarly an ...

Cicatriz Cicatriz was a punk rock band from the Basque Autonomous Community (Spain) formed in 1983. The band had a big significance for the Basque Radical Rock (Rock Radical Vasco or RRV). The band reached a huge degree of influence in Spanish punk, alon ...

and

Eskorbuto Eskorbuto was a Spanish punk rock band from Santurtzi, Greater Bilbao, Basque Autonomous Community, that formed in 1980. They have been one of the most influential bands for Spanish and Latin American punk rock. They are known for their strong ...

became famous in the 80s underground scene. It was a very popular band in Basque Country, and also in the rest of Spain.

Music style

Although labeled from the beginning as a ''radical Basque rock'', Kortatu tried to fight against any classification, even if political links with

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; ; HB) was a Far-left politics, far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale left, abertzale, left-wing, socialism, socialist, and supported the independence of the Basque ...

were evident. They also faced some

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

problems, especially when they tried to add a picture of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

depicted as a

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

. In the five year life span of the band they moved from

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and even

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- ...

, eventually disbanding the formation after seeing

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and creating a bigger project,

Negu Gorriak Negu Gorriak (Basque for ''"Red Winters"'' or ''"Severe/Harsh Winters"'') were an underground group from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country. Their musical style combines various styles such as hardcore punk, hip-hop, ska, and reg ...

. Although their lyrics also evolved from "party-ska" to "combat-rock" (in their last record all the songs were sung in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

), their style along the lines of social and political protest stayed intact.

Influences

They were clearly influenced by

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

, in fact, their frontman

Fermin Muguruza Fermin Muguruza (born 20 April 1963) is a Basques, Basque rock music, rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, record label manager, and co-founder of the ska punk band Kortatu, active from 1983 to 1988, and of the Crossover (music), crossove ...

decided to create a

band after seeing Strummer's band in a 1980 gig in Donostia.

Demos and Tours

They recorded a demo which included their first three songs in 1985. In the same year, they included those songs in the landmark album known as "Four's Album", because of the sharing with other three new bands:

, Jotakie and Kontuz-Hi. That year they toured first time around all the Basque Country, and also played in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. On May 31, played in

Martutene Martutene is a neighbourhood situated south of Donostia-San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa (Spain) on the banks of the Urumea, river Urumea, between the neighbourhoods of :es:Loyola (San Sebastián), Loiola, and the village of Astigarraga. In this neighbo ...

Prison ( Donostia) with

Barricada Barricada (from Spanish: ''Barricade'') were a Navarrese hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s ...

. Some months later,

Joseba Sarrionandia Joseba Sarrionandia Uribelarrea (Iurreta, Biscay, April 13, 1958) is a Basque writer who has published a large number of books of poetry and short stories, as well as novels. He has been awarded on numerous occasions for his work, and is nowadays ...

, a recognized writer and poet who was imprisoned because of his

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

membership, escaped with another prisoner, Iñaki Pikabea, inside a loudspeaker, after a gig by Imanol. Kortatu and Barricada were accused of preparing the escapes, and they were banned from playing in all prisons, but nothing was proved. After that they wrote their best-known song,

Sarri Sarri Sarri is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alessio Sarri (born 1973), Italian wheelchair fencer *Kris Sarri, American public official *Maurizio Sarri (born 1959), Italian football manager *Olle Sarri (born 1972), Swedish actor ...

, about the escape of Sarrionandia. In fact, it was a cover, including new lyrics, of

Toots & the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

´ ''Chatty Chatty''. In 1987, they went across the Iron Curtain to perform in Poland on Róbrege Festival.

The book

The book "El estado de las cosas de Kortatu: lucha, fiesta y guerra sucia" (Lengua de Trapo, 2013), translated as "The current state of Kortatu-related things: fight, party and dirty war" was published in December 2013, written by Roberto Herreros and Isidro Lopez. This work offers an analysis of the historical context in which the radical basque rock was developed.

Members

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Íñigo Muguruza:

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Treku Armendariz:

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Kaki Arkarazo:

(From 1988)

Discography

*''(No title)'' (Soñua, 1985) together with Cicatriz, Jotakie and Kontuz-Hi!. Reedited on CD by Oihuka in 2000. *''Kortatu'' (Soñua, 1985). *''A la calle'' (

Maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

featuring 3 themes) (Soñua, 1986). *''El estado de las cosas'' (Soñua, 1986). *''A Front Line'' Compilation (best of) (Red Rhino-Organik, 1988). Reedited on CD by Oihuka in 1998. *''Kolpez kolpe'' (Oihuka, 1988). Reedited on CD by Esan-Ozenki in 1998. *''Azken guda dantza'' (live, double album) (Nola!, 1988). Some CD reeditions included bonus tracks and/or modifications: *In the CD reedition of ''Kortatu'' (Oihuka, 1998), two songs were included: ''Mierda de Ciudad'' y ''El último SKA de Manolo Rastamán''. *In the CD reedition of ''El estado de las cosas'' (Oihuka, 1998), all three songs from the ''A la calle''

were included. *In the CD reedition of ''Azken guda dantza'' (Esan-Ozenki, 1992), the

beeps are removed from the "Aizkolari" song.

References

{{Reflist Basque music bands Spanish musical groups Spanish punk rock groups 1984 establishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 People from Irun