Berri Txarrak Interview: SXSW 2010

Berri Txarrak may have started out in the Basque Country, but that hasn't stopped the group from seeing the rest of the world. Since the band's inception in 1994, Berri Txarrak have brought their riff-driven, grunge-influenced sound to the likes of Europe, Taiwan and Mexico. Yet the group also claims ties to the US, evident in super-producer Steve Albini's work on Txarrak's sixth album, 2009's 'Payola' [Roadrunner]. Though English is not the band's first language, frontman Gorka Urbizu took time recently to shed some light on the group before its SXSW appearance this March.

Describe your sound.

We play a mixture of rock and punk and hardcore music. We're just a rock trio who try to write good melodies and give it all at the live shows.

How did your band form?

We were just friends. We lived in a small town in the Basque Country called Lekunberri, which is, like, a thousand inhabitants. We started, as with many bands, with the goal of just making some noise.

What are your musical influences?

I wouldn't say just one band, but maybe the mid-'90s were so important for us because [we] were, like, 15 years old. For example, Nirvana's 'Nevermind,' that was definitely a very important album for us. I'd say Weezer as well. We loved Weezer's first albums, and their melodies have been a big influence in our music. And maybe Rage Against the Machine as well. Maybe older bands from the '70s, like Black Sabbath -- that kind of stuff.

How did you come up with your band name?

The name is a Basque name which means "bad news." I guess we found it a really a defiant name in 1994.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

That's a really good question. Old folk musicians -- Basque folk musicians -- which I find embarrassing nowadays, but it was amusing just to listen when we were kids, and we really loved it. It has nothing to do with what we are playing nowadays, but I guess that's a small, small secret.

What's your biggest vice?

Berri Txarrak is a quite weird or strange band, 'cause we're the musicians, we don't take drugs, and we're not on drugs. We drink, though we do not play drunk. We've never played drunk. So, that's all sad but true. The front-of-the-house technician and the guitar techs -- they're really, really, really drunk people. But the band? We're not so funny in that way.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

On the last tour, we played in Taiwan and in India. It was kind of weird for us. They were really lovely people that, after the show, came asking for our autographs, even if they didn't know anything about us. And that was really funny. We felt like the Beatles for a while. In Taiwan, there's no rock scene at all, and it was a blast for them. We were playing, like, it was a kind of mall.

You collaborated with Tim McIlrath from Rise Against for 'Payola' after having previously worked with him. How did that connection come together?

We knew each other like seven years ago, when they came on the Fat Wrecks tour to the Basque Country, and I was writing emails and emails to Rise Against because I love Tim's voice. I wanted him to sing on our album, and so we met him in Barcelona, and I gave him our third album and he was like, "Yeah, okay, okay -- I'll listen to it." But he really didn't seem that he was going to listen to it. It was a big surprise for us because later I received an email from Tim telling me that it was the best CD a fan has given to him ever, and that he was ready to sing.

Jaime de'Medici is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.