La Vela Puerca

La Vela Puerca
La Vela Puerca, 2005
Background information
Origin	Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
Genres	Rock, Ska, Punk
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Universal Music
Website	VelaPuerca.com

La Vela Puerca is a Uruguayan rock/ska band formed in Montevideo, Uruguay in December 1995. Its founders and current members are Sebastián Teysera (lead vocals, frontman and main songwriter), Nicolás Lieutier (bass guitar) and Santiago Butler (guitar). The band's first appearance under the name La Vela Puerca was at a street party in Montevideo on December 24, 1995. By then, several new members had joined.

History

Beginnings

In 1996, frontman Sebastián Teysera entered a demo tape in a band contest. The rest of the band did not become 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 (2001), A Contraluz (2004), and "El Impulso" (2007). "De Bichos y Flores" and "A Contraluz" were produced by Gustavo Santaolalla

Their fourth studio album was released under the title El Impulso in April 2007. The new album contains 13 tracks and was produced by Juan Campodónico.^[1]

They have achieved a high level of success in Uruguay and Argentina, and some success in Europe, particularly in Germany.

In December 2008, La Vela Puerca turned 13 years old. The band gave a special concert on Nov. 26, 2005, at the Velodromo in Montevideo, Uruguay, to celebrate their 10th anniversary, showing footage on a big screen from their tour of Europe and other previous concerts.

One of the most recents concerts they gave was in October 2011 at the Uruguayan bicentennial of independence (1811-2011), where they acomplished a total success according to the Uruguayan public.

Currently, the band had just released a new album, "Piel y Hueso", in October 2011.

Discography

• "Deskarado" (1997)
• "La Vela Puerca" (1999) ("Deskarado" re-release)
• "De Bichos y Flores" (2001)
• "A Contraluz" (2004)
• "El Impulso" (2007)
• "Piel y Hueso" (2011)

Band members

• Sebastián Teysera: Vocals and acoustic guitar
• Sebastián Cebreiro: Backup vocals
• Santiago Butler: Guitar
• Rafael Di Bello: Guitar
• Alejandro Picone: Trumpet
• Carlos Quijano: Alto sax
• José Canedo: Drums
• Nicolás Lieutier: Bass guitar

Trivia

The band's logo is a drawing of the snout of a pig who is smoking a marijuana cigarette. Every year, on December 24, the band honors their first appearance as La Vela Puerca with a free show.

References

1. ^ "VelaPuerca.com". velapuerca.com. http://www.velapuerca.com. Retrieved 2007-03-31. 

External links

• La Vela Puerca (official website) (Spanish) (English)
• La Vela Puerca at Rock.com.ar (Spanish)
• Grupo de Fans de La Vela Puerca en Argentina (Spanish)
• Web dedicada a La Vela Puerca por seguidores argentinos (Spanish)
• Interview, April 2008 (English)