Ibon Errazkin is one of the most creative, influential and respected names in Spanish independent world. Guitarist, songwriter, arranger, producer... Though he's mainly known for his work fronting one of the best Spanish acts of the nineties, the San Sebastian quintet Le Mans.
Ibon started his career in Aventuras de Kirlian, a band that obtained a mythical status in Spanish indieland. Their eponymous album, released in 1989, turned out to be one of the most influent bands in the last decades: their trail can be still traced in many of the new Spanish pop outfits.
Afterwards the band would change their name for Le Mans, and they would start a long and fascinating career, releasing four albums: "Le Mans" (1993), "Entresemana" (1994), "Saudade" (1996) and "Aquí vivía yo" (1998); all of them overflowing with coherence and good taste. In Le Mans' music -mainly accoustic and relaxed- you could trace elements of jazz, Brazilian bossa-nova music and tons of elegance, in a moment when those ingredient were not as easy to find in pop music as today. But the real outstanding thing in Le Mans was their ability to create a new thing out of these influences, always avoiding to being a mere copycat of their idols. They were also the first in Spain to make dance remixes of their songs, as the 1995 Mini-Album "Zerbina" testifies. In any case, their music was most of the times based on the gently strummed moods of Ibon's guitar.
Unfortunately the band split in 1998, just when their name was beginning to sound more than familiar to pop aficionados, not only in our country: their albums were released also in Japan and the States, obtaining good reviews and becoming probably the best known Spanish band all over the world in the nineties.
Despite Le Mans was Ibon's main project during the last decade, we shouldn't forget to mention other of his many musical activities: between 1990 and 1996 he fronted Daily Planet, an instrumental outfit with many influences of bands with a fragile sound, such as Felt or Orange Juice; they released an album ("Romance") plus several singles. He's also part of Instrümental, a project more oriented towards experimental dancey music. Besides, Ibon included a song ("Expo Tenerife") in Mike Alway's prestigious "Songs for the jetset" compilation, under the aka Southamerican Getaway.
With Javier Corcobado and Ana D he produced the debut album of the latter, "Satélite 99" (1997), in which he also took part as musician and composer; in fact, his guitar is more than present throughout the whole album. He accompanied Ana D as a guitarist in her first stateside tour in October 1999. We must also say Ibon has also produced the new album of Carlos Berlanga, one of the most respected and popular pop composers in Spain.
In May 2000 Elefant Records releases Ibon Errazkin's first solo album, in which he gets far away from the sound we were used to expecting from him in Le Mans. Instead he offers us a completely instrumental album featuring a lushy cocktail of influences, as varied as attractive: reggae, New Orleans music, country, rock or even hip-hop, though all these styles are only starting points from which Ibon creates new and original music.
A vinyl single including two new songs ("Ikastola" and "Sequía") is out on March 2001. The sleeve features Ibon accompanied by Teresa Iturrioz, author of Le Mans' lyrics. Meanwhile, Ibon is busy writing the score for a film called "Gente pez", directed by Jorge Iglesias. The original score of the film is released in CD by Pias Spain in November 2001. The album is formed by a collection of very short pieces moving in very different directions, quite apart from the ones shown in "Ibon Errazkin".
Also in November, Ibon collaborates in an album by Fangoria, a Spanish band led by Alaska, very famous singer and media star. In this album Ibon plays guitar in "Déjame llorar", a song composed by himself and Teresa Iturrioz.
Ibon spends December 2001 writing songs for his second album and producing the new album by Spanish band Nosoträsh; meanwhile Elefant releases a compilation of Aventuras de Kirlian, Ibon's first band.

http://www.elefant.com

• Ibon Errazkin (LP/CD, Elefant, 2000)
• Ikastola (Single, Elefant, 2001)
• Gente Pez (Soundtrack, CD, Pias, 2001)

"Ibon has unfolded all a series of instrumental arguments that ride between the roots of their native north and exotic arrangements that transport to us to films like 'Underground' or 'The Godfather' with that air between Sicilian, Dalmatian or Rumanian." (AB)

"To frame it in a concrete style it is impossible: he is popular thanks to that trumpet and trombone, is ska Jamaican of the sixty filtrate by the Basque folklore, where rythmical and the melancholy occurs the hand. It is the restlessness of a personage who does not feel like guardian of the history of a group in individual, but that always has sucked of here and of there according to its own intuition." (MONDO SONORO)