Scandinavia - Indie Rock from the South

Right down in the south of Spain, in the mountains behind Malaga, there's a gorgeous little town called Pizarra. I know it well, I see it in the distance from my place just over the valley in Coin. When Juan Sanchez from the indie-pop band, Scandinavia, who all live in Pizzara, got in touch about my project, I was made up to do an interview with a band so local to me and so amazing at what they do.

Back in 2015, Scandinavia got together in a rehearsal space in Pizarra and the band was born. Delia on the drums, Andres on the bass, Juan and Javi on guitars and Jose joined them soon after on vocals.

Juan describes the area around Pizarra as the Seattle of the South. Since the 90s there has been a thriving music scene with loads of bands playing, concerts and bars that support live music. In fact, all the band members have been active in the local music scene for a number of years. It seems to me, that the whole area is a musical oasis of indie and alternative rock, that I've been discovering since I first went there back in 2012.

Scandinavia came to my town, Coin, to record their 5 track EP in JMC studios, which was released in February 2017. Influenced heavily by music from all over the world and music from within Spain, they like to mix things up, with the light and shade of the grunge bands, strong melodies with dirty distortion. Beauty and the Beast.

And they're taking their EP out for a spin. They've been playing a few gigs such as Merendola Fest. I asked Juan what their best concert was:

"The best concert we've ever given, was possibly the one at Sala Velvet in Malaga last February. The place has a really good reputation and generally, I think we had developed really well musically by then. However, the Merendola Fest experience from last year was unforgettable."

Music has been a part of their lives for years:

"What has inspired us most," Juan told me, "has been listening to music since we were just kids. From an early age, music has formed a part of our lives in one way or another."

"Playing music is what fills us, if we didn't play, there would be an empty space. It's hard to explain. Just that we're so lucky to have met and that we all love to play so much"

"We feel free when we create. Each one of us has ideas and we take those and adapt them."

"At first one of the guitarists would bring a riff or a melody and we'd jam around it at the rehearsal, transforming it and rounding it off until we got Scandinavia's sound"

And the band keep on creating. Their second EP has just been released and is being played on national radio. It is called "Martes" and is made up of 6 new songs that were recorded in March. They will be playing gigs throughout Spain. Keep an eye out for these guys.

Thanks for reading

Marina is Red xx

For now, I'll leave you with their new EP: