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PHOTOGRAPHS |
MIKEL URDANGARIN
BIOGRAPHY
He has the face of a mischievous child and an
angel’s features. When you look at his eyes, the calm of his look tells us that
the best is still to come, and his peaceful and placid discourse takes us to
another dimension. In that space, the dimensions of his literary-musical
creations soak us like the drizzle, gently, with no rush, at a constant and
determined rhythm.
Mikel Urdangarin (Zornotza Etxano-Amorebieta,
1971) was not a child prodigy. However, while his friends spent their time doing
the typical things of their age, the young singer-songwriter with a surname as
naughty and angelic as his face made his stage debut through the art of oral
improvisation. As a bertsolari (a poet who improvises verses a capella over a
generally fixed melody), Urdangarin familiarised himself with the world of
poetry. Some time later, he realised that his poetic literature needed the
company of melodies to emphasise its emotional content. As simple as that. As
complex as that. As easy as that. As tricky as that.
He leapt into space, with no safety net other
than the conviction of a young singer-songwriter with a handful of simple
songs, some personal and passionate stories and an infinite talent for
communication. His first album, simple and complex at the same time, was
released in 1997 under the title Haitzetan. The work confirmed the birth of new
star in the crowded musical scene of the Basque Country. A new
singer-songwriter was born; despite owing a lot to his predecessors, Urdangarin
had carved a virgin path brimming with vitality that was unique to him. This
difficult period was a natural step forward in his life, impossible to separate
from his artistic career. Badiru Hiru Aste introduced an ARTIST who had assumed
his innate talent quite naturally, in direct connection with friend territories
(Scotland) and the past (ad-lib verse) which are ever-present. By then, the
public –always intelligent in spite of everything and everybody- had grown very
attached to Urdangarin’s moving songs, and the singer was already an
unavoidable reference for many colleagues (Iñaki Salvador, Luis Camino,
Jonathan Bews, Bingen Mendizábal and Josu Zabala, among others).
The evocation of Scottish lands continues in
Espilue (2000). This mirror (espilue), Urdangarin’s third song collection,
reproduces the sweet voice and the soft, clever reverberation of a bertsolari
who has turned into one of the most remarkable singers of Basque author music.
«My priority was to enjoy my work, and this is a work recorded in harmony»,
pointed out the protagonist of a game repeated in each of his works: «the texts
are shared because I have always liked leaving certain melodies to friends so
that they contribute their own views and I can compare them with mine». United
we stand.
That has been the formula used so far by a
close guy who prefers to share merits than to stand out above the others. This
is more than obvious in the next chapter of his life: the multidisciplinary Bar
Puerto (2001). This excellent album-book, a re-reading of a text by poet Kirmen
Uribe, brings together literature, music and video and was a best-seller at the
traditional Basque Book and Record Fair of Durango. These characteristics were
already present in Urdangarin’s Espilue, released the previous year, and
challenged even the brightest minds. However, this is a different work
altogether. Haven’t you realised yet?
The outcome of Urdangarin’s overwhelming
success is an introspective work «dedicated to the people I love and care
about; close friends and relatives, people I can have some influence on and I
can be influenced by». It’s called Heldu Artean (2002), and the dozen new songs
–«I prefer to call them passages», he says- ooze optimism from every corner of
the pentagram, combining the freshness and innocence of his first creations
with the experience accumulated over the years. «I’ve turned 30 and I’m growing
or ungrowing as a person. The underlying idea is that, although the world we
live in is a complete fiasco, life is beautiful and worth living, and we must
enjoy both the good and the bad».
Borders disappear and the team again plays a
leading role in Urdangarin’s next work, Zaharregia, txikiegia agian-Una manera
de mirar-Too old, too small, maybe (2003), an album-book produced in
collaboration with poet Kirmen Uribe, illustrator Mikel Valverde and musicians
Bingen Mendizábal and Rafa Rueda. This harmonious three-dimensional gem
(painting, poetry and music) was sketched after an American adventure, and it
essentially tells us that «the Basque language is too old, too small, maybe,
for this age; but in the end, we Basques contribute a certain way of looking at
the world, a certain way of living and feeling».
Finally, in 2005, Urdangarin returns to show us
the back and the front of his guitar («nothing here, nothing there») to achieve
everything, the whole. Dana (everything) is the title of his new song
collection, for that is the absolute priority of a singer-songwriter who has
surrounded himself with a team of very experienced musicians. «Throughout my
musical career I have learned that we have to give everything to songs, and
right now I’m lucky enough to work with musicians who think the same way».
Balanced and multicoloured sounds embrace texts so intimist and familiar that
they stick to our skin like tattoos unaffected by the passage of time. With an
impressive past, Urdangarin looks at the future with the enthusiasm of the
beginner and the experience of an old dog.