Eight-piece La Pegatina is a celebration of Latin rhythms combined with Catalan rumba, punk and ska music. Their influences cross cultures and borders from Argentina’s Los Auténticos Decadentes to the Dropkick Murphys, to the UK’s Mumford and Sons, and French singer-songwriter, Jain.
However, some of their favourite musicians live a little closer to home. “The Cat Empire are definitely influences of ours,” says Romain Renard, the band’s accordion extraordinaire – originally from Rennes, France. “They’re such a great band.”
Renard says they fell in love with the Australian wildlife and way of life after their highly successful debut trip Down Under last year. “We arrived a few days before our show in Melbourne. It allowed us to visit the surroundings of the city. We did the Great Ocean Road, saw koalas and loads of beautiful birds we don’t have in Europe and we also went to meet the little blue penguins.
“The Melbourne show was sold out,” he adds. “The audience couldn’t stop dancing and singing along. The venue wasn’t that big, but we will remember that night all our lives. We were so happy to see that our music can travel all around the world and make people feel good.”
Founded in Montcada and Reixach, a municipality of Catalonia, Spain in 2003, La Pegatina have played in 24 countries and amassed a following around the globe. Last year they won the ARC Award for ‘Best International Tour’ for the second time.
The current lineup consists of chief songwriter Adrià Salas on vocals and guitar, Rubén Sierra on guitar and vocals, Ovidi Díaz on flamenco cajón, percussion, and backing vocals, Ferran Ibañez on bass and backing vocals, Miko Florensa on guitar, Axel Magnani on trumpet and backing vocals, Sergi López on drums, and, of course, Renard on accordion and vocals.
In 2013 they were stars of their very own documentary that won first place at Boom Town Film Festival in Texas, called La Pegatina: El Docu. “The documentary was directed by Chobichoba, he made five of our six music videos for us,” Renard says. “He knew how to capture the essence of La Pegatina on film. He made it fun to watch. You can get to know every member of the band and that makes people closer to the band. Of course we’ll be filming during this Australian tour.”
This month they are returning as part of their world tour in support of the release of their sixth album Ahora O Nunca (translation: Now or Never), and Renard says they have been busy working on the live performance.
“During February and March this year we produced the new show. We’ll play every song on the new album, and some older songs too. We always want to have a dynamic show, to make the audience experience different emotions,” he says.
Songs like ‘Gat Rumberu’ have a really fancy melody that people can sing along to, Renard adds. While ‘Llovera y yo Veré’ is another powerful song, ‘Alosque’ or ‘Y se fue’ are slower ones, but Renard says that everybody still sings along.
“La Pegatina is a band that makes people dance and have some fun, but some of our songs are also meant to engage the audience. You can have a message and play the kind of music you want to play. The important thing is to believe in what you are doing.
“Attitude is also really important on stage. We like to talk and defend culture, education, tolerance. Last year we released six videos with new material, and some famous Spanish voices reciting the lyrics of six of our songs. We did that to insist on the importance of some of our lyrics.” You can find those videos via La Pegatina’s website, while Renard adds that above all else, the band ultimately celebrates “unity in differences, mixing cultures, and having fun.”
