BAND | Porco Bravo

PORCO BRAVO

Porco Bravo are a rock ’n’ roll band that strikes right from the depths of your guts and reaches for the innermost folds of your brain. They’ve come to take up residence in your subconscious and seize control of your psychomotor reflexes.

Porco Bravo sound just like the die press’s matrix resonating. Just like the siren that signals the end of a shift in a steel mill. Their music is the rumble of intestines, the melody of our routine—the scream we stifle each night when we collapse into bed, exhausted, beaten down, knowing we’ll have to get up before dawn again.

Because Porco Bravo is rock ’n’ roll in the plural—no gratuitous flourishes, no posing, no show-off solos. Their music is authentic because they don’t hide behind masks; they strip down and bare their fangs, staying grounded even as they help us soar with choruses that press on the angst only music can, for a moment, make us bleed out. Porco Bravo sound just like the growl of our consciences when we remove the muzzle.

biography

From that point on, they played shows all across the peninsula. Pyrotechnics were added to the show, and the band became a true steamroller live. There was no rest, and in 2013 they returned to the studio—this time under the guidance of Txortx Etxebarrieta at Muxikon—to bring their second album to life: PORCO BRAVO. They hit the road again in early 2014. Their herd of fans kept growing, and the tours got longer, yet no member wanted to stop amid the whirlwind of miles and sleepless nights. 2015 proved no haven of peace either, as they went back to record their third LP, LA PIARA, once again teaming up with Txortx—who also joined them as their live sound engineer.

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In 2016 the tour kicked off—but so did the problems: mid-year, Pulpo had to be replaced by Kapi Guarrotxena due to a broken leg, and just as he recovered, Asier went down with another injury, with Kapi stepping in again. Txelu was the third to fall ill, leading to ever-changing lineups for much of the tour. Yet the greatest tragedy lay just around the corner: on February 16, 2017—undoubtedly the darkest day in the band’s history—Pulpo passed away from cancer diagnosed only months earlier. The band was shattered, but they resolved to at least finish the tour, now permanently joined by Kapi, who became a full member of Porco Bravo. That tour stretched beyond all expectations, finally ending on February 18, 2018, with their last concert—their PULPOFEST—honoring Pulpo on the anniversary of his death at Sala Santana before more than 1,500 fans. Days later they announced an indefinite hiatus. In the months that followed, Txelu lost the enthusiasm and commitment he’d maintained for 15 years and ultimately stepped down from his role as bassist.

Many believed the band would never recover, but what not everyone knew was that the fire never fully went out. Quietly, little by little, new ideas were taking shape—ideas that eventually became nearly twenty new songs. The band still had things to say. At first, Jorge Murillo lent a hand on bass, but it was Gelo (Mr. Hell) who ultimately became Porco’s official bassist, with his baptism by fire coming on January 31 and February 1, 2020, during two private shows the band gifted to 600 fans at Sala Mendigo in Barakaldo.

Then came the pandemic, the lockdown, and the restrictions in bars and concert halls…

By late summer 2021, they entered Lorentzo Records first, and then Altxatune, to shape what would become their fourth LP: “SOMOS,” which would be supported by a tour culminating at Bermeoko Kafe Antzokia on November 18, 2023—exactly seven years to the day since Pulpo’s last performance with the band.

Porco Bravo was born in a bar where, besides beer, they served good rock ’n’ roll. That was their territory, that was the atmosphere, from day one. Initially, Txelu, Zebu, Alex, and Manu got together to douse the local scene in gasoline and play at being arsonists. Their first major goal was to find a drummer. Edu (from Torso Bravo) came aboard first; he took part in recording the four tracks that would make up the band’s first demo before leaving shortly afterward. He was replaced by Javi Montilla.

Between 2005 and 2006 they endured a long hiatus—until, by a stroke of luck, they received an unexpected invitation to play at Bilbao’s Aste Nagusia festival. That gig precipitated another lineup change: it would be Alex’s last show. In 2007, guitarist Pablo Mellado joined, but he too departed in February 2008. That September the band played three dates in Germany; those shows marked Javi Montilla’s farewell as drummer—but not his exit from the group entirely, as he switched to keyboards while they searched for a new guitarist. The vacant drum stool was quickly filled by no one else than his brother, Oskar.

With this lineup in place, the Porcos kept gigging and headed back into the studio to record their second demo, Show!. But lineup upheaval wasn’t over: in the last quarter of 2008, Zebu decided to leave shortly after that recording. He was replaced by Asier Martínez Mintegi, aka “Pulpo.” Meanwhile, Javi Montilla stepped away from the drums—Asier Domínguez joined on guitar to help out with a few shows…and he never left La Piara thereafter.

To present Show!, the band played February 14, 2009, at Sala Edaska alongside Discípulos de Dionisos. From that point on they picked up momentum: now they had a stable drummer, Pulpo and Asier fit seamlessly and breathed new life into the songs, and the tour’s concert count multiplied. The group began to take on a more solid, definitive form. A new chapter for Porco Bravo had just begun—and in 2011 they returned to the studio to give life to their first LP, GROOO!!!.