KIKO VENENO (SPAIN)

Kiko Veneno plays an Alhambra model 10 Premier guitar with Fishman Elipse electrification. José María López Sanfeliu, better known as Kiko Veneno, is a Spanish musician. "‹ Of Catalan descent on his mother and Castilian on his father, he was born in 1952 in Figueras, but at the age of three he lived in Cádiz and in his adolescence he moved to Seville, where he has lived ever since. In his early youth he was influenced by the underground through music. He began to travel around Europe, where he attended concerts by artists who left their mark on him, such as Frank Zappa or Bob Dylan. Later, at the beginning of the 70s, he traveled through the USA where he embraced the counterculture and the hippie. In 1973, in San Francisco (USA), he met a gypsy from Moronero who re-introduced flamenco to him."‹ When he returned to Spain he was labeled a "hippo" and he frequented the (few) who were on the margins of Seville society: gypsies, artists, marginal and subversive. In 1975 he met Raimundo Amador and his brother Rafael, and together they formed the group Veneno. Their first album "Veneno" recorded in 1977, did not have a great impact at the time, however it is currently considered a pioneering and fundamental album of Spanish music, especially in the fusion of other music with flamenco. "‹ In 1979 he collaborated on the album La Leyenda del Tiempo by Camarón de la Isla. The contribution of the young Veneno in the final result of this album was vital. Kiko is recognized above all for being the author of "Volando voy", although he also participated in other songs on the album: "Mi niña se fue a la mar", "Viejo mundo" and "Homenaje a Federico" During the 80s he wrote songs for Martirio, and made several collaborations with the television program La bola de cristal (TVE) as a composer and singer. However, he was not able to make a professional living from music and combined his artistic work with other jobs. Already in the 90s his commercial success began with the publication of the albums Échate un cantecito (1992) and Está muy bien eso del cariño (1995), both produced by Joe Dworniak. Since then, successive albums, and tours throughout Spain, Europe, Latin America, reaching to play in 2007 at the legendary The Knitting Factory in New York, thanks to his colleague Jonathan Richman, who invited him to share his show, which opened doors to other performances in the United States. Throughout his long career he has shared the stage with artists such as Jonathan Richman, Jackson Browne, Julieta Venegas, Jorge Drexler, Martín Buscaglia, Kevin Johansen, el Niño de Elche, Raimundo Amador, Lolo Ortega, Antonio Smash, Vera Fauna or C. Tangana among others. In 2010 he received the Medal of Merit in Fine Arts, an honorary title awarded by the Spanish government to outstanding personalities in the world of art. In 2012 he was awarded the fourth National Prize for Current Music, preceded by Joan Manuel Serrat, Amaral and Santiago Auserón. The members of the jury emphasized "his decisive contribution for more than three and a half decades to the integration of international and Hispanic musical traditions, spreading the beat, enriching the popular song format with ingenuity and poetic quality." In addition, in 2019 he created some songs for the soundtrack of Entre dos aguas, a film by Isaki Lacuesta. which will win the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Festival. This film will be nominated for its music and other awards both at the Catalan Gaudí and at the Andalusian ASECAN awards. In 2020, the MIN awards, from the National Association of Independent Record Labels, name Sombrero Roto the "Album of the Year" and grant Kiko the "Mario Pacheco honorary award" in recognition of his entire career. In March 2020, already in full confinement due to COVID measures, Kiko starts "Radio Virus" an attempt to help and inspire people. The motto is that "Music is medicine" and spontaneous creations and reflections follow one another. Some of these songs, such as "Duele" will end up being part of the new album Hambre. With the same spirit of helping, he releases as a tribute to the doctors and health workers who are the first line of defense against the epidemic: "Hay gente". All profits will go to Doctors Without Borders. "‹The "A country to listen to" tour begins 2022 with a series of concerts with Ariel Ro t in a peculiar format: following the wake of the TV program (in whose first program Kiko Veneno himself participated) they collaborate in each town with local musicians, and other artists. Each concert is unique and the repertoire varies. To find out more about Kiko Veneno you can follow him at: www.kikoveneno.es Instagram @kikoveneno.music Facebook Kiko Veneno Youtube @KikoVenenoOficial Spotify Kiko Veneno