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'One man band', the most sustainable format
Here at Music Lover we firmly believe that music and sustainability should go hand in hand. Therefore, we are going to dedicate this article to the most sustainable bands of all, those that only have one musician, also known as 'one man bands'.
Let's start at the beginning. A 'one man band' is a musician who plays several instruments at the same time. They often use mechanical or electronic devices, such as looper effects pedals, to get or recreate the sound of a number of additional instruments while playing the main one. Some also use recordings of previously recorded instruments to accompany themselves live, but this is a bit of a trap, so we have excluded these from the list.
A guy from Arizona who appears at his concerts as a human cannonball with a space pilot's helmet with a phone attached as a microphone is undoubtedly an option to consider when deciding whether or not to go to a musical show (we leave you to decide). In the purest Daft Punk style nobody knows who he is, nor do they know his face but you will not care if you just want to enjoy the greasiest Blues, Punk, Slide Guitar and Rock & Roll.
In Spain we have someone just like this, or even more ambitious. We are talking about Vurro (yes, with a "V"). We are not going to add anything at all to the information that can be found about him on the social networks. Here it is.
"According to legend, in a small, remote village somewhere in the mountains, a farmer lost his cow in a snowstorm. He loved the animal so much that he spent days looking for it. He fainted in the snow and had a vision, he saw the exact place where the cow was. He woke up and walked to find the cow, but the wolves had attacked her and she was buried under the snow, dying. In its agony, the animal transferred its head to the farmer and they became as one, giving birth to Vurro: half man, half cow."
That is the legend, the reality is that seeing this guy in action is quite impressive.
There are also supernatural beings, such as Hombre Lobo Internacional, which, according to him, is a 'One Wolfman Band', a band consisting of one werewolf. Just like the previous ones, he plays the drums with his feet, and his main instrument, in this case, a guitar, with his hands. What happens is that he also has the mania (or need) to howl at the full moon, but the same happens to many of us. His favourite victims are humans who are passionate about primitive, dirty, rampant rock and roll. His human identity is also unknown.
We return from the beyond to meet Ortiga, the project of the musician from Galicia Manuel González. After the beak-up of the duo 'Esteban y Manuel', much loved, and not only for having invented "cumbiatune", this native of Santiago began a solo career as Ortiga, with a style that is a fusion of cumbia, merengue, bachata and autotune. Unlike the previous ones, Ortiga relies on loops and samples in his concerts, together with the guitar and keyboards as the main instrument. Be that as it may, it is impossible not to dance.
In the same line, we would like to include in this list the ever-smiling Ed Sheeran. And not really for any special reason, he simply went on a world tour filling stadiums ON HIS OWN, creating versions of his songs adapted to a guitar, a keyboard and a looper. Incredible.
By the way, if you would like to see how a looper pedal works, we recommend this video, also by Ed Sheeran. Who needs a band?
We will return to a really geeky environment, although without losing elegance. This is where we will find Donny Benét. Halfway between the soundtrack for Miami Vice and that for a porn movie we find the sound offered by this Australian that, without a doubt, will have you dancing like never before.
And now for a really radical change to something more serious and evocative. We would like to present Amorante, the artistic name of the multi-instrumentalist from Guipuzkoa, Iban Urizar. He defines his style as popular music and of course this could well be the case, given the undeniable influence of traditional folklore, combining instruments like the Spanish guitar, ukulele and cornet, with technology (again, the inevitable looper, etc.) to obtain a unique and original sound, with overwhelming, hypnotic sensitivity. Essential in this list.
Still in the Basque Country and under the name of RRUCCULLA we find a young electronics producer and drummer called Izaskun González. In this case, the main instrument is the drums, which are combined with electronic backgrounds to achieve a sound that is as experimental as it is powerful. Sometimes abstract, sometimes danceable, the music of RRUCCULLA is bound to have an effect on anyone who listens carefully. And of course, you can dance to it.
