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Dr. Martens Beat

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Dr. Martens Beat got together as a band around 1998. Jose & Sonia were also playing in Ruín Bois at the time, but they would occasionally meet some good friends who had a project (I wouldn’t call it a band really, as they could hardly play at all, were just testing out ideas for songs, and didn’t even have a proper drummer), so one day they simply gathered to see what could come out of it, and since they got along really well and loved to drink a beer or three in the meanwhile, a new band was born. They agreed on the name Dr. Martens Beat as it sounded just great, and they also meant to pay homage to one of their favourite bands back then: Böhse Onkelz. Eventually the line-up would be Néstor (vocals & lyrics), Jose (lead guitar & songs), Carlos (rhythm guitar), Dani (bass) and Sonia (drums). At first, their songs were mostly in Galician, but knowing how little most people would care about them around here, they went for English. In a few months they had recorded a couple of demo-tapes, which were basically done with an old mixing-desk that was left on recording while the band was rehearsing, at no cost at all by the way, which was a fuckin’ brilliant plus! Mind you, those demos were never intended to be published at all. They just wanted to check out what they sounded like, and were for private use. It’s kind of surprising to be told that they’re on the web, and quite a few people have them (and apparently like them!). Furthermore, someone even spent the time (and I guess money) to produce a cassette, without any permission of course… Eh motherfucker, where’s our fuckin’ cash??!! Anyway Néstor decided to send copies of those songs to some European labels and that brought about their first EP, on Dim Records in Germany. Those four tracks were recorded around 1999 in the same place where they used to practise at that time. Considering it was the first time that they or, for that matter, the studio guy himself was to record something properly, I guess sound-wise there’s not so much to complain about. Also around that time they were to have the first of the two gigs they ever got to play (funnily enough both of them outside Galiza!). One was the farewell concert of Ruín Bois in León (Spain), the other a festival near Lisbon (Portugal) together with Mataratos and other Punk, Hardcore and Metal bands. Incidentally, that gig would end up in a serious riot, which appeared in the Portuguese papers the following day, nice pic of the Galician band included! Soon after Dim brought out that 7”, Carlos left the band. No big deal really. From then on, Néstor took up playing rhythm guitar too, and Jose would also sing in some songs, so apart from the music, he started writing his own lyrics. More practicing and quite a few beers later, they got a recording offer from Bords De Seine in France. They recorded three songs for the label: two of them sung by Jose and one by Néstor. It must be said this time they were a lot happier with the sound quality, not to mention the songs themselves! In 2001 “You’ll never walk alone” and “The Man who came from León” were published as a 7”, whereas in that same year “In the Crowd” was to show up on a compilation LP called “Oi! What a Wonderful World”, with international bands such as Forced Reality or The Templars. In any case, around that time DMB just decided to call it a day. There were proposals to publish an album, but the truth is they were hardly rehearsing at all, and they simply were not having fun any longer, as they used to. They basically went their separate ways (two ended up living in London) and pretty soon some of them were to be found in different music ventures. What you hold here is all their studio works, plus a bonus track taken from one of their demos, a reminder of the good times they had back then. Having a laugh?... sure, but “fuck the world” was more like it… Jose (Dr. Martens Beat), January 2017

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