BATHORY´ZINE: 11 BIS

Friday, July 3, 2020

11 BIS - HEAVY METAL (BARCELONA/SPAIN)

THE BEGINNINGS

In July and August, they temporarily left the live shows to dedicate themselves to the composition of new songs. This break in terms of concerts came very well to 11 Bis that he took the opportunity to introduce Oriol Coll (drums) as a new member, which was essential for “Padrino” to become a solo singer as Manolo García of the Rapids and drummer Sergio Macarof in a concert given by the 11Bis in the trendy pub inBarcelona (BOIRA) “leave the battery and go ahead and sing like me ”and he listened to him, in the fall of 11 Bis he was admitted to the TVE Gente Joven contest, obtaining the highest mark“ 10 out of 10 ”, as the letter received by the godfather at his home in the neighborhood said del Carmelo, then the Heavy-Rock magazine dedicated an article as a dossier on the history of the band.
In 1982 the members of the group Sobredosis decided to start a new project that they called 11 Bis formed by Andrés Parra (guitar), José Luis García (keyboards), José Cano (bass) and José Luis Gutiérrez “Padrino” (voice and drums). From the first moment his style close to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal could be appreciated. This transformation led to the recording of a demo with new songs and the conduct of radio interviews and the return of the band to the live shows under the name of the recently created formation.

11 Bis did not take long to bear fruit since the Imagen Musical agency and its manager (banana) - which among others led Rebeldes, Loquillo, Sprays - bet on them quickly. During 1983 the group recorded a live demo from RNE for the Don Domingo contest which was conducted by Constantino Romero (the voice) where they reached the semifinals, just after they performed at the 2nd Rock Competition of the Barcelona City Council reaching the semifinal again , eliminating the rival gang in the quarterfinals of his friends Zeus ,. They also held a large number of concerts, among which the Barna Heavy a L’Hospitalet festival stands out with Zeus and Tigres de Metal. Thanks to his performance, Popular 1 magazine presented 11 Bis as the new rock formation in Barcelona. Thus, in the same period the band joined the Association of Rock Groups of Catalonia chaired by Pedro Bruque (Tigres). In July and August, they temporarily left the live shows to dedicate themselves to the composition of new themes. This break in terms of concerts came very well to 11 Bis that he took the opportunity to introduce Oriol Coll (drums) as a new member, which was essential for “Padrino” to become a solo singer as Manolo García of the Rapids and drummer from Sergio Macarof in a concert given by the 11Bis in the fashionable pub in Barcelona (BOIRA) “leave the battery and go ahead and sing like me” and he paid attention to him, in autumn 11 Bis was admitted to the TVE Gente Joven getting the maximum grade "10 out of 10" was the letter the godfather received at his house in the Carmel neighborhood, so the Heavy-Rock magazine dedicated an article as a dossier on the history of the band.
In 1982 the members of the group Sobredosis decided to start a new project which they called 11 Bis formed by Andrés Parra (guitar), José Luis García (keyboards), José Cano (bass) and José Luis Gutiérrez “Padrino” (voice and drums). From the first moment his style close to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal could be appreciated. This transformation led to the recording of a demo with new songs and the carrying out of radio interviews and the return of the band to live shows under the name of the recently created formation.
In early 1984, Oriol left 11 Bis. At that moment the group called an audition of which the young drummer Toni Larrosa was chosen as a substitute. Two weeks later 11 Bis traveled to Madrid to compete in the TVE studios (Prado del Rey) the first qualifying round for Young People. The group managed to advance to the semifinals with an excellent score and took advantage of their stay in the capital to contact various record labels and make some appearances on the radio. Back in Barcelona, the band offered a large number of live shows in Catalonia until the month of August, since in September the guitarist Ramón Martínez “Giovanni”, a former Zeus member, joined 11 Bis. Shortly after, the concerts resumed and the group recorded their fourth demo at the Aprilia studios. Including "Fugitive" his best-known song and "Damn" famous version of the song Forever composed by the Americans Y&T. In November, the band moved again to Madrid to participate in the semifinals of theGente Joven contest and finally also its passage to the final, was held at the beginning of 1985 in the Prado del Rey studios, the performance was a success and 11 Bis won the contest. In response to this, the band decided to dedicate the 250,000 pesetas of the award to the production of their first album.
In 1985, Toni Larrosa had to join military service that same year. To replace the latter 11 Bis he incorporated Santi Rovira, ex-drummer of Zeus, during the summer and autumn they returned to Aprilia to record their future album.
In 1986, 11 Bis signed for the Gay & Company agency and agreed with the PDI record label to release their album, however, when the time came, the company could not keep its word for financial reasons. Such a thing produced the break with PDI and brought disappointment to the group which went through a difficult year in which it did not offer any direct.
Fortunately 1987 started well for the band as opening act for Motörhead in Barcelona and San Sebastían and was productive in its promotion and recognition, then in June, they were part of the macro-concert “El Heavy No Es Violencia” held at the Palau de Esports de Barcelona together with groups such as Zeus, Bruque, Wildebeest, Angeles del Infierno and Obús, among others.
Unfortunately these successes did not lead to anything and at the end of the year the members of 11 Bis were forced to dissolve the group due to the great disinterest of the Madrid record companies for Rock made in Catalonia.
36 YEARS LATER
Finally it seems that the time has come !!!, after the emotional tribute to Giovanni, 11 Bis, “returns”, 36 years later with three former components and founders of the band + Santi Leal and Sergio Riera, to record LP vinyl + CD, With bonus track of the future hit, “De la Cope a Cornellá” theme in commemoration of who was our guitarist Juan Ramón Martínez Carrasco “Giovanni” who has also performed it with his guitars recorded on a model from the year 2007 Therefore we are eternally grateful Don Juan Ramón who was the architect of the 11 Bis return “36 years later”, also Sergi Riera “first bass player” for his friendship and his Fender bass “Marsieles” and of course, our arranger and producer friend ,Santi Leal, it has been "everything" to get this great gift for our ears, the Disc that did not see the light and that today is a reality.

"FROM LA COPE TO CORNELLÁ"

… And the seventh 11 Bis, although he doesn't play any instrument is a fundamental part of the band, he is:
PEPE MOTORBIS!

DISCOGRAPHY:

36 Años Después
11 Bis

1
Entre el Bien y el Mal
4:05
2
Te Digo No
3:53
3
Sin Ti Me Moriré
3:00
4
Poli-Éticos
2:59
5
Pobre de Mí
3:05
6
Rockcelona
4:09
7
Viven Así
4:26
8
Estrellas del Rock
3:25
9
Carmelo's Band
3:24
10
De la COPE a Cornellà
2:33