It is an autumn afternoon in 2024 and the legendary phrase chanted by three different generations “Iñaki, ze urrun dago Kamerun” by the group Zarama plays on the radio. It has not stopped playing since it was created in the 90s and accumulates different versions in pop, rock, techno and even rap. Behind one of the most popular hits in Basque is the band’s singer, journalist and writer Roberto Moso, who has just published ‘Puto Boomer’, a book in which, through humor, he recounts the adventures and stories that have marked his life. All this without forgetting the music and without being a fucking Boomer. “We must not take for granted that as you have lived, your experiences allow you to spend your entire life giving lessons. You have to assume that sometimes it is the young people who have to give you lessons. And in the same way that we have liked to rebel against our parents and tell them four things, we have to assume that now it is time for them to tell us,” he acknowledges in an interview with this newspaper.
What is a fucking Boomer?
Give me a minute, I’m buying bread.
Sure, no problem.
Okay, I’m done. Well, a fucking Boomer is someone who is going to be interviewed for a book and they catch him buying the bread (laughs). Apart from that, you can imagine, it is not a term that the Boomers have coined, the new generations have given it to us to explain a certain type of people who irritate them and who I also understand that in some aspects they may be right, because we do not allow of being a generation that in many ways we are in the zone of power. And of course, whoever is in the zone of power must be given the stick.
Why did you choose this title for the book?
At first I considered other titles. The book was about another time, about my experiences and the term Boomer made me laugh, because I have two daughters, 23 and 29 years old, and sometimes they say that to me. It seemed right to me because I am a child of the Baby Boom, of those born in the 60s, of families that had three or four children and sent us to the street to play with sandwiches. I was thinking about it and I thought about calling it ‘Rock and Roll Boomer’ or ‘Boomer Blues’ and then someone told me about the famous ‘OK Boomer’, but of course, to begin with it wouldn’t be something original and to continue, ‘OK Boomer’ sounds too Anglo-Saxon . That’s why I came to the conclusion that ‘Fucking Boomer’ made up for the Anglo-Saxon nature of the term and was still forceful.
What did those children born in the 60s or 70s have that those of today will never have?
The possibility of moving around the street calmly, without the need for tutors, teachers or monitors to control them. I think that childhood today is very protected, you just have to look at the parks, when you see children they are very young and there is always someone who controls them. Children are no longer children free to go on adventures without being accompanied by a monitor. It is no longer in style.
Is it difficult to approach the new generations?
Not only does it cost, but it is good that it costs. I believe that we should not take for granted that as you have lived, your experiences allow you to spend your entire life giving lessons. You have to assume that sometimes they are the ones who have to give you lessons. And in the same way that we have liked to rebel against our parents and tell them four things, we have to assume that now it is our turn to say them to us. Not in everything you are the smart and experienced one, because I have two daughters who have been, for example, to many more countries than me.
I’m excited that one of my songs has lasted over time and continues to reach people.
Over the years I don’t know your name, but the phrase ‘Iñaki, ze hurrun dago Kamerun’, I’m sure many young people know it. What did that hit mean for the group and for you?
It has been assumed that his name has been kept. Contrary to what someone young may think, we were not the most mainstream of Basque music. We were always there, but there were other names with more fame than us. However, that song has remained there. They recently sent me a dance version, we have also heard a heavy version, another disco version and even rap. I’m excited that one of my songs has lasted over time and continues to reach people. It is a source of pride, I will not deny it.
Are you more of a musician or journalist?
I have always been a very journalistic musician and a very musical journalist.
Is the life of the musician or the journalist more precarious?
In 2024 I wouldn’t be able to tell you, because there are many musicians and many people who want to dedicate themselves to music. So much so that there are elbows and it is difficult to break through. Although there are more means, venues, instruments and the possibility of learning, there are also more people and it is more difficult to stand out. And, the world of journalism is not exactly in a buoyant moment. Now with the issue of networks, a media outlet can be made with little and journalism as we knew it is in the doldrums. The paper newspaper has gone down in history, the radio too and even music is listened to in a different way. It is a dangerous thing because it is important that reliable media exist.
How would you tell one of those young people what Basque radical rock was about?
I would place it in the context of the 80s and tell you band by band how each one experienced it. We were products of a time and circumstances, of the years of lead and industrial reconversion. There was an agitation in the street that came from the Boomer spirit. We are children who have been on the streets a lot and we knew how to organize ourselves to play, so when it came to organizing ourselves and creating gaztetxes, organizing demonstrations for insubordination, feminism or the gay movement, we knew how to do it. We did not need the endorsement of parties or institutions to go out into the streets and demand something. All of this created a compost that was reflected musically in what someone called Basque radical rock, which is a term that convinced no one, but that helps us to know what we are talking about.
Has Basque radical rock and that way of organizing among youth naturally and without the need for political parties disappeared?
I don’t know if it has disappeared completely. There is a legacy of all that and there are still people who know how to organize and strive for self-management. There are young people organizing parties and squatted establishments that are working very well. Everything from the 80s has not disappeared. And musically speaking, the heritage is also evident in a lot of groups.
There are many more people who know Basque, but there is not much Basque on the street
At that time some bands like yours opted to sing in Basque, now this also happens. Could that be a common point?
It could be, because in my generation the subject of Basque was very sharp, I had that drive, that desire. In my case, one of my personal struggles was to learn Basque and I have more or less succeeded, but I did not have the protection of too many people around me to carry it out. We Euskaldunberris were very few and a bit snipers. You hung out with others like you and that gave you encouragement. Now we are facing a generation that comes from ikastolas and plans to promote Basque, which means there are many more Basque speakers. On the musical scene, the number of songs in Basque is much greater than what there was in 1985 and also with higher quality Basque.
There are more Basque speakers, children born in Basque, but fewer Basque speakers, people who come to Euskadi from other places and start learning it.
It is possible. There is a paradox and that is that there are many more people who know Basque, but there is not much Basque on the street. You can’t tell that it has grown so much, more or less people talk the same as before.
What part of your life has been most difficult for you to capture in ‘Puto Boomer’?
Everything that has to do with my family, with my parents. It is always a difficult decision to decide to what extent you are going to get naked in a book or what intimate things you want to tell. I have not wanted to tell things that contain lurid details, because I am not going to say that they are not of interest to anyone, because unfortunately what is morbid is what interests the most, but there are things that I prefer to hide.
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