The story of Niño Mutantes, the indie and ‘malafollá’ band that conquered two generations of music lovers

On December 11, 2023, the Granada band Niños Mutantes announced their farewell to the stage in 2024. Journalist Juanjo Ibáñez, a veteran follower of the group to the point of being able to boast of his friendship with its members, immediately conceived the idea of ​​writing his story “even if it was as a romantic tribute.” The next day he met the musicians at an event in the Nasrid capital, he discussed the project with them, but did not receive a very enthusiastic response. “They told me that they didn’t believe that their story was enough for a book, but that if I believed it that way, I had their blessings,” says Ibáñez, who immediately got to work. The result is titled The sleepless nightsand has just seen the light in Roca Editorial.

Along with his own background as a fan, the author was able to conduct individual interviews with each of the mutants, while making a list of other people who could be essential to complete the group’s story. Among them, Angels Barceló, Manuel Jabois, Julio Ruiz, the groups La Cámara Roja and Viva Sweden… “No one said no to me, everyone wanted to be in the book,” says Ibáñez. “What’s more, with Viva Sweden I expected them to answer the typical questionnaire, or at most to appoint a spokesperson, and yet the four of them insisted that they wanted to intervene, we made a video call… And they ended up crying. The same thing happened with Àngels Barceló, who wanted to speak directly to me. All of this is proof of the love that Mutant Children have been sowing.”

It is worth remembering that Ninos Mutantes was formed in the mid-90s, at the height of the Spanish indie scene, and since then they have recorded twelve full-length albums and toured incessantly throughout the country, until they decided that 30 Years on the Road They were enough and it was time to say goodbye. “It’s not just a group, it’s a generation that says goodbye to music,” Ibáñez emphasizes. “When Niño Mutantes emerged, indie was independence, freedom, a more artisanal work, with few pretensions, in which success was not filling stadiums, but, as drummer Nani Castañeda says, putting 89 people in a room in Burgos ”.

Quality leap

In The sleepless nights This situation is reflected very well, along with details such as the fact that the group had to pay for their first album with the Astro label, the same one that would release the following five albums. It was with the change of record company, when releasing the album precisely titled The sleepless nightswhen they start to sell out and become festival headliners. But the process was very progressive: by then, they had already been in the works for twelve years.

“I think the key to his success has been his stubbornness,” says Ibáñez. “There are two moments in their musical life that are decisive: one, when they see themselves in the classic situation of ‘this is the last time we try, if it doesn’t work, we’ll quit.’ Guitarist Manolo Requena leaves the band and then they lock themselves in to record the album Everything is the momentwhich is going to fall below expectations… But they give themselves one last chance, and The sleepless nights it changes their lives. There is a lot of hard work and a part of luck, and that’s where Josiño Carballo comes in, who practically creates Ernie Records to sign Ninos Mutantes, and the incorporation of Andrés López, who will come to round out the band’s sound.”

The author also highlights, when analyzing what differentiates the Granada band from other groups that had more explosive successes in the nineties and early 2000s, the signing of Juan Alberto Martínez. “His talent, his lyrics, his personality, allow the Mutants to take their leap in quality. It is true that his first albums, when he was 20 years old, were more poetic, but Juan Alberto knows how to tell and sing about everyday life. Thus, the group does not get lost in very complex metaphors, they talk about everything from life as a couple to work problems that surround them, they write a lullaby for their children… And in this way they manage to become part of the soundtrack of an entire generation.” .

Surrounded by the best

Nor can it be ignored that Granada was and continues to be a fertile field for musical talent. “They rehearsed next to the place where the Nick Lizards were preparing the Omegasomething that not everyone can say. And they worked with Antonio Arias at the time when he had just left 091. There were other great groups like KGB, TNT… And Joe Strummer, from the Clash, came to Granada to rub shoulders with that ecosystem. “Children Mutants knew how to take advantage of that opportunity because they were surrounded by the best.”

But there are other extra-musical factors that also define the group’s uniqueness: “It must be taken into account that they do not abandon their work at any time, they all combine it with music. That means that you finish working on a Tuesday, and instead of going home you go to the rehearsal space, and on Thursday or Friday you take the van and go on tour around Spain. That has worn them down, the opposite would be lying, but it has allowed them to maintain their integrity and endure the worst moments. “Now they can leave the group without feeling obligated to leave music, there is no exclusive dependency.”

When the journalist is asked if the farewell is serious, he laughs: “Miguel Ríos called them and told them to do like him, to say goodbye and come back. To this day, I believe, however, that his farewell is final. Nobody rules out that they won’t be able to get together, but if they do in ten years they will be 60, and I don’t know if by then they will really want to party. Their coherence and their Granada badass are going to prevent their revival.”

Plus, they leave it at the top. “They have had a brutal tour, they have sold out where they have never been before, happy and receiving tons of love. It’s a good time. And Nani already told me: ‘I want to meet Juanito to have a beer with him without talking about music.’”