Pablo Benegasthe renowned guitarist and composer of the Spanish group Van Gogh’s Earhas released his book Memory, a work that invites readers on a personal and collective journey through his life. A reflection out loud that leaves such harsh phrases as: “LOVG probably saved my life.”
Framed between two scenarios, that of the Anoeta Velodrome, which Pablo Benegas climbed for the first time when he was just a child, and that of the Zaragoza Pilar Festival of ’98, which marked the consecration of LOVG to the general public, this book represents an intense and moving memory exercise in which memories build a powerful reflection on the impact of fear and violence, but also about the value of friendship and music.
Born and raised in San Sebastián during the harshest years of ETA terrorism, Benegas experienced the constant threat in his family environment. (He is the son of the politician Txiki Benegas): “A colleague told me that they had painted ‘Benegas’ inside a target on a bathroom wall. I went down to see it and I was very impressed to discover my last name in a spotlight. […] I was worried that those entering the bathroom would identify me with the graffiti or that someone would distance themselves from me for fear of being pointed out too. I just wanted it deleted immediately. I wasn’t even interested in knowing who made it. I didn’t care. I didn’t think they were going to kill me, but they did achieve their goal: I was shocked. In an adolescent, fear and shame well mixed are a powerful inhibitor. Maybe it would have been better not to see him and protect myself. Don’t know. I notified a teacher and they quickly deleted it. He didn’t transcend the institute or at least that’s the feeling I had. The thing is, I already had one more image for my horror album.”
Music became his escape, sharing tapes and attending concerts in the effervescent San Sebastian music scene of the nineties that filled the rehearsal rooms of young people like Pablo who dreamed of being like groups like U2, Metallica or Pearl Jam, to whom They had seen them play live. All this while he learned to play the guitar.
This is how Van Gogh’s Ear was born
The book chronicles the formation of La Oreja de Van Gogh, highlighting the importance of friendship and the common passion that united the group. This is how the San Sebastian quintet was born, member by member…
“Xabi I thought it was very funny, I liked it. “Who was going to tell me that with that guy with a blue shirt tucked in, pleated pants, skinny, with curls and a smoker I was going to share my life and not with the girl next to me and that I liked so much” remembers the guitarist of the band.
“Álvaro came down and when he opened the front door I collapsed again. He picked me up, hugged me and we headed towards the beach, which was just a hundred meters away. He put his arm around me while I buried my head in his chest. Morgan, his beloved dog who appears in the video clip for “Soñaré”, completed the scene. La Concha beach welcomed us with open arms and all its streetlights lit, the one of resuscitation maneuvers and broken hearts that this beach will have attended to. And there was mine for the first time” he remembers about the help of Alvaro in their stories of heartbreak.
“While people were entering the barracks, at the opposite end stood a tall, skinny boy whom I did not know. […]. It was Haritz Garde. That’s how we met. He seemed to me to be a shy guy who exuded kindness. “I have always thought that if someone ever wrote a song to Haritz it would have to be a silence that would allow us to hear his heart beat, because no one else sounds the same,” he explains about Haritz.
The words about Amaia Montero are reserved for the book But a few days ago, as we told you in LOS40, it was the San Sebastian soloist herself who wanted to publicly thank him through her social networks for all the memories captured in Memoria.
“Not long ago you came to my house @_pablobenegas_ with a gift in your hands: the draft of your first book. Not everyone has a friend who comes with something that changes you like a scenario, you say it right. I confess that When you left I looked at it and I couldn’t help but look at it… going to the middle, the end, the beginning and back… and I stopped with the feeling of when you can’t wait to enter a beautiful world and I met you. of those children that you observe and surprise you because you have nothing to teach them, of those who carry wisdom on their backs, of those who like hugs and who patiently let life show them the way. Of those who do not conform. and as adults they write a book as brilliant as this one to generously let us into their lives. I feel very lucky to be part of this story, to be your friend. Now I understand that it couldn’t be any other way to coincide in this life and write together. that magical stage discovering a world we didn’t know about to fill it with songs. I love you very much and I am very proud of you, just like your father and all of us who love you, I am sure of that. THANK YOU ❤️” wrote the singer.
