The Malaga roots of Malmö 040, the young Spanish band with a million listeners online
With national success on digital music and social media platforms, the band's bassist, Ignacio Peguero, whose father is from Antequera, returns to the Costa del Sol province with a concert on 8 November
More than 100,000,000 streams on digital platforms and more than a million monthly listeners on Spotify confirm the success of Malmö 040, the Catalan band that continues to grow as one of the most popular Spanish pop rock bands among the younger population.
This coming weekend they will be coming to Malaga, at the Trinchera concert venue, to present their new album 'Cuando Éramos Felices Sin Saberlo' (lit. when we were happy without knowing it). Still, this is no ordinary tour stopover: Malaga provided the stage for their first concert outside their usual homebase of Barcelona. Moreover, Malaga happens to be special for one of the band members, bass player Ignacio Peguero: his father was born in Antequera and, during the main holiday seasons, he travels to the capital of the Costa del Sol to spend time with friends and family who still live there.
"Both my mother and father have spent part of their lives in Malaga and, even though they moved to Barcelona and I was born there, I feel at home [in Malaga] because I have family and friends who live there and whom we visit throughout the year. This concert in Malaga is going to be very emotional", says Ignacio Peguero in conversation with SUR.
Luis Enrique, fan of Malmö 040
It will be on Saturday 8 November when all those friends and family will join up with lots of Malmö 040 fans on the dance floor in the Trinchera venue for 'Los de Siempre Tour'. This is a tour that is returning to the main concert venues after already selling out Rivieras in Madrid, Palau Alameda in Valencia and Razzmatazz in Barcelona, as well as festivals such as Arenal Sound.
Their songs even won over former Spanish national football team coach Luis Enrique during the World Cup in Qatar, who shared several posts featuring the band's song 'Matar la Pena' [kill the pain], one of Malmö 040's most-streamed songs, along with others like 'Los Lugares Donde Irás' [the places where you'll go] and 'La Última Canción' [the last song].
Ignacio Peguero was born in Barcelona but has a strong link with the Costa del Sol province: his father was born in Antequera and his mother lived in Malaga capital.
Now, Ignacio Peguero's Malaga roots, along with the rest of this Catalan band (Carlos, Víctor, Joan and Gonzalo), are taking over the capital of the Costa del Sol to demonstrate the strength of a band that was born from a friendship formed at school and that, eight years later, has managed to dedicate itself fully to music, all now aged 24. A dream come true, they say. "A few months ago, we decided to dedicate ourselves solely to this. We were working while running the band and we realised it was incompatible.... We want to focus more on the music and think that this is going to be our main job, because this isn't just about spending weekends at concerts: we compose, we look for new ideas, we do promotions... Leaving our jobs is like starting all over again, but we are living our dream, albeit with our feet on the ground", says Ignacio Peguero.
Collaborations with artists like Pignoise motivate them to continue growing and drawing inspiration from the bands they learned from. When Ignacio Peguero recalls his childhood and the hours spent driving around in the car with his parents in Malaga, he can't help but think of those artists who awakened his passion for music: "I remember listening to Los Ronaldos, Calamaro, Pereza, The Rolling Stones, Los Rodríguez.... My parents always taught me good music and that's what inspires me now", says Peguero. He is already thinking about returning home and taking advantage of the tour stopover in Malaga: "I've already planned the route that the whole band will take, I want us to enjoy the city and all the good things it has to offer", he concludes.
