Quique Gonzalez

Born in Madrid in 1973 he played in the lower sections of the Real Madrid when he was 13 years old until an injury cut short his sport career. He started then playing in small nightclubs in Madrid.

In 1998 his first album PERSONAL was released. The songs he writes between 1998 and 2001 were handcraft recordings. He presented these demos to Polygram and the label released them slightly re-touched on May 21 2001 under the title SALITRE48. The production presents a more acoustic format further from the rock style of the previous album and underlines Quique´s more intimist side, although other songs keep the rock spirit of PERSONAL.

For the third album PAJAROS MOJADOS – October 21 2002, he searches a more elaborated production and for the first time a wind section is introduced. The piano, played by Basili Martí – Antonio Vega´s usual collaborator, plays a prominent role in the record. .

After new troubles with Universal, Quique decides to ask a freedom letter and start a new phase. In 2003, with the sale lists dominated by the TV program Operación Triunfo and the label houses talking about crisis in the music field, he releases in his web a letter entitled as Charles Bukowski´s compilation : Peleando a la contra. There he details the reasons why he has decided to follow his own path, sometimes like a craftsman, far from the record labels who treat music as another product. Under the same name as the letter he starts a series of performances around nightclubs of small capacity where he plays on his own with an acoustic guitar, the piano and the harmonic.

The concerts are very intimist and reach a good understanding with the audience. Each encounter is unique: Quique asks the audience to select the songs and each night he changes the repertoire with songs of all his albums together with unknown compositions. KAMIKAZES ENAMORADOS, the first album of this period, sees the light in October 2003 thanks to the impulse of a record house created for it by Quique González under the name Varsovia!!! Records. The album tries to get the inspiration of the previous tour and its sound is, therefore, intimist with little instrumentation. Without drums, basses nor electric guitars, the acoustic guitars and the pianos play the main role in the work. Also outstanding is Carlos Raya´s slide guitar. .

After a break, the album LA NOCHE AMERICANA (2005) - the second work by Varsovia!!! Records, is released. The recording is made in only eleven days with the band playing alive. There is a return to the electric guitars and a raw sound. The masterization is done in Nashville by Richard Dodd (Tom Petty, Johnny Cash or George Harrison, among others). Part of the songs included in the album come from a project left apart based on the release of a conceptual album around the figure of a boxer called Kid Chocolate . Different artists collaborate in the record: Pancho Varona in Se equivocaban contigo, and the Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler in the song Me agarraste.

The end of this period coincides with the participation of Quique González in Laboratorio Ñ, a collaborative project with Iván Ferreiro and Xoel López which takes him to Argentina during three productive weeks in November 2005.

At the beginning of 2006, tired of doing different tasks to that of a musician with his company Varsovia!!! Records, Quique decides to sign for the multinational Dro Atlantic. The signing of the contract is reflected in the edition of AJUSTE DE CUENTAS, an acoustic CD/DVD compillation with luxury collaborators like Iván Ferreiro , Enrique Bunbury , Jorge Drexler or Miguel Ríos .

The artistic growth is unstoppable. Quique begins to become a referent in the Spanish rock arena, greatly confirmed by the release in September 2007 of AVERIA Y REDENCION #7. The album was chosen as the best 2007 national album in the Spanish edition of the magazine Rolling Stone and the fifth best album of the year for the readers of El País, the most sold newspaper in Spain. Escorted by the band La Aristocracia del Barrio Quique González sold out all of the tickets in the Spanish theaters, played in the biggest summer festivals and opened a performance creating a legend like Bob Dylan in Jaén. To summarize: more than 60 concerts of AVERIA Y REDENCION #7.

After his split up with the record label Warner, in 2009 Qu