Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 25 minutes ago
This is an electronica track by Professor Chill from the album Dub Archaeology. It features a reconstruction of an ancient Viking bagpipe found by archaeologists. The replica was made by Ake Egevad, who is playing it. Professor Chill made the recording of the instrument on location in Sweden, and was inspired to make this electronic version.
This is an electronica track by Professor Chill from the album Dub Archaeology. It features a reconstruction of an ancient Viking bagpipe found by archaeologists. The replica was made by Ake Egevad, who is playing it. Professor Chill made the recording of the instrument on location in Sweden, and was inspired to make this electronic version.








![IASPM Research Seminar September 2021 - Spanish Popular Musicians and Precariousness
Spanish Popular Musicians and Precariousness: Past and present (COVID time)
Dr. Francisco Javier Bethencourt Llobet
(Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
Abstract:
Spanish popular music has been studied from multiple perspectives by anthropologists, musicologists, sociologists and more recently by popular music scholars, researchers who settle gradually in music schools and universities. All those approximations enrich recent publications, however, from the beginning of IASPM organization had the intention to include also the musicians perspective. After carrying on fieldwork, and having a double “emic-etic” perspective, as a guitarist and musicologist, I have analysed how Spanish popular musicians, who already had difficulties in the past to regulate their incomes, tax payments, etc. with the COVID-19 their/our situation has become even more difficult with the shutting of performance spaces, clubs-tablaos and cancelation of festivals. Those decisions related to health and political issues are found from the origins of what we conceptualized as Música popular urbana (Spanish translation on Popular Music), already introduced by Middleton’s Studying Popular Music, a relationship between the musicians and performance spaces has existed, but also the precarious situation. According to maestro Paco de Lucía, when he was awarded with the Principe de Asturias art price “Flamencos were those who did not have anything on the fridge […]” That meaning of the concept “flamenco” relate to class could be extended now to other pop musicians (drummers, bass players…) and music technicians, producers, who are also suffering the situation.
Through the IASPM emails and UK colleagues (Richard Elliott, Ian Biddle) also through Fernán del Val, Diego García Peinazo, we are aware of recent publications, research(s), which have been made in Scotland, Wales about similar problems. Obviously the precarious situation that Spanish popular musicians are suffering is not isolated to the Iberian Penínsola. Related to the concept of displacement, many artists from Andalucía, have moved to Madrid and Catalonia even London, París and NYC to try to find a way out.
Spanish IASPM members and Complutense popular music research group (we) already have organised two events on 16th and 18th December 2020 to put ideas in common between blues, flamenco-jazz musicians and singer-song writers from Madrid´s scene. Also, in the Complutense research seminar about flamenco we also debate about different approximations, methodologies, theories, which could help popular and flamenco musicians, venue organisers, with the actual situation. Finally, we will consider the future of some of those Spanish venues, which are closing because some COVID related political decisions. Musicians are on strike and finding new ways to work together towards this particular hard situation. The possibility of teaching online has help many of those musicians to scape from their precarious situation but is not enough, even with the AIE and SGAE institutions help.
Key words: Spanish popular musicians, performance venues, politics, Precariousness, displacement and technology.
Dr. Bethencourt Llobet:
Paco Bethencourt Llobet is a guitarist, musicologist, lecturer at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He studied flamenco guitar and musicology at Granada University and after a year in Edinburgh, he conclude his PhD thesis at Newcastle University having the luck of attending Richard Middleton’s seminars and Richard Elliot’s, Ian Biddle’s and Nanette de Jong research and pub sessions.
He has done research mainly about new flamenco music: Post- Paco de Lucía generation, electro flamenco producers and cuban jazz musicians. Paco has been involved in projects in Germany, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom, performing at Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Newcastle, York and Cargo and Ronnie Scott’s in London. He has participated at International conferences, such us: IASPM Roma, México DF, La Habana, Liverpool, Kassel and Tokyo. Paco has recorded and produce albums in the UK and Spain: Electroflamenko (2007) Aleida (2013), Mirar atrás (2015), Mundos (2017), and Alchemy on the Air (2019) now working on Por Mujeres (book-album) and Canarios y Flamencos (2021). IASPM Research Seminar September 2021 - Spanish Popular Musicians and Precariousness](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/M_aYPZeScpU/mqdefault.jpg)

