EVO

EVO was formed in the Barcelonan neighbourhood of El Clot in January 1981. Its first line-up was Richard (guitars), Ramon Solà (drums), Pedro Bruque (bass), and Carmen García Díez (vocals). [ NOTE: It is unknown when or if Pepe Canovas really played in this band, but all photos from 1981-1982 show only four members. He neither appears in official biographies or oldest sources and photos]. They played some gigs as a 4-piece, like Rock de Lluna festival (June, 1981), appeared in Spanish TVE program Musical Express and recorded a demo they brought to local CBS offices under the influence of Mariscal Romero . They liked the demo tape but suggested the band to fire female singer García to have a male singer, which would fit better the heavy metal sound. To accomplish label’s requirements, García was substituted by Stimula in winter 1981/82 and the band stayed as a 4-piece at least until June, 1982, unsuccessfully waiting to release the band’s first single through CBS with songs Haz explotar tu volcán and Súbete al globo . The fact the label was trying to get rid of EVO and some issues regarding band members personalities ended up with the band splitting some time during summer, 1982. After receiving an offer from EMI, the band reformed with founder Richard (guitars) and former vocalist Stimula , plus Zippy (bass), Víctor Molero (guitars) and Jerónimo Martínez (drums). Pedro Bruque declined the idea because he had already integrated in another relatively successful Heavy Metal band called Tigres de Metal . EVO signed their contract with EMI and recorded their debut in London during 10 days between June 20th and July 3rd, 1983 and finally released as Animal de ciudad in November, 1983. According to a press clipping on April 6th, 1984, EVO drummer back then was an unknown guy named Andrés, it is unknown if that was a typo because there’s not any other source to confirm this data, but drummer Martínez didn’t last much time in EVO and, before second album sessions, his place was taken by founder member Ramon Solà . Because of differences with Richard, Víctor Molero had already been substituted by Jaime Rivera Mora when the band entered Gema Studios in Barcelona to record their second LP in March, 1985. Last known concert the played was in November 1st, 1985 (with Zeus , 11 Bis and Zarko), but official sources claim the band lasted until 1986. Singer Joana Amaro’s short biography aired in Catalan TV (TV3) in the late '80s stated she rehearsed as a session singer with EVO a short time before they finally split. She never managed to play a single live show with them, and isn't considered to be an EVO member. EVO was reformed in December, 2009 by former singer Stimula , who called Zippy and Jerónimo Martínez , plus Serbian guitar player Nebo Amamovic to play a two shows in Canary Islands, where Stimula was living at the time. As Stimula wanted to keep on with the reunion project and both Zippy and Martínez had their respective bands, he decided to recruit new musicians to play in Leyendas del Rock Festival in August, 2010. The chosen ones were Brane (bass) and Peter (drums). The band didn’t played in the following edition of that Festival, but during 2011 this new EVO recorded a new album which came out in December, 2011 as Puta Pasta through Leyenda Records . Drummer Txiki entered the band in January, 2012 to replace Peter, but Peter came in again before the end of 2012. The band was reunited once again in 2022; Stimula was asked to return as the frontman but declined, stating that he was done with the music business. Compilation appearances: - "Animal de Ciudad" on Hot Metal (EMI, Lp 1984) - "Animal de Ciudad" on Heavy Metal Special (EMI, Lp 1984)