“The Xeys had a powerful classical musical base and also dominated popular music”

Euskaraz irakurri: “The Xeyk oinarri musikal klasiko indartsua zuten, eta herri musika ere maisuki menperatzen zuten”

Just arrived from the Seminci, Valladolid International Film Week, the filmmakers Eneko Olasagasti Y David Berraondo will premiere the documentary The Xey, a movie story this Tuesday, October 25, at the Victoria Eugenia Theater in San Sebastián (7:00 p.m.) and on Wednesday, October 26, in Errenteria.

This audiovisual work in which EITB participates, which summarizes the history of the San Sebastian vocal group that achieved great popularity throughout the world between 1940 and its disappearance in 1961, will arrive in Hegoalde cinemas on November 4.

We have spoken with Olasagasti and Berraondo.

What is the origin of the movie?

Eneko: I’m from 1960, and I spent my entire childhood listening to Los Xey on the radio: their songs were inside my musical bag, even though I wasn’t aware of it. One day, I met Loyola Garmendia, from the Golden Apple Quartet, and the accordionist Xabier Zabala, they told me that they were working on a tribute show to Los Xey, and they told me a few things about his strange biography.

I thought they were incredible, something unparalleled in the history of Basque music, and I called David Berraondo to tell him that there could be a documentary behind that story. To my surprise, he told me that one of the members of Los Xey, Txiki Lahuerta, was his uncle.

That was when the fuse was lit, and the fire has since brought us here.

How has been the work of searching for guests and the process of compiling documentation about the group?

Eneko: Well, it hasn’t been easy because there were hardly any of his contemporaries left; and the few that remained passed away before being able to do the interview, since the production process took a long time due to reasons that we all know. So, we turn to the next generation: sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters.

In addition to them and them, we also looked for expert people who could tell us about that time and the music of that time. We have tried to reconstruct the route of Los Xey, and that path has led us to meet experts from Euskal Herria, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Havana.

Finally, we have had the collaboration of the Golden Apple Quartet through some songs from their tribute to Los Xey.

David: Regarding the artistic and personal documentation, we started the project with a few photographs, but soon a box full of memories appeared along with the documentation that Pepito Yanci’s family kept in Lesaka.

A few months later, that documentation was expanded with a suitcase that the daughters of Txomin Arrasate kept in Mexico.

The discography has not been a problem, because Eresbil keeps many discographies and they have been willing to help from the beginning.

From the knowledge that this material has given you, what made Los Xey special? What was the reason for its success in the 1940s and 1950s?

Eneko: Several factors coincided on the road to success. To begin with, on the one hand they had a strong classical musical base and they also dominated popular music. For example, the mix between music and humor that existed in gastronomic societies was very close to them.

All this offered them the opportunity to perfectly blend their voices to achieve a very special and personal sound. They had a very special personality when it came to singing, and to all this we must add their ability to approach any musical style.

In addition, they had a great tendency for trend and humor, a white humor that everyone understood. And that was very important in times where there was censorship.

How did success come to this group of young republicans from San Sebastian at the very beginning of Francoism? What relationship did they have with the exiles in America?

Eneko: On the one hand, it is important to underline the role that the Church had in inserting the Republican losers as our protagonists. They created choirs like Schola Cantorum, and the founders of Los Xey were part of them. The repertoire consisted mainly of religious songs, but they soon began to prepare secular repertoire on their own. Then they had quite a few changes, and two or three years passed before they consolidated their line-up.

With the exiles, both with the Basques and with the Spanish Republicans, they had a very direct and close relationship in all the countries, especially in Argentina, Mexico and Cuba, and also in New York. Above all, with the Basque Centers. Welcomes, tributes and farewells followed one another.

For exile, they meant fresh air and an opportunity to sing in Basque and in freedom.

What songs should anyone who comes to Los Xey listen to?

Eneko: His repertoire consisted of more than three hundred songs. People will be amazed that some songs are part of that repertoire, that they were the ones who made them famous.

A song that could reflect his humorous spirit is “La Señora Baronesa”. His Basque classics are also there: Brahms’ lullaby, “Maitetxu mía”, “Maite” and a few others.

His best-known songs were “El menu” and “Oh, Pepita”; Then there would be “Cielito Lindo”, “Soul, heart and life”, “De mil amores”, “Adela told me”, “La Paloma”, etc.

Among the curiosities, although it may not seem like it, they were the ones who made “La vaca lechera” and “Si vas a Calatayud” known and popular.

After passing through the Seminci, what path awaits the film after its premiere?

David: The film will be presented in San Sebastián, at the premiere of the Victoria Eugenia. Afterwards, the Ollagorra association will honor Los Xey, and their relatives will receive a present.

On November 4 it will be released in cinemas in San Sebastián, Bilbao, Vitoria and Logroño, and we are waiting for the response from Pamplona.

It will then go to Madrid and Barcelona, ​​and will continue to other capitals, depending on the results.

As far as festivals are concerned, the main objective is the Latin American circuit, and we are waiting for the Ibero-American Film Festival in Havana.

Next year a 60-minute version will be offered on EITB and the “Essentials” program on La 2.