blitz vega is the name of the group that was formed in 2017 bassist Andy Rourke with ex Happy Mondays guitarist Kav Sandhu.

A supergroup, but little known to the masses, to date they have released a song with guitarist Johnny Marr, 35 years after the breakup of the famous British group The Smiths.

get back together

“We reached out to a few people about participating in the track and I asked Johnny, who very kindly recorded some guitars and sent them. We have known each other since we were 13 and are still friends. He is my oldest and closest friend, and I feel our friendship grows stronger as time goes on,” Rourke said in a press release.

That both former teammates play together is nothing new: they had met on stage on other occasions, such as when the bassist came on to play as a guest at the classic There is a light that never goes out during a show by the guitarist with The Killers at Madison Square Garden. However, It is the first time that two members of the Smiths have recorded a song together in a studio.

The song they recorded together is called strong foreverY is a strong call against bullying and discriminationwith a sound that inevitably refers to the so-called “Manchester scene”, the city that gave rise to both The Smiths and Happy Mondays.

In fact, the matter was intended as part of an anti-discrimination and harassment campaign for United Nations football in the UK. It will be part of the album Blitz Vega, whose release is announced for next year.

Kav said, “This song is for children who are being bullied, as well as individuals and families who are struggling to survive. Mental illness and depression can come from feeling powerless.”

He added: “We are all dealing with our challenges, especially now. People have to take care of themselves a lot more now. We are all struggling to survive and it is not too late. There are many good people on this planet who They want to do something positive, big or small, sometimes it’s hard to find them with all the noise. But now is the time to make a difference if you can.”

Leaving for a new tour

Blitz Vega formed in Los Angeles on Christmas Day 2017. The duo has released three previous singles: Lost & Found, hey Christ Y THE vampirefeaturing award-winning live entertainment alongside Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Primal Scream.

Blitz Vega has big plans for 2023, including the release of his debut album and a documentary, capturing his sessions at the iconic Abbey Road Studios. They recently had a sold-out concert in Los Angeles and a set for This Feeling TV, but not much else due to the pandemic. That is all set to change now, with tours in North America, the UK and Europe to be announced soon.

In a Zoom chat with Clarín, Kev confirmed that plans are to promote the new single, release another one in February and go on tour in a few months, first in the US because they have dates left over from the time of the pandemic. “Then we will release a vinyl of the new album in April, for Record Store Day, and then we will go to Europe,” he promised.

Andy is enthusiastic about describing what the record will be like: “The new songs have a lot of energy, they are played very well and everything sounds very fresh, like in a show, with the drums played and not programmed. I can’t wait for people to hear it! !”.

-How do you see the evolution of the group, from the first recordings and the first concerts?

Kevin: -I think the current sound is quite similar to the early days, like a lot of the Rolling Stones influence but brought into the modern era. I guess we will evolve more when we tour more and play live a lot. Everything had suddenly stopped due to Covid, and when we resumed everyone was at home in different cities, and we had to send files from one to another to put the songs together. It was very strange, because we were all used to being in the same room together.

Andy: -I feel that things have moved very slowly in recent years, with each of us living in other countries, but I’m sure we will gain momentum very soon.

-How did the idea of ​​recording with Johnny Marr come about?

Andy: -The song was born for a charity activity, against racism and bullying. With Kev we started brainstorming and thought it would be nice to have guests. He invented the lead singer of Kasabian and I invented Johnny.

Kevin: -I didn’t think it would materialize, so it was a real surprise. And as we sat and listened to what Johnny sent, it was wonderful.

-Any chance to see them live in Argentina soon?

Kevin: -We’d like! We love South America and Argentina, so we hope we can go to a festival, like we did a while ago. We were both at Personal Fest in 2006 when Ian Brown came in and had a great time.

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