Arnau Sala (Manresa, 1978) and Adrián de Alfonso (La Coruña, 1978) started improvising together in 2003, right when Omega Cinco and Veracruz, their respective bands, shed their skins and reduced their habitual level of racket. So, suddenly lacking their fix of sonic aggression, it was natural for them to take up together.
Inspired by the noise of dying dinosaurs and the clatter of trains, Sala and de Alfonso created DNSR TRN, a drum guitar duo advancing in one direction only: brute force. To boost their punch, DNSR TRN would position the bass drum and amps facing the nearest walls, generating vibrations that few could stand. They never played the same thing twice, and was said to sound like a grindcore group falling down the stairs.
The following year they were joined by Sergio Pérez, who added a bit of order with a Russian Synth and second guitar. With him, DNSR TRN recorded their first tape -“Pekín King/Desert Storm” C30 (Ozonokids, 2005) – in the Sala family warehouse in Manresa. But Pérez didn’t last long, as he was too straight for the freeform style favoured by the others.
At the end of 2005, DNSR TRN started doing shows. Live, the drums and guitars were usually enhanced by mixers, contact mics and assorted scrap. The seed of Homenatges, Arnau and Adrián’s recently created industrial band, came out of that first distancing from a more classical rock format towards electronic experiments…
In the Spring of 2007, Sala and de Alfonso toured around the peninsula with the Australian Lucas Abela, now focusing exclusively on the electronics that had been slowly taking over. After that tour they decided to change their name to Bèstia Ferida.
On their return to Barcelona, Sala went back to the drums to accompany Lydia Lunch and coincided with Mark Cunningham (New Jersey, 1952) –founding member of Mars, Don King, Raeo, Convolution and participant in countless other experiments and collaborations-, sharing the stage in several shows of Lunch’s “Hangover Hotel” project. A few months later, Arnau and Adrián started up again on drums and guitar doing Bèstia Ferida shows.
That same summer, Cunningham, after a Bèstia Ferida concert with guest Marc Viaplana (Último Resorte), proposed they try playing together. The resulting trio didn’t take long to go onstage, with one central idea: total freedom. The first shows of the new and definitive lineup of Bèstia Ferida showed that the band had found a reliable and potent direction, as well as a highly explorable soundspace. Cunningham’s multiform spectral trumpet raised up the ideal counterpoint to guide the animal morass of Sala and de Alfonso.
Throughout 2008 and up to present they have continued developing their powerful brew both in small clubs and important local festivals such as Primavera Sound and Sónar. Some of the best performances from these were compiled on the “Live Wounded” cassette, released in both Spain and the US. Then in winter 2009 a series of sessions at the warehouse in Manresa led to what will be their first LP, which recently had a vinyl release.
