Los Bonsáis / Los Bonsais

A noise pop duo from Asturias, Los Bonsáis got their start in 2010 when guitarist/songwriter Nel was making demos of his C-86-meets-shoegaze songs and asked his friend Helena to sing. The results were positive enough that they decided to join together and keep recording. Two sets of demos were made in 2011 — Ultramar in May, Es Mejor in July — before the duo was signed up by Spanish pop label Elefant. Their first EP for the label, Ultramarinos, was produced by Iván Juniper and Eva Guilala (of Linda Guilala) and released in early 2012. It featured a heavier sound that did nothing to diminish the duo's scrappy and tuneful approach to shoegaze pop. While getting together songs for its next release, the duo produced four issues of a fanzine, Temporal, and accomplished artist Helena held an exhibit of her works. The same cast of characters reunited to create the band's next release, the eight-song EP Martín Pescador, which was released by Elefant in early 2013.