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NEWS
01 May 2007

Cuba:
Imprisonment made Gorki stronger

Gorki Águila is back full force. The Cuban music rebel was praised for his courage in a report on the American news network CNN on 23 April 2007 where his new music got world-wide exposure

    "I've lost my fear
    I've already been a prisoner
    I've only got a few bones left
    From up here the tyrant is watching you
    You're playing his so that he'll oppress us"
These are new lyrics of Cuban musician Gorki Aguila and his band Porno Para Ricardo, ('Porno for Ricardo').
"If anything, Gorki's lyrics have become more, not less, political since his time behind bars," said CNN's Morgan Neill when he presented the new music of Gorki to the world on CNN, profiling what he termed as "the most outspoken voice in Cuba's rock scene"
Neill and his camera crew had visited Gorki and his band in their rehearsal room where they are limited to practice and make their music once a week, behind closed doors in a room insulated with egg cartons, in an appartment which Gorki shares with his father.
The group told him that they are banned from playing live, and they distribute their music only via the internet and via handmade CDs which are passed hand to hand.

Click to see CNN video clip

In his CNN-interview, Gorki didn't try to hide his disappointment in the leaders of his country. Communism? He just couldn't stop laughing about it.
In another song excerpt he was quoted as singing:
    "I wished I could belive in them
    I'd like to but I can't
    No more lies, old man"
Morgan Neill ended his report with saying:
"Gorki and the rest of the band say they will keep recording and getting their music out the best they can. One thing they say they won't do is keep quiet."


Gorki Águila

Source

CNN.com – 23 April 2007:

'Cuban band blasts government'

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