"El Gallinero"–An Artists' & Writers' Refuge in Granada

Thanks to Spanish Musician, David Little

“I can’t do serious work at home,” says 27-year-old Spanish musician, David Little, founder, songwriter, vocalist and lead guitarist of the Málaga-based Spanish rock group, V de Vodka. “At home I’m surrounded by friends, family, bars and all sorts of other distractions. But I’ve got work to do. I’ve got to get a record out! It was clear to me I had to find a secluded and inspiring place where I could hole up for three weeks and do all the arrangements for the 10 songs destined for our new record.”

David found the place he needed on a sunny hillside outside Granada–El Gallinero. “It’s perfect here,” he says. “It’s just secluded enough, and quiet, with  soothing views across the valley and plenty of space to set up the recording equipment. I’ve been here for two weeks and the arrangements are done. Now I’ve got a week left to work on my own stuff.”

Besides being a musician David is a graduate in Audio-Visual Communication with a masters degree in Business Communication, and experience working in a Madrid agency. “That didn’t last long,” he says. “The crisis hit and the job evaporated, along with a lot of others. So I was obliged to go back and embrace my first love: music. Actually I mixed it with communication, my second love. A  couple of friends and I created a new online music and cinema magazine called Thriller Webzine. So I have the privilege of working two jobs, both of which cost me money.”

“The return to music was a bittersweet experience,” adds David. “I discovered that many of Spain’s city halls are finding pretexts to close the music bars which are the life blood of Spain’s emerging musicians. Now that nobody sells CD’s any more, live performances are the only source of income for young bands, and for old ones, for that matter. The municipal authorities don’t seem to realize that a society cannot prosper just with politicians, police, bankers and accountants, and dentists. ”

David belongs to the new generation of young “indignados,” now referred to as the 15M Movement after they occupied la Puerta del Sol, Madrid’s principal plaza, on May 15, 2011 (accompanied by demonstrations in 57 other Spanish cities) and set the dominoes in motion for similar protest movements around the world.

So, this is the lad who brought music to the Gallinero. Thank you, David, for adding a new dimension to the Gallinero’s creative repertory. We wish you the best of luck in your generation’s struggle against what Matt Taibbi of  The Rolling Stone calls the world’s “vampire squids.”