Jaime Urrutia, serving as vocalist and guitarist, first earned notice through his work with Ejecutivos Agresivos and as frontman of the popular rock trio Gabinete Caligari, both tied to Spain’s Movida Madrileña countercultural movement. Although that scene also launched acts such as Derribos Arias and Decima Victima, Urrutia ranks among its most enduring and distinctive creative musical figures. His contributions to Ejecutivos Agresivos helped define a sound shaped by the dark, brooding British rock of the Cure, Joy Division, and Bauhaus. After nearly 20 years leading Gabinete Caligari he chose to go solo once his bandmates lost interest in continued writing and performing; the group’s official breakup came in October 1999. For the first time since the early ’80s Urrutia spent several months without a label or management, then approached DRO, which welcomed the opportunity to back the established hitmaker and signed him in December 2000. Working with veteran Spanish rock producer Esteban Hirschfeld, he reviewed boxes of material written during his Gabinete Caligari years; the pair recorded while testing combinations of styles and sounds. Seven weeks of studio work yielded his debut solo album, released in 2002 as Patente de Corso and featuring the singles “Que Barbaridad” and “Castillos en el Aire.” His second album, El Muchacho Eléctrico, followed in 2005, and his first live record, En Joy, appeared in 2007.
