Rulo y la Contrabanda

After announcing he would steer clear of any future band commitments in the wake of his exit from La Fuga, frontman Raul Gutierrez joined forces with several veteran players just twelve months later, establishing the Spanish pop/rock group Rulo y la Contrabanda. Operating from Reinosa in Cantabria, he enlisted longtime associate Adolfo Garmendia along with guitarists Dani Baraldes (Macaco), bassist Quique Mavilla (Distrito 14), and drummer Karlos Arancegui (Ivan Ferreiro) during 2010; the collaboration with producer Javier San Martin yielded the chart-topping debut Señales de Humo that same year.

A live recording, Ras de Cielo en Directo Desde Santander, appeared in 2011. Near the close of 2012 the band issued Especies en Extinción, which climbed to number two on the Spanish album chart. One year afterward came the documentary and companion book Adentro, un Inventario de Emociones. The concert album Una Noche en el Castillo surfaced in September 2014, while Rulo’s third studio effort finally arrived in 2016. El Doble de Tu Mitad enjoyed strong commercial success, returning him to the top of the Spanish charts for the first time since Señales de Humo.