Departamento B

Departamento B formed in Pamplona as a psychobilly instrumental trio in 1987 with Pablo Oroz (guitar), Kike Crespo (bass), and Alfonso Carlos López (drums). Later, they became a sextet, with Alfonso Carlos remaining as original member. The other musicians were Iñaki Fuente (vocals), Alvaro “Teddy” Cuartero (bass), Francisco “Paco” Aguilera (guitar), Jorge Pascual (organ and guitar), and Kike Arizaleta (vocals and backing vocals). Josecho Balda was their road manager. In this way, they made recordings and demos and participated in several compilations, starting with the song “The Crusher” included in 'The Munster Dance Hall Favorites. Vol. II' (Munster Records, 1988) and their appearance in the fanzine Mamorro compilation 'Mamorro. The Soundtrack 1st. Auth. European Comp' with “Rockaway Beach,” which also featured Cancer Moon, Los Clavos, Los Dins, and El Desván del Macho as national bands. 

 

 In 1991, they recorded a four-song EP that they self-released under the management of Munster Records and produced by Dany Ulacia (OK Korral). They included also a track, "El Pequeño Tamborilero", for the compilation released by the German psychobilly label Jungle Noise, ‘Wreckin’. By this point, they had already made a name for themselves on the Spanish alternative scene: all the fanzines related to the genre wrote about them, they had appeared on Tele-Navarra, and even a record label (Max Mix Music) had offered them a deal, which they turned down because it involved a change in style (eliminating distortion, slowing down the rhythm, etc., in short, opening up to the commercial market). 

 

After all this “success", work, military service, and other aspects of daily life led to the dissolution of the band. In 1995, they reunited and released the compilation cassette 'Memories of a Psychotic Band...', which included various songs recorded at Arion Studios between 1987 and 1991, some of them previously unreleased. It was distributed in Spain by Slap Club and Disco Billy, and internationally by Mental Disorder Records and Raucous Records. With this, they achieved great success once again on the alternative scene, and encouraged by the positive reception of the tape, they decided to get back together in 1996, performing just one show before scheduling conflicts and personal obligations forced them to call it quits once again. 

 

 They participated in the soundtracks of the films “Más Carnaza” (1996) and “Mundo Basura” (1998), by Valencian director Sergio Blasco, which premiered at horror film festivals, making them the only Spanish Psychobilly group to participate in gore and horror cinema. After collaborating with Los Refugiados, in 1998 Alfonso Carlos formed the band Iberia Trash, also psychobilly, together with N. Psycho-Trash from Los Motosierras. In addition to the aforementioned, they also participated in other compilations: ‘Spanish Bombs Vol 1’ (Ruta 66, 1991) and ‘Spanish Cats’ (Burning Crew Producciones, 1996). [SOURCE: GRUPOS NACIONALES NUEVAOLA80]