The Pinker Tones

Location: España, Barcelona

The Pinker Tones are the brainchild of Barcelona natives Mister Furia and Professor Manso. The group’s music is an eclectic and explosive cocktail mixing pop, funk, soul, bossa, break beat, swing, lounge, and psychedelia. Their songs feature Spanish, French, English, and German lyrics.

Since the release of ‘The Million Color Revolution’ on the band’s own label Pinkerland Records (founded by the band and UK label Outstanding Records) & Latin alternative label Nacional Records, The Pinker Tones have played more than 300 shows in over 40 countries. The group have developed a killer live show with the invaluable help of DJ Niño. Their Pinker Tones DJ Crew combines the intensity of a rock band and the excitement of a DJ set. They have performed in New York, Moscow, Beijing, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Caracas, Puerto Rico, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Toronto, as well as many other world cities.

At a time when the Spanish indie pop scene tends to favor either retro power pop or Belle & Sebastian-style tweeness, Barcelona-based duo the Pinker Tones pursue their own uniquely rewarding path. Their largely electronic sound blends straightforward bubblegum hooks, dance rhythms, and a magpie-like attitude to all styles and eras of pop music past. Salvador Rey (vocals, guitar, keyboards, flute) and Alex Llovet (keyboards, samples, drums) met at university in the late '90s and formed the Pinker Tones in 2001 when Rey was offered a commission to compose a soundtrack for a television documentary and he approached his neighbor Llovet about using the latter's home studio for the project. Enjoying the collaboration, the pair continued under the name the Pinker Tones, adopting the stage names Mister Furia (Rey) and Professor Manso (Llovet) as part of an overarching concept of incorporating humor and multilingual positivity into their music. Following a pair of introductory singles, the Pinker Tones released their debut album, The BCN Connection, in 2003. While maintaining a strong sideline in producing and remixing other artists and composing soundtracks for television and film, the Pinker Tones recorded their second album, The Million Colour Revolution, over the course of two years, releasing it worldwide in early 2006. A slow-building buzz around the duo -- helped along by their half-band, half-DJ live sets and a series of entertaining videos -- led to the Canadian label Nettwerk Records picking up the duo's own label, Pinkerland Records, for North American distribution. The first fruit of the deal was the remix album More Colours! (featuring contributions from Kraftwerk's Wolfgang Flür and second-generation Brazilian musician Moreno Veloso, among others), released in the summer of 2007.