Have you thought of visiting San Sebastián? We’d like to put a soundtrack to your trip! We’ve created a special Basque playlist, exclusively featuring local artists, for you to discover what you can listen to there.
To find out more information on San Sebastián (Donosti in Euskera) and the surrounding area, we got in touch with Nøgen, a local band with a deep connection with their region of birth. They gave us a few tips on this wonderful destination.
Hi Nøgen, thanks so much for agreeing to this interview! How would you describe yourselves to any Volare readers who aren’t familiar with you?
We are Alex, Ane, Jokin, Markel and Olatz, a “kuadrilla” (a Basque word meaning a close group of friends) who got together to make music and share our dreams. Nøgen is an indie-rock band formed in 2016, with three albums released and tours that have taken us to Japan and Korea. Our dreams have always gone beyond our possibilities and that’s what keeps us going; we’re ambitious and dedicated. We’ve always done things our way and giving particular importance to those behind the project. We love to create, sing, tour, share, meet people and find our home on the road. That’s what we’ve been doing since 2016.
You’ve just released a new single, Glastonbury. We love it here at Volotea! Are you planning to release a new album soon or to go on another tour?
Thanks, guys! It’s true that we haven’t released anything new for a couple of years now and we’re delighted both with the song and with the public’s response. It’s a song about us, as a band and as individuals, about our dreams and our fears, and it’s the song that we’ve put most effort into creating and recording, so far. Playing it live and seeing people’s reactions is a very moving experience.
We’re right in the middle of recording our fourth studio album. First of all, we’ll release a second single shortly and perform just a few concerts this summer, 2023. Then the tour proper will be in 2024, following the release of the album at the end of this year.
Your songs are sung in Euskera, the language of the Basque Country. We can imagine the strong attachment you all feel to your region. Can you give us some tips on San Sebastián and the surrounding area? What, for example, would be your favourite outdoor activities, and where?
That’s right, we sing almost everything in Euskera, and it’s also the language we use to communicate within the band and the main language we use on a daily basis. It’s a beautiful language, but learning it from scratch must be a nightmare…
So, what can we tell you about Donosti, as we call it, that you don’t already know? Do we really want to reveal our secret places to everyone?! We’d advise people not to just stick to the picturesque part of the city and to wander through the streets, interacting with the locals and experiencing the city respectfully. Apart from that, summer sunsets from the Sagües wall, climbing the hills of Ulia and Urgull, and walking in the rain in winter, finishing it all off with a good pintxo at any bar (you don’t just get pintxos in the old part of town…).
If we want to listen to live music or go dancing at night, where should we go?
We don’t know anything about that… we’re very quiet people, ha-ha!
No, I’m joking. If you’re lucky enough to come here during the Jazzaldia jazz festival, there’ll be few better things in the world then watching Jamie Cullum in concert (or whoever’s performing) from the beach, as the sun sets behind the stage. We were lucky enough to play at the 2019 festival and it’s at a whole different level… and it didn’t stop raining all day (this can also happen, we are in the Basque Country, after all). Bob Dylan came another year and filled the entire beach; it’s a real spectacle.
In terms of bars and nightclubs, we’d go to the area of Egia. Both Daba Daba and Bukowski are lively venues with some really interesting music/artists.
Which are the best beaches in and around San Sebastián?
That’s a tricky question. These kind of questions are always followed by “it depends”. For example, Zurriola beach has the most activity, perfect for surfing or for playing volleyball, but it may not be the best for reading a book in peace and quiet.
La Concha is a piece of heaven on earth; there won’t be many urban beaches as pretty is this. Right in the centre of town, what more could you want?
Ondarreta is the extension of La Concha in the area of Antiguo, near the Peine del Viento (wind comb) sculptures. It’s likely to be a bit quieter than La Concha and is a good option for swimming to the island of Santa Clara.
There’s no bad choice, basically…
And if we’re hungry, where can we book a table to savour local dishes? What’s the typical food from your region?
ou’d better come with a good appetite!! There are so many good quality options here when it comes to food.
We have “txakolindegi” (wineries – txakolí is a variety of wine, usually white, a speciality of the coastal region) and “sagardotegi” (cider houses). Both options are very good and are generally very authentic places; try to avoid the tourist dishes.
Another option is to bar-hop and try different pintxos, you can’t go wrong. But without doubt, the favourite place is one selling a “bokata”. Grab a sandwich to go, and eat it at the marina. A clear winner.
Is there a pretty little town that maybe not everyone knows about and which you could suggest we visit?
To us, pretty means authentic, and we’re lucky to have a lot of that all over Gipuzkoa. Most of us are from the coast and love life by the sea, surfing and eating good fish in Hondarribia, Zarautz, Getaria, Zumaia… But Ane, our singer, is from Lazkao, in the mountainous region of Goierri, and you can certainly find some wonderful places there too. For example, the view of the imposing Mount Txindoki from Lazkaomendi is spectacular.
And, finally, if you could book your next holiday with Volotea, which destination would you like to visit and why?
Here’s the problem… there are five of us in the band and we all have different tastes! But I think we’d all love to go to Copenhagen. At the end of the day, Denmark played a key role when we formed Nøgen; in fact, the name of the band means “naked” in Danish. We’ve had three albums released now, we’re working on the fourth, and they all have Danish names… so, Copenhagen could be a very nice meeting point. If there’s a reader who fancies showing us around there, we’ll take them out to dinner here in Donosti 😉
Many thanks, Nøgen!
