Due to the intense agenda, we met at 20:00 in the Bonberenea study. They have not published anything with Lisabö for about six years and yet they continue to attend the meetings of Bidehuts, expressing their opinion and conducting such interviews. That's Bidehuts' best sign of health and strength. We are in its natural environment, surrounded by microphones and instruments.

What was the situation 10 years ago, when you created Bidehuts?

Karlos Osinaga: I don't know how much it really happened and how much we remember from repetition. In Lisabö we had been clear for a long time that one day we were going to publish the work on our own. Eleven or twelve years ago we were stuck in the structure of the Metak label, but then we already wanted to make a single on our own with Inoren Ero Ni. We wanted vinyl and at Metak they didn't have the habit of doing it. We agreed that yes, we would ever publish that self-edited Single.

However, it was closed in 2006 by Meta. When a record label is closed, you feel the first pity, but then comes the question: What are we going to do now? That moment was the best excuse to start doing something new. We talked and discussed a lot and decided to create Bidehuts united between Lisabö, Anari, Hotel and Nork Ero Ni.

Eneko Aranzasti: Notice, at last, that Single we had in mind was not the first reference, but the seventh. In a very short time we published a lot of papers. They were really intense years, but they were also funny. We didn’t know how to do many things, and it was something new to us…

You started four groups, and later, many others have joined the road. Has the aid been important?

R. Aranzasti: For me, Bidehuts is a friendly project, and that's fundamental. Sometimes I think, if you asked me which group I would bring to Bidehuts, 10 years ago I would say a lot, and now I think I wouldn't say one. It's not just music, you have to make decisions, you have to debate -- and for that you need a special affinity.

K. Osinaga: From the outside or from the distance you see things differently, but this is not a thing of the other world. You need something, you organize and you do it. As usual, you put the projects in place with people around you, and we did as well.

R. Aranzasti: Things are done step by step, even going backwards. In Bidehutsen we have never looked very far, we have been slowly doing things, making decisions… Without much planning. We have discussed things as they came, and what we have done little by little has shaped Bidehu.Seguimos in-house operation, for example, by discussing how it should still be (laughs). Maybe we'll do it for the 20th anniversary.

Have you not been tempted to do something more global? I know what I know: bringing together so many musicians and…

K. Osinaga: None, and with all our will, we could not. All the meetings are held in our spare time, no one works on this, so we haven't had the opportunity to do something bigger. Our attitude has been professional when we have been able, but not really professional.

R. Aranzasti: Txinaurriak is the reflection that we have not had it. I did not want to be a tribute to Mikel Laboa by a generation, but a friendly tribute. Without great pretensions, a way to thank you. In everything else we do in Bidehuts, that's the basic idea.

You have said of Lisabö that, although it is not explicit, there is something ethical or political behind it. Similar to Bidehuts?

K. Osinaga: The truth is, I don't know. We have never agreed with each other.

R. Aranzasti: Everyone will have their philosophy in their heads, but I think there is something political in their way of working. After all, we are a record label that works in a way asamblearia.Con
the changes that the Internet has brought, etc., many have taken the path of self-production. But they've done it more individually, each group on their own...

K. Osinaga: 10 years ago, self-production had a favorite point, “you do because nobody wants to take the record.” Then they've started doing the same thing as reputable musicians, and perception has changed a lot.

In our case, we have a clear model: A label created in Washington, Dischord Records, powered, among others, by the Fugazi group, and its philosophy. For us, our position has always been against the underground and the logic of industry. It was clear from the beginning that we wanted to bring together some groups. We did not want to expand, but we did want the path that we have opened to be valid for others. When I have been anywhere it has been with someone’s help, and we have also tried to do the same. Sharing and opening a way to others.

R. Aranzasti: Relating to the previous question, for me there is a political attitude in it: we did the road and other friends were able to take advantage of it… But we did not say, “Do I have this, do you want to take advantage of it?” We said, “We have done this, here you have the table, the hammer, the nails, come and do it yourself.”

K. Osinaga: Some have made this way because they found it more economically interesting, and that is also legitimate and understandable. Especially because in many record houses the percentages for groups were very low at one time, with exceptions like Esan Ozenki. That is why it is now normal for a group that has its own structure to make the leap to self-production.

It will surely be easier to make decisions without discussing them with other groups…

R. Aranzasti: Yes, it's easier. You make yours, discuss it among your peers and it's already there. In the case of bidehuts, after a group debate, the assembly arrives. You have to keep arguing with those who are your friends. Taking that step requires a great deal.

However, in the Basque Country this is not new, as has been done in a thousand other camps. Musically we have some models, but in everyday life there are thousands of models. We have brought that way of doing music.

Txuma Murugarren said in an interview for ARGIA that he wants to create, without having to assume all the other jobs. How do you get that married with the idea of self-production?

K. Osinaga: That is also understandable. I'm not saying that every single tade has to make the record on its own. It's a huge effort. In the case of Lisabö, we do not have time to create for other reasons… But it is true that self-production requires energy and time, especially if it is applied in everything.

R. Aranzasti: What Txuma Murugarren said seems to me to be very honest. Some say: “I do self-production and I control my work.” But I also understand that of the Murugarren: “I am a musician, I want to make songs, and from there someone will do the work that comes...” In our case, what an external company does is broadcasting, and we also share responsibilities such as selling mail or the press. That takes a little work from the teams, but in spite of that, promotion, production and everything else remains in the hands of each group.

The latest album by Willis Drummond has not been published by Bidehuts. How are these decisions managed?

R. Aranzasti: We have no contract at Bidehutsen. Each one makes his way and, as in some moments he has united us, in others he moves us away, naturally, as in all other aspects of life. For whatever and for whatever you ask, that in 10 years a single team has left the way, it's a good number.

K. Osinaga: In other words, it is a great thing that those of us here are still there. For example, the fact that Anari has published an Epilogue this year has been a gift to me, as a music fan and as a member of Bidehuts.

R. Aranzasti: The case of Lisabö, for example, is special. We haven't published anything for about six years, and we're still on Bidehuts. There are the members of the groups and then the members of Lisabö, without touching, without publishing album, but there… (laughs). I think that says a lot.