Surfing Through Time: Fernando Alfaro and the Reawakening of Surfin’ Bichos
Surf Bugs has long felt like a true soul circle for Fernando Alfaro, the singer and composer from Albacete who helped push indie music forward in the late eighties. Even while working on group projects, Alfaro has kept solo concerts in his schedule, and Surfin’ Bichos songs have consistently appeared in his repertoire. During a recent period of restlessness, Alfaro and his band paused to revisit their roots and craft new material after thirty years away from the studio, culminating in a fresh collection titled Más allá.
With the May 5 release of Más allá, Alfaro spent the day navigating a media schedule at the offices of Sonido Muchacho, where the day’s buzz made in-depth conversations a challenge. Yet the singer maintained a steady voice, able to articulate the emotional landscapes that shape his work. He described the album as highly conceptual, explaining that the title means Beyond and signaling the heavy presence of themes related to mortality. After a decade in Barcelona, Alfaro returned to his homeland following a personal breakup, retreating to a secluded mansion from 1880 in the Sierra de Albacete. There he balanced composition with long, solitary walks across the mansion’s courtyards and nights filled with vastness and ambient noise. He recalled sensing ghosts in the house at night, an afterlife that felt near. The record, he says, addresses an ending of the world, a reflection borne from experiences many faced during the pandemic .
The singer-songwriter notes that the album emerged from independent songs and not as a direct pandemic statement, though the period undeniably influenced its creation. Locked in a house with a curfew, Alfaro found that personal shortcomings came into sharper focus, and nostalgia for what was lost and the impulse to cross borders became powerful engines for the project. These forces, explained by Alfaro, gave the record its particular drive and emotional core .
Isolation after a painful breakup pushed Alfaro to reconnect with his roots, an experience that crystallized into a handful of new songs for Surfin’ Bichos. He explained that life in Albacete, where band members still reside, fostered a renewed sense of physical and emotional closeness. When it comes to making music, he often composes alone but prefers to record with trusted collaborators who can deepen the emotional texture. He also noted the anticipated contribution of his daughter Natalia, who is pursuing her own musical pursuits, and the participation of a friend named Joaquin Reyes. The team’s collaboration points to a deeply personal album crafted with intimate portraits of life and love .
In a photo taken at Sonido Muchacho, Alfaro is shown working in the record label’s offices, a scene that anchors a narrative of return and continuity for Surfin’ Bichos. Alba Vigaray captured this moment, underscoring the human element behind the new release. The portrait reinforces the sense that Más allá marks not merely a new chapter but a reaffirmation of the band’s enduring bond .
The band’s leader also balances several other projects, including Push Anyone, Fernando Alfaro, and Aliens Personally. He describes Más allá as one more album within a lifelong sequence of releases tied to various projects, yet it stands as a milestone that could reintroduce Surfin’ Bichos with a fresh set of songs. The collection carries a paradox at its core, mirroring the band’s history—radical energy coexisting with deep compassion—and the music that emerges from that tension sounds distinctly aligned with the album’s concept .
Three decades can seem like a long gap between milestones, yet the Surfin’ Bichos story remains an exception. The Manchegan group dissolved in the mid-nineties but stayed active in related projects, maintaining contact and shared creative energy. In recent years, the members reconnected for live performances that never anchored a formal tour in the traditional sense, yet those shows allowed them to remix older material and reintroduce it to devoted fans. The live enthusiasm helped shape Más allá, knitting together past favorites with new expressions and validating the band’s lasting appeal .
Más allá preserves the core spirit of Surfin’ Bichos—an essence of astonishment and heartbreak set against a refreshed sound that evokes a sunlit Mediterranean atmosphere. The title single, Luz del Mediterráneo, personifies this mood and embodies a bridge between eras in a country steeped in tradition and change. Alfaro comments on the broader cultural moment, noting a peculiar tendency to resist foundational change and a fear of progressive stagnation. He voices concern for his daughters and the generations to come, highlighting a personal stake in the conversation about art, time, and renewal . With their capacity to thrive on tension and nuance, Surfin’ Bichos continues to expand a legend built on bold experimentation and sincere human emotion .