Biography
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Years Active
2018 – present (6 years)
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Members
- Adrián Quesada Michelena
- Josh Dally
At 1980, a synthwave duo formed by Adrian Quesada Michelena from Spain and Josh Dally from England, have just released their first album A Thousand Lives a few days ago. Here at Retro Synthwave, we have an exclusive interview to get to know a little bit more about those musicians. You’ll know what was the key inspiration to create their huge LP, if they planned to do some concerts, what are their key collaborations and projects… and many more.
In 2017 Adrián Quesada was a drummer who had been playing covers of other artists in different bands for years. At that time he used to listen to 80s melodic rock on YouTube, until the platform suggested the song "Jason" by The Midnight, and that's when he discovered synthwave. According to Quesada, that music left an impact on him, as it was exactly the sound he had been looking for for many years, and it changed his life. So he wrote a synth pop style song called "Now", but he needed someone to put vocals to it, so he contacted Josh Dally and they started working together. The experience was so satisfying that they decided to produce a second song, "Have A Heart", and finally decided to form a band and start preparing an album of their own. It was Quesada who came up with the name At 1980, as it was the year of their birth and a reference to the decade in which they were musically inspired. For his part, Josh Dally had already worked with Ollie Wride, Timecop1983 and even toured with FM-84. It was Ollie Wride, a friend of Dally's, who was the connection between the New Retro Wave label and At 1980, who spoke highly of them. The production company listened to the duo's songs and were very satisfied, so they agreed to sign them to a contract. At 1980 played their first show in Madrid in 2019 in a sold-out event. Subsequently, they also performed in other European venues such as Amsterdam and London.
On 26 June 2020 they released A Thousand Lives, their first studio album. For this work they had the collaboration of artists such as Dana Jean Phoenix, Timecop1983 and Camille Glémet.5 In Quesada's words: "I would say that the film Mr. Nobody by Jaco Van Dormael was the main inspiration. The idea that behind every decision you make in life there is a sacrifice involved. You choose a path and, as a consequence, other paths (lives) will no longer be lived. The 80s nostalgia that permeates the album is very much rooted in the nostalgia of that carefree time where no major decisions had yet been made and all of life's options were still available." The album reached number 8 on the iTunes electronic music chart in the US and number 21 in the UK. It was also #1 on Bandcamp's synthwave and retrowave charts, and reached #17 on the global chart.
On 6 August 2021 they released their second studio album, Late Nights Calls, recorded mostly at Brighton Electric Studios in Brighton, England. There they also recorded two live versions of the singles "California Nights" and "Caroline". The album reached number 6 on the US iTunes electronic chart, reached number 1 on Bandcamp's synthwave and retrowave charts, and number 8 on the global chart, beating the previous album's records.
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