The Val

THE VAL IS A MELODIC ROCK BAND FORMED IN MADRID (SPAIN), IN 2010...
...when German singer Gabrielle de Val and
guitarist Alfonso Samos decided to reunite a
former band they had had many years ago,
together with pianist David Erick. A bunch of
songs sprung up very quickly and
spontaneously, so they were able to begin
recording “Back”, immediately. The whole album
was composed by the three members, produced
by Samos in his own recording studio and
mastered by Joe Gastwirt in California. The
result is a powerful and inspiring album, a
synthesis of the beauty of the songs and the
band ́s masterly musical renditions. From the
very beginning they knew that the title of this
album had to be “Back”, because they had met up
again after being apart for years and there was a
lot they had to share and tell in their songs
looking back...and forwards too.. The album was
released in 2011 in CD and Vinyl format.

Next step was including more musicians in
the band and then they started touring Spain.
“Back” was officially presented in Madrid in
December 2011 and very soon it was released
worldwide. Their first official video, “The Age of
the Sun” hit the spot, so that they were included
in the main music televisions in Spain (RTVE-2,
KISS, etc..) or Germany (IMusic1, MuzuTv, etc),
radios all over the world and top magazines like
Classic Rock AOR (which included the song on
their CD), Powerplay, The Classic Rock Society,
Fireworks Magazine, la Heavy, This is Rock,
Nachtaktiv, Cambio 16 and many others.

From then on, they played at the most
popular and well-known venues in Madrid many
times, like Top 40’s venue, 40 Café, or one of the
most important musical events, the Rock & Roll
Marathon in Madrid, as well as in other cities
like Barcelona, Girona, Seville or Salamanca,
with very good criticism from the press and
radio/tv presenters.

In the Summer of 2013 they toured the UK
(London, Bolton, Ilfracombe, Torquay, Wakefield,
Wales and Scheffield) with a great review on
their show from Classic Rock Magazine.After some collaborations like recording
“Break my Heart” as a dueto with German band
Subway, “Falling Star” with David Saylor
(included in his album Strength of One) or
playing live with Robert Tepper, Gabrielle and
Alfonso started writing songs for a new album
and that´s how their second release, “Heading
for the Surface” rose.

In 2014 Alex Morell, who had been playing
the bass-guitar in the band from the very
beginning, officially became a band-member too.
David Erick moved to the US, so that Tony
Ortega recorded all the keyboards while Rubén
Berengena became the band´s powerful
drummer that has given the album the tempo of
pure energy. This second release is still quite
melodic, but it´s a crazy combination too, in
which melodic rock is enriched with some
progressive and symphonic tunes. Musically
diverse and emotionally revealing, the album
takes The Val to a new level of creative
achievement. It has been released worldwide in
January 2015, and as for their debut, it has also
been pressed in CD and Vinyl format.

December 19, 2014: “Heading for the
Surface” has just been officially presented in
Madrid at the top venue Sala Arena, that has
been chosen as the starting point for their tour.