“We turned 27, the age at which they say all rockers die.” That is how May Oliver, the original bassist of the group, broke up with Los Planetas after two studio albums. It happened in the Sierra Nevada, surrounded by snow on a sunny day. Or the same thing wasn’t the case and that never happened. Because This is not the story of The Planets.

The new movie Isaki Lacuesta, ‘Second prize’, is not a biopic nor the official history of the Granada band. The film is an amalgamation of legends, what could have been or never happened in one of the most important bands in the country.

The story starts in Grenade (“the only city named after a bomb”, as drummer Eric Jiménez would say) to late 90’s. The group is experiencing its most delicate moment. After the abandonment of May (played by actress Stephanie Magnin), ‘the guitarist’ (Crystalline) is in a spiral of self-destruction and ‘the singer’ (actor Dani Ibáñez) faces the composition process of what will be his third album: ‘A week in the engine of a bus’an album that will transform the country’s music scene.

All the film’s music is recorded live. In fact, the band members are professional musicians from the Granada scene. All except Dani Ibáñez (‘the singer’), an actor with a family in Granada and musical knowledge. The Granada musician Cristalino steps into the shoes of the ‘guitarist’ and Mario Fernández (Mafo), who has played with Eric and Los Planetas, plays the ‘drummer’. A original idea, that the actors were musicianswhich came from director Jonás Trueba (who was going to take charge of the project initially), and which Isaki Lacuesta decided to keep when he finally kept the story.

But this film is not (only) about The Planets. This is a universal story, a story “of love, of vampires, of ghosts; a horror story (with a lot of drugs) and science fiction,” as Isaki Lacuesta explains. laSexta speaks with Cristalino about his debut as an actor and chats with Stéphanie Magnin, or in other words with May, “the girl who played with her back turned.”

Ask: Being a professional musician, you break into the cinema to play the ‘guitarist’ of a leading band in this country. How did you face the challenge?

Crystalline: I faced the challenge with great enthusiasm, I am very grateful. There was a part, learning some songs and putting together a band, that I was familiar with, but learning the acting part has been beautiful. My teammates helped me a lot and we also had a coach to prepare us and give us tools.

Ask: The union and love between the members of the group goes beyond the screen. Also the pain and frustration, turned into a bar fight. In fact, you literally get into trouble with your bandmate… (another of the legends that circulate about Jota and Florent in the bars of Granada)

Crystalline: We needed physical contact with each other and we hugged a lot during filming. The fight is another form of hug… (smiles) Dani came with us to Granada to live together and the feeling is that we put together a real group.

Ask: The shadow of The Planets is long, did you have contact with them to prepare your characters?

Stephanie Magnin: No. We decided to base ourselves on the legend of the group to be able to build the characters. They told me that May played with her back turned and that she broke up with the band to fulfill her dream of studying poetry, with those strokes my process began. In the end it was liberating to be able to shape the character.

Crystalline: I didn’t have contact with Florent either. I based myself on interviews in the press, books and on legends that everyone tells you in Granada.

Ask: In ‘Second Prize’ the record company decides to bet and invest in a band on the verge of splitting. Without knowing the songs and after a second album that did not completely convince, they allowed Los Planetas to go to New York to record their third studio album. As a musician, do you miss that industry involvement with emerging bands today?

Crystalline: Now the industry is broader, there are more options than the big record labels. In fact, there are very big artists who go without a record label… You no longer depend on a label to be able to go record in New York. Everything has changed.

Ask: Drug use is explicit in the film. The story tells of the serious heroin addiction of the ‘guitarist’. It is consumed as part of the creative process, but it is also shown without romanticizing a serious problem in Spain in the 90s.

Stephanie Magnin: It made no sense to ignore something that happened in the film. It was what was happening in the streets at that time. The ‘guitarist’ fights to save himself and wants to get out of there, but he is not able to do so.

Crystalline: Romanticizing drug use is not reality. The film shows both sides, a part of exploration or dreamlike (perhaps the same as the musical creative process) and a serious part of addiction. They broke rules (they experimented and pushed the limits), like when They went to television and got in trouble for singing in playback. They did something radical that no one dared to do and it had its consequences.

Ask: But, if you don’t know Los Planetas or have never heard their music, why should you see ‘Segundo Premio’?

Stephanie Magnin: The Planets is an excuse to tell something else, a group of friends who love each other very much and who are pursuing their dreams. The background to everything is the love they have for each other, and that is beautiful to see.

Crystalline: The film can be enjoyed even if you are not a fan of The Planets. It is a story that can be universal and it’s a good way to approach a musical project, see how it works from the inside.

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