Origins: the wild side

Miguel Ángel López Escámez was born on 25 May 1980 in Cartagena. The son of Rafael López, a professor of drawing, and Mari Escámez, he knew from school that guitar and stages were his thing. He learned by ear, practising between four and twelve hours a day, starting with a riff — “Peter Gunn” — that a neighbour taught him before he even owned an electric guitar. From then on he found he could pick out almost everything he heard.

His first project was Wildside, a Cartagena band of speed and thrash metal with plenty of hard rock and classic heavy, and a glam look: make-up, shaded eyes and painted diamonds on the face. Under the name “Mike Escámez” he wrote the songs on “Exciter” (Rockanbole Producciones, 2001), after winning the Marcha Arte Joven award from Cartagena City Council in 2000. When schedules allow, he still jumps on stage with them.

Madrid: Silver Fist and the school of the masters

In 2002, aged twenty-two, Madrid called. After passing the audition he joined Silver Fist, the band of Silverio Solórzano, singer of Muro. With them he released “Ave Fénix” (2004) and, on 28 October 2003, opened for Motörhead at Madrid’s Sala Aqualung on the “Hammered” tour.

From there his rise was unstoppable: playing with his veteran masters — Juan Márquez, José Luis Rodríguez Morcuende, Carlos Pina, Fernando Díaz-Valdés, Javier Mira, Enrique Ballesteros — he ended up in thirteen bands at once. When his mother saw him stressed and asked how many groups he was in, he had to stop and count.

Coz, Harakiri and Panzer

In 2005 he joined Coz, a historic Madrid hard rock band, and took part in the album “Amigo mío”. With Coz he has played festivals such as Leyendas del Rock and, on 17 September 2016, Las Ventas bullring during Rocktiembre, recorded as a double CD and DVD alongside Barón Rojo, Ñu, Topo, Burning and Asfalto.

After leaving Silver Fist he started his own band, Harakiri, with José Ignacio Castañosa “Lili” and later names such as José Antonio Martín and Juan Olmos. It now sleeps “like Sleeping Beauty”, waiting for its moment. In 2006 he joined Panzer alongside Carlos Pina, who calls him “the engine of the band’s continuity”.

One guitar, every band

Miguel Ángel is guitarist with Bella Bestia (Madrid glam metal), Rosa Negra (founded in 1981 by the León brothers) and Chino Banzai; he guests on records such as Oker’s “Burlando a la muerte” (2011), for which he also wrote the lyrics of “Héroe perdido”, and takes part in Carlos Pina’s projects such as P.I.N.A. He has played with Steven Adler (Guns N’ Roses) and Phil Campbell (Motörhead), recorded from home with British and other international bands, and even played a Madrid club gig celebrating twenty years since El Dioni’s armoured-van heist — with Dioni himself on vocals.

Back in Cartagena

In 2014 he returned to his home city: new technology lets him record solos at home and send them anywhere in the world, and leaves more time for guitar lessons. With British band Edge of the Blade (John Francis and Alan Kelly) he recorded the solos for “Distant Shores” (2021) and “Trick of the Light” (2023) in Cartagena studios; with singer John Wardy Ward he formed Psycho Ward, and in 2023 they released “Committed”.

White Blast

His own, most international project. “In Your Face”, presented in 2023–24, features Miguel Ángel on guitars, John Francis on vocals, songwriting by Alan Kelly and a stellar guest list: Rowan Robertson (Dio), Ross The Boss (Manowar), Laurence Archer (UFO, Grand Slam), Gene Allen (Lizzy Borden), Kurt James (Alcatrazz), Chris and Tino Troy (Praying Mantis) and Dave Marshall, with Tony Montana (Wildside) on drums. His plan: three studio albums and a double live record, ideally in Cartagena.

Axes with a story

His guitars are “work tools”: in 2021 he owned thirty-one, no two alike in sound or weight, rotated between teaching and live shows. Among them, the Hamer GT (with a custom case that weighs a ton), instruments from CRJ Custom, and a tiger-striped B.C. Rich that El Dioni himself once played. See the full collection.

Masters and references

Randy Rhoads is the master who never leaves: in 2023 he posed with Kelle Rhoads, the guitarist’s brother, outside the Musonia Academy founded by their mother. His taste runs from hard rock and classic heavy to blues and jazz. Those who know him agree on the portrait: someone with “a voice of his own”, humble, generous and always ready to help. “Miguel Ángel’s dictionary is always open at the word respect,” writes his biographer.

Source: Antonio Marín Albalate, Miguel Ángel Cachorro. Una sonrisa en medio de la tormenta (Malbec Ediciones, 2025); White Blast on Bandcamp.