After being away from the stage and the road for more than a year to do introspection and prepare her next album, Andalusian singer and songwriter Carmen Boza returns to the stage to present what she has accumulated during that period and to review her discography in a sincere manner. format.
What have you committed yourself to this year that you haven’t been involved in? type?
Essentially living. I took a break because I had been doing permanent tours for a long time. The dynamics of the track are very immersive and I needed to change the rhythm to reconnect to the more creative phase, composing and getting in touch with that in a calmer way. I need a little more calm to face the process of composing, arranging and producing new music.
He hasn’t released an album in a while, since releasing The Black Box in 2018.
Yes, a few singles were released, but it is not a work that brings together a few songs, that’s all.
One of these singles was San Juan, which was released last summer. You yourself have described this as a simple topic hiding a very powerful message. What message?
Songs are little works that help me learn and understand the things life brings to me, until they stop belonging to me and belong to people. I have the opportunity to turn it into a wonderful object: a song. With this song I internalized that my life is my life and what I do with it is my decision. In a realistic sense. What you do or don’t do in your life is your decision, and you cannot hold anyone responsible for what you do based on your own decisions. This idea was very powerful at that time because it brought with it great freedom and responsibility. This is a learning that I value as part of my adult life.
You’re talking about maturity to me with all this, aren’t you?
Exactly, for better or worse. I have learned to live knowing that my life belongs to me and that it is my action and decision that will make it happen.
Are your lyrics your life?
When I was younger, I was more confessional, acting almost in diary mode, in dialogue with myself. There was very little editing, it was almost as if I had written down my own thoughts and feelings. As I get older, I ask questions that don’t define me or speak to who I am or how I think. Sometimes I just play with the idea of offering a way to view a particular situation. I also like to play with metaphors, leaving the text open to interpretation and not limiting it too much. Songs are not there to entertain you, they are there to move you. This appeals to the most part of the person, a thought or feeling.
The guitar is his biggest ally, and his lyrics also play a big role. Do you define yourself as a singer?
I don’t like to describe myself in general terms. I’ve always stood out in the singer-songwriter genre. In Spain, traditionally in the figure of the singer-songwriter, lyrics have always had a little more weight, a little more substance. In this sense, I like and feel honored to be remembered in this way. However, I feel like I don’t share much with this label in terms of style. Just like when I started, yes I was playing acoustic guitar. There was a lot of text and almost a guitar accompanying it. I always gave importance to the text, if I opened my mouth it was to say something. But gradually the entire instrumental part became much more important. My experiments with instruments and sounds are moving me away from the singer-songwriter sound.
And it is also self-produced.
I learned to produce by working with others and making many mistakes. It was a journey and I could no longer understand doing my job any other way. Just as I communicate through song lyrics, I also express myself through the decisions I make during the production phase. I choose the instruments, the silences, the vocal effects… These are rich and powerful tools that will expand everything that can be conveyed in a song.
This also makes the work more personal in every way; You decide everything.
Definitely. This is my career, my songs and if there are mistakes, I’m ready to admit them. This is part of my artistry, my path, and my search for my voice. Self-producing is the most honest thing I can do in my work. Then keep at it to death.
He started this interview by saying he needed to take a break. Ready to get back on the road?
I’m ready. I had that doubt, I didn’t know how to face that moment. We have a lot of work before this concert, until this restart. The premiere of the new format and songs from the next work. It took a lot of rehearsal, and little by little I began to realize this fact. But it’s not real until you get on stage. I am prepared, expectant and motivated, introspective, eager to share everything new I have harvested from a fallow year. It gave a very good harvest and I am excited that Galicia is where I will plant the seed.