New album, Ondas award, upcoming tour… What more could you ask for?
Let all this stress go away, because tour promotions and preparations are making me very stressed. I do all of this, including making songs and albums, for one purpose, and that is to tour. What makes me tired is being relaxed, unpressured, unprepared, and getting in the van every weekend to play with my bandmates. That’s what makes me happy.
Yes, it’s much more for me. These are very different emotions. It’s great when things go well in the creative process, but my niche is more on stage than in the studio. I’m much happier and more comfortable on stage. I suffer a lot thinking that it won’t come out in the studio, that I will lose the essence of what I want to say, how I want to express it… I know it never happens like that, it all comes to fruition in the end, but no, I can avoid suffering too much in the process. On the other hand, it is not alive.
Nothing. None. I get stage fright when I get off stage. But never, ever on stage.
Anyway, it’s been too long this time. I don’t know if I haven’t played that long since I finished the album. When the tour starts on January 13 in Zaragoza, I will not have played for almost a year and a month, except for two individual concerts. I don’t think I was there that long, so I have a big pair of overalls.
Alicante is the third meeting of the tour and the first time it comes to ADDA. Do you like it?
Too much. I was just in the stands and that’s where I like to play in auditoriums like this. It’s a middle ground between playing in a super stadium and playing in a small venue. It’s a bit of both, a super concert and sincerity at the same time. And what I always liked most was to see the audience on a hill, on a hill. There is a special climate and a magnificent view is created there.
He does not come alone, but with a group.
Yes, yes, with the whole group. We will devote most of this to the new album and some hit songs.
There’s no room to dance here, but you can dance with some, right?
I love seated concerts because you have both options. At rock concerts in theaters or auditoriums, you always have a choice at some point. To show, get up and dance. And then, when there are more introspective, more intimate moments, sit back and pay attention. When you play in a hall or a very large venue you only have one of two options, which is why I love the theater format. And also in this first part of the tour – then we’ll get into summer concerts in big venues – but in this first part we’ll do a combination. To show A second part that is more theatrical and very focused on the last album and includes all the details. hits and one more festive thing.
Even if we’re dead. The name of the album is not very commercial.
I had my doubts but I was very clear. There comes a point where you don’t have to think, at least that’s what I do, you have to defend the business to death, or rather above so-called commercial expectations. Because what is commercial or not depends on so many things that are out of your control, what you have to do is be loyal to what you do. And that’s what the work was about, things that end up throughout the album, vulnerability, the illusion of happiness, etc. it was about a soul floating about… a bunch of things on the album and the perfect title was This Was It . I didn’t check whether it was commercial or not. Now is the time to defend it commercially, but when you do it you don’t have to think.
This is not a funeral album, far from it.
Not at all. That’s the thing, in the end, it’s the songs and the energy of the album that impresses people. And it’s an album of relentless vitality and energy.
It talks about death, but it also talks about the healing of emotions.
Completely. He talks about life deep down. Death is around in the album, the word death is mentioned, but it talks about feeling alive and how to feel alive.
“I associate happiness with peace rather than height. ‘No surprises’, as Radiohead says”
It seems to have a beginning and an end, like a musical. Is the order of the songs very deliberate?
Yes, but this is something that has just emerged. There are two ways to make a record that has what we call it. concept: Think about the concept and enslave the entire creative process to it, which makes the album more solid; or, depending on the situation, let the events take their course and the concept will emerge on its own. You can’t even think about the concept and just put out a collection of songs, but I think it’s better to just let what’s bothering you go. I usually make albums almost as a result of scenes. Like everyone else, we go through a series of phases in our lives: we break up with our partner, we move, children leave home, or we have children for the first time. We close the cycles and when I close one, I make an album and the songs are the ten results of that experienced stage and this gives the album a great unity and creates a climate in the album because you get into a movie, a novel. .
Even though it talks about darkness, it also has a lot of melody.
Yes and lots of light. This is my profession, finding beautiful melodies is my obsession when I pick up the guitar.
in the songReturn? He wonders if the wise men and geniuses will return. Are we missing these now?
Of course, it is not missing, but yes, in the midst of all this noise and all these people who think they are smart and genius, we say a lot of things like “he is a genius” and we wear out that word. I believe there are wise men and geniuses, but they are a little lost in empty words.
It also talks about whether we will ever be happy again. Do we have to keep looking for a way to be?
Certainly. I increasingly associate happiness with peace rather than high. I used to look for happiness in festivals and busy trips, but now I increasingly associate happiness with tranquility and being free from surprises. No surpriseAccording to Radiohead, he is in good physical condition. It’s becoming a calmer thing for me.
It says something like this inside: MysticWho is no longer 18 years old and wants to rest. He is 54 years old but has been involved with music for almost 40 years.
Not there but almost 37 (laughs).
So what’s left of that 15-16 year old coke?
It’s hard to analyze, but I don’t think much about it, I don’t spend much time on it. As an artist, I actually think there is a lot of this cola. I’m exactly the same, I pick up a guitar, hit it, strum it, look for melodies, chords, and then I go on stage and entertain the audience. What happens is that life changes with age, with experiences, with what’s in front of you and with what’s behind you. But as a musician, I think I’m the same.
I think he sings much better now.
(laughs) Man, I learned a lot over the course of a few years, I played with a few people in clubs and it forced me to go to the heart of the song, the melody, the heart of my voice and discover that my voice is an instrument. and learn to play it.
Want to grow old like Paul McCartney or Keith Richards?
I prefer anything like Keith Richards (laughs). Keith Richards continues to do interesting things. I haven’t paid much attention to Paul McCartney as an artist for a while. And I’m like Keith Richards.
They say he’s very manic. I don’t know if there is anything strange before the first concert.
Well, there is a ritual a bit like a bullfighter: taking a shower, looking good, smelling good, putting on my clothes, preparing them properly… I love this ritual, but it is nothing more than that. I’m not overly manic.