Eva Amaral (Zaragoza, 1972) and Juan Aguirre (San Sebastián, 1965) are like two animals that have managed to survive in the jungle without major evolutionary deployments, threatening plumages or submit to the dictates of the flock. Two birds that fly over, observe and, from time to time, build a nest that serves as a refuge for others like them. It is what they have been doing as Amaral for more than 20 years and what they do again in 'Salto al color' (Gatorama / Sony), which has been published this Friday and presented this Saturday at the Dcode festival in Madrid, where They share a poster with La Casa Azul, Carolina Durante and Two Door Cinema Club .
Why 'Salto al color'? (EA) We decided to call the album like that because it seemed to us, in general, brighter, not only in the lyrics. There is a very positive energy. We have always had that melancholy of boys from the north, but maybe we have already overcome it and we want to go to the future and, above all, to the present. After a moderately long career, do you think about moving forward? (JA) No We feel we have advanced so much. We have only recorded eight studio albums. But we have traveled a lot. So we still don't believe we have reached the discovery of a specific sound. Yes we have a natural way of doing things in a continuous search, although we have never done the same album twice. There is an imprint, but we don't recognize each other in any particular stamp. It's as simple as that in the end we focus on songs that excite us all. And what excites them now? (EA) In the case of these themes, we give more importance to the rhythm, to a primary beat with which to enjoy and make enjoy. Because music has an emotional and a physical part. And this is what runs through our minds right now. Sounds that in some cases are more electronic, in others more synthetic. A jump, also, to electronics? (JA) Although we continue teaching the songs with a guitar, in our head there were many other things that had nothing to do with That loudness. And we really like that mix of the most rhythmic bases with our most acoustic part. Before they talked about melancholy. Is that the theme of 'Our time'? (EA) That is a song that literally speaks of "leaving the ghosts of the past behind", of living "in the time that has been given to you." That is, do not let yourself be overcome by this nostalgia for the things you already saw or knew, to think about what you did not experience. Surely we have not won the battle to melancholy, but ... And 'Broken Toys'? (EA) It is not that it is dark, but it speaks of a dark reality, that we are really ruled by psychopaths. But he also wants to push you to reflect on it, to do something. (JA) A broken toy is also a figure. In songs and movies, people who resist tend to be idealized. And Eva sings about finding that meeting point in the resistance. The song is not limited to a specific moment or country. Now that 20 years have passed since the movie's premiere, I think we live in a metaphor of 'Matrix'. And this specific issue has to do with the speed with which the human species destroys the individual, either as an element of use and throwing in an assembly line, or in a 'reality show' or whatever. Everything, in pursuit of a supreme good that we do not finish knowing what it is. When, really, there is nothing more beautiful than an individuality.The individual, that entity exalted by the capitalism of the end of the last century and demonized by the social movements of the beginning of it. All too fast, as they say, and without us knowing whether it is right or wrong to defend abstraction from others.
In your case, how are they oriented by existence? (JA) Sometimes this world is a disconcerting place, because there is not much logic in large-scale human behaviors. But then, if you focus on everyday life, on the relationships you have with people who are close or that you cross the street, it's fun, but you can't always enjoy that. (JA) For mental stability , it is necessary to live things on a human scale. That is, that cities are not a chaos imposed on the individual, nor that states and governments do not annul individuals to the beast. Let us return to songs. What is 'Drums of the rebellion'? (EA) Of the rupture. It also has a slightly dark point, when talking about personal breakdown, but looking beyond: an era has passed in which you have been crushing me and you will not have that power over me, although sometimes it seems that they throw themselves into the social , his music always ends up returning to love. (JA) Love is a mystery in all its manifestations. Because the human being is a mystery to the human being. (EA) Even in the midst of a gigantic catastrophe where the priority is to survive, personal stories make their way, even in those darkest moments. And vice versa? That is to say: whoever avoids what is going on around (JA) Even the one who wants to keep in a bubble reflects what is happening. The tendency to hedonism and personal self-satisfaction coexists perfectly in the human being with the concern for the environment and with the ability to act on that environment.What role do musicians play in today's society? (JA) We do not usually reflect a lot on the work of the musician or on the meta-musical world. Or make songs that talk about playing; Our songs go from living. We do not understand music about an end in itself, but as a means of expression.A cliché when talking about Amaral is the place they occupy on the map of Spanish music. That area between tides, neither the low tide of the 'indie' nor the high tide of purely commercial pop, from which Vetusta Morla, Love of Lesbian or Lori Meyers have also left, but which at the time only occupied them.
Have you worried about fitting in or out? (EA) Nobody fits anything. There are a number of prefabricated templates that you are supposed to get into. But it's impossible. Let's see, it's not that we didn't fit in or haven't been comfortable. We would have loved to be part of a generational movement, but it was that at each moment we were a different thing. Maybe we have felt a little alone sometimes, but we have also learned from that loneliness and that this difference we had, I do not know if for better or for worse, it was ours. Looking for originality or maintaining a style? (EA) We think that the same thing must be given to the public all the time, but people also value finding small distinctions. And it's nice to enhance that difference. We do not strive to be different; we simply are. But did you ever feel that they didn't fit into the big music industry? (JA) The multinationals is a bit of a topic and a simple way to create a terrifying bad for the public. We work the same way since we made models. What happens is that the project began to grow and then we did have a sense of surprise about how this had grown. It is not good to be aware all the time of the dimensions that a project has acquired, especially if you want to continue making music. The human dimension they said at the beginning. (JA) There are people who are surprised that they come by bike. I have been doing it since I was 15 years old. They might not be so surprised if he appeared on a motorcycle. (EA) Or like that time, 10 years ago, when heart magazines were still sold, they took a picture of me in the neighborhood buying a loaf of bread. (JA) There have been people who have caricatured us and with whom we have later made videos, even. I want to say that we have always felt respected, valued and understood.A year ago, a document from the Government of Navarra included 'Without you I am nothing', one of Amaral's best-known songs, on a music list "that promotes sexism." Since then, the debate about what can and cannot be said in a song has not done anything but grow, until reaching cases such as the withdrawal of C. Tangana from the programming of the Aste Nagusia of Bilbao.
All this climate of revision and debate, has made them 'cut' at the time of singing according to what things (EA) We have always said very cane things in a very moderate way. So I like to maintain that serenity, but they are aware that this is like the stoning scene of 'Brian's life' (EA) With that attitude of throwing stones at everything, what you get is that you still cut yourself less. Because, whatever you say, there is going to be someone willing to lynch you, to find the bad turn and the negative side of what you are communicating. That is why it is better to say it and, at least, I remain calm. (JA) I love listening to people who think differently from me. There are lines that have to do with human rights, basic tolerance and freedom of the individual. But, within that, what amuses me the most is finding who likes things totally different from those that drive me crazy.According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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