Merche: "People think that behind my work there is a man in a jacket and tie"

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The singer, one of the most powerful female voices in the country, celebrates her 20 years on stage with a new album.

His single

will be accompanied by a concert tour throughout Spain.

Your new single is a declaration of intentions, I have been in music for 20 years and it was a way for you to get to know me as a person. I have written about love, lack of love, tolerance, freedom, inclusion, but I had never written about myself. What have you wanted to convey to us? How cool that we are different. Throughout life, your partner, your friends or, sometimes, the environment ask you to change the way you think, dress or be. But nothing and nobody should restrict our personality. What is the best and the worst thing about being on stage for 20 years? The best, without a doubt, the public who insisted since I began that my job was to tell stories and get on stage. I have already had more than 1,400 concerts. Imagine what the stoppage of the pandemic has been for me. I was climbing the walls.The worst thing is that it is a job in which you are away from home a lot. How many times did they tell you that you weren't going to do it? From a very young age I made songs at home with my little guitar and recorded them in the bathroom. I sent them to record companies and they always came back to me. I started sending models when I was 15 years old. But I was always very clear about one thing: my happiness was not going to depend on whether or not I managed to dedicate myself to music. Did you have other jobs? I studied Teaching, I worked as a teacher, I began to study Business Administration and Management and I worked as a management secretary . Meanwhile I kept composing my songs and sending the demos. Until one fine day the flute sounded and I had several proposals for record labels. That's where it all started, Vanessa Martín, Malú, Soraya Arnelas ...Many artists are releasing new songs in which they want to get rid of all the labels. Have you been tagged too? Probably. What has cost me the most in these 20 years has been for people and the media to know that behind my work there was not a man in a jacket and tie. I was the one who composed my songs. I'm a singer-songwriter, but I didn't have the typical image. They always asked me: "Who makes you the songs?" I imagine it is because of being a woman and having an image that is not the one that everyone gets when they talk about a singer-songwriter. So, have you felt undervalued for being a woman? Yes. As a singer, no. But as for authorship, yes. On the album before this one, I was also a producer and they thought I was crazy.The musical director of my band tells me that many people ask him if he is actually the one composing the songs, as if you had to have someone behind you, right? It seems that if the woman is young and has a certain appearance physical is incompatible with doing your job well. As I said on my previous album: "I wear a miniskirt because I want to and very short if you tell me I can't." The more they tell me, I get more blonde and with longer hair because I feel like it. It's been hard, but I've always been a warrior. Singer Vega complained that when they hired her they wanted to pay her a quarter of what they would pay a partner. I haven't had that experience. The cache is set by your record company and your manager. I don't know how much my colleagues charge. I want to know what I charge and if I consider it fair or not.I don't give a damn what the guy in front wins. You consider yourself a feminist, but you've assured me that you don't like extremes. No. I am a 100% feminist. Feminism is equality. What I don't like at all in life are radicals and ultras. Everything in excess is bad. Sometimes they say to me: "Are you a feminist and do you wear a miniskirt?" Well, because I want to. And very short. If you tell me I can't, I'll make it shorter. You have suffered two great losses in a short time like that of your father and that of your ex-partner Álex Casademunt. My father taught me strength and charisma on stage. In Cádiz it is one of the great voices that carnival has given. There I am the girl ofWhat I don't like at all in life are radicals and ultras. Everything in excess is bad. Sometimes they say to me: "Are you a feminist and do you wear a miniskirt?" Well, because I want to. And very short. If you tell me I can't, I'll make it shorter. You have suffered two great losses in a short time like that of your father and that of your ex-partner Álex Casademunt. My father taught me strength and charisma on stage. In Cádiz it is one of the great voices that carnival has given. There I am the girl ofWhat I don't like at all in life are radicals and ultras. Everything in excess is bad. Sometimes they say to me: "Are you a feminist and do you wear a miniskirt?" Well, because I want to. And very short. If you tell me I can't, I'll make it shorter. You have suffered two great losses in a short time like that of your father and that of your ex-partner Álex Casademunt. My father taught me strength and charisma on stage. In Cádiz it is one of the great voices that carnival has given. There I am the girl ofMy father taught me strength and charisma on stage. In Cádiz it is one of the great voices that carnival has given. There I am the girl ofMy father taught me strength and charisma on stage. In Cádiz it is one of the great voices that carnival has given. There I am the girl of

, which was his nickname. And how do you remember the former contestant of 'Operación Triunfo' Álex Casademunt? He was very artist. He was very talented and did everything. It was very fast. I gave him the first guitar and taught him the first chords and, after a month, he played 20 times better than me. It has left us a huge void. But I feel it with me all the time. It was one of these people who came to the places and illuminated everything. You sing of that woman who no longer puts up with everything for love. Have you had to put up with a lot? No, I'm bored. I like passion and complicity and when it's over, it's all over. It is true that when relationships are long, there is a stage at the end that it is a bit lazy to start from scratch and perhaps you endure a little at the end. But deep down you know there is no way out. What do you bear the least in a relationship? Betrayal,not with another person who also, but the lack of complicity. For me, having a partner means being one and going the same way for both of us. And if I make a mistake in front of people, you shut your mouth and defend me. And then at home, you tell me what you have to say. When that does not exist, for me it is over. Have you had to go through tolls to be in the radio formulas? Not that I know of. I have not experienced anything embarrassing that has made me feel uncomfortable. You seem to always be happy, do you have a moment of downturn? Of course, what happens is that I am from Cádiz and there we drown the sorrows with laughter. Anything happens and, after a while, there is a joke and a carnival song. I fall, I cry, but I am not to lick my wounds. I vent because I'm very passionate, but I say: "Come on, Merceditas, let's go up."Nor do I like to pass it on to others. In that sense, I am quite p'a inside. Malú spoke the other day that the excess of demand was turning into a war against itself. All professionals want to do our best and we demand a lot of ourselves. When you have a profession facing the public, you always want to give your best version. The people around me tell me not to be so cruel to myself because I look for all the flaws no matter how minimal they are. We are not machines, but I am learning. Has a manager betrayed you? They have betrayed me in general. Let's just leave it there. Has the Hacienda treated you like a criminal? No, never ever. Yes, it is true that they changed the rules for all artists from one day to the next and they all drove us crazy. We all go through a moment of confusion.That has been solved for many years. Was it the time of Minister Montoro? Exactly. We all invoiced by companies and, from one day to the next, we had to invoice as a natural person. It was changed retroactively. The same thing happened to all of us, but mine was a little more popular, I don't know why. Was the change fair? For me, the retroactive thing, no. The law is changed and, from there, it is done in the new way. It was an unfair decision. Doesn't the obsession to be happy make us more miserable? Especially if you think about the past and the future. We are going to live in the present and enjoy today. In your life, what has been the hardest moment? The death of my father has marked me a lot. My grandmother died at the age of 97 and she was the first person in my family to die. My father was still young and the illness was very fast.It was the moment when I was most angry with life.

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