Antonio Carmona: "When I wasn't famous, they filled my car with graffiti: 'Out of the neighborhood'"

The former Ketama singer is the ambassador of the new Citroën C5X.

After succeeding with C. Tangana, the guitarist is preparing a new album and a documentary about the music of the gypsies in Europe.

You've recorded 'Me maten' with C Tangana, which has been a smash hit.

How was that family after-meal discussion? Pucho is a very up-to-date composer and has set the bar very high.

You learn a lot with him. Now your nephew and your daughters go on tour with him.

Is he stealing from the musicians? No, they're doing a super nice show where they have fun.

He is a person who has captured the hearts of all the Carmonas. What projects are you working on? In November I'm going to record a live album and I'm working on another studio album.

In addition, I am preparing a documentary based on my experience with many Romanian and Portuguese gypsies... I would like to have a meeting with them because the music of the gypsies in Europe is very unknown. You have said that it was more important for you to play with your father than with Camarón or Paco de Lucía. You have given me three impressive artists.

I toured with Camarón and Paco de Lucía, but seeing my father play up close gave me a lot of respect.

I could ask him: "Dad, is that an alegría or a soleá?"

What advice did he give you? Always keep your feet on the ground because this profession is very short-lived.

One day they're worshiping you, and the next day you're neither playing on the radio nor filling places with 20,000 people.

It is a very changing profession.

My father is one of those who went around the towns playing the guitar with Farruco, Paco de Lucía and Camarón, but he also played with fans.

He never dropped his rings.

We have always been very normal people.

He told me that he was a musician before being an artist. Ketama brought a lot of people closer to flamenco. The fusion that I do was because my father brought a lot of Latin music from America.

He was a very open guy, even though he came from the purest flamenco.

It was on those albums that I began to make my music and fusion. Are you flamenco people misunderstood? It makes you angry.

Because there are singers who don't have a platform for people to get to know them.

I have seen impressive musicians and guitarists who have been diluted over time. In Spain, we take very little care of flamenco. There are many musicians who have not been known, who were idols for us.

, Ramón, the Portuguese, Gerardo Núñez... I was lucky to be at the right time to be able to play on the radio, meet influential people and make the music I made.

I've been very lucky, but there are many flamenco people who think: "Why didn't they arrive being such good musicians?".

It is something inexplicable.

Then you go to France, Japan and Italy and there they are blown away by those artists that no one here knows. What's the worst thing the purists have said about you? .

From half of Spain up, we worked more.

Down, a little.

At first, in the 1980s, they didn't want or understand us. And when did they succeed? Later, those same people said that we were a benchmark.

But, when we started, there were very few people who left pure, orthodox flamenco.

Do the purists harm flamenco? The purists safeguard flamenco and want to keep it in a pot.

And that cannot be.

I love that flamenco is kept in its pure state, but there are other artists who like that it can be fused with other roots. Flamenco is born from suffering, what inspires you? And from joy too .

From fatigue, of course.

The gypsies are a wandering people.

It is assumed that they left India and began to go throughout Europe.

There is a part of pain and misunderstanding, but if you want joy in your life, put on flamenco and your sorrows will go away. You fled from the sound of Ketama, just when it hit the most.

Do you like to go against the grain? No, I didn't say that.

I feel very proud of the Ketama sound.

Some of the music you hear on the radio now is because of those chords and those beats that we were making in the '80s. People really absorbed it.

Obviously, now I wouldn't take a step back because I want to evolve and I have different visions. Did you feel alone after leaving the group? I was very lucky because I met a man named Gustavo Santaolalla, who is like the

.

He is an artist who has produced a lot of people, he made the movie

or

and suddenly when I left Ketama I thought it had to have a more American sound.

I went to Los Angeles to meet Gustavo and, when I arrived, I sang my songs to him with guitar and voice.

From there, I made my three solo albums with him. Has Antonio Carmona broken many molds? I've broken many guitars and many cajons.

My music has a stamp and a personality.

It is better to have personality and to be known for your different music, than to be in a musical trend in which there are 500 musicians who you don't even know who they are. You were the first in my family to marry a clown.

Is it still something rare or is it more frequent? Thank God the world has opened up and now it is more frequent.

Now you can see gay and lesbian gypsies.

For me, it was a hard and painful moment, because we come from a very gypsy family,

where they were not used to going outside the canons and being able to mix with other races, but now there is a great naturalness and common sense. Is there still a lot of discrimination against the gypsies? A lot.

By statistics, the most rejected are the gypsies. Have you experienced it? A lot. Being famous? When it was not known. Give me an example.

Suddenly leaving your house and having your car full of graffiti that said "outside the neighborhood."

I have felt racism quite hard. Does that still happen? Not me anymore.

But I imagine that there is still rejection towards gypsies, blacks and Arabs.

We still have a lot to learn. The best flamenco party you've had? With Parrita and Camarón, which was the last time I had a fight with him in Seville, at a kid's house.

We left after playing.

I was playing percussion with Camarón.

Tomatito and my brother Juan came.

But let's go a few weeks ago I also sinned one with Rosario and with Lolita and it was also the best [laughs]. We must not lose good habits. We like to enjoy ourselves a lot.

We are always composing and suddenly we spend a whole night listening to the

, Lola Flores or Camarón.

Maybe we don't take out the guitar and we're just listening or we grab the guitar and spend 20 hours playing.

That's our life. Are there still a lot of drugs in those parties? Now, for the moment, everyone is calmer.

Those of my age are more into whiskey and wine. In your house they used to have two-day parties.

What did you learn on those sprees? It's a very important job.

They came from work from 10 at night until 5 in the morning.

Seven uninterrupted hours playing for parties.

When they finished, they said: "Let's play for ourselves and have a pottage."

And then Enrique Morente, Manzanita, Caño Roto, Farruco began to appear at my house... You couldn't stay asleep in bed.

That sing-song made you get out of bed and join the party.

I've been very lucky to have the father I've had, who has been a very respectable and respected person among flamenco.

He was a great guitarist and he has always given blessed glory to those friends who came to eat a plate of stew.

We like to listen to each other and we pass the guitar when we feel comfortable. Are you sometimes not comfortable? It is one thing to go out on stage to earn money and another to be at home with a bottle of wine and a plate of ham and listen to the others. Do you enjoy it more at home? They both enjoy it.

I love to travel, grab my Citroen and ride with my daughters and tour Spain.

The Carmonas are now at a peak moment musically.

I need to travel and get on stage.

I can't be at home. As a teenager you used to sell glassware.

Are you a good merchant?Gypsies have always been good merchants.

It dates back to ancient times.

The best merchants have always been the Jews and the Gypsies.

I have sold nail polish, glasses and chocolates since I was 10 or 12 years old.

I have always liked my independence and having my money in my pocket.

I sold everything until I was able to earn a living as a musician at the age of 14. When did you first get on stage? It was in a tribute to Rodri, who was an Atlético de Madrid player.

I am a mattress.

I would be like 12 years old.

I earned my first salary. At that age, children now don't even know how to tie their shoes. Today's children have to leave their cell phones behind and live life more.

I come from the neighborhood of Campamento where it was nice to go out with colleagues.

I had the Casa de Campo opposite.

Fewer monitors to see things on the computer and more to live life. That neighborhood life has now been lost.

Now, the children are in a bubble. The tablet is the enemy of children.

Do not give him a tablet: give him a book, a conversation or a game where he learns. You were complaining that this country is like clay pigeon shooting: the higher you are, they are going to shoot you and fuck you. They have told me a lot of damage with a lot of criticism a lot of people who didn't understand my music or didn't want to understand it.

They have told me everything that can be said.

But look Chanel, now the whole world is devoted to her.

And she is a great artist and a great fighter who deserves to be in the top positions in the world.

Dancing and singing at the same time is very difficult.

When she's at the top, they'll shoot clay pigeons with her.

Spain is like that.

That neighborhood life has now been lost.

Now, the children are in a bubble. The tablet is the enemy of children.

Do not give him a tablet: give him a book, a conversation or a game where he learns. You complained that this country is like clay pigeon shooting: the higher you are, they are going to shoot you and fuck you. They have told me a lot of damage with a lot of criticism a lot of people who didn't understand my music or didn't want to understand it.

They have told me everything that can be said.

But look Chanel, now the whole world is devoted to her.

And she is a great artist and a great fighter who deserves to be in the top positions in the world.

Dancing and singing at the same time is very difficult.

When she's at the top, they'll shoot clay pigeons with her.

Spain is like that.

That neighborhood life has now been lost.

Now, the children are in a bubble. The tablet is the enemy of children.

Do not give him a tablet: give him a book, a conversation or a game where he learns. You complained that this country is like clay pigeon shooting: the higher you are, they are going to shoot you and fuck you. They have told me a lot of damage with a lot of criticism a lot of people who didn't understand my music or didn't want to understand it.

They have told me everything that can be said.

But look Chanel, now the whole world is devoted to her.

And she is a great artist and a great fighter who deserves to be in the top positions in the world.

Dancing and singing at the same time is very difficult.

When she's at the top, they'll shoot clay pigeons with her.

Spain is like that.

give him a book, a conversation or a game where he learns. You complained that this country is like clay pigeon shooting: the higher you are, they are going to shoot you and screw you. people who didn't understand my music or didn't want to understand it.

They have told me everything that can be said.

But look Chanel, now the whole world is devoted to her.

And she is a great artist and a great fighter who deserves to be in the top positions in the world.

Dancing and singing at the same time is very difficult.

When she's at the top, they'll shoot clay pigeons with her.

Spain is like that.

give him a book, a conversation or a game where he learns. You complained that this country is like clay pigeon shooting: the higher you are, they are going to shoot you and screw you. people who didn't understand my music or didn't want to understand it.

They have told me everything that can be said.

But look Chanel, now the whole world is devoted to her.

And she is a great artist and a great fighter who deserves to be in the top positions in the world.

Dancing and singing at the same time is very difficult.

When she's at the top, they'll shoot clay pigeons with her.

Spain is like that.

Many people who did not understand my music or did not want to understand it have said a lot of damage to me with a lot of criticism.

They have told me everything that can be said.

But look Chanel, now the whole world is devoted to her.

And she is a great artist and a great fighter who deserves to be in the top positions in the world.

Dancing and singing at the same time is very difficult.

When she's at the top, they'll shoot clay pigeons with her.

Spain is like that.

Many people who did not understand my music or did not want to understand it have said a lot of damage to me with a lot of criticism.

They have told me everything that can be said.

But look Chanel, now the whole world is devoted to her.

And she is a great artist and a great fighter who deserves to be in the top positions in the world.

Dancing and singing at the same time is very difficult.

When she's at the top, they'll shoot clay pigeons with her.

Spain is like that.

Carmona, with the new Citröen C5X.JAVIER BARBANCHO

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