Interview With Love Of Lesbian, Who Continue With Their Tour - Muzikalia

There are decisions in this life that making them means taking risks. Jumps into the void hoping there is some water to cushion the blow or at least a rope to secure the fall. love of lesbians They have become true bungee jumping instructors. His first dare was to switch from English to Spanish. The last one was the publication of VEHN and his tour with more than 100 concerts that will conclude in Madrid at the WiZink Center on November 4, 2023. More than two decades have passed between the two decisions, but the same courage continues. A daring brand of the house that has brought such good results to this Catalan quartet.

Since muzikalia we attended the delivery of the Gold Record made by Warner Music for the success of Epic Journey To Nothing and we chatted with Santi Balmes, Julián Saldarriaga and Oriol Bonet about their concerts in the United States and Mexico.

“We are not one to watch from the sidelines, we like to jump into the ring and go all out.”

It’s a pleasure talking to you, congratulations on the success and on the tour on the other side of the Atlantic. They have asked you a lot about the sensations you experienced in Mexico, but the concerts in the State of Texas did not go as planned. What happened?

Julian: We are lucky to live a reality that occupies both sides of the coin. On the one hand, that of success, that of gold that shines and dazzles. Also the other, the effort involved in convincing and laying the foundations.

We have never had anything easy, not even in our beginnings in Spain our music was a hit. We are a group that have seen how other bands of our generation have been ahead for many years, both at festivals and everywhere. Little by little, our name has been growing on the posters.

The US is not something that has caught us new. It is a very difficult battle to be able to turn and succeed there. You have to understand that you are not singing in their language and that it is a very powerful industry, much more closed.

We are still in the learning process, as has happened to us in other countries. You have to understand how the press works there, the public and the concerts. This type of setback, such as the cancellation of the last concert, is not something new in our history, but it is something that we do not want to repeat too much.

Right now we have to hit the blows we want to give in that country. We are no longer twenty years old. Before, when we were starting out, we could tour Bilbao or Galicia and have 10 or 15 people come and we would return home with laughter, jokes, sandwiches and tupperware, but at 46 you have to manage your energy and defeats .

Besides, this tour has been quite long, practically a month away from your houses. What is the most difficult element when it comes to combining daily life and such a long concert cycle?

Julian: We have never had strange fanfare, no one in the group has gone crazy buying a farm, owning very expensive cars or things of this type. The hardest thing about touring like this is mental balance.

For example, on this occasion, we had just given a multitude of concerts in Mexico that were amazing, that inflate your ego and in which you get brutal recognition, both from the public and from the press. Twenty days of success and wonder, and suddenly the last five are a setback. It is important to stay mentally strong. After all, our families are used to us spending a lot of time outside of our homes.

Santi: You have to take into account that a concert was cancelled. As Julián said, you cannot go by trial and error. For us it has not been so much the specific topic of the live, but why this has happened. We have to do some kind of self-criticism. Why the hell have we let this happen? We end up with the feeling of that idiotic game that Madrid loses and that no one expects…

Even so, this has also happened to us in Spain and we have taken it in the same way: with a sense of humor, we have laughed like rats.

Dallas was the concert that was canceled and the one in Austin that was delayed, right?

Oriole: Yes. It must also be said that investing in a new territory like the United States is also a very brave decision. We could have stayed quietly in our comfort zone, reaping success in Mexico or other Latin American countries, but the band’s runrún has always been to keep going. We are not one to watch from the sidelines, we like to jump into the ring and go all out.

By itself, breaking into the Latin American industry is quite difficult. You have not only filled the venues of the largest cities such as CDMX or Guadalajara, but also important cities in other States such as: Toluca, Querétaro, León or Puebla. A complete success.

Julian: We are a group that each one has their sections very well established and we are all quite efficient in our jobs and functions. From the beginning, we were clear that we couldn’t function well only in big cities, we had to make provincial capitals for the meaning of this band to work.

On this tour we wanted to test the magnitude and strength of the Love of Lesbian songs beyond the capital and that is what has happened.

Beyond full capacity, which is already a great indicator, how does Love Of Lesbian test to find out if it was a correct concert?

Julian: Sensations. For example, on this tour they had warned us that the public in León is colder than in other parts of Mexico, that we would not be disappointed if we saw that they did not follow our game much. On the other hand, when the concert ended and we went down to the dressing room we saw an incredible affection and warmth. Elements like this are real inputs and thanks to them you can see the real magnitude of the band, what is really happening with the music of Love of Lesbian in that country.

Just a few minutes ago they gave you the Gold record for Viaje Epico Hacia La Nada. Also, thanks to this album you have been nominated for three Latin Grammys. Even so, the most important thing about this work is that you did not use style to create it, you have tried to explore and continue growing as musicians. Are you ever afraid of losing your originality?

Julian: Sure, it’s a concern…

Santi: It is normal to be afraid. When you produce a record you are always tempted to repeat a pattern that has previously worked for you, you have to constantly fight against that earthly, economic and strategic temptation. Even so, when we put ourselves in danger is when things have worked best for us.

It is also at that time when the fall can be the hardest.

Julian: Balance at all levels is the great virtue, you cannot say that the trade is something contradictory to spontaneity. It is very nice to have a job as long as you do not lose spontaneity and vice versa. Something wonderful would be to become a craftsman, when you get to that point is when you already control the technique. The balance between continuity, spontaneity and craft is the ideal for any musician. When you have been on stage for as long as we have, after having worked for so long you already have a job, you already know what works from the office, but you have to be very careful not to lose the other variables because otherwise the balance falls apart .

Santi: In Filmin there is a great documentary about Stanley Kubrick that deals very well with this topic. There are different recordings of an interview conducted by a French journalist and Kubrick said: Innovation yes, but up to a point. There was a moment in the 20th century when art was completely disconnected, in the end, because it was the most modern, it reached a point of no return. Kubrick said: I innovate from the classical translation.

For example, I love the combination that this director makes from a perfectly classical aesthetic, a fan of harmony, of proportion… and how, from there, he introduces that human drift that is always present in his work.

It has been a pleasure having this talk. Finally, what meaning does music have for you?

Julian: I don’t want to get ultra poetic or mandangas like that, but it’s very difficult. During my adolescence, in high school, I met a friend who played the guitar and everything changed there. I had already played the guitar once when I was little, but I was never very interested in music, perhaps because of the songs that came to me at that time.

It was in high school, when I was meeting this boy at the philosophy seminar, when I started playing and getting to know the music I liked. My grades, of course, plummeted. Music began to take up too much space, not only with respect to theory or practice, but mentally, I didn’t think about anything else. That’s when I had a conversation with my parents, who were very conversant with me, and I told them that I had a cramp.

Music for me is just that, a shock, like when someone gets caught touching a bare wire. You try to detach yourself, but you can’t.