“An idea is like a potato, roots grow from the branches”

2023-05-05 06:30:41

Raúl Rodríguez presents his album tomorrow in the gardens of the Hotel Mar Tasmània in La Bisbal d’Empordà The electrical reason. It will be in the framework of the Afro Flamenco Festival, and the renowned musician – son of Martirio – will play the Tres Flamenco, a kind of guitar invented by him

In the bar downstairs at home they went crazy when they heard that I was interviewing you.

Ha ha I would love to go there.

Don’t you miss that flamenco thing about playing in bars, tasks and slums?

I am always ready for everything. In fact, I appear in the most unexpected places, you may be having a beer in a bar, and I come to play. I play everywhere. So far I haven’t been banned anywhere.

I am an anthropomusician, a mixed species, I think I am the only specimen of my species

He is a rare grandfather: in addition to playing, he gives lectures.

I am an anthropomusician, a mixed species. I think I’m the only one of my kind.

What does an anthropologist paint playing the guitar.

Try to understand creativity.

Did you get it?

I have understood that an idea is like a potato. Branches are born that become roots. And it pivots on itself, looking for survival. I have understood that ideas are living organisms that seek reproduction.

This land of yours is an expert in cultural crossbreeding, just like the south where I come from

Come to an Afro-Flemish festival… in the heart of Catalonia. No more miscegenation?

This land of yours is an expert in cultural crossbreeding, just like the south where I come from. Understanding others is what enriches us the most.

I understand that you don’t believe in the concept of cultural appropriation.

I don’t know him. I know how to learn things from others. And make them mine. Culture is actually that. Of course, it must be done with a lot of love.

Does the guitar speak to you?

Of course. Since I work with the Tres Flamenco – a mixture of Cuban tres and flamenco guitar – which is new and there is no other, he is in charge. I am the instrument and he is the one who governs, that is, he not only talks to me, he also orders me

I am the instrument and Tres Flamenco is the one who governs, that is to say, it doesn’t just speak to me, it also commands me

What does he command?

Open an unknown door to music. Towards a music that has no denomination of origin. The best thing about a new instrument is that there is no existing legislation. There are no fines, everything is allowed.

He and you, alone.

Also, being a new instrument and the only one playing it, I’m the best. This is great for those days when you wake up feeling unmotivated. But of course, being the only one, I’m also the worst. And it’s even better, because it makes me an eternal learner, which is very good in art and in life.

Flamenco has a lot of tradition. Didn’t the purists get mad when he invented a new instrument?

No, because I love flamenco, and things that are done with love, go forward. On the contrary, they have welcomed me very well. The first thing I did, before I went out to work with the instrument, was to play with the old people, with the people in the taverns and the houses. In non-paid environments, where music is made with use value and not exchange value. I’m not against flamenco, but I’m trying to make it grow from within.

Are the songs back and forth?

all They all have a reflection of the foreigner. At the very least, any local song has the scent of a foreigner who passed by and heard it. That’s why the richness of flamenco is its ability to integrate rhythms from all over the world.

I ask the musician and the anthropologist: is popular music underrated?

It’s gaining value, there are a lot of new people doing really cool things, doing new readings and treatments. Popular music is indestructible, it is also a living organism.

Being a musician being the son of Martirio is not difficult, it is inevitable. And besides, he’s cute

Is it difficult to be a musician being the son of Martirio?

It’s not difficult, it’s inevitable. And besides, he’s cute. Working with my mother, we improve the human relationship, because art forces you to agree with the other. People should do creative projects with their parents or children.

I will suggest it to my mother.

Also, I have had a conservatory at home. The older ones passed by there. And thanks to my mother I have been able to play with the best all over the world. Being his son has been a privilege, but also a school. It has taught me that we must put ourselves at the service of art, not put art at our service.