2023-12-03 07:00:43
He confesses that in the first concerts he almost didn’t look at the audience because he felt like a certain bastard, but that with time he started to like it and to feel something special. “Being a young woman who sings in Basque and goes on stage alone, and for people to listen to you and see your proposal is special. There is something radical and at the same time delicate that I love» he explains Ana Arsuaga (Toulouse, 1994), the singer and composer behind Verde Prato, a proposal that draws on the oral tradition of the Basque Country to draw a fresh sound in which dream pop, electronica, punk and even a few drops of reggaeton are present. The Girona Auditorium will host this Sunday afternoon (6 p.m.) the presentation ofadored (Plan B, 2023), the second studio album by an artist who cites as influences from Mikel Laboa to Billie Eilish via Kortatu.
Despite being compared by some media with other proposals that drink from folklore, like Rodrigo Cuevas or Les Tanxugueiras, Arsuaga refuses to be labeled in this current so as not to feel “an impostor”. “The music of Rodrigo Cuevas or the Tanxugueiras is very much rooted in the roots. In my proposal it is not so literal. I don’t want to position myself as an expert in folklore» asserts the singer-songwriter, who points out that the melodic part of traditional music has influenced her more than the instrumental part.
However, the singer and composer he does not hesitate to declare his love for the musical tradition of his homeland, claiming Mikel Laboa and the bertsolari, the singers specialized in improvising verses in Basque combining music and poetry. “They have influenced me especially in the stage part. They go out to sing alone, with their bodies, without adornments, and that gives me a lot of strength,” he says.
Tribute to Basque radical rock
In addition to vindicating folklore, the Basque also cites the Basque radical rock of the eighties and nineties as an outstanding reference for its musical project. In fact, in November of last year it launched Radical Basque Popa four-cut EP that includes a version of the classic Until I catch you from Kortatu and another from Until left in the pack dels vitorians Hertzain. “I’m a big fan of Kortatu” confesses Arsuaga who adds that he listened to a lot of the Muguruza brothers’ band mainly in his adolescence and youth. “Kortatu has been a very important group in the Basque Country. So much so that I’ve actually seen tribute bands play at town festivals. You can almost say that they are already part of the folklore here” expresses the singer-songwriter, who adds that with this version she wanted to pay them “a small tribute”.
Asked about the origin of her stage name, the Basque woman says that she chose it a few years ago, when she was offered to participate in an experimental project in which she had to perform alone. “I had to look for a name and I didn’t want it to be known who I was, if I was male or female… It was clear that I wanted a poetic name,” he recalls. Looking for a name for her musical project, Arsuaga suddenly remembered the title of a play that had marked her as a child: “My mother is the teacher of the theater workshop in my town and when I was little she organized a play called Verde prato. Turns out it was an adaptation of an old Italian tale about a princess saving a prince. It seemed very suggestive and poetic to me and I saw it clearly».
Love, eroticism, disappointment, family, friendships or dreams are the topics discussed in the songs that Verde Prato will present this Sunday in Girona. “On the first disc –That beautiful legend, 2021- the songs built a story. In this second everything is more intimate. I talk about the usual topics, but taken to a more personal dimension» says the author of an album whose title is a play on words, given that «Adore» in Basque means courage, which is the attitude with which she faces the world of music.
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