After 26 years in the music scene, is the title of your latest album, "Una y mil veces", an allegory to the group's tenacity?
Actually, it's a coincidence, it's the name of a song from the album that has nothing to do with that second meaning. In recent years, there has been so much resurgence of the Madrid Scene, so much talk about the name of Los Secretos linking it to an era, but we don't feel like participants in that Scene, it's true that we emerged in the same space and time, but we didn't see ourselves reflected in any media and we were never talked about as part of that history. Therefore, it's a bit of a complaint, we are here because we are workers and professionals, as there should be more groups. I think we shouldn't ask why we've been around for 26 years, but we should ask the Scene: "why aren't you here and why do we have to remember you?". We have tried to take advantage of the title of the song to express a state of mind.
Currently, do you think there is anything left of that Scene, of the freedom and desire to do different things?
Unfortunately, in my opinion, I think it has nothing to do with it. What is happening now is the result of a misappropriation of an art, marketing techniques have overcome the record companies, which for the last ten years have started selling records as if they were bottles of Coca-Cola. This means that they forget the context: they have forgotten about the Internet, the indiscriminate downloading of music, private copying, and when that has exploded in their faces they have not known how to react; we are living in a strange moment, so to speak. The "revival" of the Scene is a fact, and it doesn't seem strange to me because you have to have a past to remember it. They were very lucid moments, of light and colors, and like everything that begins, it was born with a vital energy, although now, with time, we see that the average quality was not very good, compared to other markets of the time. Nor was it something that happened only in Madrid, but it hit the whole world: Australia, USA, England, and brought us groups like Pretenders, The Police and a long etcetera. I think it was the most creative musical era.
And what do you think are the "scenes" that affect citizens today, and that influence composers and musicians?
It is evident that there is a cultural void regarding music, due to media saturation. Trash TV has left little room for spaces dedicated to culture, and specifically to music, and the little space it has are the visible heads of a competitive market in which only those who have more money can bid. On TV you see things about music that don't represent anything educational for a kid who is starting now with the guitar, or it is representative of marketing, of people who make music and that the result is seen in the number of sales, not in the final quality. The problem is that there has not been a generational change in terms of groups, because some of us have been the seed and the grape of the wine that has become champagne for commerce. There has been a void of groups in these last fifteen years, and we have gone back to catching the snake by the tail, because groups like El canto del loco, which is a good group, remind me a lot of Hombres G in their beginnings, because of their attitude, because they want to offer vitality, musicality and songs that they want to reach the public by themselves, with all my respects. Cult music, author music, and new music have no place, and future groups have it very difficult.
So, do you think that the tip of the musical iceberg that we see in the media and record companies does not represent everything that is underneath?
No, it doesn't represent it. Right now they are not supporting music as art or as a cultural support. And music is also culture, it is transmitted to people, to different generations. Our music has been transmitted through time, not precisely by marketing but because we have done it as best as possible.
Many musicians say that to continue in this you have to know how to adapt, have you done it?
On the contrary, as happens in many countries, there are groups that have their way of doing things, that dedicate a lot of time to composing songs that are not products of a moment that then fade away, and the proof is that now we feel obliged to play songs that we composed 23 years ago. That is a phenomenon that passes from parents to children, from friends to friends, and it arises from generation to generation. The other day I signed a record for a grandmother and her grandchildren, and the only thing that bothered me is that the grandmother was my age (laughs), but the three generations adored the music of Los Secretos in the same way, and that is because the songs are designed to be songs, not for a market.
What does it mean for Los Secretos to play live, after so many years on stage?
We haven't stopped doing it, it's our job, our way of being and our life. I've been doing it since I was 17 and I miss it when we are in a period of composition or rest. It's something that feeds us, not only the ego and the pockets, which would be in second and third place, but it feeds our soul.
And what is the feeling when you see today's teenagers at your feet?
It is a great satisfaction, it is the fullness of the artist, especially after having gone through hard and difficult times, with deaths of loved ones, with ups and downs, enormous losses, and having fought to continue... You only continue if there is an audience behind you, there has to be support, a following, a purchase of records and a full house at concerts, because if not, we wouldn't be talking now.
I suppose that one of the hardest moments has been the death of your brother, Enrique. Does his personal influence continue in the work of Los Secretos?
I think so, he remains alive. People who listen to his music are paying him homage at every concert, every time they listen to a song. His spirit is renewed with every concert we give. I would love it if, if I had had the misfortune of my brother, what is happening to his music would happen to me. I would love it because there is no better way to survive death than living in the hearts of people. That is something very emotional and that many people have felt with my brother.
Do you feel more mature as the years go by?
There is a saying: with these hard things, either you fall apart or you come out stronger. We have come out with an inferiority complex that we have overcome by trusting that the public would accept us with the losses and with our effort to offer something worthy. The public has accepted it, and if it had not been so, we would have known it a few months after starting a tour that has taken us to this moment, after the death of Enrique, which will be seven years ago.
And how do you look to the future? Do you have new projects in mind?
After this tour that we finished in November, we have been very happy. People have responded phenomenally, we have had a smile on our lips like idiots, as if saying "damn, how beautiful all this is", because we have seen that a market is in crisis, but not music. Projects? All of them. We have just finished one with the Radio Televisión Symphony Orchestra. There have been three songs in the Teatro de Madrid, which have been recorded together with six other artists from the eighties, and it is strange because there had never been a collaboration of this type, of symphonic orchestration with 72 musicians mixed with rock. The result is chilling, how emotional and grandiose an orchestra sounds like that mixed with the dynamics of pop. We hope it will be released for Christmas. Other projects? Composing, playing... We don't make long-term plans.
