By the way, this is our first bilingual interview ever. Questions in English, answers in Spanish (them traduced by myself). Our hispanohablantes readers will enjoy, I know their quite numerous.
Can you tell us a bit the story of Margarita ? How do you formed ? Were you playing in other bands before ?
Empezamos a tocar juntos hace como 7 años aproximadamente, nos juntamos porque nos conocíamos de antes, éramos amigos y tocábamos en otros grupos que se disolvieron a la vez, así que decidimos hacer Margarita.
We begin to play together for like 7 years, we were knowing us before, we were friends and playing and other bands than splited at the same. Then we decided to form Margarita.
You're just release your second album Explota El Cuerpo, can you tell us a bit more about it ?
Para este disco teníamos la idea de hacer canciones bonitas y sin perder nuestra esencia. Queríamos refinar el sonido y que fuese más cósmico, como si la música rebotara en el espacio. También queríamos probar nuevas maneras de tocar nuestros instrumentos y que eso diese algún tipo de resultado
For this record, we had the idea of making the best songs without losing our soul. We wanted to sharpen the sound, to make it sounds more cosmic, as if the music was bouncing in the space. Moreover, we wanted to try new way of play our instruments and give them some kind of results.
What do you mean by "Exploit the body" ?
“Explota el cuerpo” es una expresión que se nos ocurrió durante la grabación del disco medio en broma, pero que definía perfectamente lo que estábamos intentando expresar con él. Ese espíritu de creación y construcción que hay que tener incluso en situaciones adversas y duras. “Explota el cuerpo” es como la imagen que representa el estallido del estado puro de una persona.
“Explota el cuerpo” is an expression that came like a joke during the recording of the record, but that was defining exactly what we would like to express with it. That spirit of creation and construction to keep in mind even in adverse and hard situations. "Explode the body" is like the picture of the outbreak of the pure state of a person.
How did you record that album ?
Nos fuimos a grabarlo a los Estudios Costa Brava en Sant Feliu de Gixols (Girona) y lo ha producido Santi García. Él aportó mucho al resultado del disco ya que supo sacar de nosotros cosas que estaban ahí y él hizo que fuesen mejores. Él es una persona con mucho tacto y supo cómo entendernos a la perfección.
We went to record it at Costa Brava Studios in Sant Feliu de Gixols, Girona with Santi Garcia as producer. He contributed very much to the result of the record, he helped us to bring out what were here and to make it better. He is a person with great tact and know how to understand each other perfectly.
What happened for you as a band after the release of Parque Magico ?
Justo después de Parque Mágico estuvimos un mes de gira por toda Europa y tocando por España el resto del tiempo. El disco tuvo muy buenas críticas por todos lados. Después de eso tuvimos que pensar en “Explota el cuerpo” como una evolución o reinvención del grupo.
Just after Parque Magico, we spent a month touring Europe and playing in Spain the rest of the time. The album received great reviews from all the sides. After this, we begin to think about « Explota El Cuerpo »as an evolution or reinvention of the band.
Are you living of your music or do you have some other jobs ?
No, cada uno tenemos nuestros trabajos.
No, we all got our job.
In France, the indie music scene think that you have to sing in English if you want to succed. You're singing in Spanish, can you tell us about this choice ? What do the spanish public think about it ?
La gente que piensa en tener éxito se condena a pasarlo mal. Nosotros nunca hemos pensado en esos términos. Cantar en español fue una decisión natural justo después de sacar Parque Mágico. Y con el tiempo nos pareció una muy buena idea porque era una especie de necesidad dentro del grupo. No sé qué dirá la gente en España, pero seguro que hay diferentes opiniones.
People who think holding a success is doomed to pass it badly. We never think in those terms. Singing in Spanish was a natural decision after the release of Parque Magico. And, with time, it seems us to be a great idea because it was a kind of necessity inside of the band.
I don't know what people would say in Spain, they will surely be pretty different.
What do you think of general spanish culture into music ? You seems to always had a very solid musical scene but for most of them keeping very underground.
Aquí hay muy buenos grupos que deberían de ser conocidos en todo el mundo, hahaa. En serio. No sé por qué todo se mantiene tan underground. Me gustaría que a esos grupos les conociesen en todo el mundo y que disfrutaran de ellos.
Here are some great bands that really deserve to be known worldwide ahahah. Seriously, I don't know why everything is kept as underground. I wish that the world could know and enjoy these bands.
How is the rock scene in Madrid ? Can you recommand us some good bands ?
No sé si hay una escena o no, pero la verdad es que hay grupos alucinantes en Madrid. Antes había más grupos, ahora es todo un poco raro. Es difícil poder tocar aquí porque las salas te piden dinero por tocar y eso es negativo para los grupos. Ahora hay grupos que nos gustan mucho como Lidia Damunt (no sé si sigue viviendo en Madrid), Los Punsetes, Atomizador, Los Claveles, Charades, Grosgoroth y yo tengo un grupo nuevo que se llama Prisma en Llamas. Pero tampoco sé mucho de cómo está todo esto en Madrid.
I don't know if there is a scene or not, but the truth is that there are amazing band here in Madrid. It used to be more bands, but nowadays, they became kind of rare. It's really difficult to play music because here, the concert places are asking you some money for you to play, which is very negative for bands.
Nowadays, there are bands that we like very much as Lidia Damunt (i don't know if she still lives in Madrid), Los Punsetes, Atomizador, Los Claveles, Charades, Grosgoroth and I've got a new band called Prisma en Llamas.
But do not know much about how it is all in Madrid
You seems to got a very stronge hardcore / punk background, what happened to make you think it would fit great with latin & tropical influences ?
No lo sé. La verdad es que empezamos hace muchos años metiéndonos en el tropicalismo brasileño. Nunca hemos querido ser un grupo tropicalista ya que esa época y ese espíritu fue único y no se puede repetir. Pero a nivel de sonido yo creo que un disco clave fue Discover America de Van Dyke Parks, con el que descubrimos el Calypso y supongo que nos marcó un poco.
I don't know. The truth is that many years ago we started getting into Brazilian tropicalia. We never wanted to be a tropical band because this era and spirit was unique and you can't repeat it. But talking about sound, I think the key record was Discover America by Van Dyke Parks, with which we discover Calypso, and I supposed that it touched us a bit.
What are you influenced by more generally (not only musically) ?
Musicalmente cada uno tiene sus gustos. Nos influye bastante nuestras vidas y las ganas de crear algo que mueva a la gente a hacer las cosas a su manera.
Musically, each one of us got his own taste. We are influenced by our life and the desire to create something that moves people to do things his way.
And the dumb question for the end, do you drink a lot of Margaritas ?
Hahahahahah, si nos invitas… si!
Hahahahahah, if you invite us... SURE !
Muchas Gracias amigos !
Gracias a ti.
Listen / Download : Margarita - Crudo y Crema
