Son de la Frontera
Mario Pacheco |
Son de la Frontera is one of the most interesting proposals on the current flamenco scene. The concept is one of a flamenco band, like those in pop and rock music, but deeply rooted in flamenco. Pioneers as well in the introduction of the Cuban tres, Son de la Frontera, is a young group following the path of Diego del Gastor, creativly reinterpreting the playing, dancing and singing of Morón. Their latest album "Cal" is proof of this. Three of the members, Raúl Rodríguez (Cuban tres), Paco de Amparo (guitar) and Manuel Flores (rhythm and dance) talk to us about the secrets of this new flamenco/son, a new sound that they will be performing live on the 18th of May at the Festival Suma Flamenca in Madrid.
 Why did you choose the title "Cal" (lime) for your new album?
Raúl Rodríguez: Its the recovery of the tradition in Moron. Nearly all the lime that was used to lime wash houses in Andalusia came from Morón. The idea was to tie in the routes of the lime merchants, the people who took flamenco singing with them and transmitted it and the phenomena of how lime is produced.
How they took the limestone form the quarry, heated it in an oven with a lot of care until they got that white liquid that disinfects and makes things beautiful at the same time. Its a metaphor of what we do with music.
And, the fact that lime is applied in coats makes it like flamenco's oral tradition, one person singing or playing someone else's composition is like applying another coat of paint. That's the main reason for treating the past with respect because you're painting over someone else's work.
What makes this new album different, or how is it similar to your first "Son de la Frontera"?
Son de la Frontera
Paco Manzano |
Paco de Amparo: Its similar in the sense that it still has that unique sound produced by mixing the sound of the Cuban tres and the guitar strings. And its different because we add to it our musical identity, keeping in mind the master Diego del Gastor. This record has more of our own work and creativitylike "Tanguillos de la frontera" or "Soleá del amor".
Raúl Rodríguez: We play mainly from the heart, with our hands, in a very lively way, sharing music from our travels, our homes, the hotels we stayed in. We let the music flow from inside. We want to humbly take our place as part of a generation, transmitting our roots and doing new things.
For those who do not know Son de la Frontera, tell us about your musical roots and influences.
Raúl Rodríguez: We enjoy being part of musical traditions that are alive. Taking into account who we are we try and transmit that to others. Everything starts in Morón de la Frontera.
The guitar is heavily influenced by Diego del Gastor. The dancing has a strong Sevillian influence. And the singing is influenced by the singers who sung with Diego: Juan Talega, Fernanda, Manolito de María…
For my part, playing the Cuban tres, comes from my home, my other Martirio, from Veneno, from Pata Negra, I try to approach popular music respecting traditions, but bringing new things with a minimum of transgression so that the music goes forward.
It’s a dynamic conversation between the traditional and the modern. |
Manuel Flores: It’s a dynamic conversation between the traditional and the modern. We are travellers who look forward without forgetting where we've been. It’s something very close but also very modern. More than fusion I would call it hope. Hope looks to the future based on the past. That’s where the mix is. It’s like giving colour to something that is in black and white.
Raúl Rodríguez: That’s where the play on words "de la frontera" (from the frontier) comes from. Being on the frontier between the past and the present, between yesterday and tomorrow, between local music and universal music. It is a thousand times richer being on the frontier of things. Things happen on frontiers, good things and bad, it’s a place where you can be yourself and come into contact with the “other”.
Paco de Amparo: What we do is recover things from the past and bring them to our times, our space which is somewhere in the present looking to the future. The idea is to leave a little crumb that other generations can use to enrich themselves and create new things. We want to create our own sound. We want to creat our own sound . |
Can you describe Morón’s flamenco sound?
Raúl Rodríguez: A lot of the music in Morón comes from the guitar, there is a strong guitar tradition. As well as Diego, there have always been expressive guitar players with their own personality. They have a huge capacity to say a lot with very little.
There is a lot of music that moves around a lot and is very rich and is self sufficient. Each falseta feeds from its mother falseta and mixes with its sister falsetas, and as they do that they change “palo”. The soleá falseta goes to the bulería, to the tangos, to the seguriya. Morón’s music has and incredible internal language.
What do you find most inspiring in all this musical tradition?
Raúl Rodríguez: I think there was a lot of purity and authenticity back then when it came to making music and especially flamenco. It wasn’t so commercial, there wasn’t so much money in it.
Art was self sufficient, art for art’s sake. The artist did it for the music and not for record sales. That’s what we want to do now in modern Technicolor. We venerate those artists that love what they did and gave their lives for what they created. We venerate those artists that love what they did and gave their lives for what they created . |
As well as Diego del Gastor, the group’s other main influence is Martirio, who took you under her wing. What does she mean to you?
Manuel Flores: Martirio is the light of my life, she’s the flame I need to keep on going. She is the vitality and strength I need to continue.
Paco de Amparo: She is the person who gave us the confidence in ourselves individually and as a group.
Raúl Rodríguez: I don’t know any other artist who has a group working for them and encourages them and motivates them to start their own project.
An to all this you add the Cuban tres, something truly groundbreaking.
Raúl Rodríguez: It’s an instrument that had never been introduced to flamenco, and that is groundbreaking. However, the Cuban tres is historically linked to flamenco. In the 16th to 19th centauries many people from rural Andalusia immigrated to Cuba. The Cuban “guajiro” (field worker) has a lot of Andalusian roots and the tres is an instrument that came from the Cuban fields.
So, introducing the Cuban tres is a way of doing fusion by going back to the future. That instrument was probably a brother of the guitar. In a way the Cuban tres is a descendent of the Andalusian guitars that arrived in Cuba. In a way the Cuban tres is a descendent of the Andalusian guitars that arrived in Cuba . |
Is it difficult to play flamenco on a Cuban tres?
Raúl Rodríguez: The instrument’s logic is different because the tuning is inverted, the high strings are at the top and the bass strings at the bottom. You have to do a kind of simultaneous translation. The finger work is different, the dynamic is different and the technique is different.
I am trying to do much of the flamenco strumming and tapping with the pick, changing the pick work into the right hand technique, the arpegios, the “alzapúa”. Its about creating something new. Its difficult but beautiful.
Another novelty you bring to flamenco is the idea of a flamenco group instead of the traditional quartet.
Paco de Amparo: That’s right, the are flamenco quartets or soloists, but there has never been a flamenco group as such. That is also groundbreaking. Five people, all on the same vibe, each expressing themselves and everybody feeling the love.
Manuel Flores: It’s a question of bringing together five different personalities and speaking the same language. Doing somehting personal without losing that universal feel.
Raúl Rodríguez: It’s about recovering that collective spirit. Realising that its much nicer to work together. I’d love it if in a few years flamenco had guitar players, singers, dancers, troupes and groups.
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