What the Hell is this bloke doing in Bristol?

If someone has nothing to say with their music, is it possible to understand them without some background knowledge? Oh, probably. But is it possible to understand a true artist without some knowledge of their origins? That's far more tricky. Bristol-based poet, vocalist and performer Xavier Panades is from Catalonia... but what does that mean?

Wikipedia says “In 1982, the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) came to power, which represented the return to power of a leftist party after 43 years” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain

 On the face of it, this seems to suggest that the swing away from the Fascist rule of the Dictator Franco following his death in 1975 was complete. End of story, right?

Well, no. Even in the UK we hear stories of the continued existence of the Basques separatist organisation ETA, and some foreign visitors become aware of the strong independent feelings in Catalonia, so there is more to post-Franco Spanish affairs than sun, sea and sangria (or imported beer, chips and a stereotypical destination for the English abroad).
 

Unfortunately the extent of general knowledge about Spain is limited outside of its boundaries, so it will come as a surprise to most people that it is not only a diverse culture with a broad spectrum of dialects spoken, but virtually a mini-sub-continent with a whole range of different languages and where the very idea of Spain as an administrative entity is both questioned and at the same time rigidly enforced.
Spain has had a chequered history, and even a sparse historical knowledge will usually include the Spanish Armada, the Spanish Inquisition, the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. Most people in the UK will be aware of bull fighting and flamenco, some of the Balearic Beat music and the Moorish influence injecting an Islamic flavour to both the language and bloodlines. The ubiquitous Spanish greeting of "¡Hola!" has been attributed to the cry of "Allah!".

Spain is both a historical and geographical meeting point of cultures, with similar characteristic tensions we identify with the Slavic region of South Eastern Europe. Unlike Yugoslavia however, Spain was a colonial power and remains highly influential in large parts of the world. The legacy of institutionalised power struggles and deeply ingrained conflicting interests is a society polarised at almost all levels from rural to civil. At present this situation is largely stable, but as we found in Yugoslavia, seemingly forgotten rivalries have the potential to rise to the surface and even the mainstream UK media reports examples where these struggles are far from forgotten in Spain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslavia 

Much like the UK, the influence that Spain has over its former colonies is now reducing year by year. Unlike the UK, Spain's experience in the last 100 years has been one wracked by civil war, overt oppression untempered by a free press and by several changes in political system. In such an atmosphere it is not surprising that a widespread feeling exists that the best thing for Spain is continued political unity and that any lobbying for devolution of its constituent regions, by peaceful means or otherwise, is to be not only dismissed, but also abhorred and suppressed. The ideology here is that a united Spain is Modern, forward-thinking and progressive. 

Unfortunately, the result is that the diversity of Spain's rich cultural heritage appears to be suffering as a result of this enforced unity. Is this a bad thing after all, you might ask? At what price is peace won? Well, imagine a United Kingdom where the reactionary views of the Daily Mail reader are predominant in society and the Welsh, Scottish, Cornish and Manx peoples are told that the language they speak is the 'British language'. Not the 'English' language, mark you: The 'British' language is the language of Shakespeare in this scenario! You see,  the so-called Spanish language is actually the language of just one region, Castilian. Imagine Scottish people living in Edinburgh being shouted at by ex-patriot English that they are not Scottish; they are British, and that they should speak the British language just like everyone else! 

These centralist and hard-line attitudes hold much influence in Spain today, even while some regions have their own local government and dual-language road-signs. 

Like any such ethnic rivalry the resultant ill-feeling works both ways, with innocent victims on both sides. For example, a young girl who moved with her family to Catalonia from ruling Castillia was shocked at her first day at school to find that the teachers refused to speak to her in her native tongue, which she had assumed was spoken everywhere in Spain. She later asserted that by law the teachers should speak both languages, and they should at least have explained to her what was going on merely as a matter of courtesy. Such comparatively minor conflicts must be an every-day occurrence and it is not hard to imagine that innocent victims can easily become jaded or turn to bitter advocates of defensive political posturing as a result. 

I met Xavier Panades in about 2003 at an acoustic session I was performing at Circle Books (now ' The Circle'). It was one of those places where conversations often sprang up between strangers and during my break, the cafe banter at one end of the tiny cafe was dominated by a long-haired and gravel-voiced individual speaking eloquently about politics and music, his speech garnished with occasional references to Buddhist philosophy and expansive requests to the proprietor, Mike (who he knew by name), for more coffee. He was a Paleo-Biologist doing a PhD in Bristol and working at music on the side.  

In 2004 when I went to perform for two weeks just outside of Barcelona, I sent an email to my email-list saying I was going to Spain etc etc and Xavier replied half-jokingly "Eiiiiiii you bastard Barcelona is Catalonia not Spain!!!!" I blinked, of course. 

We got to know each other during my return visits to the venue and fate took a hand when he not only got on the same plane as me to Barcelona by complete coincidence, but at the time of his last-second boarding there was only one seat untaken on the plane, next to me. Eventually he asked me to produce his music. He's still finishing his PhD, but the music has taken centre-stage in his life. That's the short story. 

Xavier is not a stereotype of any kind, and if one is tempted to think he is odd, then being introduced to his co-writer and guitarist, the quietly eccentric Englishman Errol Hewitt, will quickly assure you of his comparative normality. Not that Errol is more or less bizarre than Xavier, but... let's just say that even before hearing their music the impression is one of “err... what's going on here?" Their musical training and technical expertise is virtually nil, but what they do know is firmly rooted at a stage most creative people will recognise as one of wonder at the possibilities, where inspiration can quickly turn an apparent bum-note into an opus. It is a valuable stage in a creative person's development and one that is difficult to retain. These guys have managed to make this stage the continuing spirit of their project. 

While it is easy to dismiss musicians who have no concept of being "muso's", it is also easy to be at first impressed and then bored by muso's with no concept of art. Xavier and Errol fall into the first category of whom it might be said that they fumble in the dark, their eyes hardly tuned to the light of musical knowledge, their mouths hardly conversant with the musical language. But their imaginations are so strong that the dark becomes a canvas onto which they project their own light and the symbolic use of simple musical structures is so ingenious that it is actually no impediment when combined with Xavier's highly-developed command of words and his passion of delivery. All his lyrics are written and performed in his native Catalan. 

To closely paraphrase what Bruce Lee once said, "if you are too natural you are too wild and have no focus, but if you are too scientific you become too slow and clockwork. You must cultivate a balance between these forces, my friend - the Yin and the Yang." Without some focus, Xavier would indeed be too wild and uncontrolled, but he is wise enough to realise that he can gain some focus from the advice of others, which is a rare virtue in a self-confessed Egotist! 

Xavier talks. And talks. He often rambles from one subject to the next and clearly thinks deeply about life, yet he is no dope-smoking layabout. I found that if I told him he needed to do such and such a thing to achieve his aims, then he just went away and did it. Then not only did he come back to ask what to do next but he'd say what he intended to do (at length) and asked me what I thought about it. I would consider the obstacles he was most likely to encounter, tell him, and he'd go away and deal with them. And I understand that he picks the brains of many people whose ears he bends. His future is sure to be interesting. 

Xavier is a good example of one who is too naïve to realise that something is impossible, and therefore achieves his goals because the obstacles do not exist for him. 

In my few years of knowing him, Xavier has told me much of his views on life and when he asked me to compose some questions for an interview; I asked questions about the things he has told me, and matters we have discussed. The reason for this is that these are the things about which he was ready speak and also, I wanted to fill in the gaps and finally get a grip on what on Earth he'd been on about all these years.

So here goes:

1. Your influences are a mixture of names known in the UK and USA, and many which are unfamiliar here. Which are the most important and why? We considered sounds produce by music the only perceivable materialisation of our inner emotions, which can be communicated to our other senses and other people.

For example, I have extracted the sounds from the music created by my favourite rock-metal band Black Sabbath and trash-metal bands like Sepultura or Slayer dark and aggressive emotions to create the reciting of tunes like “Tenebres i Teranyines”; Ozzy Osbourne, James Brown, blues guitarist Chris Scott, Iggy Pop, Nick Cave are great sources to learn how to guide your public into your music on the stage; Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison (The Doors) demonstrated us that a “great voice” does not automatically produce “great expressiveness”, on the contrary “great expressiveness”, is released by anybody who cares to express their emotions to society; Chris Scott taught me a lot about the essence of blues and how to approach the agents and other bandits in the music world.

Special mention to Pau Riba, the guy that released the first rock album in Catalan. More than that, in his albums he modernised Catalan language to be used in rock music and other type of arts. He altered the lyricism of Catalan language pronunciation to harder and shorter beatings like German or English without losing her essence. My singing technique has been totally developed from his albums, and anybody serious about singing rock and roll in Catalan must learn from them…Of course as important as Pau all the songwriters and bands from the seventies in the Catalonian Countries, such as Raimon, Ovidi Montllor, Sisa, All Tall, Guillem d’Efak, Miquel Gil, Toti Soler, Oriol Tramvia, etc (look at my influences on my MySpace webpage www.myspace.com/xpanades). In the case of Raimon, he increased the phonetic power of Catalan language by singing words longer with the right highs and lows supported by simple guitar rhythms; Pep Torra from Els Potuls showed me how to sing and feel blues using in Catalan, and also encouraged me to come to England; I have learnt from Sisa with his weird psycodelic Arabic singing the way of vibrating the voice at the end and in the middle of the verses; Oriol Tramvia showed us how to sing punk using our language, actually a year before the Sex Pistols; my knowledge of how to recite came from the great hypnotising power of the deep voice of Ovidi Montllor, capable changing moods in seconds, without doubt the greatest reciter in Catalan music. In our album, Els Amants is a version of one of his tunes….Unfortunately; there are many others I am leaving out … 

2. What’s Errol’s role in your music? Errol provides the most perfect support to my singing. We are a combination of two extremes working in total harmony. Errol’s unusual guitar playing is calm, simple and effective, and mysterious and quiet, like a reversed volcano, in huge contrast to me with my chaotic bursts of feeling and Rabelaisian passion. I feel a great privilege to work with such a genius like Errol.

Errol also provides input in composition, doesn't he? How do you write together? Errol will come up with a tune and I either add to this, poems I've already written, or I will write something new, inspired by the feeling I get from Errol's music. 

3. What other musicians are you working with? We are lucky to be working with great professional musicians who are attracted by the bizarre way our music is carried out. I'm still in contact with Leeds band The Last Magicians and Bristol band The Get Outs.

I performed with the The Last Magicians during my time in Leeds during the Goth era, and Mishka their main man have sent me some excellent tunes I will inserting and released in my future albums; The best punk-rock band in the last 10 years in England, The Get Outs supported our thrash metal project “The First Invisible C.A.T”, and is pending to record an album hopefully in the near future. Errol and I love to make noise with Dave and company! 

I'm really looking forward to a project of composing the music for all the poems of a Catalan poet, Francesc Pujols with Sean McBride and James Hollingsworth. They such a technical and professional musicians, they just know how to insert the right chords, production for the right lyrics and my emotions, and adding a technical side without destroying its poetic essence, they such great personalities; I love to compose pure rock and roll and punk with Mark Blacker with our side project “The Blackercats”; and I am fretting to start working in greater depth with blues music with Chris, and more electronic stuff with Martin Hannaby  

We must thank James Hollingsworth, he discovered and has been guiding us since then. He has captured the essence of our music and been able to transform it in a perfect album very few people could have ever achieved with us. 

For example, we have just finished an avant-garde jazz-piece “Trenclaclosques (Jigsaw)” extremely different from our normal style with the collaboration of Dave Dorman, an excellent saxophonist from the Miles Davis era; which opens up new horizons and reinforces the potential of our band.  

4. What are your songs about? Our songs contain equally a universal and a local element. They express the feelings of frustration with current times from an Anglo-Catalan point of view…At this time of history we need poets to help regenerate hope in the empty mannequins we have become! We need to stop consuming and recover our human dignity, to build a more stable and decent world. Not this chaotic style of life where everybody is a junkie, looking for the next product to distract us from our inner pains…
   
    

5. What do the names of your songs mean?

“Deixeu-me escollir qui soc”  = Let me chose who I am;

“La Font de Sant Marcal” = The Fountain of Saint Marcal (poem by Guerau de Liost); “Contra-ataquem” = We Counter-Attack;

“Per què  no li dius?” = Why do not you say it?;

“ Cuco i kika” (from the names of my cats);

“Tenebres i teranyines” = Darkness and Spider Webs;

“Qui son els àngels?” = Who are the Angels?;

“ Els Amants” = The Lovers (a cover of Ovidi Montloor, poem by Vicent Estelles);

“El camí” = The Pathway (poem by Francesc Pujols). 

6. What inspires you as an artist? Gosh dude! Just look around! The world we perceive today is sufficient to write again three times over the total sum of poetry already written in human history! We must write simply to awaken our traumatised and dead souls!
    

7. Do you have a message? Destroy your mask and embrace your emptiness, only when you have perceived that you are nothing you will be free to feel our music! Our message is pure inspiration, there is no method! It is spontaneous!
    

8. You describe your music as “Transcendent.” What does it transcend? It was Nestor Mont, a Valencian songwriter, who first defined it as Rhapsody and transcendental…Our idiosyncratic personalities and our atypical way of approaching music has resuscitated, internationalised, and created the “Catalan Style”: A unique style, a new form of transcendent music, which breaks through any musical classicism so that people can directly experience the feeling that the words are expressing, regardless of their complexity or the language in which are expressed. It is heavily laced with my talent to switch and combine poetry, comedy, acting and tireless recitation.
    

9. When you say that your music breaks through “Musical Classicism”, do you mean categories and classifications or what?

We are just two guys expressing the emotions and feelings of our age, without any musical training which could restrain our music frontiers, who sound like themselves, and we have never thought is what we are or we want to be…We have broken through “Musical Classicism” accidentally… The only labels we have been stamped with are the first “Thrash-Acoustic Folk” band and “Transcendental Catalan Rhapsody… 

Would I like to play, be, and sound like the artists and music I have listened to? Shall I be similar copies of whomever of them to become famous and rich? Do I want be the next “Bob Dylan”?

Even simpler than the question, Musicians that do not sound like their idols, but are heavily influence by them are the greatest ones!

Musicians used to compose music as a response of their socio-economic situations, personal lives, and inner the spark, the “emotion of the moment”. Most of their voices and instruments were never classically trained, including even jazz musicians.

Nowadays, they look like and sound like ages, bands, styles, etc.. Music has become unbalanced and more of an economic product to be consumed as quickly as possible than art…Music has become “Musical Classicism” you need a label, a category, a genre to look and sound a certain tried and tested way with the aim just to sell and sell and sell! This is the Age of the Unoriginal! Art has become subservient to Art! MEDIOCRITY AND MEDIOCRE PEOPLE RULE!  

10. Do you have a political agenda? Jesus Christ mate! Absolutely Nooooooooo! To have a political agenda is ancient history dude! Politicians are so mediocre and people so cultured nowadays they have now their own “economic and marketing agenda.” Like you say - “every penny you spend is your vote”.
     

11. Is Catalan different to “Spanish”? It cannot be because “Spanish” is a mythical yet widespread idea. If you mean Castilian, well, both have the similarities of two Roman/Latin languages, but they are as different as English and German. In fact, French and Catalan are sister languages coming from the same Vulgar Latin root; Castilian evolved much later than Catalan or Galician as a Roman language.
     

12. Why is “Spanish” called “Castilian”? The question here is why Castilian is called Spanish It would be the equivalent of calling English the British language, with all the negative socio-political implications of the word.

Castile (land of castles) is an identity/old kingdom occupying a central plateau in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula. During Franco’s dictatorship and the current pseudo-democracy was divided in three autonomies for obvious political reasons.

In this beautiful desert of Castles Castilian evolved, which later was changed to “Spanish” to support the homogenisation of Iberia into an artificial single-minded country, “Spain”. So the idea was for”Spanish” to become the language of all! Fortunately for all of us they totally failed! 

There are actually several distinct existing languages in Iberia including: Basc, Castilian, Portuguese, Catalan and Galician, each with their own dialects. 

13. What is the current political situation in Spain in your view? Very dangerous my friend! From a Catalan point of view. There are two governments (Spanish and Catalan), and two different political realities, two different ways of ruling and seeing society, the world. The Iberian Peninsula is the most cultural diverse region in Europe, many different identities and cultures co-habit that wonderful area. If you consider its place in the whole political spectrum from a Dictatorship on the one hand to a free Democracy on the other, the idea of Spain and everybody the same or a derivation of Spanish can only be understood as belonging to a totalitarian regime! It is a fossil from a bygone age of oppression! It is a myth, a fantasy, and Spanish and Catalan politicians know that officially recognising the plural-nationality of Spain would soon result in its disappearance. Instead of facing this challenge and finding a legal and peaceful solution among them, to keep their asses in power they create an atmosphere where it feels Spain is the centre of the Latin world and very important in the world power. They cultivate frictions among different identities by feeding them with populist lies daily through the media, like “Spain is disintegrating!”, or “Castilian is disappearing from Catalonia”, “Catalans are draining our resources” etc... The clearest example of my point here is how they have messed up recently an excellent opportunity to finish with the terrorism in a democratic way in Euskadi.    

Consequently, ethnical and socio-political tensions have been raised dramatically, similar to just before the Spanish civil war and the old Yugoslavia. Add to this the situation with people over-borrowing for mortgages and the memory of economic depression; Spain is heading towards a dangerous situation. Catalans and Bascs have already announced dates for referendums for independence and the Spanish army are ready to stop them. 

I foresee an urgent intervention from the EU, when the situation will become hotter to support the inevitable recognition of the Iberian plural diversity.  

Three simple questions illustrate how the Spaniards visualise the situation:  

How is it possible in the EU and a democratic country to have as a national monument, the tomb of an assassin like Franco, who was as bad as Hitler or Mussolini?;  

When will the Spaniards (like the Germans did recently) face the wrongdoings during Franco’s dictatorship?; 

How is possible that assassins and their sons from the Franco years are still in the Spanish power structure? 

In a free society these matters should be legitimately questioned and made open to public scrutiny, but such questions are regarded not as the norm, but as subversive! 

14. What is the music scene like in Spain/Catalonia? The modern music scene is a reflection of the political situation. It is a monoculture in Spain, and a modern music scene is virtually non-existent in Catalonia.

Instead of realistically promoting the great musical and cultural diversity in the Spanish State, resulting in an increase in economic profits; and the decrease in the ethnic tensions between Iberian cultures, the Spanish government and the media totally marginalise non-Castilian musicians, imposing a standardised view of Spanish culture and music where the main language is “Castilian” with an virtual archetypical model of “modern Spanish person” with a Castilian Madrid-like accent.” and even suppressing the dialectical diversity of Castilian itself. We are confronted with this attitude daily on a personal level! “You are not Catalan, you are Spanish!” 

Moreover, compared to my experience in the UK, the Catalonian Countries' music scene is virtually non-existent, lacks real music or any other popular culture, there is no established circuit, no market, and obviously no international dimension; it has hardly any public, private or institutional support (by local Councils, the Catalan, Valencian, Andorran, Balearic, Murcian, French and Sardinian governments and media, which repeats the same mistakes as the Spanish one), and except in Valencia there is not a base to nurture the creation of future musicians... except for a festival maybe once per year, there are no folk clubs, jam nights, open mic's or showcases, nothing like that. It is a monoculture. It is very frustrating.

In fact, Catalan language and culture is disappearing, year after year; official bodies warn the central and local governments of this fact, though nothing really positive is happening as a result of their efforts. 

Heavy marketing by the media sponsored by the Catalan government covers all this up. It is a sad truth few people dare to explain. All we have is a few selected musicians, a few big concerts, and magazines of Catalan music lived from direct or indirect grants from the government. Where can aspiring musicians and artists go? This is one reason I feel I had to start things in the UK. 

Nonetheless, I must congratulate and give all my support to people and musicians working in this meagre music scene, as their work is essential for the survival of our music. More than ever we need to unite and push it harder and harder, especially in our own land to create the bases for the creation of Catalan Countries' music scene. 

Despite the difficulties, our land continues to produce excellent musicians like the jazz blues of Bocanegra, Nestor Mont and his Cendraires, Pel Broc bros, Cesc Freixes, Tomeu Caldentey, Voltors, La troba de Kung-Fu, Els Potuls,Ramon Perich, Xavier D’ Edinburgh, Jaumet and Erm (David Perez).

15. What do you think of “Homage to Catalonia” by George Orwell? I think that any book by people from other cultures about Catalonia like “Homage to Catalonia” or “Homage to Barcelona” by the Irish writer Colm Toibin letting the world know about Catalonia as such is great and more than welcomed. However, I would like to see more Catalan books translated in English and other international languages to spread our written jewels by excellent writers like Manuel de Pedrolo, Pere Calders, Francesc Pujols, etc, which have hardly even been re-released in Catalan…Unfortunately, our literature has been as neglected by our governments as our music! 
     

16. In the USA there is some interest in Catalan poetry, is this important? The USA has a solid music and literature scene, and it is extremely important towards the recognition and cultural awakening of the Catalonian Countries that Catalan music becomes popular there.

Recently Lou Reed, Patty Smith and other read translated poets in NY…This is more than important, it is another step.  My music has also been broadcast on the The SoupyGato Show and other internet radio shows in the USA with excellent comments. 

17. What are the Catalonian Countries? Catalonia is only a part of our identity. Catalan culture and language is spread out in four Nation states.  From Perpinya to the Mountains of Murcia, Andorra including the Balearic and Pitiuses Islands, and the City of Alguer in Sardinia, about 13-14 million people. (The population of Wales, for comparison, is 9.1 million) The funny thing is that Catalan is more spoken than some languages of European States like Estonia, for example, and we are still considered to be a cultural minority…Is not democracy funny?
     

18. You have nearly 4000 friends on Myspace. Where do they come from? Funnily enough most people who have befriended are from the East Coast of the USA. Other hotspots are the West Coast of USA, North of Africa and the Mediterranean area. Though, we have friends in all continents unsurprisingly, transcendental music also transcends frontiers, even personal ones, I also have a nice group of fans from Spain!
     

19. On your MySpace there is a pic of you in spectacles looking slightly maniacal, with the caption “Who said Xavier cannot sing eh???” Err, that was me wasn’t it? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Jajajjajajajjajajja
     

20. What other feedback have you had about your voice? I am more of a reciter, rhapsode than a singer; and I have learnt my art by my own without any classical training, on the streets, by talking a lot with many people, by observing their faces their attitudes like an actor's. Moreover, I have a particular tone because of a certain defect at the upper part of my larynx. As a result, my voice has a rare sound, like that of a heavy smoker, but it is natural! People love the passion and power of my voice, some people commented that they felt like “I was captivating them”, that “I was vibrating their inner bodies and souls and that I recite their frustrations!” Fortunately, some of my mentors have mentioned how fortunate I am as there is plenty of room for improvement particularly my singing technique, which may lead to my accessing many other styles and musical ideas!
     

21. Following the film crew coming over from Catalonian what has been the public reaction? I knew that there would be a “before” and “after” in the Catalonian Countries music scene after our interview on Catalan TV, and that the reaction would not be massive because of the situation.

I am very glad that the interview outlined the current precarious state of the Catalan Countries' music and cultural scene; referenced who is who in our musical scene; injected a great deal of self-belief in Catalan musicians that their music could be as successful as in any other language, and as exportable, accessible and listenable to as any other anywhere.  

Consequently, it has sparked up a change in their mentality, Musical influences and mentality. They have stopped looking at Barcelona or Madrid as reference points, now they seek a world to conquer by filling with our music, to compete healthily with other cultures. They have discovered that the musical Ocean is huge, near eternal…. 

In fact,  Some Catalan musicians like The Potuls (already before the interview), Pel broc Bros, and Jaumet have either visited or played already in England; and many others have contacted me through internet like Voltors. 

I am also so glad that our music has been widely liked there, and received a warm welcome on our tour presenting the album in the Catalonian Countries.

22. Where are you playing next? We often play around Bristol, check out   www.mySpace.com/xpanades  and join our mailing list!
     

23. When will I get paid? (Joke) - Buffffffffffffffffffff