After 13 years with the hugely successful Ojos de Brujo, the band’s force-of-nature frontwoman and songwriter Marinah brings us her first solo album, Baile de las Horas. Describing their style as ‘jipjop flamenkillo’ (flamenco-tinged hip-hop), the nine-piece won a Latin Grammy for their third output Techarí.
On her new album Marinah continues to bend genres and open minds, enlisting a troupe of diverse and talented musicians to create a unique blend of flamenco, soul, reggae, pop, tango, and rumba… to name but a few! Marinah says of the new album: “This record is the first stop on a journey that without a doubt will take us to different & unfamiliar ports. These songs have been with me for a while; they sound fresh and different in my head. I felt as if they were part of me, as a woman, a mother and a musician.”
The new record, El Baile de las Horas, took a year and a half to make and features a very diverse range of musicians. Tell us what the process of making a solo record was like for you.
This was a really big change after being the songwriter for Ojos de Brujo for 15 years, so I wanted to make this record at my own pace, to think carefully about what I wanted to do. It’s very different from what I’ve done before, and I wanted to see where the songs would lead me. But I was still doing the last Ojos de Brujo concerts when I started writing and recording these, so it’s not completely separate.
Latinolife: How does your solo work compare with your Ojos de Brujo material?
Marinah: My process is the same: I write the lyrics and the music just comes to me after that. The way I compose and connect with my muses is the same as ever. The difference this time is that I could record with whomever I wanted on each track. When you’re in a band everyone has to be involved in everything, which has both good points and bad points. On this record I could change collaborators each time depending on the song – for example with the song Carrusel I immediately thought of Philip Cohen Solal [French DJ with the electronic tango band Gotan Project]; when I was writing it I already heard the sound of Gotan Project, I felt this electronic thing with bandoneon and flamenco guitar…In certain songs like Estoy Aqui, Quiero Ser Feliz and Primavera, I heard an element of pop music in them which is something new for me.
This record is very fusion, very world music; but the element of pop is new. These songs just came to me, and they had a positive feeling to them. On some of the Ojos records I was younger and angrier; now, it’s not that I agree with everything that goes on in the world, but I’m not as angry. When you have kids, you feel differently about things. This change is what I needed: to get out of Ojos and do something different. This is a very positive perspective and a very feminine one.
LL: You’ve said that in making Baile de las Horas you see yourself as an alchemist combining three elements: air, water, and fire. Can you explain that idea further?
M: The fire is because this album is made from the heart. Air is significant because in four or five songs I have the metaphor of wings, of flying (like on rumba anthem Pa’ Volar). Often you repeat things without realising: for this record, it was this idea of flying, of freedom; it has the tone of self-help. That’s why I say this record has a very feminine perspective - I think a lot of women are connecting with that idea of independence, a need to do things your own way. Like on Aqui Estoy: it’s about breaking things - not in a violent way, but destroying the things that are preventing you from moving on.
Then there’s water. Partly because of my name, I’ve always felt connected to the sea. I’ve always lived near the sea; to me it means a sense of infinity, of adventure, of not being afraid of searching. On this album I conjure up images of mermaids, argonauts, boats – a very maritime feel.
LL: As you said, this album has a strong feminine perspective. What is your experience of being a woman in the music business?
M: It’s always more complicated. We have to work harder. You can feel like you’ve given everything, but it’s still not enough. There are fewer women in the music industry so you get judged more. A man in the industry doesn’t have to be good-looking; but for a woman image is very important. I like dressing up, I like wearing skirts, being ‘womanly’; but I am always careful not to fall into the trap of being objectified. Woman always have to be more, give more, from the beginning. You have to be talented, gorgeous, wonderful…
LL: And never complain about it either!
M: Exactly!
LL: New beginnings are a recurring theme on the record. How has it been to start over as a solo artist?
M: The idea of a new dawn spoke to me on three levels. I’ve had a personal new beginning and a professional new beginning. And I also feel that we’re at a moment of great change on a universal level, as human beings – right now, either we wake up, or that’s it for us! It’s as if we’re on a boat, and either we all go together to the next destination, or we sink. But I see it in a positive way. I don’t see the destruction, but the possibility of rebuilding. So the ‘new beginnings’ concept on the record has three readings, but they’re totally interlinked. I can’t move on professionally without being aware of my country’s social reality. Everything in Spain is very difficult right now. On the one hand we need music, it’s crucial to human beings as a positive influence, to grow, think, create, share. But music is becoming more and more of a luxury. In Spain people used to go out every week to concerts, but now it’s a lot harder. So in the music industry people feel like they have to play it safe to sell records. Doing new things is a risk.
It’s complicated starting again after 15 years with a band – there are a lot of comparisons, everyone knows you in a different context…I know that a first solo record is just a first step on a new path. I knew that before I started. At the moment I perform music from my past, present and future: songs from Baile de las Horas, but also songs from before – because that’s still me, those are still my songs. I chose not to discard the past, because my past made me who I am.
LL: What can the Rich Mix audience expect from your performance as part of La Linea in April?
M: I think we have a very energetic, positive show that’ll get people up and dancing. And the live show is very different from the record. In a live show each song opens up and develops. I bring a different band to the live show and with musicians who each bring something special. For example there’s flamenco guitar throughout the record, but it sounds different live, and there’s a chance for my guitarist to have solos and really show off his talent. And I’ve also been having fun playing some reinvented versions of older songs – like [Ojos de Brujo hit] Na’ en la nevera but in a kind of funky Afrobeat style.
LL: What are your plans for this year?
M: So many plans! I’m trying a lot of new things at the moment, I’m so excited to keep doing that. There are a lot of collaborations coming up. I’m making some music for documentaries, and I just finished making music for an advert – a new experience for me as well. Plus I’m continuing to promote Baile de las Horas all over Europe. I really want to put the record out in Latin America as well –I think people will understand it there. At the same time I’m also dusting off a really lovely project from two or three years ago – an unpublished, never-seen-before Lorca play called ‘Lola la Commedianta’. I joined with theatre people and musicians as well as Belen Maya, an amazing flamenco dancer. I composed the music but also played the part of Lola. We created a multidisciplinary, very experimental performance for Temporada Alta, a wonderful international performing arts festival here in Spain. It was a great experience but at the time we all had other projects going on, so now I’m dusting it off to see whether we can do it again. I’m also working on about 8 new songs, but I want to make them on a smaller scale with like 4 or 5 people. These songs have a more Jazz/Latin flamenco direction. I’m really excited to share that with people because it’s a new vision for me…
LL: Wow, so many exciting projects!
M: Yes, I never stop! I can’t stop! Things are harder than they were 13 years ago, or even 5 or 8; but if you’re connected with your creativity and your soul,– that’s what keeps you alive. As long as I have enough to keep me and my son going, I don’t need anything else.
I think that’s the attitude today: keep your happiness, your hope, your creativity – because no one can take that from you.
Marinah will be at Rich Mix, Bethnal Green on the 11th April as part of La Linea – The London Latin Music Festival. For tickets and information go to http://www.comono.co.uk/live/marinah/ or http://www.richmix.org.uk/whats-on/event/la-linea-marinah-support/
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