He arrives after dark, a night owl, and asks for "a beer, please." And he does it calmly, with composure, "because I never liked the rush of the city," explains this Calafell native who remembers "that I was amazed when I came to Barcelona and saw everyone running, seeing how someone could fall in the street and others pretended not to see it because of that, because they were in a hurry."
"In recent years, I have realized that the seven musicians and the staff who accompany the band, we are a family. Right now I feel like I have two families: the one at home and the one I meet with when I get in the van to go to a gig or a festival. And there's a brutal atmosphere there, with great respect and mutual admiration, coupled with a strong desire to work, to improve. I feel very proud of this team and this work rhythm and, at the same time, of the closeness of one another, of the bond we have created."
The long summer of 2013
Guillem Solé was not destined to be a musician. "The members of Buhos all had our lives already half-planned. I, for example, was a journalist. For us, music was an entertainment."
--And what changed?
--It was in the summer of 2013 when we realized that things were serious, after the release of our album Natura Salvatge.
That summer period the band accumulated more than 70 performances "and we realized that, at each concert, the town square where we were playing would fill up with people singing the lyrics of the album." That summer lasted until November, with a packed schedule of gigs. "That's when we looked at each other and said 'we're quitting our jobs, right?'. And since then we have been professionally dedicated to music."
--And now?
--Right now I collaborate on RAC1 doing the rhymed summary of Barça matches, with Joan Maria Pou's team and collaborating with Esports3. I am also presenting the latest album I released in November and a theater tour with 21 dates between now and May, which, nowadays, as everything is, is a miracle. And even more so with all or almost all tickets sold."
A city that lights up
"My grandparents were from Barcelona. In this sense, for me this city was always a place related to joy, happiness, affection, because I used to come here to spend weekends and Christmases with grandpa and grandma."
The band's first number one hit, in fact, was a song titled Barcelona s'il·lumina.
Solé thinks of it and vindicates this city as "a wonderful place, an incredibly fantastic corner of the world," not always sufficiently valued by its inhabitants. And he begins to remember, with great affection:
"I have a very heavy memory of when Guardiola's Barça won title after title and hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the center, not even just on La Rambla anymore, because La Rambla alone wasn't big enough. And I remember all the people happy, joyful. It was something that brought everyone together. There were no classes or races there. Everyone was happy, enjoying themselves, and many of us were aware that we wouldn't see something like that again. People of all types and conditions united by a happiness as silly as football."
--A great footballing milestone, no doubt. Do you want me to put on the radio or some music?
--Better put on the radio, some program that motivates me.
And, unhurriedly, Guillem Solé asks for another beer and to take a look at today's menu.