"The music I make is that of a Barcelona native born in 1989, combining all the sonic influences that have passed through and left their mark on this city: jazz, blues, flamenco… all those styles that have been lived and breathed in our streets." The syncopated and hypnotic rhythm of Ben Jones's Let's do one in 7/8 takes over the nocturnal atmosphere of the Bar, while musician and composer Pau Figueres dines at the bar on a juicy Betanzos omelet, a gastronomic prize awarded after returning from a concert where, as always, he has poured his heart out.
His childhood was spent in a home where there was "a lot of music, very diverse and good. Salsa, flamenco and folklores from various countries", popular world music with which growing up was key to his later development as a musician.
"In fact, my parents are musicians and my brother and I are too," he states with a smile that is both shy and located somewhere where things are expressed more with chords and musical notes than with words. "Playing for me is expressing myself deeply, it is transcending thought and connecting with something very big, very spiritual."
All this spirituality emerges in Latido (Satélite K) his new album, the third of a solo career that began less than a decade ago. For this occasion, Pau's fingers fly over the strings and over the keyboards of various analog synthesizers to construct an exact flamenco album of our century, combining respect for tradition with a restless gaze that seeks to transcend barriers, as Camarón or Manzanita transcended them in the past.
In search of pure sound
At the age of seven, Pau Figueres got his first guitar, and learned to play the instrument, to get to know it more and more deeply based on an innate intuition that he would later polish with studies at the conservatory, but without losing the essence of someone who plays and composes above all based on his ear, on that sense of musicality that is born from within and guides the soul towards melodies that seem dictated by supernatural designs.
He studied with some of the best: flamenco guitar with Rafael Cañizares, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Diego del Morao and Antón Jiménez; classical guitar with Álex Garrobé, Laura Young, Feliu Gasull, Vicenç Mayol and, above all, with the Croatian Zoran Dukić, "which was something that greatly marked my training as a musician," and jazz guitar with Wayne Krantz, Ben Monder, Adam Levy and Dani Pérez. At sixteen, he made his professional debut. "I started accompanying incredible musicians like Lidia Pujol, Dani Espasa or Óscar Roig, very good people, almost twice my age. I learned a lot from them."
For Pau Figueres, playing is "expressing oneself deeply, it is transcending thought and connecting with something very big and very spiritual"Since then, the parishioner has stepped on countless stages and recording studios, won awards and played and amalgamated different styles in the company of artists such as Mayte Martín, Rufus Wainwright, Carles Benavent, Toti Soler, Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Tal Ben Ari, C.Tangana and, above all, Alejandro Sanz, whom he accompanied for three years. "For me, working with him was a dream come true." A diverse cast of artists and talents who, in some way, make up that musical variety, that sound world of a Barcelona native born in 1989.
But, in addition to composing and playing, the musician has another facet as a sound explorer. "Shortly after graduating from ESMUC, I bought a Faustino Conde guitar, which is the flamenco guitar that Paco de Lucía played… in fact, I bought it from a nephew of his, so maybe he did get to play it! The thing is that instrument opened new worlds for me and took me to other places. For me, its sound is the point of reference, the model against which I compare all other guitars." Since then, first with the now deceased luthier Arcadio Marín and now with his disciple, Joaquim Hernández Casasola, Pau works on the development of a better flamenco guitar, seeking the perfect resonance and maximum accuracy of the bass.
Harmonious city
"For me, Barcelona is a city that connects with the world, it is harmonious, although perhaps it lacks green areas integrated within its urban core and there is an intolerable excess of construction work. But it has a perfect human dimension and you realize that, above all, when you come back from other countries. For example, from the United States, where people use the car to go anywhere," says the local, who praises not only the city's dimensions, environment, and architecture, but also its character. "That which allows you to leave your house and sit on a terrace to have a beer in the sun, while chatting with others. That's something very much from here."
--- Well, in summer maybe not in the sun, it hits hard.
"Yes, the humid heat here is something I can't stand," laughs the musician, who finishes his last piece of tortilla to the rhythm of Best F in the world by Ben Jones.
--- Do you fancy any dessert? Or something to drink?
The Bar livens up with the cheerful bustle of its nocturnal clientele. Pau Figueres is comfortable, he's back from a concert and, although he knows he won't wake up late tomorrow, his hours of greatest activity are more in the evening. So he says to himself, "well, of course," and orders:
--- A whiskito, please---, without losing his beatific smile.