Pau Lobo: Freedom of action and creation

"I have achieved a great milestone in my life, which is to be my own boss. Without a penny, yes, but I own my time and that is something that I believe is also reflected in the music I make, quality, according to my criteria and without bending to market demands. I may complain about not having money, but never about having made shitty art to get it". After having dinner with a potato omelet ---"with onion, obviously"---, Pau Lobo leans on the bar and orders an Areucas rum with lemon, to accompany the conversation and the notes of Todos los años que me quedan, by Gloria Estefan, which set the atmosphere of the Bar. "I have total freedom of action and creation," he concludes.

Originally from the Horta neighborhood, a family of artists and people sensitive to culture, Pau Lobo has always felt an irrepressible urge towards everything artistic. "As a kid, while others played soccer, I drew." Music is, thus, since his tender childhood, more than something that is listened to and enjoyed. It is air he breathes, blood that flows, a latent soul through which to channel emotions. "At 16, I went on stage for the first time and immediately got involved in countless projects." In 2013, he took a step that, despite his young age, could be considered definitive.

"Six friends founded La Sra. Tomasa, which is more than just a band. It is our life project, a gift, with which we have toured all over the world, we have recorded albums and shot several short films and even a movie. It is what has allowed us to meet a lot of people and reach so many audiences with our music." After just over a decade, the band is now back in the spotlight with their fifth album, 1040 (Guspira), with which they once again fill the lives of their many followers with the mixed and urban warmth of their songbook.

--- And do you know what I like the most? --- he asks.

--- No, tell me.

--- That the same six founders are still involved in the project. The lineup has not changed. We are the ones who started it and we live it with great harmony. At this point, we are much more than friends. We are brothers --- and, in saying so, he smiles with the full width of his mouth.

Digging beneath the shell

"My older brother had a disability that resulted in very violent episodes. Growing up by his side has given me a lot of patience and a lot of emotional management capacity," explains the parishioner, who lived what may have been the darkest and bitterest moment of his existence in 2016, when his brother passed away. "I felt there were things I needed to express alone, obviously without detaching myself from the group, but apart from it." He started writing songs. "The first one, a few days after his death," and two years later he chose three songs, "each from a moment of my grieving phase," which constituted the EP Conmigo tranquilo.

"This solo music project has been moving forward, with some songs, some concerts, with collaborations and so on, but in 2025 it will fully return with my first album, Bajo la coraza, which will continue to explore very intimate, very personal aspects, that are still linked to the memory of my brother," anticipates the artist, who will first go on tour with the band to present the new album in the United States, Canada "and probably Latin America, we'll see."

"Barcelona is an incredible city, which I love for all its enormous cultural offerings, although repressive regulations curtail this activity and take a toll on the music world"

Pau smiles and shakes his head.

--- No, of course, part of the appeal of doing something solo is being able to work with different people.

Disconnect to miss the city

The musician is in love with his neighborhood, Horta, and with the interior courtyards of the Eixample, experienced as expressions of an urban intimacy that can only be seen and appreciated from inside the houses and, therefore, are safe from the immediate, immodest gaze of the streets. As if contemplating them were equivalent to traversing a beautiful and private nakedness, which gains attractiveness due to its secret condition.

"I like that it's a small city with a frenetic pace and many temptations to fall into"

--- And when you leave and disconnect, what happens?

Pau Lobo smiles again.

--- Well, what happens is that I always end up missing it, he replies.

And, at the same time, by chance, Gloria Estefan starts with Volverás, giving this reflection the most exact soundtrack.