Salva Rey: The game of putting Barcelona on the map

"Right now I would say I feel comfortable defining myself as an interpreter more than as a composer or writer". The sound of Dave Pike's marimba resonates in the morning air of the Bar through his version of Sweet 'tater pie. Salva Rey smiles and attacks a piece of his carrot cake with raisins, freshly served alongside a steaming cup of coffee with milk. "I am comfortable combining music and theater with that notion of intrinsic play that interpretation entails and that is so evident in other languages, where it is translated as to play, jouer or spielen, valuing its playful dimension," he concludes.

In the mid-90s, he played guitar, sang, and composed in Bondage, alongside his brother, Christian, and the lamented Alfredo Calonge, one of the key figures of the Barcelona underground. That project, one of the most solvent pop projects made here at the time, bequeathed two fundamental albums to understand what was not, but could have been, if local talent had been adequately promoted here.

In any case, in 1998, everything changed for Salva. "At that time I combined music with jobs for different media such as La Vanguardia or Primera Línea and, through a person very linked to the Tibetan liberation movement, I had the opportunity to go cover the Tibetan Freedom Concert that the Beastie Boys had organized in Washington DC with the most relevant of the musical scene of that time: REM, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam...". That experience left a deep mark ---"people like Richard Gere, Robert Thurman or David Crosby, whom I even interviewed, imagine!"--- and made him wonder why a project made in Barcelona could not join that increasingly globalized world, in that context where artists like the Finnish Björk or the Japanese Ken Ishii stood out internationally with the same force as American or British stars.

"That was the germ of the Pinker Tones," he explains about the duo he founded with Àlex Llovet and which, in addition to transcending its condition as a musical project to encompass other disciplines such as literature, theater or illustration, has been an enormous catalyst for artistic talent. "We have had incredible and disparate collaborators such as Eric Bobo from Cypress Hill, Albert Pla, Manu Chao, Jimmy Lindsay from Cymande or Camilo Lara from the Mexican Institute of Sound." And, of course, among many other names involved in the matter, that of Alex Borstein.

Corsets, clown suits and many ukuleles

In 2018, Salva Rey had just published his book Ukelelelala, where he shared his enthusiasm for the ukulele through an entertaining manual for families to learn the basic rudiments of the instrument. In parallel, American actress Alex Borstein arrived in Barcelona to change scenery and leave behind her recent divorce. "We met casually, almost surrealistically, on a trip to Amsterdam organized with musician and composer Eric Mills, and an enormous friendship and complicity immediately blossomed between the three of us," he recalls, finishing the last piece of cake.

The actress participated in the Pinker Tones' Rolf & Flor project, which combined children's literature, theater, and music, "and where I began to combine the facets of musician and actor." Shortly after, he gave the actress a ukulele "and the idea arose to create a musical show with this instrument that would explain Alex's vicissitudes coming to Barcelona to rebuild her life and meeting two guys like Eric and me." Thus was born the show Corsets and Clownsuits, which was an immediate success and, after the pandemic hiatus, was recorded for Amazon Prime, ending up as a finalist in last year's Critic Choice Awards, in direct competition with Society of the Snow. A response to that epiphany 25 years earlier, of putting a piece of Barcelona into the global core. Explained like this, it almost seems like a game. And, in a way, it is.

In addition to giving masterclasses and training sessions to play the ukulele, such as the one he gave to actress Aina Clotet for her role in El Sistema Solar, the local has his show El rey del ukelele (The Ukulele King), with which he will return to the stage in October, after taking a break. At the same time, he enjoys his family life, "with Anna, my partner of more than twenty years, and our two daughters." He sips some coffee. "Parenthood is something that connects you to reality, to the earth. So necessary when you live in such an airy, ethereal work environment as music and acting," he adds.

Promoting indigenous cultural potential

After more than three decades catalyzing local and international talent and striving to make Barcelona visible culturally, the artist believes there is still a long way to go. "We are still behind the great artistic metropolises like London or Berlin, which is my other city, and here I believe there is a need for greater institutional push to promote the talent we have, because what is not lacking here is potential," he reasons.

Something that is aggravated by the fact that much of this indigenous talent is displaced, due to not being able to afford prices and withstand the tourist pressure to which the city is subjected. "In part, it is normal, it happens in all global cities, it is not just a Barcelona thing. But, on the other hand, if what is wanted is to prevent Barcelonians from being pushed out of here, the City Council would have to buy housing and make it easier for people to stay in their homes."

Nevertheless, for him the city still maintains part of its essence, "and I am still in love with my neighborhood, Poblenou, ten minutes from the center and the beach, with the Bogatell breakwater from which all of Barcelona can be seen," he exclaims.

--- Another thing that will undoubtedly make you fall in love is our gastronomic offer. And it's already lunchtime, so maybe you're tempted to try something delicious...

Salva Rey smiles. Dave Pike's Jet Set plays. "I've already committed my excess with the cake, so now I'll have to balance it with a salad or something rather light," he replies with something that seems like a sigh, for the end of gastronomic impunity that comes with getting older.