"A beer, preferably on tap," asks Víctor Asensio, before rethinking it for a few moments and deciding: "look, no, better wine, if it's red a Montsant and if it's white, Verdejo." On the radio, El Sótano, from Radio 3, one of his favorite programs, is playing.
--- Should I leave the radio on or do you want to listen to something specific?
--- I like it when they play music for me. You can't imagine how many bands I've discovered and brought to play in Barcelona, thanks to friends' recommendations.
Outside, dusk is falling and, dressed in a 60s Levi's corduroy jacket, narrow low-rise trousers that define his slenderness, and pristine Adidas Samba, Víctor Asensio, alias Víctor Retros due to his role as singer of the band Los Retrovisores, leans against the bar.
"I'm 38 years old, although sometimes I look 20. I grew up in Maresme and, to this day, it still surprises me that I finished my economics degree at the UB (Universitat de Barcelona). I've been organizing parties since before I earned my first serious salary and now I dedicate myself to it almost exclusively," explains the singer and songwriter, co-director of Sala Upload in Poble Espanyol, co-organizer of the veteran Gambeat Weekend festival "which this year should have celebrated its tenth edition and will take place on September 17 and 18," as well as other initiatives such as Picnic Beat, "an outdoor concert series in Poble Espanyol, adhering to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic", Bcn Psych Fest or Carnaval Bravo.
The latest thing he's involved in ---apart from new songs for Los Retrovisores, co-written with his inseparable Leo Hernández and expected to see the light very soon--- is the creation, together with David Marcos Font, of the record label Magic Mountain Records, focused on psychedelic sounds.
--- Have you always been professionally linked to music and nightlife?
--- Not at all, I've had quite a few ups and downs! I've been a street vendor at sports and motor events, a cold-calling ADSL salesperson, I've done administrative work at CCOO (Comisiones Obreras) central services, as well as for savings banks, investment banking, etcetera.
Banking or nightlife
It was precisely the investment banking professional environment that, one day, Víctor Asensio left aside to dive into the night. "Organizing events is addictive. When you see people enjoying themselves like crazy on the dance floor, when you see that collective effervescence, you think: 'This one's for me!' ---he laughs---. That moment is magical."
"I've always liked working in a team ---he continues--- and perhaps the turning points in my career go hand in hand with meeting people with whom I've started projects that have made me grow personally and professionally and with whom I've spent memorable moments. Meeting Pere, organizing a closing party, at the University of Barcelona, and with whom, along with the rest of the band, I've played for twelve years in Los Retrovisores. Meeting David, Xavi, and Guillem, with whom we organized the Gambeat Weekend. Jordi, one of my partners at Upload with whom, along with Pepo and Isaac Cooyah, we made our first steps as DJs and event organizers. More recently, meeting Kity, my partner, who has been my accomplice in many audiovisual and musical projects in these last seven years."
Proud to see what he and his partners have managed to create with Upload, "a club that I believe brings together some of Barcelona's most vibrant musical initiatives." Víctor Asensio assures that now his top priority is to keep it afloat despite Covid. Something common in the nightlife sector, heavily punished by the situation, and from different fronts.
A beautiful and rogue city
"My love for the city comes from its beauty, from the proximity and the rogue spirit of its people, from its reduced dimensions that allow you to cross it in a hurry in half an hour," explains the singer, for whom the love for Barcelona is a mix "of nostalgia, the result of thousands of personal experiences in its streets, in its small clubs and concert halls, with other elements of an unusual magnetism, such as Guardiola and Messi's Barça sextet or Ada Colau's victory in 2015."
--- And something you dislike?
--- Pigeons and posturing. And, since we're in a bar: sandwiches with processed cheese, tall and dry potato omelets, brick-style, frozen french fries, and bars that serve drinks with small tap water ice cubes.
Then Víctor Asensio laughs and orders another glass of wine, before reflecting for a few seconds and concluding, regarding Barcelona: "The truth is that it's an incredible city, and it would be very hard for me to have to live anywhere else."