J.M. CIRIA

"MOBILIS in MOBILI"

La musica como viaje.

 El movimiento dentro de otro movimiento.

Mobilis in Mobili.

Una espiral de ritmos entrelazados y superpuestos que nace en nosotros y acaba mas alla de los confines del Universo.
Esa misma espiral que esta dibujada por el tiempo en la concha del Nautilus y en las Galaxias.

Una espiral que crece sin perder la forma.

La espiral, el ritmo el tiempo y el viaje.

El viaje del Nautilus, el Navegante, creado y comandado por el Capitan Nemo., Nadie, Ulises, como paradigma del viajero solitario por los oceanos del conocimiento en busca de una patria quimerica.

La musica del cd esta planteada como una suite. Todos los temas estan enlazados porque forman parte de un todo. No son temas aislados, algunos comparten melodias, otros secuencias y a todos los he querido impregnar de la magia y fascinacion que me produjeron los libros de Julio Verne cuando los lei por primera vez.

He intentado transmitir la emocion y el misterio que se experimenta cuando descubres algo nuevo.

Entrevista realizada por Edgar Kogler de Amazing Sounds

Jose Maria Ciria cuenta con una dilatada trayectoria artistica, cuyos inicios se remontan a los setenta. Conocido, entre otras facetas, por su labor en las bandas At-mooss y Program@, ha participado en diversos grupos vanguardistas y se ha forjado un estilo muy personal. Aparte de su labor como compositor electronico, es tambien un reputado percusionista, que ha participado en albumes de artistas y grupos bien conocidos, como por ejemplo Suck Electronic o Neuronium. Sus actuaciones en directo constituyen otra faceta importante de su carrera.

 -Como te introdujiste en el mundillo de la musica? Cuando empezaste a tocar y a componer?

Desde que recuerdo siempre me ha gustado la musica. No se por que, cuando fui adolescente escogi la bateria, a lo mejor tuvo que ver el famoso solo de bateria de los Iron Butterfly con su tema "In a gadda da vida", no lo se; como no tenia instrumento seguia la musica aporreando cualquier cosa que encontraba, asi que cuando tuve la primera oportunidad de conocer a unos musicos, me pasaba horas en su local de ensayo, oyendolos tocar. Como el bateria de su grupo no aparecia mucho por alli, un dia me ofrecieron sentarme en la bateria y tocar con ellos. Debia tener 18 o 19  y a partir de ese momento, me tome en serio aprender a tocar, me compre un metodo rudimentario de bateria y de forma autodidacta me adentre en la musica. Mas tarde fui incluso al conservatorio de musica de Barcelona, en el que estudie cursos de solfeo, armonia y percusion.
La faceta de compositor la desarrolle mas tarde. En todos los grupos que estuve siempre me gustaba aportar ideas, ya fuera en la composicion como en los arreglos, pero nunca compuse un tema entero hasta que pude tener mi propio estudio y desarrollar mis habilidades al piano o con los sintetizadores.

-Como iniciaste tu relacion musical con Joseph Loibant, Carlos Guirao, Michel Huygen y los otros musicos con los que has colaborado?

Precisamente en el primer grupo que mencionaba antes estaba Carlos Guirao a la guitarra, voces y flauta. Lo conozco por tanto desde mis inicios y compartimos en diferentes etapas musicales de nuestra vida momentos muy importantes. En los comienzos estuvimos juntos con el grupo casi 24 meses y mas tarde nos volveriamos a reunir en Programa. A Michel  lo conoci, primero porque Carlos estaba en el grupo Neuronium y nos seguia uniendo una gran amistad, y segundo porque ensayaban en el local de al lado nuestro. Yo por aquel entonces tocaba en un grupo de rock sinfonico llamado Magenta (con el tiempo he sabido que hay un grupo ingles que tambien tiene ese nombre). Llegamos a componer una opera rock entre el bajista Pepe Rodriguez a la musica y yo las letras. Entre los musicos estaba otro gran teclista y acordeonista: Conrad Seto.
Cuando  decidieron poner bateria a la musica de Neuronium me llamaron para que colaborara con ellos tanto en el LP "The Visitor" como en "Invisible Views".
Con Carlos Guirao colabore mas intensamente en su disco en solitario Revelation en 1982 en varios temas, agregando percusion y bateria a sus composiciones electronicas.
Por aquella epoca Jordi Garcia refundo Suck Electronic ( el grupo donde inicialmente tambien estuvo Michel) y me llamaron a mi para ocupar la bateria. Grabamos un Lp con Edigsa titulado "L'home reanimat".
A traves de Carlos conoci a Joseph Loibant; fui a su estudio varias veces y me sorprendio ver los aparatos electronicos que tenia.

-Como resumirias tu trayectoria musical en la primera etapa de Programa (en los 80)?  Puedes hacer un repaso de los acontecimientos que para ti tuvieron mayor importancia en ese periodo?

En un principio Carlos Guirao me llamo para que le ayudara en los arreglos de sus temas para el grupo Programa.
Asi que pasamos mucho tiempo juntos elaborando y retocando sus temas en el estudio de J. Loibant y a partir de ahi, nuestra amistad fue creciendo. Ademas de los arreglos, toque algunas partes de sintetizador y percusion electronica en los LPs "Reunion de Amigos" y "Acropolis". A partir de ese disco me propusieron que formara parte del grupo, asi que me uni a ellos. Esa epoca fue interesante porque hicimos varias apariciones en distintos programas de TV, y alguna actuacion en directo. Tambien llegamos a elaborar un CD los tres que se iba a llamar "Paris-Dakar" pero por distintos motivos nunca llego a publicarse.

-Que te motivo a a la hora de reactivar con Josep Loibant la banda Programa despues de un tiempo de silencio?

Nunca perdimos el contacto del todo y un dia Joseph Loibant me propuso reactivar Programa, yo por mi cuenta iba componiendo y haciendo temas, pero tenian escasa difusion asi que esa fue una oportunidad para darlos a conocer.
Tambien fue una oportunidad para entrar de lleno en el mundo de los sintetizadores y conocerlos mas en detalle gracias al equipo fantastico de Joseph que tenia y tiene en su estudio, y tambien me supuso la entrada en el mundo de la produccion musical.
Cuando tienes que elaborar un producto profesional tus exigencias aumentan y has de trabajar mas en la finalizacion de los temas, los arreglos, la grabacion y la masterizacion. Has de ir un paso mas alla. Eso es positivo porque tus conocimientos aumentan y se abren nuevas soluciones a problemas que dejan de serlo.

-Hablanos sobre tu actividad componiendo bandas sonoras. En que difiere tu labor con ellas a la que realizas en tus albumes?

Basicamente difiere en que suelen ser de encargo y, aunque tengo libertad musical, siempre hay que adaptarse a la idea del director, al tema de la pelicula y al tiempo de duracion, generalmente corto, entre los episodios musicales. Es otra forma de tratar la musica porque generalmente la musica esta supeditada a las imagenes. Pero tambien es interesante porque estas sometido a un marco y a unas reglas, y a partir de ahi solo tu imaginacion delimita los margenes de la creatividad.

-Te atrae mas tocar tu musica en conciertos o disfrutas mas al grabarla paso a paso en tu estudio?

Las dos experiencias me atraen. Son distintas y no se pueden comparar. Tocar en directo con publico es algo que no se puede describir, sobre todo si hay conexion con la audiencia y todo sale bien. Es comunicarse con cientos de personas a la vez con un lenguaje universal, directo y profundo. El disfrute de componer en el estudio y experimentar con los sonidos y los aparatos tambien es muy gratificante. Estas tu solo con el sonido, un alquimista y mago elaborando pociones y formulas sonoras que pueden ser fantasticas, en el sentido de que al oirlas te pueden llevar a mundos desconocidos y sorprendentes.
La sorpresa es uno de los factores mas importantes que te puedes encontrar en el estudio cuando compones; sin saber como, el tema te lleva por unos caminos que nunca habrias sospechado. Esos momentos son increibles porque estas elaborando algo nuevo, y, en el mejor de los casos, algo que no existia antes una combinacion de sonidos y timbres diferente.
El directo es la experiencia unica e irrepetible, con sus aciertos y sus fallos, la emocion directa del instante plasmada en musica. No hay vuelta atras, es como la vida. La flecha del tiempo, siempre hacia delante. En cambio, en el estudio tienes la oportunidad de eleccion, de elaboracion reflexiva, que parte escojo y que parte descarto, trazar el rumbo del tema y, si conviene, pararte en los pasajes y paisajes que vas encontrando.

-Que proceso sueles seguir para elaborar un tema? O cada caso es distinto? Que cosas suelen inspirarte o activar tu creatividad?

El proceso es distinto para cada tema. Primero esta la chispa de inicio, que puede ser muy variada desde una motivo ritmico, una secuencia de acordes, una melodia, un libro, una cita que me llame la atencion, un concepto, una foto, en fin cualquier cosa que despierte en mi cerebro, algo que yo no se lo que es, pero que me incita a seguir, desarrollar o profundizar en ese tema concreto. Tambien hay veces que surge la musica de algo abstracto y sin ninguna conexion con el mundo, al fin y al cabo la musica es el arte mas abstracto e inmaterial que existe.
Despues, esta el proceso tecnico que consiste en orquestar y arreglar los temas. A pesar de utilizar el termino "tecnico", no es en absoluto algo mecanico y tedioso, tambien tiene su parte creativa y a veces llena de sorpresas.
No concibo seguir siempre los mismos patrones, porque es aburrido y no te lleva a ninguna parte o mejor dicho si que te lleva, te lleva a territorios conocidos que no tienen interes precisamente porque ya han sido explorados por uno mismo o por otros. Por eso me gusta en cada tema utilizar nuevos elementos sonoros y tambien estructurales, porque en ellos reside la sorpresa, el elemento al que me referia antes.
Aunque tambien tengo que decir que en alguna ocasion, el tema estaba ya elaborado en mi mente y solo tenia que traducir las melodias al ordenador, como me sucedio en algunos pasajes de mi ultimo disco "Mobilis in Mobili" , un CD con un concepto unitario al homenajear el libro de Julio Verne : "20.000 leguas de viaje submarino".

-Te consideras musicalmente vinculado a alguna corriente musical o etiqueta en particular?

No. No de forma consciente y deliberada. Creo que todos estamos vinculados a nuestro tiempo, a la musica que hemos oido y toda la musica que nos ha precedido. Lo que hago no sale de un vacio misterioso que no tiene ninguna conexion, al contrario es fruto de lo oido anteriormente y que me ha gustado y emocionado.
A mi me gusta la musica, no un determinado estilo como a mucha gente, que son fanaticos del jazz y no les gusta el flamenco, o que solo escuchan musica clasica, o solamente country, o blues o musica etnica; podria poner un grupo o grupos por cada etiqueta musical. No olvidemos que las etiquetas proliferaron en las tiendas cuando quisieron ordenar la musica por estilos para venderla.
Creo que ha sido malo para la musica en general. Si de verdad te gusta la musica, la buena musica, disfrutas y te emocionas tanto con temas funky de Prince, como con los temas de Steely Dan o Joe Jackson, o con la Quinta de Beethoven.
A mi me gustan desde los considerados clasicos (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Stravisnky, Varese, etc.); pasando por el jazz: (Coltrane, Miles Davis, Weather Report, Chik Corea); el rock sinfonico (Genesis, Yes, King Crimson); el pop, el soul, el blues; en fin la lista seria interminable.
Solamente para terminar, si tuviera que destacar algunos nombres serian: Mozart, Stravinsky , King Crimson, Weather Report y Frank Zappa.

-Hablanos sobre tu proceso creativo en el album Ylem.

Fue mi primer CD en solitario, y a priori, cuando componia los temas, no tenia un concepto global. Fue a medida que los temas se iban conformando cuando decidi darle una idea total.
Cada tema tiene su universo propio y responde a unos parametros distintos para cada motivo que lo inspiro. El titulo responde al nombre en griego que un cientifico le puso al inicio del Big Bang, y en consecuencia al Universo, asi que la mayoria de los temas hacen referencia a motivos del universo, ya sean conceptos como la Paradoja de Olbers; nombres de estrellas como Wolf 359; cumulos de estrellas como las nubes de Magallanes, en la que hacia un doble homenaje, en un sentido a esas galaxias que solo se pueden ver desde el hemisferio sur, como a Magallanes, el navegante que circunnavego la Tierra; o Dark Matter o sea materia oscura, la materia mas comun y abundante, si se puede utilizar esa expresion, en el Universo
Otros como "Noa Noa" hacen referencia a las islas paradisiacas del Pacifico Sur que Paul Gauguin plasmo en sus cuadros y en su diario titulado "Noa Noa" que significa "muy perfumado".
O "Fractal" que responde a esas maravillosas estructuras que contienen en su interior la forma exterior, asi el tema musical se va repitiendo y transformando sin perder nunca su estructura inicial. Este concepto de los fractales me interesa mucho y no descarto seguir trabajandolo en un futuro. De hecho la portada del CD es una imagen fractal.

-Componer tu album Mobilis in Mobili  respondio a una idea global? Hablanos tambien sobre este disco.

En este caso si. Como he mencionado antes, responde a un concepto unitario sobre el libro "20.000 leguas de viaje submarino" de Julio Verne.
El titulo indica la divisa que el capitan Nemo utilizaba en los objetos que poseia, incluido el submarino Nautilus, y hace referencia al movimiento dentro del movimiento; el submarino, el mundo particular que Nemo habia creado dentro de otro, La Tierra, que a su vez tambien esta en movimiento. De hecho, en un principio iba a titularlo "Nautilus", pero debido a la profusion y uso que se ha hecho del termino decidi ponerle "Mobilis in Mobili" porque era mas sugerente y menos utilizado, y dejar como subtitulo "Nautilus Suite".
Aunque los titulos de los temas corresponden a capitulos del libro, no he seguido el libro paso a paso, ni siquiera lo he releido; lo que pretendia era hacer un homenaje a la fascinacion que me produjo cuando lo lei por primera vez e intentar transmitirlo en la musica.
La verdad es que no se cual fue la idea inicial para el proyecto. Creo que se fue gestando a la vez que iba componiendo. Lo que si se es como lo fui elaborando. Parti de un tema que tenia compuesto hacia bastante tiempo y no lograba acabar; duraba unos 8 minutos, y a partir de dividirlo en 2 temas separados el resto fue bastante fluido.
Hubo temas mas complejos de elaborar como "Maelstrvm" que dura casi 20 minutos y todos los motivos musicales eran completamente nuevos, pero en general la musica fluyo bastante rapida sin apenas estancarme en uno u otro tema.
Como ejemplo, el solo de oboe del ultimo tema lo toque de una sola toma y sin apenas correcciones.
Disfrute mucho componiendolo y espero que los futuros oyentes lo pasen tan bien como yo cuando lo hice.

-Cuales son, a la hora de componer, las diferencias de enfoque entre cuando trabajas en discos en solitario y cuando lo haces en albumes de las bandas de las que eres miembro?

Realmente a priori no hay ninguna diferencia, ni como enfoco el tema en la composicion ni en los arreglos ni en la produccion. La unica diferencia es que cuando trabajo para las distintas bandas, la linea a seguir ya esta trazada.
Cada banda tiene su personalidad propia, o por lo menos eso creemos nosotros, y trabajamos en esa direccion con libertad absoluta pero sin perder de vista la trayectoria anterior, por supuesto, marcada tambien por nosotros.
Asi, cuando compongo temas para At-Mooss, la orientacion es mas experimental, y basada en sonidos electronicos abstractos, mas "vanguardista", aunque no me guste la palabra, porque lo que hoy es vanguardia en un futuro proximo ya es historia. Quiza la palabra sea "arriesgada"; utilizar conceptos, estructuras y sonidos que te lleven por caminos nuevos y diferentes, sin relacion con el mundo que llamamos real. Asumir el riesgo de explorar nuevos caminos.
En cambio con Programa uso estructuras mas reconocibles, y con los sonidos tambien; doy rienda suelta a sonidos mas acusticos y reales asociados a instrumentos tangibles como guitarras, baterias, pianos, y por supuesto sintetizadores.

-Crees que, en comparacion con los instrumentos electronicos de teclado, el campo de la percusion electronica esta infrautilizado por muchos musicos? Que crees que te aporta a ti la percusion electronica, en comparacion a la convencional?

Si por supuesto, la mayoria de compositores se limitan a usar patrones ya creados, bien sea porque tienen deficiencias en la labor percusiva o por simple comodidad. Aunque no es en absoluto peyorativo usar patrones ya existentes, mientras los uses con creatividad y originalidad, no simplemente tal y como te llegan. Por ejemplo, superponiendo diferentes patrones con diferentes compases; binarios con ternarios por citar una combinacion, o cualquier otra que se te ocurrra, pueden obtenerse polirritmos muy sugerentes.
La percusion electronica me aporta una primera ventaja sobre la acustica, que es la variedad de sonidos de diferentes partes del mundo que tengo al alcance de mis oidos con tan solo apretar un boton o cargar la muestra correspondiente. Me abrevia el trabajo, pues aunque yo tengo una coleccion de instrumentos de percusion acustica que podria utilizar, tendria que grabarlos con micros. Pero tambien tiene su lado negativo, pues los instrumentos tocados con las manos o las baquetas son mas expresivos (si estan bien tocados claro).
De lo que no tengo dudas es que para tocar en directo, para mi, la percusion acustica es la idonea.

-Te decantas por algun tipo de sintesis o gama de sintetizadores? Piensas que hay tecnicas "antagonistas", como por ejemplo se dice de lo analogico y lo digital, que resulten dificiles de mezclar por corresponder a maneras distintas de entender la musica elaborada electronicamente, o que cualquier tecnica depende del musico que la utilice?

No me inclino por ninguna gama de sintetizadores, excepto por los que sean adecuados a la produccion que este haciendo en ese momento. Cada uno tiene sus pros y sus contras y hay saber aprovechar las ventajas de cada uno.
No son dificiles de mezclar porque no son tecnicas diferentes sino formas de elaborar el sonido.
Si dispones de una amplia gama de colores, tu paleta sera mas rica. Y si dispones de una gran variedad de sintetizadores, ya sean digitales, analogicos o virtuales, sera mas facil llegar donde tu quieres y tambien mas rapido; no tendras que utilizar tu tiempo elaborando el sonido adecuado, solo tendras que buscarlo en tu equipo. Durante mucho tiempo, lo analogico fue menospreciado, y ahora parece que ha vuelto a resurgir;  porque los sonidos analogicos tienen una calidez y una expresividad que de momento los digitales no han alcanzado. Aunque a mi me parece que no hay que olvidar el fondo de la cuestion, que es la musica misma; el resultado es lo importante. Si emociona o no la composicion resultante, con independencia de si ha sido tocada con las palmas de las manos, con un tambor o un sintetizador de ultima generacion.

-Nos puedes comentar algo sobre los proyectos en los que trabajas y de tus planes para el futuro inmediato?

Cuando acabo un disco, ya estoy pensando en el siguiente. Afortunadamente, eso que llaman inspiracion no me falta; lo que me falta es tiempo. Ahora estoy trabajando en varios frentes a la vez. Por un lado, he acabado la musica de un corto titulado "Hoax", de un director joven que muy pronto se exhibira en los cines. (A lo mejor, cuando se publiquen estas lineas ya se habra estrenado). Como decia antes, estoy preparando nuevos temas para el proximo CD de At-Mooss, en el que incluire nuevos sonidos procedentes de los nuevos sintetizadores que he adquirido ultimamente, como el Andromeda A6, un potente sintetizador analogico.
Tambien tengo unos temas casi acabados, con un estilo diferente a lo que he hecho hasta ahora, y que de momento no se como incluirlos en algun proyecto. Seguramente esperare a tener el CD acabado y entonces decidire como sacarlo.
Por otro lado estoy trabajando en un proyecto en el que los temas estaran dedicados a lugares que he visitado y me han impresionado. En cada tema quiero plasmar algo de la esencia del lugar, por decirlo de alguna manera, incluir sonidos mas etnicos del lugar en cuestion, y mezclarlo con sonidos electronicos y vanguardistas. Estoy haciendo algunas pruebas, y de momento me gustan los resultados. Esto no es nada nuevo, simplemente quiero explorar con mas detenimiento algo que ya empece a trabajar en el tema "El Laberinto del Minotauro" del CD "Phoenix" de Programa.
Y tambien tengo algunos temas en los que me gustaria explorar el mundo de la danza. La musica como generadora de movimiento. En fin, proyectos e ideas ya ves que no me faltan.

Interview conducted by Edgar Kogler of Amazing Sounds

Jose Maria Ciria has a wide artistic trajectory, whose beginnings go back to the seventies, Well known, among other aspects, for his work in the bands :           At-mooss and Program@, he has participated in several avantgarde bands, and has shaped a very personal style. Apart from his work as an electronic composer, he also is a famous as a percussionist who has taken part in albums by well-known artists and bands, such as for example, Suck Electronic and Neuronium. His live performances constitute another important aspect in his career.


-How did you enter the world of music? When did you start playing and composing?
 
Ever since I can remember, I have always loved music. I don’t know why, when I was a teenager I chose the drums, maybe it was because of the famous drums solo by Iron Butterfly with their theme "In a gadda da vida", I don’t know; Since I had no instruments, I followed the music, drumming on anything I could, so when I had the first chance to get to know some musicians, I used to spend hours hanging around by their rehearsing premises, hearing them play. Since the drums player in their band didn’t go there much, one day I was offered to sit at their drums and play with them. I must have been 18 or 19 at the time, and from that moment on, I took learning to play seriously, I bought a primitive “method of drumming” book and taught myself to play, thus entering the world of music. Some time later I even attended lessons at the Barcelona Conservatoire of Music where I studied some years of solfa, harmony and percussion.
My skills as a composer were developed some time later. In all the bands I participated with, I used to like to contribute my ideas, be it in the compositions or the arrangements, yet I had never composed a theme until I was able to have my own studio and develop my skills with the piano or with the synthesizers.

- How did you begin your musical relationship with  Joseph Loibant, Carlos Guirao, Michel Huygen and the other musicians you have collaborated with?

Precisely in the first band I have just mentioned I met Carlos Guirao at the guitar, vocals and flute. Therefore, I have known him since the beginning and we have shared very important moments throughout different musical stages of our lives. In the beginning, we were together with the band for almost 2 years and later we would get together once again, in Programa. I met Michel  firstly because Carlos was with the band Neuronium and we still were joined by a strong friendship, and secondly because they used to rehearse in the premises next door to ours. I used to play with a symphonic rock band called Magenta at the time (some time later I learned that there also is a British band with the same name.) We even got to compose a rock opera between bassist Pepe Rodriguez (music) and myself (lyrics). Amongst the musicians there also was a great keyboardist and accordeonist: Conrad Seto.
So when Michel and Carlos decided to include drums in the music by Neuronium, they called me so as to collaborate with them both in the LP "The Visitor" and in "Invisible Views".
With Carlos Guirao, I collaborated more intensively, in his solo album “Revelation” in the year 1982 in several themes, adding drums and percussion to his electronic compositions.

In those times Jordi Garcia re-founded Suck Electronic (the band where initially Michel  also was) and I was called to play the drums. We recorded an Lp with Edigsa titled "L'home reanimat". (the Revived Man).
Through Carlos I met Joseph Loibant; I went to his studio several times and I was surprised to see the electronic devices he had.


-How would you summarize your musical career in the first stage of Programa (1980’s)? Can you review the events that were most imnportant for you during that period?

In the beginning Carlos Guirao called me to help him with the arrangements of his themes for the band Programa.
So we spend a long time together creating and rearranging his themes in  J. Loibant’s studio, and from there, our friendship grew. Besides the arrangements, I played some synthesizer parts and electronic drums in the LPs "Reunion de Amigos"(Friends’ Get-together) and "Acropolis". From this record on, I was asked to become a member of the band, so I joined them. This stage was interesting because we appeared on different TV programmes and also had some live performances. We also came to project the release of a CD, the three of us, which was to be called "Paris-Dakar", yet, due to different reasons it never came to be effectively released.

-What prompted you to reactivate the band Programa with Josep Loibant after years of silence?

We never lost our contact completely, and one day Joseph Loibant proposed me to reactivate Programa, I had already been composing new themes, yet they had little broadcast, so this was the chance to make them known.
It also was a chance to fully enter the world of synthesizers and get to know them in a more detailed manner thanks to the fantastic equipment that Joseph used to have and still has in his studio, and it also meant for me the discovery of the world of musical production.
When you have to create a professional product your requirements increase and you have to work further in the completion of the themes,arrangements, recording and masterization: You have to take a step further. This is positive because your knowledge increases and new solutions to problems that stop being such open to you.
-Tell us  about your activity composing soundtracks. How is your work different with them as compared to your work for your other albums?

Basically it differs in the fact that they usually are commissioned, and though I have musical freedom to create them, you always have to adapt to the idea of the director, the theme of the movie and the time it must last, usually a short one, among the different musical episodes. It is another way of treating music because as a general rule the music is subjected to the images. But it also is interesting because you have to adapt to a framework and to some given rules, and from this starting point only your imagination limits the margins of creativity.

-Are you more attracted to playing your music in live concerts or do you enjoy yourself more when recording it step by step in your studio?

Both experiences attract me. They are different and cannot be compared. Playing live with an audience is something that cannot be described, especially if there is a good chemistry with the audience and everything turns out fine. It is communicating with hundreds of people at the same time with a universal language, direct and deep. The enjoyment of composing in a studio and experimenting with the sounds and the devices also is very gratifying. You are alone with sound, an alchemist and a magician elaborating potions and magic sound formulae that can be fantastic, in the sense that when listening to them they can take you to astonishing, unknown worlds.
Surprise is one of the most important factors that you can find in the studio when composing; You don’t know how, the theme takes you along some paths that you had never imagined. Those moments are incredible because you are creating something new, and in the best of cases, something that didn’t exist before, a combination of sounds and timbres which is really different.
Playing live is a unique, irrepetible experience, with its good points and its mistakes, the direct emotion of the instant shaped into the music: There is no reverse way, it is like life itself. The straight arrow of time always points forward. On the other hand, in the studio you have the chance to choose, to reflectively create, which part I choose and which part I discard, shaping the path for each theme, and if necessary, stopping in the passages and ladscapes you keep finding.

-Which process do you usually follow in order to create a theme? Or is each case different? Which things inspire you or activate your creativity?

The procces is different for each theme. First, there is the sparkle that initiates it all, which can be very varied, from a rhythmic motive to a sequence of chords, a melody, a book, a quote that calls my attention, a concept, a photo, in  short, anything that awakens something, I don’t know what it is in my brain, yet which motivates me to continue, develop or further my way into this particular theme. There are also times when the music springs from something abstract, unconnected to the world, yet music is the most abstract, immaterial of existing arts.
Then there is the technical process which consists in orchestrating and arranging the themes: Despite using the term “technical”, it is by no means something mechanical, tedious, as it also has its creative part, sometimes full of surprises too.
I cannot imagine always following the same patterns, because it is boring and does not take you anywhere or,  well, yes, it does, it takes you to well trodden paths without interest precisely because they have already been explored by yourself or by others. This is why I like using new sound elements for each theme, as well as new structural elements too, because in them there lies surprise, the element I was referring to before.
Although I also have to say that in some occasions, the theme was already elaborated in my mind, and I only had to translate its melodies into the computer, as happened to me with some passages from my latest release "Mobilis in Mobili", a CD with a unitary concept as a homage to Jules Verne book:" 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

-Do you consider yourself as musically attached to some specific musical trend or a particular label?

No. Not in a conscious, deliberate manner. I believe that we are all linked to our times, to the music we have heard and all the music preceding us. What I do does not come from a miysterious void with no connection whatsoever, on the contrary, it is the fruit of what has been previously heard and which I have liked, and which has excited me.
I like music, not a given style as many other people claim, who are fanatics of jazz and don’t like flamenco, or those who only listen to classical music, or only country, or blues or world music; I could name a band or several for each music label. Let’s not forget that labels used to crop up in shops when they wanted to order the music according to styles so as to sell it.
I think it has been bad for music in general. If you truly like music, good music, you enjoy and get emotionally involved both with funky themes by Prince and with such different themes as those by Steely Dan or Joe Jackson, or the Fifth Symphony by Beethoven.
I like anything, ranging from those considered to be the Classics(Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Stravisnky, Varese, etc.); to jazz: (Coltrane, Miles Davis, Weather Report, Chik Corea); to symphonic rock (Genesis, Yes, King Crimson); to pop, to soul, to blues; in short, the list would be never-ending in fact.
Just to finish, if I had to name somne favourites it would be: Mozart, Stravinsky , King Crimson, Weather Report and Frank Zappa.

-Tell us about your creative process in the album Ylem.

It was my first solo CD, and a priori, as I was composing the themes, I did not have a global concept It was as the themes were being shaped that I decided to give it a total idea.
Each piece has its own universe and responds to different patterns for each motive that inspired it. The title reponds to the Greek name that a scientist gave to the beginning of the Big Bang, and consequently to the Universe, so most of the themes refer to motives from the universe, be it such concepts as The Paradox of Olbers; names of stars such as Wolf 359; star clusters such as the Magellan Cloud, where I made a double homage, in a sense, both to these galaxies that can only be seen from the southern hemisphere, and also to Magellan, the navigator who sailed around the Earth; or Dark Matter that is the most common, abundant matter in the universe, so to speak.
Others, like "Noa Noa", refer to the heavenly islands from the South Pacific that Paul Gauguin brought to his paintings and in his diary titled "Noa Noa", which means "very scented". Or "Fractal", which responds to those wondrous structures that contain the outer shape within them, thus the musical theme is repeated and transformed without ever losing its initial structure. I am very much interested in this concept of fractals, and I do not rule out the possibility that I will continue working with them in the future. In fact, the cover of the CD is a fractal image.

- Did composing your album Mobilis in Mobili respond to a global idea? Tell us about this release too, please.

In this case yes, it was so. As I have already mentioned, it responds to a unitary concept on the book “20,000 leagues under the sea" by Jules Verne.
The title reflects the motto that captain Nemo used on the objects he had, including the submarine Nautilus, and refers to motion within motion; The submarine, the particular world that Nemo had created within another world, The Earth, which in its turn also is in motion. Actually, in the beginning I had thought of calling it "Nautilus", yet due to the abundant use that has been done of this word I decided to name it "Mobilis in Mobili" because it was more suggestive and less used. And left "Nautilus Suite" as a subtitle.
Though the titles of the themes correspond to chapters in the book, I have not followed the novel step by step, I haven’t even re-read it; What I intended to do was a homage to the fascination that it had for me the first time I read it and try to transmit it in the form of music.
To tell you the truth, I don’t really know what the initial idea was for the project. I believe it was shaped at the same time as it was being composed. What I do know is how I elaborated it. I started from a theme I had already composed quite a long tine before, one I had not succeeded in finishing; it lasted for about 8 minutes, and from the moment I divided it into two separate themes the rest flowed easily enough.
There were some themes which turned out to be more complex to elaborate, like for example "Maelstrvm", which lasts for about 20 minutes almost, and all the musical motives were completely new, but as a genberal rule the music flowed quite fast without getting stuck much in any given theme.
As an example, I played the oboe solo of the last theme in just one take and with almost no corrections.
I enjoyed myself a lot while composing it, and I hope all future listeners will enjoy themselves as much as I did when I created it.

- Which are the differences in focusses between your work in solo releases and works from the bands you are a member of, when it comes to composing?

Really, a priori there is no difference, neither in the way I focus the theme in the composition nor in the arrangements, nor in  the production. The only difference is the fact that when I am working for the different bands, the pattern to follow is already shaped.
Each band has its own personality, or at least so we believe, and we work in this direction with absolute freedom yet never losing track of our former trajectory, of course, also marked by us.
Thus, when I am composing themes for At-Mooss, the orientation is more experimental, and is based on abstract electronic sounds, more “avant-garde”, though I do not like the word because what today is  “avant-garde”, the day after tomorrow it already is history. Perhaps the word is “risky”; Using concepts, structures and sounds that take youb along new, different paths, unrelated to the world we call real: To assume the risk of exploring new paths.
On the other hand, with Programa I use more recognisable structures and so happens with sound; I allow for more real acoustic sounds associated to tangible instruments such as guitars, drums, pianos, and obviously synthesizers.

- Do you believe that in comparison with electronic keyboard instruments the field of electronic percussion is underused by many musicians? What do you think electronic drums contribute to you in comparison with the conventional variety?

Yes of course, most composers limit themselves to uisng already created patterns, whether because they have deficiencies in their percussive work or due to simple convenience; Though using already existing patterns is by no means pejorative, as long as you use them in a creative, original mannner, not just the way they reach you. For example, overlaying different patterns with different times: binary with ternary, just to mention a possible combination, or any other occurring to you, in this way you can get very suggestive polirhythms.
Electronic percussion contributes a first advantage on the acoustic variety, which is the range of sounds from different parts of the world that I have within reach of my ears with just pressing a button or downloading the corresponding sample. It shortens my workload, as even if I already have a collection of acoustic percussion that I could use, I would have to record them using mikes. Yet it also has a negative aspect, since the instruments played with your hands or the drumsticks are more expressive (if well played, naturally).
What I never doubt about is when it comes  to playing live, for me, acoustic percussion is the most suitable kind.

-Do you feel in favour of any given kind of synthesis or any particular brand of synthesizers? Do you think there are “antagonistic” techniques, as for instance is said about analogic and digital, which turn out to be difficult to merge because they correspond to different ways of understanding the electronically created  music, or maybe any given technique depends on the musician utilizing it?

I do not feel partial to any given kind of synthesizers, except for those that are suitable enough for the production I am doing in any given moment. Each one has its pros and cons, and you must know how to make maximum use of the advantages in each one.
They are not difficult to merge because they are not different techniques but rather different ways of creating sound.
If you have a wide range of colours, your palette will be wealthier: And if you have a great variety of synthesizers, whether digital or analogic or virtual, it will be easier to reach the goal you want to reach, and likewise, it will be faster to do so; you won’t have to use your time creating the adequate sound, you’ll just have to look for it in your equipment. For some years analogic was regarded with contempt, yet now it seems it has made a comeback; and it doesn’t surprise me because analogic sounds have a warmth and an expressivity that so far digital sounds have not reached yet. However, I believe that we must not forget the core of the matter, which is music itself; the result is what matters. Whether the resulting composition moves the listeners or not, independently from the way it has been played, with the hand palms, a drum or a state-of-the-art synthesizer.

- Can you comment something about the projects you are involved in as well as your plans for the immediate future?

When I finish an album, I am already thinking of the next one. Luckily, I do not lack this which is called inspiration; what I lack is time. Right now I am working on several fronts at the same time. On the one hand, I have finished the music for a short called "Hoax", by a young director who soon will have his work on the movie theatres (Perhaps when these lines are published he will already have premiered it). As I was saying, I am already preparing new themes for the next CD by At-Mooss, where I will include new sounds from the new synthesizers I have lately purchased, such as the Andromeda A6, a powerful Analogic synthesizer.
I have also almost finished some themes, with a different style from what I have done so far, and at this stage I am not that sure about how to include them in any given project. I will surely wait till I have my CD finished and then I will decide how to release it all.
On the other hand, I am working in a project where the themes are devoted to places I have visited and which have impressed me. In each track I want to reflect  something of the essence of the place, so to speak, including more world sounds of each particular place, and merge it all with electronic and avant-garde sounds. I am making some tests, and at the moment I like the results so far. This is nothing new, I simply want to explore something that I had already started with the theme "El Laberinto del Minotauro" from the CD "Phoenix" by Programa, in more detail.
And I also have some themes where I would like to explore the world of dance. Music as a creator of motion. In short, I have no lack of projects and ideas, as you can see.