Lorenzo Montatore (Madrid, 1983) is an all-round author who as soon as he dares to write a biography sui generis by Francisco Umbral, The lie ahead (Astiberri, 2021), immerses himself in the world of addictions with There is a breakdown here (ECC, 2023) or is encouraged by children’s comics with Blanca Lacasa in the recent I have a fear! (Kodomo, 2024). In his last work, his line cartoon He sets out to explore the universe of one of the bands in his life: Talking Heads.
The unclassifiable project by David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison, halfway between new wave and post punk, has become a cult group of the 80s, which Montatore approaches from a personal connection with topics such as Burning Down the House either This Must Be the Place in If you dance, you will understand the lyrics bettera work that goes far beyond the usual biography. “I had no interest in doing the typical biography,” explains Montatore in conversation with this medium. What I do are author comics, and I have to offer my own vision. In addition, there is already a lot of material for anyone who wants to know everything related to Talking Heads, such as Chris Frantz’s memoir, chronic love (Kultrum Books, 2021)”.
For the cartoonist from Madrid, his story with the band begins many years ago, in a very curious way: “I discovered them, without knowing that they were Talking Heads, in the film The revenge of the rookies (1984). There is a scene of a party at a brotherhood, in which it sounds Burning Down the House. “It seemed like a great song to me.” Shortly afterwards, as Montatore tells in the comic, a teacher at his high school recorded several cassettes for him with music by the Velvet Underground, Brian Eno and David Bowie. “It was my gateway to all the music that has been so important to me,” he says. “Among those tapes, he recorded one of Talking Heads for me. Since then, I have a connection with that band; When they ask me, I always answer that they are my favorite group.”
But for the cartoonist, it is not a question of simple nostalgia. “I love their songs, I have played them and danced to them countless times. But it’s also really good music,” says Montatore. The author keeps two of his albums: “in Remain in Light (1980) you can see the hand of Brian Eno, it is considered his best work, and it is the most experimental, with samples, sounds of all kinds, with very complex sound engineering behind it. Speaking in Tongues (1984) is very different: there they take the idea of the perfect pop song and take it to the extreme. It’s pop pluperfect”.
The title of the comic If you dance, you will understand the lyrics betterAccording to Lorenzo Montarore, it is an adaptation of something Byrne said at a concert, but it also has to do with something he heard from Anthony Kiedis, the singer of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, someone who, the author confesses, he doesn’t like very much. , but that he thinks defines the group: “The first time I heard Talking Heads I wanted to dance like a maniac and at the same time I felt intelligent.”
Despite almost fifty years having passed since the formation of Talking Heads, they seem to still be a reference band. “They are a little more in vogue now because of the anniversary of the documentary Stop Making Sense (1984) —says Montarore—. Since last year they have been giving interviews, the four of them have been seen together again… But it is true that they are not the Beatles, it is clear.” Inclusion of your theme Psycho Killer on the soundtrack of Stranger Things It has also given them a great boost among younger generations.
However, the artist of Be careful, you’ll be murdered! (La Cúpula, 2018) believes that they have “a snobbish touch, but fun. If you like Talking Heads, you’re a cool person.” The Madrid author also defends that it is a group that has aged very well and has been widely imitated, while claiming its diversity: “they had an African-American guitarist, Alex Weir, and some African-American backup singers who are not in the background, but in the front line , with a leading role. Not to mention Tina Weymouth, the bassist, without whom the Talking Heads sound cannot be understood.”
Sampled drawings
Anyone who knows Lorenzo Montatore’s previous works may be surprised by the aesthetics of If you dance, you will understand the lyrics betterwhere he shows off a broken line, and practices different experiments with photographs and photocopies. “It has been something more fanzine,” he admits. “I always try to adapt the drawing to what I am telling, because they are the same thing. In this comic it seemed doubly important to me, given that it has no texts. And I wanted it to have the same spirit as the band.”
Montatore elaborates: “What has to coexist cartoon with something more figurative, more realistic, but at the same time all these ideas occur to me. The book is full of photos of real places in my neighborhood, objects that are in my house, scanned pages from encyclopedias or things that refer to Talking Heads. I think it lends itself a lot to reading it with a magnifying glass,” explains the author, who, in some way, wanted to replicate “that sound production, that geometry” in his comic, with the introduction of photocopied images, something that emulates, in a certain way, the samples of the band. “For all this, the 130 pages of this comic have cost me much more work than the almost 300 of There is a breakdown heremy previous comic. It has been a complicated job, although it looks very loose and unconcerned with the finish,” Montatore confesses.
This comic also represents the author’s first foray into direct autobiographical territory, drawing himself at different times in his life. “It has been something natural because I don’t hide anything… — Montatore warns — even though I call my characters different things, everyone knows that what I am telling has to do with me. Román Tesoro or Centramina were me.” The cartoonist explains that his decision was also influenced by the good reception of self-portraits and small comics that he uploaded to his social networks: “For me they are a testing ground, which allows me to see if things work and if people like them, like a stand-up comedian. that goes to a open mic to try a new text.”
His decision also responds to the structure of the comic, which presents three different lines: the biographical one starring Talking Heads, the fictional one and the autobiographical one. “In the fiction part there was already a character cartoonso it would have been confusing to introduce another one in the more personal parts,” explains Montatore. And the truth is that he seems to have felt comfortable, because his next work, on which he is starting to work, is going to be openly autobiographical, “although with all the lies and fantasies you can imagine,” he clarifies.
Meanwhile, we can enjoy If you dance, you will understand the lyrics betterone of the most playful and dynamic works of an author in a state of grace, already a reference in Spanish comics.
#Lorenzo #Montatore #cartoonist #Talking #Heads #cool #person
