Leiva / Singer and music producer
With the creative restlessness for flag and involved in various projects, Leiva returns to the road with his fifth album, ‘When you bite your lip’
Leiva is discovering the pitfalls of a garden. Because in her few free moments, she has developed a garden facet that she enjoys a lot. “Rock and orchard!” she says. At his house in the mountains, he pauses between concerts to present his fifth album, ‘When you bite your lips’, a compendium of collaborations that are a song -forgive the obvious- to friendship and the things that are they do for fun.
-Time, fears and the consequences of relationships, for better or for worse. Are those the three predominant themes on the album?
-Yes. It is an album that is written in some very strange years. I wrote it and recorded it in the midst of a pandemic and living in Latin America.
-A unique round trip.
-I spent the confinement at home, in Spain and then I returned to Mexico City for another four months. I wrote a lot there, I recorded the album and I went to the desert, to a town in Texas called Screw. The distance, the time, the feeling of rootlessness and vulnerability at all levels, is obviously on the album. Also fraternity and friendship and being able to share a record with so many friends.
-The result is a less is more applied to each song; more detailed, but simpler in terms of layers. Is that the fruit of time too?
I’ve always been chasing that. In the end, the songs are the ones that determine the paths. You can have a sound for a record on paper, but the songs will allow it or not. I have been trying to achieve this for years, but for the first time they have allowed me to tell things with the minimum possible elements. Production is of great importance on this album; the Spanish gaze of Carlos Raya and that of Adanowsky. We were in a ‘mood’, a very similar state of mind; trying to get things from a guitar and a voice and any element that came in had to play a very important role or else take it away. We wanted beauty to be present in the few elements. I feel there is beauty in it and we have achieved it.
-And suddenly you pick up the phone and call 14 people, 14 friends to sing with you.
-It was something very organic. I realized that I was leaving Mexico or Argentina and what I heard on the plane was them. Silvana, Daniela Spalla, Zoe Gotusso… There was something there that was moving me. One day I thought; what I want is to make music with them, for an almost selfish reason. Get infected by them. I needed it. It was very acrobatic, because I didn’t want to do it from a distance and it could be done.
-You have used the verb to desire. When you get into the studio to do what you really want, is it because you can afford certain licenses?
-I have to say that I always made the music I wanted. I never paid tolls due to external pressure. In this case I have allowed myself the luxury of making the album that was moving me and that amused me the most. And that word is important. I have always worked as a somewhat suffered process, of a certain vulnerability. I’ve already had many records, I don’t know if I’ve recorded 15 or 20, and I’ve managed to have fun. Let it be something free, where we have tried many things and I have learned a lot.
Respect
«The only thing I can boast about is having good friends in the profession»
-The vital and sound journey towards Latin America, is it a natural process for those who start from rock in Spanish?
-I think so. With Sloth we did very badly in not going out. We were two kids from the neighborhood who had a hard time making a living from music. When things started to go well for us in our country, it was time to pack our bags and leave. But we wanted to enjoy it and we mistakenly made the decision to stay. It is a logical question to build bridges, for friendships we have, for musical references. It is unnatural not to leave with your music, with your colleagues from the other side of the pond. I feel it as a matter more vital than rational.
responsibility vs fun
-Could you imagine ending up having nine people on stage living from your music?
-No, because mine has been a consequence, not an end. I did not imagine with four trailers on tour as we are now. I thought about making songs, playing in a club and that my long-haired friends would like it. It’s what I wanted. I couldn’t imagine playing in big places, because it wasn’t even well regarded in my neighborhood. He had a certain prejudice with transcending. When you start playing in very big places, things are lost along the way, as the responsibility grows it is detrimental to the fun, but it is a privilege.
-Rock and pop are still considered minor genres compared to other more minority or elitist styles?
-Yes. In the end, things of worship generate respect ‘ipso facto’. When the group you like begins to listen to your neighbor, for you it becomes vulgar. It happens with pop and rock. That is very well treated in Spain: that things go wrong for you, that you are a cult figure but you cannot live on it, it is highly praised in our country. And that you do well is very penalized. Younger generations are freer, they have fewer prejudices. We come from generations where what is not cult is cheap, and it is a very smart look.
Do you feel that you have earned the respect of the sector? Cares?
-You should ask the others. I’m not chasing respect. When he was younger he did seek the approval of the elders and the union. Not anymore. The only thing I can boast about is having very good friends in the profession. And for me that is enough.
-As a balance of all the above; How is it going?
-Well, look, I’m kind of inspired and happy, but I think I lack serenity. I feel that I am in a beautiful moment, but I long for a little calm.
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