“We really wanted to release new songs.”
Remei from Ca la Fresca they return with “Extraordinary measures” (Bankrobber, 26), four songs in which they show their most visceral and vindictive profile. Four themes with which to break with the blank page, renew your energy live and keep your political commitment intact, to which is added a documentary.
(Check the dates of their upcoming concerts at the end of this interview).
“These days are being a little crazy,” admits Xantal Rodríguez, singer of Remei from Ca la Fresca, “but…”, she, scenic gale, tireless torrent of energy, takes a breath, exhales and lets go of a conclusive and convinced “all good”. Arbúcies’ band, one of the leading names on the current Catalan music scene, is certainly experiencing some crazy days. They have just landed from a tour of England that has taken them to perform in Manchester, Leeds and London. Without time to unpack, they have premiered the documentary at the In-Edit festival “Però abans d’això hi haurà set”a film directed by Màrius Intente and Pau Ballesté that maps the trajectory of the quartet made up of Artur Piera, Iago Rueda and Víctor Inskipp-Hawkins (all of them multi-instrumentalists who, depending on what each song asks for, as soon as they sit down behind the drums, they pick up the bass, draw chords and solos with the guitar or manipulate synthesizers and keyboards) through their commitment and activism as members of the collective AiguaClara in defense of the various aquifers of its town, for years exploited by large bottling companies. In addition, they have published a new work“Mesures extraordinàries”EP of four songs in which they sound more sulphurous and vindictive than ever. They say about the British tour that, due to its shortness, it was a seen and never seen, but that due to that same brevity it has been an experience that they have enjoyed to the fullest. “Going out to play means meeting new people, new places, new scenes… and moving away from your comfort zone. It’s cool to go to a place where almost no one knows you, because it has brought us back to when we were starting out and we had to win over the audience. An audience, in this case, that doesn’t understand you, but from what they explain to you after the concert, they have reached out just the same. That’s very cool.”
“We never stop making music and, surely, at some point there will be an album, because that’s what we dedicate ourselves to”
Remei from Ca la Fresca have not died yet
“The day the documentary premiered I was very embarrassed”Xantal Rodríguez confesses with a laugh. “While I was watching it, I was sinking into my seat. Because it is very different to see yourself at a concert or in an interview, where you more or less know what you want to say or what you want to do, than to see yourself in something over which you have had no control. Pau and Marius, the directors of the documentary, were recording us for so long that, in the end, it was as if they were not there.” Xantal explains that when the filmmakers proposed the idea of making a film about Remei from Ca la Frescahis first response was no. “We thought it was a little early to have a documentary about the group. This is something they do to you when you’ve almost died,” and the singer laughs again. “But they insisted and in the end everything fell apart. I had not seen it before the premiere at In-Edit and the truth is that I was amazed. It is a great testament to what Remei de Ca la Fresca has been during this last year, both musically and with our relationship with the fight for water.” Remei from Ca la Fresca Not only did they attend the photocall at the Barcelona Documentary Film Festival as protagonists, but they also attended as an audience. From the movies he has seen, Xantal recommends “Triana, the lighthouse that never ceases”, about the angular Andalusian rock band that performed incredible exercises in sound sleight of hand between psychedelia and flamenco and that Remei has always recognized as one of its great references and influences. “When it finished, we were debating whether to stay on the next one, which was ‘The Fuck You Heroes’ (documentary that reviews the work of photographer Glen E. Friedman and his relationship with icons of punk, hip-hop and skateboarding culture such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Bad Brains or Tony Alva) or go have some beers. We opted for beers and it turns out that Zack de la Rocha was with Friedman at the premiere of his film.”
The Battle of Arbúcies
It makes sense that Xantal regrets not having seen Zack de la Rocha. The Rage Against the Machine singer does not collaborate on the new album Remei from Ca la Frescabut the legacy of the Los Angeles band is one of the pillars on which the discourse is built: sonic and ideological, of “Mesures extraornàries”. They (and very evidently in cuts like “Designed in USA Made in China”) and Fontaines DC “The Rage Against The Machine thing is evident and undeniable. In fact, it was done almost on purpose,” Xanthal is not hidden. “Many people told us that we reminded them of them, but it didn’t seem to us that the influence was so evident. But after saying it so much, we decided to make a song that sounded like Rage Against the Machine, which, in addition, that is true, is a group that we have always been passionate about. I think we did have the attitude, we just needed to capture its essence in a song”. The singer also does not deny the Dublin accent a la Fontaines DC with which they have declined the cut that closes the EP, “Ciao Remei.” “We discovered them at Primavera Sound and they didn’t impress us too much. We liked their singles from their albums, but this last one, on the other hand, seemed wonderful to us. But it is true that for a time we were caught by ‘I Love You’. ‘Ciao Remei’ is inspired by it.”
“Extraordinary measures” It has a double reading as a title. On the one hand, the high political component that exists in all the lyrics. On the other hand, the fact that, thinking about recording an album, they ended up releasing an EP: the songs were burning in their hands and they couldn’t wait. “We really wanted to release new songs, especially to renew the repertoire of the concerts, in which we were already beginning to have the feeling of living in Groundhog Day. In the same way that it has also been an interesting process for the group. Until now we published everything we composed, this time we have also composed many songs, but we have not published them all because either we did not like them or they were not ready to be released now. Putting this filter on has meant that we did not have an entire album for the date we had planned. And we were very clear that this year we wanted to go on tour again and have new songs to present. The ‘extraordinary measures’ have been to publish an EP instead of an album. The idea of releasing an album is still there, but we don’t say it.”laughs once again, now at his paradox. “We never stop making music and, surely, at some point there will be an album, because it is what we dedicate ourselves to and what we like to do, but right now it is not something we have close to us. But given the expectations we had, publishing ‘Mesures extraordinàries’ has been very good for us to free ourselves a little.”
