Pignoise: “They told us that with our music we were not going anywhere, that it was very minority”

Now it seems that the strange thing is that a group continues. What is your secret?Alvaro: There are many, not just one. First, everything caught us closer to 30 than 20, which meant we were more mature. I also came from already knowing fame at the most exaggerated level as a footballer, so none of this surprised me, which is why I never took my feet off the hook; also egos, which do not exist. We are quite normal people with a sense of having our feet on the ground in life; Furthermore, the roles of each person within the group are very defined and each person is comfortable in their own role. There is no jealousy. We have always had a very easy coexistence and we have respected each other’s spaces; and, finally, that we are three very hard-working people, and it is not easy.

They are another of the intergenerational groups.TO: And how beautiful it is that the songs have stayed and have real meaning for people’s lives, that they have accompanied them in many of their life experiences. I think it is the ultimate goal when you create something.

Almost anthems for a generation that they have even re-recorded. Do they identify them even after two decades?Pablo: Clear. When you create a group, what you try is to make songs that people like, and the more people listen to them, the better. I don’t really understand that when you have a song that is your biggest hit you decide not to play it later in a concert. We have always noticed Hombres G, who are now celebrating 40 years on stage, and we think it’s amazing how they defend their songs live as if it were the first time. That is the true meaning of music. I’m all for always being proud of everything you do.

Are they at their best?Hector: Yes, we are more excited than ever. And with the tranquility that comes with the passage of time, we now enjoy the moment more. We are going to release new songs that Álvaro has made and that, for me, are the best we have had so far. Although it is true that new songs are difficult to have the success that the previous ones had.

Isn’t that like throwing in the towel too soon?TO: There are songs of ours that, due to the time they came out and the place of exposure they had, are known even to people who don’t like Pignoise. Nothing to lose, I understand you, I’m sick either I don’t care about everything Every neighbor’s son knows them. But we are no longer going to have that media exposure, we are no longer featured on the radio, so it is impossible for millions of people to listen to you. (Think for a few seconds) The triumph is to continue making very good songs and that the people who come to listen to you say that it is a good album, because, whether something becomes as big as those songs were made, it no longer depends on you. In fact, right now that is impossible, because everything has its vital or social moment.

But its beginnings were not easy either. Did you even feel like intruders in the music?TO: Yes, that’s how they made us feel. At the time the press gave us a hard time largely due to the fact that I had been a footballer. It took a long time to break that barrier and even today, for certain sectors of the music press, Pignoise does not exist, our career has not existed. We lived a parallel reality, because we were not nominated for any award, in certain media they never name us, but we were sweeping and having a lot of success. It’s okay, at this point we already understand which foot everyone is limping on and we know how this industry works and the tricks and interests there are. Fortunately, neither one nor the other decides what works and what doesn’t, it’s up to the public to decide.

They also compared them.TO: Yes. Some say that we are a lot like The Fool’s Song, although for me it is more due to musical moment than style. In the end, we got into that radio formula train that, perhaps, stylistically did not correspond to us. They also called us the Spanish Green Day, but because we loved that reference and said we liked them.

Have they always followed the steps set by the industry?TO: I just don’t know where the industry is going, I’ve never known. They told us that with our music we were not going anywhere, that it was very minority. We have always done what came out of us and what we liked. Fortunately, we have never received this offer of: ‘hey, to be more successful you should do this.’ In fact, at the last record company they told us that for our next album we had to make more adult music, so we left. We left them in the lurch, very adult of us (laughs). It is an evolution marked by age. When you are 20 years old and you start, you like a type of music and it influences you more and then you also look for other types of sensations when you create. And also limiting yourself to a very specific style is very harmful, I have always tried to make our universe very broad, and I can make a very fast-paced song much closer to punk and another slower one, on piano, much closer to pop. And I don’t care.

There is a lot of talk about the ‘Pignoise sound’. Which is it?TO: When we started we tried to take a little of what we liked about each one, put it in a blender, make it our own, and then our way of composing and singing did the rest. There was a lot of influence from all these punk and American pop groups, but then we have evolved towards pop, although always maintaining that guitar spirit of strong and rocking bases. Taking that reference and Spanishizing it makes you something unique, because there are very few bands in Spain that have made it their own. And I’m not telling you that they have managed to be massive! Only us, and it was due to chance and destiny, because they put us in a television series.

Is rock treated well in our country?Q: I think there are very good rock bands in Spain, but I also think, and I’m going to say it this way, that the media does not support rock music in Spain. Not even the rock media themselves do it. They support rock music from abroad and from Spain from thirty years ago. But not to new rock groups. We always listen to the same bands, over and over again. And that’s fine, because we love Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden or Extremoduro, but, for there to be a new Extremoduro, we have to give them a chance, because the day will come when Robe dies.
H: There are groups that are doing very well, but that do not have space on the radio, such as Arde Bogotá, Lori Meyers or Supersubmarina.

Is there anything new, now, similar to Pignoise?TO: Yes. There are groups now like La La Love You or Carolina Durante that may have similarities with us. Not exactly, because we are all children of our time, but now is a time where groups with guitars are strong. Without having anything to do with us, Arde Bogotá is a group that is having a lot of success. Yes, a group like Pignoise could emerge now, in fact, there is a boom in 2000s music all over the world.

Is nostalgia in music fashionable?Q: Yes and no. At times, we see many groups from that time that get back together to tour, but perhaps there is not that atmosphere of groups as there was in the 90s and part of the 2000s. In my group of friends there were five bands, one indie, one for pop, another for electronic… Now it is more difficult to find kids who go with their guitar to a rehearsal space.

They have launched their first WiZink Center. Was reaching that level one of your goals?TO: It never was, but I do think it is a good reward for these twenty years. A turning point. Honestly, and I say this without sounding ugly, we deserved it. By journey and by the depth that our songs have had. Surely, from now on, Pignoise will move on to other statuses as national artists.

Álvaro, you also work as a sports commentator and, before, as a coach. Could I combine it all?TO: When I was a coach it was impossible, I couldn’t combine it with the group. I worked six days out of seven. Now yes. Now football demands me at the calendar level, but there are gaps. Maybe you’ll miss a concert because I have a game on TV and I can’t, but there is a lot of flexibility. It is more difficult for us to go to Latin America, because we go when it is winter here and here football is in full swing. But I manage. Of course, with little social life.

Álvaro is also going to release his debut album with Chicle, his other group. Do you need to do things that you can’t with Pignoise?TO: It’s a natural way of expressing myself. The most natural thing, with the passage of time, is to have different concerns on an artistic level. Pignoise albums must maintain an essence and sonic coherence with what we have done so far. A nice challenge is to evolve within your sound limit. But, as time went by, I began to have other concerns as a composer and it came about naturally. I took it out anonymously and no one recognized my voice, so the test is passed and ready to be launched. This project is one more way of expressing myself.