Their self-confidence is their flag, these two 25-year-old musicians from Granada who have known each other since they were three and who make up La Plazuela, a duo that combines flamenco with nu funk, all patched up by electronic music that takes to the dance floors charged with the imaginary of Andalusian culture. A mix so varied that it forced them to find two producers to do all the work. After several singles and the EP Jamila, Manuel Hidalgo Sierra, el Indio, and Luis Abril Martín, el Nitro, bring to light Roneo Funk Club (Universal), their first album with a dozen songs that will be played at the most diverse festivals in the world. next summer.
“We've been working on the record for a little over a year,” explains Luis, recalling the trip to Mallorca with producer Juanito Makandé that marked the beginning of the work, “but it's been quick for us”. They had previously released the EP Jamila, three stories (Perico el de la Tomasa, Mi Tarara and La antigua judería) “that have a very Lorca tinge” Manuel comments, recalling that it was after this album that they began to think about putting together an album, “We wanted to do a work of ten songs already assembled, a compact thing with a concept”.
Luís and Manuel live together in Alhendín, on the outskirts of Granada, in a house that they share with other friends and that has become the headquarters of this project, "we have a big coworking" they comment between laughs, "we live in an office constant". A very characteristic sound has emerged from this office, which they began working on at the age of 16 based on references such as Los Delinqüentes, Pata Negra or Manzanita. "At first we were more of a guitar player and a singer, we were more on that path of Andalusian rock, but then we began to discover other types of music and the story changed a lot."
That discovery is electronic music and nu funk, which they came to through Youtube, from the Tiny desk program on US public radio, NPR. "That's where we discovered Tom Misch, also Anderson Pack, Mac Miller's director," says Luís. “We began to discover the current world music, nu jazz, nu funk, R
“Flamenco has always been there, it is the root”, Manuel makes clear. “We are from Granada and flamenco is the music of Andalusia, it has always been around us and it will never stop being there”. Luís thinks the same, who remembers that “we always say that we listen to this or that, but never flamenco because that's always heard”.
Asked about the background of this combination that they practice, Luis talks about the Chichos or the Grecas at the funk level "they had more catchy things, but we have known how to get the most current sound", pointing out that the mixture of electronic dance and flamenco "It's the least there is." “Then there is Califato, who has mixed it with breakbeat, and Rosalía, who has done it with electronic sound”.
Mixing flamenco and electronic music may have exalted some purists, as Camarón already did with La leyenda del tiempo, but that doesn't seem to affect them. “Every once in a while they put a rod on us”, comments Manuel “but I think people consider that we are too involved in the flamenco scene”. For his part, Luis is clear that sparks fly when reggaeton and autotune appear, "there are people who listen to these words and their ears bleed", a situation that they have noticed especially since they reach more people. "In our time they fight against that, just as in the time of Enrique or Camarón they fought against other things." He gives Tangos de copera as an example, a song where they combine tangos over tientos with electronics, and which hasn't caused them any problems.
But get into an autotune song or do some reggaeton, and suddenly the rock brings out the worst”. Something that happens in La vuelta, "a Colombian based on reggaeton and with autotune, that's where people get their claws out." "But now it's like what it's up to," concludes Luis, "to break the spaces with that."
The musical section of La Plazuela is accompanied by a elaborate image in his video clips, brimming with a sought-after manners collected from his daily life, an idea that extends to all his work, explains Luis, stressing the importance of the aesthetic concept, "the videos , the photos, the direct, the merchandising, that everything has the concept and is united”. A concept that they have worked a lot on "trying to make it as natural as possible, and I think that on this album we wanted to be ourselves to the fullest, so that there is no history, landscapes or environments outside of us".
The result, a completely definable and very eighties image. “We come from listening to the Chichos, the Grecas, Manzanita”, recalls Manuel, “since they are all from that time, it is not a pretended thing either”. On the contrary, they do not like to be associated "with the quinqui scene", although they acknowledge that "on an aesthetic level one dresses like their idols, and when we were children we looked at ourselves in the mirror of Camarón, Rafaelillo Amador and all those people".
Backed by a band of bass, guitar and drums, el Indio and el Nitro are now preparing for a tour that will take them to all kinds of venues, from folk festivals like Vida to other more electronic ones or Flamenco on Fire in Pamplona, a variety that responds to the unlabelable musical proposal, which the couple is clear that they will continue to perfect. "Right now we are capable of doing things, but we want to continue improving because in the end it is our job."
