Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I wanted to have absolute control over my music - from the chords and the voicings of the songs to the arrangements and the production.
For years, I've been so passionate about nail art and about doing my nails constantly, with different nail artists from around the world.
I'm always excited to share my passion about flamenco, so other people can discover this music - which is amazing - and discover the culture.
There's this kind of pressure to be creative or busy most of the time, with lots of activities and progress, and I'm trying to run from that.
Working with Pharrell was a dream... Collaborations like that are where you come up with sounds that maybe you wouldn't have found otherwise.
When I was 15, 16, I started going to a studio and my biggest inspiration were women, like Lola Flores from Spain or Janis Joplin or Patti Smith.
I started from zero. Nobody in my family is connected to the industry. Not a single contact in the music industry or in the entertainment industry.
I don't force things. I can have a wish, and then I let God lead me on the path, bringing me what I need - and always trying to be alert to receive it.
I'll always identify with the image of a strong woman. I believe that in what I do and in my sense of self, there's a vindication of women. There's power.
My mother always had flowers at home, they were always there. In the garden, on the table, fresh flowers. I think I relate flowers to the women in my life.
Guajira, colombiana, milonga, rumba - all these styles are flamenco. They're part of the musical tradition in my country, and they are in Latin America too.
I am rooted in flamenco. At 13, I fell in love with it, but I couldn't sing it. To sing flamenco is like being a kind of opera singer. You have to learn how.
I want to keep growing as a musician. I want to keep making records. I want to keep improving as a songwriter. That's what it's all about - to learn, you know?
The more people I can reach with my work, the happier I am, but I'm not going to stop making the music I want to, just because I'm looking for a specific response.
There's a lot of magic in voices. I love voices that are very old, very gravelly, very deep. I like metallic voices; I like velvety voices. The voices of children.
My music pulls from flamenco plenty; it wouldn't make sense without that genre. I also have a lot of love for flamenco and I'm very happy if I can be an ambassador for it.
I have so many references in my head - flamenco, classical, Latin, too many. I come in and put it all on the table, with no prejudice, and just start working, working, working.
I understand that flamenco has very specific rules and codes, and there's the weight of tradition, so I can understand when people do not enjoy something that is more heterodox.
I love flamenco. It's very difficult music to sing. But I think of any genre as a snow globe - you don't admire it for its stillness. You have to shake it up and see how it explodes.
Barcelona is an open and multicultural city. It's brimming with a very special creative energy. If you pay attention, you may be easily inspired by the places and people living there.
I understand that a lot of people can't connect with my music, because it's a radical proposal and a personal proposal. There will be people who can connect with it, and many that can't.
I have big dreams, but if God would've told me that I had to sing in a local bar in Barcelona, and that that would be my life, that would be my life, I would've done it with the same passion.
I'm trying to do things that help keep me mentally healthy, and if that includes making music, then great. But I won't lie - there are days when I just watch a show and eat a packet of cookies.
My favorite flamenco singers, they're not trying to look pretty. They're trying to put truth in what they do, in the way they express themselves. Sometimes that's not beauty, but it's beautiful.
We come from Spain, from Barcelona. We could perform in many places around the world, and it's been amazing to bring our music to so many people in so many different places. That's been amazing.
I have no prejudice about which music is better. I listen to Vivaldi. I like Nick Cave. I love Travis Scott, James Blake, Lola Flores. Music can serve many functions. And so I listen to everything!
Milionaria' is the first song I've composed and I published in Catalan, it's also the first song I do inspired by Catalan rumba. I started it in Seville while I was waiting at the airport and I finished it in Barcelona.
I grew up in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, a small village near Barcelona. My house was near the countryside, so there was a lot of nature, and at the same time my village is surrounded by factories. That conditioned me a little bit.
As a teenager, I remember Missy Elliot: seeing how she carried herself, made her music, and presented herself as an artist. That strength inspired me. If my work can do the same for others, I feel very grateful and proud of that.
When an artist becomes pop, it's because the people choose it. Yes, you can have that dream to be a big pop star, but it's the audience that puts you in that position. I never had a paid marketing campaign, it was never like that.
I would always change my Barbies. I'd cut their hair, paint on tattoos, and create new clothes for them. I would invent elaborate stories: fights, dramas, successes. I would try out my ideas on them. And sometimes they would sing!
I'm increasingly conscious of the fact that, even when we know a lot, there's an element of blind faith. For things to work well, you have to surrender to the moment. This is especially true of writing, producing and truly giving it all in a performance.
Even though the public may perceive me differently, I always feel like I'm learning something new, and I like seeing myself this way. It keeps me focused on doing things with the love and care that comes from knowing you can always improve. I always have that in my head.
Flamenco is the reflection of the street. It's that thing that's so beautiful, that comes directly from the people. It has so much truth, tragedy, falling in love, falling out of love, flamenco has it all. You can learn so much, that's why it's so incredible and so beautiful.
In my home there was a garden and many trees, and I remember growing up without fear. Everything was very steep amongst the trees and I remember running up and down always trying to go faster. I would go so fast that there would be a trail of my steps that I would leave behind.
No one in my family plays music. But since I was very little, I would go around the house singing and dancing. And when I was 8, my parents asked me to get up and sing something at a family meal. I had my eyes closed, singing - la la la la la - and when I opened them, the whole family was crying.
Flamenco is connected with so many types of music. It has Jewish culture inside, Arabian culture inside, Russian culture inside, Spanish culture inside. It's linked to African music too, because African music has the 'amalgama' rhythms you can find in flamenco. You can find everything in flamenco. That's why it's so beautiful.
I always think my job is like any other job. Every job has good and bad parts, and mine is to be a musician. I know why I started making music and I always knew there was no plan B. I'm passionate about it. I love being in the recording studio and researching sounds with the possibility of discovering something new. That motivates me.
It is very important that people understand how important flamenco is to the Gypsy community. There have been some amazing Gypsy artists. It's important that we give visibility to that, but at the same time people have to be fair and recognise that Paco de Lucia was the biggest guitar player in this style of music in the world and he wasn't Gypsy.
