jose gonzalez He shakes my hand with delicate firmness while smiling and looking for a place with light to give this interview, before delving headlong into the darkness of talking about his various psychotic attacks.
Now, ten years after the last episode, he presents the documentary “A Tiger In Paradise”in which he reflects on how he felt, how they affected his work and what lessons and lessons he learned from all of that.
Now he presents it in Barcelona (April 26, Paral·lel 62) in “An Exclusive Evening With José González”in which, in addition to acting, it will give us the opportunity to see “A Tiger In Paradise” months before its premiere on digital platforms and to witness a talk about how his creativity works.
The first question is that uncomfortable one, halfway between surprise and perplexity at having no idea of the hell that José González had gone through in the days when we enjoyed sublime records like “In Our Nature” (07). “In Sweden they started asking me about it in 2015, but the rest barely know anything, so with the documentary it’s like making it official worldwide”, recounts the musician. The “theme” is the psychotic attacks in which González experienced a strong dissociation between reality and fantasy; he came to believe that he was being followed, that the fire alarm light told him when to wake up or go to bed, and even that people’s clothes sent him messages. “It’s been ten years since the last episode and until now I’ve tried to avoid talking about it, because I thought people would still stare at me to try to tell if I’m okay or half crazy. Or because attention was diverted from my music and I was reduced to this ”, admits the Swedish-Argentine artist.
“There is a therapeutic part when I get into those memories. The idea of doing it didn’t appeal to me, but Mikel made the film poetic and now I feel very comfortable.”
In recent times we have seen athletes take a break, artists speak more and more openly about mental illness, anxiety and depression, but the stigma and taboo continue to endure. “This is my story. And then there are the records that I wrote during that time, so maybe people connect with the music again with a new perception. It can be interesting for the fans”comments the guitarist and adds: “With the documentary we share that part of my life with the idea of being able to help people who are going through the same thing and show how lifestyle can have a negative or positive effect on the brain.”
Made in a very honest and delicate way, “A Tiger In Paradise” is once again directed by Mikel Cee Karlsson, as in “The Extraordinary Ordinary Life Of José González”, a portrait in which the ordinary becomes strange with a González at the antipodes of the rockstar cliché. On this occasion, we return to the familiarity of the musician’s home, who introduces us to his wife and children. Short shots and phrases of those that hurt because of the intimacy they give off; confessions, routines. All this packed with beautiful images of nature and the hypnotic music of the singer-songwriter, plunging you into a trance. “There is a therapeutic part when I get into those memories. The idea of doing it didn’t appeal to me, but Mikel made the film poetic and now I feel very comfortable.”, comment. Even so, the artist has something very clear: “This story [los ataques] it is not the main one. It is the first step to talk about other issues, such as artificial intelligence, nuclear winter, etc., which I name in the documentary”. The list goes on and anxiety rises proportionally, with a string of concepts that could well send us back to bed. “It’s not just identifying the big problems in the world and staying paralyzed, but also trying to find solutions. Search in science, evidence and people”.
The same person who talks about cyclical trivialities, about love and draws dream universes armed only with his guitar and voice, introduces traditional economic concepts such as “marginal utility” o “cost effectiveness”applied “to a way of doing good, such as ‘effective altruism’”. A duality that also appears on the big screen, where we see José González running long distances, methodically drinking shakes, following high-intensity exercise tables and monitoring everything. An image that clashes with that other, that of the artist turned almost into a Japanese tea ceremony; leisurely, intense and so recognizable. reality and fantasy “I have had different phases in life, but I have always had eclectic tastes: I liked hardcore but I played classical guitar. I studied subjects while my friends were partying, but I also went out skateboarding. In the months after the episodes, which are very short, I was even slower, like periods of depression and it was hard for me to find words”, recounts the musician. Now, however, he enjoys very good health and a better social life, attending reading clubs along the lines of those thoughts, dedicating himself to his family and working non-stop, with a new album in view of the one he already has. “the complete skeleton”he assures and that it will surely come to light in a year.
We talked for a long time about the world, about the uncomfortable scenes in the documentary, where there is a small dispute between González and his wife due to his intensity in focusing on somewhat dense and discouraging topics. “I’ve gotten to a point where I can put some of those words into songs, introduce those concepts without it being too nerdy, without scaring the listeners away.”, says. A musical Trojan horse in which to awaken some ideas or conversations. In the documentary, the musician reflects on his career as a biochemist and whether he is in the right place, because perhaps he could have made the world a better place if he had continued to investigate.
Why do we tend to detail the impact of art, care and affection in a world where everything seems to have to be quantified? “Part of the things that interest me about that effective altruism has to do with knowing how much a vaccine costs or the price of putting anti-mosquitoes in certain countries. This is already known, it can be calculated. But it would be interesting to know the value of ideas, of art and how that can improve individuals or societies”. What value can the soundtrack that accompanies you in a breakup have? The song that makes your niece fall asleep in your arms? The artist who makes your hair stand on end only with his voice and a guitar? “I take it as something obvious, because music does good. Beyond taste, a good song in a good place can do a lot of good.”
