Maria James demonstrates again in “Nostalgia Airlines” (Bankrobber, 24) that no style can resist. The Mallorcan singer explains to us in this new album, with electronic sounds without forgetting the melancholy that defines her, what it is to live between two places, feeling like you are from both sides and from nowhere at the same time.
What has been the main inspiration for the album?
There have been many experiences and discovering it as I did it, it hasn’t been like “I want to make an album that talks about this specific topic.” I was making songs and experimenting a little, until I saw that they all had a meaning and could encompass a concept. I discovered it halfway through the process, not at the beginning. For me there are some very clear subtopics: the first, tourism in Mallorca and overcrowding. It was fun for me to play with that, in the songs “Cala Ratjada 1964” and “Hoteles sol y playa” I wanted to compare what tourism was like in the early 60s, what it could have been and how beautiful they painted it to how it has been. ended up being now, totally destroying the landscape. I think the album talks above all about overcrowding and, as a consequence, living between Mallorca and Barcelona, about not feeling at home anywhere or feeling out of place. Like this instability and this nostalgia for what you had before, even for a past that you have not experienced, what is the landscape of Mallorca that I have not been lucky enough to see and how this translates to the personal relationships you have. If you are in a social context where you are not stable, you are not at home, arriving in Barcelona and realizing that it is impossible to pay rent… How all this conditions your relationships and how it is very difficult to achieve healthy and stable relationships, if not even neither the context nor the city leaves you.
“I know what I want to do, this is the music I listen to and this is the music I like to make”
The sound of this new album is different from the rest of your previous works, more electronic, urban… What has it been like to find this new sound? Has it been difficult or risky?
As for the sound, it is evident that he has gone towards a more mainstream pop. I really like pop songs and the structure of pop songs, that’s why I have kept it in mind. But, at the same time, I have been inspired by more modern, electronic sounds, Latin rhythms, Afro beats, reggaeton, techno… I think you can tell that there has been an important change. I haven’t put any limitations on myself, I’ve simply been listening to current and more mainstream music and I’ve seen that I really like it a lot and there are very interesting things that I think are worth exploring in this record. On the one hand, it may seem that I have not risked anything and that I have gone down a more commercial path and, on the other hand, coming from where I came from, I think that I have risked more, since I come from a more indie style and with this album I have made a step to the other side. For me, it has been a very natural thing and one that has not worried me much during the process of creating and recording the album. I know what I want to do, this is the music I listen to and it’s the music I like to make.
In songs like “Hoteles sol y playa” or “Cala Rajada 1964” you talk about the overcrowding and tourist overexploitation of Mallorca. Is there an objective for reporting or is it just a context that involves personal experiences?
I have some ideals and I think it is inevitable that they appear in my songs in some way. It wasn’t something thought out or planned on purpose, I didn’t think “I want to make a protest song against tourism.” Yes, it is true that, thinking about collaborating with Pau Debon or Antònia Font and trying to bring our two universes together, this idea came up to talk about something that we experience in our daily lives and that makes me uncomfortable and at the same time does not let me live. calm, as well as a topic that I could share with the person I am collaborating with. I think it is a criticism but from a very natural and accessible point.
What has it been like to collaborate with artists like Julieta, Mar Grimalt, Pau Debon, Renaldo & Clara? Were you clear from the beginning that you wanted to work with them?
All the collaborations – Julieta, Mar Grimalt, Pau Debon, Renaldo and Clara -, when I started to have songs, I thought of these four people. They all said yes and they fit perfectly. The parts they played in the songs are perfect and we understood each other very easily. It was my initial idea and it turned out very well, I didn’t have to reformulate anything and I am very happy and grateful with the result.
Regarding the aesthetics of the album and the titles of the tracklist, it is reminiscent of trips, vacations… What is the objective with this aesthetic and what do you want to show to the public?
We have played a lot with the theme of airports, airplanes and travel. There are many intros that are airport or airport atmosphere. In songs like “Quina pena” and “Balada des trast” there are percussions made using pieces of the airport. Basically I wanted it to be an example of this instability so characteristic of airports, a very hostile place where no one is comfortable and no one feels at home. It is something that attracts me a lot about these impersonal places, where it is no one’s home. They give me a certain security precisely for that reason, because you don’t feel like an impostor of anything, because that place is no one’s. It gives me a certain peace of mind. And especially for us who have to travel constantly between Mallorca and Barcelona or also the musicians who have this life of going up and down all day. In the end, we come to love or feel comfortable in these places where other people are not so comfortable.
Continuing with the aesthetics, for example the video clip for “Xin xin y bye bye” that recalls this tourism from the early 60s that you referred to previously, did you want to transport the East to this era?
With the video clip for “Xin xin y bye bye” I have worked a lot with Marga Estelrich, who has done the artistic direction. She has been inspired above all by spaces like Magaluf, which perfectly represents the type of tourism I talk about on the album. To On the cover we played with the holidays, the guiris and we wanted to make a bit of a parody with the kiosk that is so representative of Mallorca that is everywhere. I come out acting as an imposter or a guiris, because in many places I am the person who is criticizing .
“Now in Mallorca there are more references and in Catalonia there is a much wider range than there was a few years ago”
What does the title “Nostalgia airlines” mean?
In the title of “Nostàlgia airlines”, both the word and the concept of nostalgia, appears quite a bit in the theme of the album and exemplifies it quite well. But, at the same time, it seems like a heavy word to me; I find it pretty and at the same time tacky. The airlines part talks about this part of the airports. Overall, it is a semi-ironic title, which greatly exemplifies the album but also has this ironic and fun point.
What differentiates this album from the rest and what do you think it will mean for your professional career?
I am clear that this album is something that is quite different from what I have done until now. I don’t know where it will take me, I don’t know if it will go worse or better, if I will be able to reach a larger audience with this album or maybe I will lose listeners who listened to me from my more indie beginnings, I don’t know. I try not to think about it. But I hope to continue dedicating myself to it and if I reach more people it is always good news, although I try not to have too many expectations.
How do you want to approach the live performance of this new album? Will it change from what you did before?
Going live it will be a bit of a hybrid. I will continue with the same musicians I had gone with until now but I want the live show to be faithful to the album and transmitting the magic of the band live. Yes, I will stop playing the guitar a little, only on some songs, and I will do more of this function of holding a microphone and moving around the stage. Some of the new songs will be based on and accompanied by the musicians, while with the old ones we have reformulated them a little and have made them provide a counterpoint to the new. I think that, overall, it is quite complete.
Regarding your professional career, which began in Mallorca and continues in Barcelona, do you think that moving to this city has meant a change in your career?
In Mallorca it is very complicated, at least for me, to start a musical career. Here there are more record labels, more musicians, more managers… Not only at the level of quantity, but also at the level of industry and scene. In Mallorca a scene has been created for a long time and incredible artists are coming out, but I think there is a bit of a lack of support from record companies, booking companies and people who accompany you and teach you how to do this whole process. I have been very lucky in this sense because when I came here I immediately found a record label, I think that in Mallorca it would have been more difficult in this sense. It’s a bit sad and I hope it changes soon, because many people are leaving Mallorca with a lot of potential and it is a matter of time before this part of the industry also emerges. But, right now, it is still very necessary. The majority of artists who live here make many things easier for us, because we cannot be in Mallorca and take flights every day and a half or two days.
What differentiates the Catalan music industry from the Mallorcan one?
We have always projected ourselves more towards Barcelona and I think it is time to believe that we have a very beautiful scene in Mallorca and that there are many people doing things that are out of the box. There is a lot of variety, we are not all doing the same thing and now we are starting to be paid more attention, which is why more people have left Mallorca. I think that seeing examples of Mallorcans in Barcelona and seeing that they are paying attention to them makes you want to try it more and trust yourself. I remember that, when I started in Mallorca, in terms of young women who dedicated themselves to music, there were very few, if not none. The artists who released albums and had gigs were Joana Gomila or Júlia Colom, who had not yet released any album. Now in Mallorca there are more references and in Catalonia there is a much wider range than there was a few years ago.
Do you think that this life of constant change and traveling between Barcelona and Mallorca affects you when it comes to making music?
Living in Barcelona conditions me when it comes to experiencing certain things and then talking about them or having certain friends and moving in different environments that, perhaps, I wouldn’t be in Mallorca. I don’t know to what extent this is noticeable in the lyrics and music, but I guess it’s inevitable to talk about it.
Finally, you have been chosen as the first Apple Music: Up Next artist in the Catalan language. How have you received this news and how do you think it affects your future as a musician?
I was quite surprised by the news and I’m looking forward to seeing where this opportunity can take me. I am very proud that it is starting to be done in Catalan after so much time supporting artists and until now they had not opted for anyone who wrote in the Catalan language. I am very excited to be the first.
Concert agenda
Wednesday, April 10, 9:00 p.m. €12
Saturday April 20 9:00 p.m. €10
Friday, May 3, 10:00 p.m. from €5 (Selva Nua, Atensa’t 2024)
Thursday, Aug 15, 10:00 p.m. €15