A Marina Herlop the unstoppable success that his project has unleashed since “Pripyat” (21) has caught you by surprise. Far from slowing down and declining, the growing career of the new exponent of Catalan experimental music reaches a new peak with “Nekkuja” (PAN, 23).
sit in front Marina Herlop It is quite a privilege. After releasing his third LP, continuing “Nanook” (16) y “They can” (18), I did not expect at all that something as small and intimate as her music would awaken so many passions in the scene where she was born. Suddenly,“Pripyat”catapulted her to the glory of the most daring artists; countless concerts dated throughout Europe or America and great media focused on her, praising her in the constant reviews dedicated to her. Being more specific and apart from the excellent critical reception in our country, Pitchfork does not lower it from notable. Hence, making an appointment to see her and chat has become quite a challenge, but… How has Herlop reacted when she was suddenly illuminated by the media spotlight and the affectionate attention of an audience that continues to grow? “Ugh… At what level, right? I have experienced it in many ways. It is the culmination of something, closing a cycle. A lot more is happening than I ever expected to happen. On a personal and work level it is very rewarding, although there is a point where you are subjected to overstimulation from touring so much, seeing so many people and having wonderful experiences. Signs of fatigue appear that you want to ignore and it is impossible; In the long run, these experiences give you a certain feeling of disorientation. They overload you. My life right now is nothing like it was two years ago. It’s been so little time since I was in the mud that I said, ‘This is The Truman Show.’ Even so, my project is still very small. I have lived music so slowly and meticulously that it bothers me a little to see that, suddenly, there are so many things to do quickly and non-stop. The boundaries between working and not working are blurred. But wow, I feel enormous happiness. I’m very lucky to be doing this. I give thanks daily”. Part of the diversity of emotions you feel also has to do with the demands you impose on yourself. She loves to be heavy; ask a lot and demand that each department perfect every last detail. ““I could relax, but I don’t want to.” Unfortunately, appearances can be deceiving: seeing your music recognized on a large scale isn’t always a positive thing. Wanting to work slowly, getting attached to every detail, conflicts with the productive maelstrom of the industry. “The tempos that this type of music needs do not go hand in hand with the rhythm I currently have. It is incompatible. At some point I’ll have to stop cold, otherwise I won’t be able to make music. For me [la música] It’s like an alchemy; put three drops of ‘x’ and wait to see the reaction. A laboratory that does not understand ‘I need it for yesterday’. It requires patience.”
“Can you imagine Beethoven with Instagram? Do you think he could have done the symphonies that he did? No”
In “Nekkuja”, Marina tells us about a garden as a metaphor for the creative process, a clear allusion to the period of negativity that led to its creation. Eaten by anxiety and uncertainty, she coincided with the departure of “Pripyat” (which seemed to never arrive). “It was a discouraging panorama. A constant wait. I spent a lot of time putting a lot of energy into things that weren’t my development as a musician. I was distracted. Then there came a point where I said to myself: ‘I might have to get back on track with what I do.’ Knowing that the circumstances of my day-to-day life were not favorable, I ended up taking refuge in what I really like: the creative process. I realized that I had a symphonic garden at my disposal that I could access whenever I wanted and grow without limitations. However, here comes the interesting thing: this garden is not a place of recreation or joy. You don’t have fun. What happens there is tortuous, but, no matter how bad it is, I can’t stop going to him. If I didn’t, my life would be missing something. It’s pure intuition.”. Herlop goes on to specify the origin of what we call today “Nekkuja”, a title that, by the way, means nothing. An invented word that arises from combining the sounds offered by the word “Nené” and the movies “Tekkonkinkreet” (06) y “Koyaanisqatsi” (82). “The album originates from a commission that L’Auditori de Barcelona gave us and that was postponed due to the pandemic. It coincided with the idea I was thinking about. [El jardín] and we make the spectacle of it. When making ‘Pripyat’, certain themes were left out. From there I developed. The result is ‘Nekkuja’ and the commission ended up being the ‘Pripyat’ tour which, in fact, I finished in 2019 and it came out in 2022. This album is the same. It had been ready for at least two years and until now it has not seen the light.”
Despite everything, the Pierense has created a sound palette that avoids disturbing sounds or compromised harmonic progressions and is the conscious reflection of that stage. “I have dared to do something lighter. It is very difficult for me to find a specific path at a timbral, harmonic and rhythmic level. It is not a question of quality, it is a question of style.” Furthermore, its intention (if it has to transmit any message) is to contradict the false belief of thinking that the artist is an idol; someone who has attributes or qualities of a slightly higher order than other humans. Without intending to criticize or devalue the artists who are admired in this way, what he seeks is to exalt them all; Just like in any other job, they work as hard as anyone. “That idea is outdated. The grace of the gardener is to get dirty doing what he does. It is a much more prosaic process than people may think.”
Beyond continuing to offer direct intimates that border on magical fantasy or claiming the validity of a type of art that does not have the need to give meaning to everything, Marina faces the future pending several unknowns that could see her career affected. “I really want to go crazy again. Of having creative breakdowns. I feel like I have accomplished so many goals externally that, now, the debt is internal again. I won’t deny that I have the ambition to become big, but all I want is to play like a motherfucker and make amazing music. The gift of music is that it is the art that least depends on the extra-musical world. I like to exploit that: that it’s just music. The rest is left over. Giving people sensory experiences that allow them to create their own story is much more fun than creating a specific imaginary. If you do things intuitively, without thinking too much about it, time itself will take care of giving it meaning. I don’t need to know where what I do comes from. I have met many people who are looking forward to enjoying this; music made in another way. It’s not fast food. Apps like Tik Tok, promoting sped up versions, are making us crazy. They mess up my head: if I have to make a record, my brain can’t be busy with that. The fewer distractions you have, the more directed you are towards what you want to do in life and, the more directed you are, the fewer distractions you need. Can you imagine Beethoven with Instagram? Do you think he could have done the symphonies that he did? No. In any case, I’m calm. I am clear that I do not want to reproduce things already done. “I know what he’s playing now: close up and go back to the studio.”.