A few months ago, Sandra Monfort returned to the ring with “La Mona” (Hidden Track, 23), a dedication in album format to all the women who have been relegated to the figure of men; a Valencian song between tradition and avant-garde.
He will present it at festivals such as Espurnes (11 May, Llagostera), FiM de Vila-Seca-Tarragona (16 to 19 May) and Primavera Sound (28 May, Parc del Fòrum).
Last November, APECAT (Association of Catalan Phonographic and Videographic Producers and Publishers) carried out a series of activities in Barcelona on the occasion of the Phonogram, an event organized to reflect on the current state of the music industry after digitalization. Sandra Monfort He participated in one of the presentations addressing the challenge of producing music in minority languages, a topic he knows well. A few days later, Monfort was crowned the outstanding winner of the Carles Santos Awards for Valencian music. This is what she told us before winning the categories for Best Pop Album, Best Album and Best Song. “Being an album so different from the first, I didn’t know how people would receive it. ‘Angel Reptile Boy’ (21) was a kind of dark seabed that embraced vulnerability and created a safe space for human frailties. With ‘La Mona’ I come to the surface, accepting the fragility of being and praising all the virtues that women have not been allowed to show. When a woman appears talented, self-confident, she is usually forced to be self-conscious. So I come and say: ‘We must have the right to be able to express ourselves freely without shame, without silence and without guilt, but above all from joy. Be happy and tell the world if we feel like it.’ That we no longer want to continue with the performative role of humble girl that has been imposed on us with the argument that ‘looking cool is a bit ugly’ is totally legitimate.”. Judging by the title of the album, it seems that Sandra’s words are not mere empty words. These motivations are reflected in it, since the term refers to a curious card game that granddaughter and grandmother played when she was a Xicoteta. The dynamic was to get rid of couples; all the cards had one less “La Mona” and whoever stayed with her lost. “In some places they call her ‘the spinster’ or ‘the golden whore’. She represents the stigma of a woman in charge of herself and her economy, single and independent of it. I remember that it was very shocking to know that, according to the game, it didn’t mean anything good. I wanted to turn that vision around, to redefine the concept. The card I’m talking about shows a person raising a gold coin, so transforming it into something victorious and celebratory was ideal. For me, that coin symbolizes success, not only economically, but from the individual and collective conscience. I am in a vital moment in which I am clear about what I want and what I don’t. My decision-making capacity is greater than it was a few years ago. The feminist movement has favored the creation of cool, expansive scenarios. “We are all uniting and that is already a victory.”.
“My main goal today is to have a consolidated project without always being on the fence”
The Spanish deck of cards, an element that he has always had in his life and that symbolizes moments of fun, meeting and intimacy, is related to something very important: his people. An hour from Valencia, Monfort was born and raised in the Alicante town of Pedreguer, a municipality of almost eight thousand inhabitants. Being aware of this fact, it became inevitable to ask her how this had affected her art, since artists who, like her, enjoy discovering themselves outside the norm often face disagreements with their environment, especially if they are from small towns. “Pedreguer is a very generous town. We all take great care of each other. I have felt a lot of support even knowing that there are people who must not like my music. It’s clear that if I didn’t live there, not even a single person would have heard this album in my town. On the other hand, every time I have performed they have come to see me. It’s not very complicated either having a mother like mine who plays the role of radio yard in the supermarket where she works; She broadcasts all my videos and clients who know her congratulate her. The false trial to which the people have been subjected from abroad has done a lot of damage. Thinking that we are more closed-minded is already tiring. We impose enough oppression on ourselves. Our mothers’ generation is sick and tired of the ‘Woman serves man’ speech. At least in Pedreguer, their desire has been to put an end to machismo by carrying out all kinds of common initiatives: a theater group, weekly meetings… They chat and speak proud that their daughters are championing, demanding and fighting for a cause that It also benefits them.”. In relation to this point, Monfort feels that, as a musician and artist, he has the responsibility of taking advantage of the speaker at his disposal to enrich culture by echoing themes such as women’s relationship with patriarchy, sex, desire, death or pain from dissidence. “I think the album is impregnated with rebellion. To say: ‘Stand back, we are here with all our power so let us shine like bitches!’. We can be disgusting jerks and nothing happens. If we need that to heal, then let’s allow it, xiques. It is very necessary that this type of discourse be presented in the activity centers. Let it reach people who wouldn’t even consider it. The beauty of culture is getting to know each other, getting together, debating and moving forward according to our needs. I give life to my own ideology and the people who come to listen to me are supposed to be in parallel with it. It is a call to feel better, more comfortable and secure with the world.”
The coplera Concha Piquer, the composers Bola de Nieve and Luiz Bonfá or the Cuban group Los Zafiros are part of the list of artists who have inspired the folkloric axis of “The Mona”, whose traditional nature contrasts with the avant-garde electro-dark axis influenced by Sevdaliza, Eartheater, Arca or Sega Bodega. “From this hodgepodge of artists, the essential thing was to capture a pictorial image of the Valencian Community from the most intimate places, to the collectiveness of our speech and its sweet timbre. Without forgetting the bakalao route and the disco as a sacred temple. I have the privilege of being part of a precious imaginary that I can also honor by admiring the artistic heritage left by the poets Andrés Estellés and Carmelina Sánchez or the painter Joaquín Sorolla. Honor customs to the maximum; its poetic things and its grotesque things. The things that identify meua terreta”. Likewise, singing in Valencian makes much more sense than ever now that the conservative right has taken back the community’s institutions. “It is a political and sentimental decision; I would feel like I corrupted something inside me if I didn’t sing in my native language. I get the feeling that some had leveraged themselves and suddenly this is like a wake-up call. We must continue building.”
Despite the prosperity that is filling his career – which we hope will continue to increase – Monfort looks to the future with the hope of being able to make a peaceful living from his music, without economic frustration. “My main goal today is to have a consolidated project without always being on the run or ‘anant com cagalló per sèquia’ as they say in my town. Although we are still in a very precarious moment, I have faith that I will be able to achieve it.”