The Sara Fontan They belong to that small percentage of artists who remain at the forefront after several years opposing the music industry. Realizing that there is no key to success, they triumph by demonstrating with “Remains pending” (Gandula/Ex-In-Ex/Aloud, 23) that things can be done differently.
Eight in the afternoon. Barcelona welcomes the lapis lazuli twilight that permeates its distinctive Gràcia neighborhood with the same bluish tone with which the whiteness of paper would be corrupted by the ink of a pen succumbing to pressure. Finalizing details of the “Remains pending” on vinyl, Sara and Edi – both musicians experienced in countless projects – come to meet me, we grab several chairs and, sitting in the cosmopolitan cool, we chat about the album they thought they would never make; Its main foundation was always that music was born and died live. (Sarah) “We have been playing live for six years to break with the dynamics of industrial creation imposed by the sector. Deep down, what we like is to play, that’s why at first we used to ask ourselves: ‘But can it be done or can’t it be done? Or is it that if you don’t have an album, people aren’t going to come and listen to you?’ After so much time on stage, you realize that, indeed, it is not necessary to follow the capitalist pattern of the big record companies, so, once you meet the challenge, you set new horizons. Recording an album was one of them”. Rejecting any traditional narrative, his first LP conceives an accumulation of sensations, textures and inputs, without any attempt to illustrate a specific imaginary. To tell the truth, they understand “Remains pending” like the design of a sound template that allows everyone to imagine what they want. (Sarah) “Instrumental music is tremendously suggestive, we all want to understand it in some way, usually with images. Although our starting point revolves around certain concerns – social, political, family reality, friends, etc. – in no case did we want to delimit the listener. I do think there is a push on moving forward. People will really enjoy it walking, or by car; moving. Let things happen to them ahead of them.”. Contradicting your values right now is not only a matter of challenges. Nor any casual decision. Attracted by curiosity, I ask myself: Why is this? (Sarah) “We fixed up a part of the house to set up a studio. Having a space in which to rehearse, play and record puts you in another place. You don’t have the pressure of time or money, it gives you incredible freedom. Besides, we get older; We wanted to leave something tangible in this life. Why not do it while we can? The public also asked us for it… Suddenly people are very loyal to this type of proposals. It’s cool to reward that loyalty.”xx
“Because of multinationals that dominate the scene, people around us live with tremendous frustrations”
Listening to them talk leads me to think that they are two really authentic artists. They defend a very striking “flow” philosophy. They do not seek to delve too deeply into what they do, simply enjoy the process. To give an example, the titles of the songs appeal to the restlessness of the moment in which they wrote them: things they like, things they don’t, reminiscences, thoughts, etc. The expression that gives its name to the album is even ingenious. In a way, it represents them perfectly. (Eddy) “It is a word game. A double meaning. On the one hand, it refers to the slope down which society is plummeting (like a snowball) until it crashes, and on the other, it highlights that feeling of never ending that Sara and I share with the modern world: nothing you do is enough. There is always a list on the fridge of things to do.” In any case, they have managed to get something good out of that dilemma: a musical photograph of the point they are currently at. They considered options; They didn’t feel like doing a retrospective of the last five years. They prioritized the most recent. What’s more, the excess of material was so exaggerated that they could have recorded a triple album. (Eddy) “We decided to purge. Nothing has been composed specifically for the album. Many songs no longer represented us as much. Now we have different devices, before there was not the electronics that there are today”. Experimenting with the possibilities offered by the studio has changed their perception. Still, for nothing in the world would they stop playing live. (Sarah) “The adrenaline you feel is enormous. The body generates a very animal energy; in me, in both of us and in relation to the public. Recording in the studio is creating a very specific thing… ‘You have to comb your hair very well.’ Live gives you more freedom; improvisation capacity. Precisely, because of that freedom they would not move to a major record company either. (Sarah) “The label we are in, Aloud, has been working against the grain in the music industry for twenty years, advocating humane treatment towards its creators. We would never be comfortable anywhere else. Because of multinationals that dominate the scene, people around us live with tremendous frustrations. They try to reproduce what the system dictates and see that they do not fit. “Everyone has to apply the strategies that work best for them.”. (Edi) “Yes, furthermore, this dynamic that promotes infinite growth seems outdated to me. Not only in music anymore; in society. It’s absurd. The desire to monetize like crazy does not resonate within us.”
In their permanent fight to be contrary, they admit that they have had to give in on some things. Instagram is one of them. Despite everything, they have found alternative formulas with which to optimize communication with their followers: through a Telegram group they publish the latest news, knowing that the recipients are truly interested in them. Recently they shared an interactive questionnaire through which they gave them a choice between several everyday situations, while encouraging more personal listening. (Sarah) “It was fun to come up with scenarios that everyone could relate to. They summarized conversations we have at lunch, dinner or with friends. Some are very philosophical, if they were lyrics they would sound very pedantic.” Pedantic or not, it is curious that they have worked with the art that is most pedantic: cinema. Having produced the soundtracks for “Magaluf Ghost Town” (21) or the breaker “Self defense” (23), the documentary will soon premiere on L’Alternativa “Remember My Name” (23) by Elena Molina, the last one on which they have collaborated. However, something especially catches my attention. Beyond the freshness that their proposal brings, it is admirable that a violinist and a drummer – the yin and yang – have known how to complement each other at this level. (Sarah) “A programmer once told us: ‘On paper you look horrible.’ It’s clear that he read the concept and didn’t like anything, but he tried the concert and it blew him away.”. Likewise, the star moment of the interview comes when Edi mentions the electronic legend Laurie Spiegel. “She talks about a very difficult challenge: listening to the music you have inside and letting it out. I think that both Sara and I have managed to listen to that music. The project has matured; Now it’s something we both share.”. Little more remains to be said. Starting October 25, forty minutes of our lives will accompany us (whenever we want). On top of that, they will continue on permanent tour until they get tired, so there is no excuse for not going to enjoy everything they have to offer. The Sara Fontan they have left to offer.