Interview with Terremoto. 'I realize a lot of people are expecting a whole lot from me'

TERREMOTO

«I realize a lot
of people are expecting a whole lot from me»

Fernando Terremoto (1969, Jerez de la Frontera)
is about to release a new record, one of his interpretations
was nominated for a Goya award and his many talents
are making him one of the most important figures on
the current flamenco scene. Building his career in the
brave new age of flamenco, and being the son of legendary
singer Terremoto de Jerez, he has a foot firmly planted
in each of those two worlds which for other less endowed
artists are basically incompatible. One Wednesday afternoon
in January we meet with him at his Jerez flamenco peña
to discuss these things…

What’s
the story of this peña, Fernando?
Well, the peña’s been here three years,
we had a very small place before that, but thanks to
the municipal government, who have really been great,
we got this land and built the peña…the other
one had been running for about five years.

Will you stay in Jerez no
matter what, regardless of how famous you become?
Not at all, in fact I’m building a house in Seville,
I was living in Seville ten years…right now I’ve
been a year in Jerez, but in September I’m returning
when they finish the house. I’m always back and
forth between Seville and Jerez. Seville is the epicenter
for flamenco artists, at least for the kind of flamenco
I do…you have to draw from Jerez but go to Seville
to make your career. Then there’s Madrid, but
that’s another flamenco territory, there isn’t
that much flamenco.

This nomination for the Goya,
a song you recorded for the movie “Carmen”
and which was nominated for best original song, what
is it, bulerías?
It’s a kind of zambra, the thing is it has some
mixing and backup, like a kind of…what do they call
it now? like flamenco “chill”.

You’ve
often spoken about the need for more tolerance and an
open attitude in flamenco, but you’re basically
traditional…
Yes, always, my cante is traditional, because of my
heritage, my family tradition and my own instincts,
but sometimes I also explore other horizons, always
respecting the foundations, I could never possibly do
anything that wasn’t based on what isn’t
really flamenco, I’m not a man of music. In the
zambra, my singing is completely independent, a real
zambra, but I mean, I call it “chill” because
there’s that sort of ambience.

How do you evaluate the current
scene for flamenco singing? Because records of cante
are hardly ever recorded any more…
No no no, not one record company will allow it, a record
of nothing but flamenco, there isn’t anyone who’ll
record that nowadays. That’s where I’m at
right now for example, I’m involved in my record
and I’m going to do five or six modern things,
and an equal amount of traditional flamenco, just with
guitar. There’s alegrías, two bulerías,
tangos, a zambra, there are some very pretty sevillanas
about Triana and Jerez, very flamenco, they start out
with bulerías, there’s a siguiriya, a malagueña,
a little bit of everything. Nowadays young singers complain
about how difficult it is for them, but they also have
themselves to blame to a certain extent, because they
haven’t stuck to their guns, you can’t sing
soleá one day and fusion the next. You have to
fight for what you believe is your music and be who
you really are, and true to your own ideals, not someone
else’s ideals. On this record I do some modern
things, but right in line with my ideals…if not, I
wouldn’t do it.

“A record of nothing
but flamenco, there
isn’t anyone who’ll record that nowadays”

You already have a couple
of records, don’t you?
Yes, the last one I recorded in ’96, and before
that, in ’98, the same year of my debut.

Who’s playing on the
new record?
Diego del Morao and Antonio Hiquero. Right now we’re
getting it together to have the arrangements made…we
hope to have it out some time in March more or less.
The whole thing is just about finished, it’s a
question of getting into the studio a couple of weeks.
I have a lot of faith in my record, it’s something
new for me, I just hope no one is disappointed, because
I know a lot of people are expecting a whole lot from
me, but times change and you have to do things that
aren’t exactly what you want. I’m very pleased
with what I’m doing, but also concerned that someone
might feel disappointed because of it, but what I do
is absolutely pure, in a more modern line.

You started out playing guitar,
didn’t you?
I started as a guitarist, yes. I was playing for Capullo,
for lots of people…but after a time I switched to
cante. I still play, I can’t stop playing guitar,
I play every day because it’s another means of
communication…I play for my singing, I’m also
an author and compose songs for people. Something that
started out as a hobby turned into another kind of job,
because there are people waiting for me to write songs
for them. Carmen de la Jara recorded some things of
mine, another girl from Almería called India
Martínez has six of my songs on her record, María
José Santiago is waiting for songs…but all
kinds of things, rumba, ballads, bulerías…words
and music. My own record, everything on it is my own,
the idea being that I don’t lose my own personality,
that it’s reflected in the actual material.

How and why did you change
over to singing?
To tell you the truth, I don’t even know myself
[laughter]…one day when I was supposed to play for
this guy who was singing in el Puerto, we had a few
drinks, got to feeling good, and instead of him singing,
I did, without knowing how or why, and when I got to
Jerez, they put together this festival, and we were
in the Chacón peña…I mean even I was
surprised, my own mother had never heard me sing, almost
no one. It was something I did completely on a lark,
irresponsibly, because if I’d realized the responsibility
that was involved, my father being who he was, my family’s
history of flamenco singers… The Chacón peña,
they had to cut off the streets because there was no
more room inside…police all over the place, I mean
it was incredible, really historic…if I’d realized
what I was getting into, all that responsibility, I
probably would’ve thought twice.

What
year was that?
That was in 1989.

You also dance a bit…
Oh shit, no [laughter]…I’ve got my little bit
to round out bulerías, but it’s not like
I’m actually a dancer, just my little bulerías
bit…

The contests you’ve
won, the Bienal, Córdoba, have they made a difference?
Absolutely…first in ’96 at Seville’s Bienal,
the contest for young singers, it really pushed me up
a notch and people began to know who I was. Then in
’98 at Córdoba, that was the definitive
leap, of seven prizes I went for, I won three…

What projects are in the
works?
Well, once the record is out it has to be promoted,
and besides that, I’ve got plenty of work coming
up, thank God, even this early in the year I’ve
already got a pretty full calendar. And I’m always
trying to improve, I’m a person who learns a lot
from his errors. I don’t like to listen to myself…it
drives me crazy, but I realize it’s necessary.

Do you listen to the old
singers?
Old, new, whatever I can get my hands on, from Jerez
and from outside, if I think they’re good, I have
to study them in order to improve. Of the historic singers,
aside from my father, I really like Tomás Pavón
a lot, he’s great, I like Juanito Mojama, I’m
crazy about Caracol, Antonio Mairena, Tío Borrico…that
kind of singer.

Was there cante in your house
when you were growing up?
Yes, but live singing. In the old days, I remember many
times when people would come looking for my father…Camarón,
Fernanda, Bernarda, Mairena…just like that, they’d
show up at my house, have a couple of drinks and then
go to a fiesta. I also remember as a child, my father
used to take me to the festivals, and what happens a
lot these days, and it’s really exciting, those
same people I saw when I was little, people who used
to work with my father, now I see them on the stage
right next to me…seeing my name on posters with people
who were already stars in my father’s day, that
really gets me and of course it’s a great feeling.

Is flamenco going in a good
direction?
On a commercial level, flamenco’s doing great.
But on the nostalgic front, I think flamenco, no one’s
sticking up for it. It’s fine for using to build
shows, but the foundations of flamenco as such, I don’t
know….. Nevertheless, maybe very few people listen
to it, but I think they’re people who are profoundly
committed, the few there are, they defend flamenco.

“Seeing my name on
posters with people who were
already stars in my father’s day, that really
gets me”

Do
you have a computer, do you think it’s a useful
tool?
Yes, absolutely, it’s very useful because it’s
no longer just France or Germany, these places we’ve
always gone to do flamenco, it’s a door to the
five continents…I visit Deflamenco a lot because it’s
the webpage that seems closest to my interests.

How are you received abroad?
Great!…much better than in Spain, and I think it’s
the same with all flamenco artists. From the moment
you arrive, they don’t leave you alone for a moment,
‘Fernando this and Fernando that’, you almost
feel like more of an artist…it’s really fantastic.

Fernando, the memory of your
father…does it inspire you or does the responsibility
weigh heavily?
That’s a tough question…I really don’t
know how to answer it…I think maybe the answer changes
as your career moves along. My father’s cante
is always my guiding light, but I realize I have to
prove myself now. I couldn’t possibly be more
proud of who my father was, but he did what he had to
do, he left his mark firmly in place in flamenco, and
now it’s up to me.

Estela Zatania

More information:

Festival
de la Yerbabuena