Josele Santiago: the host and his songbook

[Inkriql]

“Then we will sign here. In case anyone has the whim ”, warns Josele Santiago socarrón while he ends his show in a shopping center in Callao. Some forty or fifty unconditional ones participate in the intimate ceremony as a mini-concert (“they know what they are coming from; if not, they would not come”) that serves as a promotion for the discobook (plus DVD) Count Duque live, a summary of his two performances with last year's band (October 9 and 10) in the former barracks converted into a cultural center. Although the object shows the facet of Madrid, the voice and guitar format is an abundant part of its diet since the crisis in the sector. “They are performances where it is essential to measure the times and talk between topics, because otherwise the public starts chatting and doesn't even look at you. A bit in the folklore tradition. ”

His solo career has never given up rock but he has opened his palette and revealed him as a craftsman of the song. Five albums under study precede the new live ("although the first two were already recorded like this because of my obsession then with the spontaneity of jazz"), in a way not without doubts: "I got to work in veterinary clinics some months but then came the return of Los Enemigos [2012, Josele is his singer and songwriter], other bowling of mine and my 2017 album ”. This album, Transylvania, brought together but not too public in the corresponding tour. “Small and medium sized rooms, it was hard at first but then improved with word of mouth. In summer they don't usually call me for festivals: people want to dance in them, and I'm not much in garlic either. ”

Another thing was the Malasaña Sound cycle, directed by the musician Suso Saiz, who hosted the two dates of Josele in Conde Duque. The cartel was po[CENSORED]ted with artists related in one way or another to the neighborhood: Josele founded Los Enemigos there in the eighties. Although this castle of Puerta del Ángel, a former student of the Salesians of Paseo de Extremadura, has been living in Catalonia for almost a decade, after a time of life in the countryside. “My intention was to continue on a rural plan [I already sang it in Cachorrilla], but I was crossed by a blonde. We live in a satellite city of Barcelona, Montcada ”. The musician and his roots: “I miss many friends from Madrid and the way to be more open to people, but I am very well here. And I am very sorry for what is happening, I am going through a very skeptical moment: I do not understand what any of the parties do, and I no longer know if it is a whole theater: it is decided what is agreed, covering it with a fatter one until that things get out of hand. "

The fact is that Josele embarked months ago on "an eggplant" when someone in the management office suggested recording his quarterly performances and, incidentally, "give the album a little more attractive." When he imagined more of a direct to use, like some of his header discs: “I can think of, for example, Rock and roll animal by Lou Reed. I always had it at an altar. ” The first setback involved rehearsing forced marches with a new band: “The musicians of the Transylvania tour, after small internal problems, gave way to others who had already exercised replacement in some bowling and knew the repertoire. Something not so traumatic in the end. ” In fact, together they sound like a cannon, insufflating new aspects to topics such as Ole papa or Let the sun speak. "A musician always fantasizes, me too: if I could re-record that or that ..."

Josele compliments his companions of any stage: “I am fortunate to have very good musicians who liked my songs. They are not here for the pasta, with me you earn very little. ”There is no shortage of guests in Conde Duque live, despite Josele's initial reluctance: guitarists Amable Rodríguez and David Krahe, DePedro, Leonor Watling (“ his brown voice is going to the hair to black Magic ”), Niño de Elche (“ takes the civil guard further south ”) and Johnny Cifuentes, leader of Burning,“ which makes the stanzas in Tragón's duet grubby [a reference to past additions de Josele] to be even more Madrid, almost zarzueleras ”.

There is hardly a composition of The Enemies in the setlist: the emotional From the jar that serves as closure. While Josele still enjoys the solo debut of Fino Oyonarte, the bassist of the group ("I was finally excited about a record with his name, I carry it in the car"), announces the band's new album for the beginning of the year: " It is already recorded, it is very brown rock, I like it a lot ”. It will mean the continuation of Intelligent Life (2014), the return work, illustrated as now Count Duque live by the Madrid painter Santiago Bueno: “This book with the lyrics of the concert seems fantastic although somewhat morbid, but it is his vision of the songs. That of my father's best friend, also a painter, who never thought of asking for something like this in life. ”