They were silent, but they did not stop living.
McEnroe is A band more admired than known in indie rock, pop and Spanish music circles; Their albums are lyrical, soothing works that delight thousands of their listeners by combining their already nostalgic present with the places they frequent in search of metaphors and phrases that resonate.
After several years of silence since his last job, although he has not stopped doing other things, They get back on the road with Free lifean album in which they work on the idea of serenity and the position one occupies in the path of their intimate life.
From Getxo, the group’s original home, its vocalist Ricardo Lizon brings 20Minutos:
It has been six years since their previous album was released now Free lifeand. At this time there were moves, new jobs, children and many other things that are now important. How did you experience this downtime? At what point did you feel it was time to record again?
On an individual level, I haven’t stopped doing things. I wrote a book, I released an album… and we were there comment Because at the end of the previous album, DistanceA, we had a feeling that we were getting somewhere and we didn’t know if we were going to start a new path. We always went to record when we really had something to say, but this time it took a little longer; This time the spark came later, but it did come.
They say the songs come when they want, without pressure. Is this still your style after many years of work?
that it. He waits for there to be something that will excite us and make us excited to sing it. Moreover, since no one is committed to this except me, who has been trying to devote myself exclusively to music for a year, the work of the group is that of a band amateur Where everyone has their own jobs and lives.
Free life It is a calm and quiet album in which themes such as memory or love abound. Was this calm planned or was it the result of the natural drift of work?
No, nothing was planned. We’re really cool and moderate, we’ve never been Iron Maiden. I think the new things on the album are that time has moved on, that we’ve grown up and see things in a more measured way. It’s a more contemplative and less nervous album. There’s a very scary word in rock music, and it’s “adult,” so I’ll use another, more bearable adjective: “mature.”
Very specific landscapes appear in the letters: lighthouses, beaches or roads used for travel and building metaphors. Are they real or imaginary places?
We’ve always used venue resources a lot. This album is nothing more than a summary of these six years, and there have been many trips, among thousands of other things that have happened to us. Landscapes have always inspired us when writing; Show Naples, for example, or Formentera. They are real places that set us apart.
It’s also an album with a lot of nostalgia. Memories of youth, long nights. How do you manage the balance between looking back and moving forward?
We’re in an age where we look in the rearview mirror a lot. I think this makes a lot of sense. It’s good to sing about the future, but we don’t think about it much; We make songs about what we get. the address, Free lifethis guide gives that you should write about what comes out. I think what the album speaks most about is our present. The past is very present, you remember things. I don’t think it’s just a nostalgia album either, there are other things.
They worked on the album between Cantabria, Donostia and Granada. What did each venue contribute to the different stages of the process and the final sound?
We recorded it in Cantabria, in Arenas de Igonia, in a studio called Nest. Later, one of our members, Jaime Artche, took over production at Donosti; Finally we went to Granada to mix it up with Raul Perez. We’ve divided it into those three parts. It’s our first time working Nest We are very grateful. When we record we want to get away from here to isolate ourselves and focus better; This is something we have been clear about from the beginning. Our plan is not just to record, but to isolate ourselves and spend time together.
What does the group dynamic look like in twenty years? Have they changed much compared to their first albums?
No, really no. We have a fairly personal dynamic, and we make the most of the time we have together because we’re not together much. Gonzalo lives in Madrid, Jaime in Donoste… everyone has their own things. We’re very friends and spend a lot of time together, going out for drinks, dinner, seeing each other… but what a group it is, it goes on and on. We have to really want it. There are times when we meet to practice and we don’t even practice because we prefer to chat.
Is this less professional dynamic good for the group?
I don’t know that for others, but it does for us. And I think that’s a good thing because we’re where we want to be; I don’t know what would have happened if we got into the dynamic of weekly training or if we threw ourselves into everything. We are fine like that, that’s it, the rest doesn’t matter to us.
They dedicate the album to their sons and daughters. What do you want to convey to them the idea of a free life?
I think it’s an idea that has many readings: it’s allowing life to dictate the right moment. The other reason is that in many aspects of life it seems that you cannot choose and that everything is characterized by certain principles, but there is always a part where you can decide. And that you know how to take advantage of that moment of freedom to be yourself as much as possible.
Now that the album is out, what would you like someone approaching it and the group to find for the first time?
Well, he likes it (laughs). I would like you to be interested enough to spend some time on it. In these times when ten seconds seem like a year, may he find something that will make him give up a little of his time. It’s the age of high speed, you release an album and within an hour you’ve already received a review. I want the person who approaches me for the first time to be slow and stay there for a long time.