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José Antonio Galicia reflects on percussion

"You don't have to beat so often,
just once in the right spot"

S.C.O. Madrid, September 2003

You were an eyewitness of and star in the introduction of percussion into flamenco...

I remember that when I started playing rhythms like bulería on the drums, some flamencos from below would say: "What are you doing with those cans?". They'd really jeer you... I had to go through all that. They would even ask me not to play the cymbals. There are instruments which have seemed very harsh to flamencos; they accept acoustic ones more than metal ones. At any rate, flamenco ends up accepting everything. It's been little by little. And I realized that the secret was in the nuance, I mean, in the volume. If I played in relation to the style we were playing at the exact volume, it fit in perfectly. Every now and then, more aggressive styles fit... but the secret was always in the volume.

Homage to José Antonio Galicia.
Madrid September 2nd 2003

Afterwards I realized that each style requires a different volume, each moment requires a different volume. Well, that's the way music is in itself. In this case, it's very clear, you have to play very softly: the feet on top of the percussion, the guitar in the middle holding everything up and you there ever so softly, until you need to crank it up because those nerves or that aggressiveness is needed which percussion provides when you attack it forcefully. And that gives the bailaores and musicians a lot of motivation to do different things, to change. On drums, I've gradually found their place, although then the compositions and tempo change and you find yourself with groups in which playing softly is no good; you have to play really loud for it to be heard.

And besides the drums...

Starting from there come the rest of the instruments that I like to stick in; acoustic instruments such as the derbuka, the tablas, the bongos... They all fit perfectly into flamenco and they're the ones that have given it great aid in the last few years because musicians have already come from Tanzania playing a rhythm which is similar to another kind of flamenco, an afro rhythm which might be similar to tanguillos...

Then what do you think the contribution of percussion to flamenco music has been?

All that fusion favored by different percussion instruments makes flamenco stronger. Although you have to bear in mind that there are things which attract each other and others which simply repel each other. Everything evolves, maybe towards the simplest, even to a tambourine. It's a type of music which is constantly evolving and can't be stopped, which is enriched in live shows and recordings.

Homage to José Antonio Galicia.
Madrid September 2nd 2003

Percussion has also helped to free guitarists. Although it's a rhythmical instrument which could live on its own, thanks to the percussion giving it a base, the guitar has been able to do more open things with harmony, to float... well, when it comes back, the percussion is waiting for it. A joint evolution of all the instruments has therefore come about. With percussion from other countries you get new sounds; everything affects the evolution. Percussion is always another part supporting flamenco, a platform. Flamenco alone in itself is percussion; the feet have always been there. You realize the importance of percussion in the shuffling steps. The clapping holds things up, but other outside instruments can play the same role: with the same criteria that clapping holds up current flamenco. The clapping is the most important thing; two very simple sounds, mute and open, can make all the flamenco nuances pass that way. When you play softly, mute clapping creates a world. Undoubtedly, flamenco now has another leg which is percussion.

How would you describe the current percussion scene?

I think it lacks focus but looks forward to doing new things. You have to give it time. There are those who play very well, but not in the right place. There are those who beat ten times really hard when you don't have to beat so often, just once in the right spot. Young people have technique, but percussion isn't just that; you need prior knowledge stronger than technique which is, of course, what makes it easier to get anywhere. When that's understood, there'll be musicians, like there are painters, who will be very good. The future outlook is quite good. Now it has to be polished, all that experience absorbed. It's a ton of hard work but it might teach you more. A lot should be learned from the jazz players, spending months in New York playing with jazz or flamenco greats, seeing what's going on in jazz clubs every night. You see there that they play the base and afterwards the improvisation comes; nobody can stop it if there's a prior base. It's really very simple. It's an open secret that you catch by trial and error.