Mártires del Compás, flamenco group. Interview

“Mártires has done evolutionary work in lyrics and cantes that will receive due credit some day”

Silvia Calado. Madrid, June 2005

One morning Chico Ocaña, the ‘alma mater’ of Mártires del Compás, was busy frying churros when the telephone rang. The record company was calling to propose a compilation to the group which, without reaching the top of the charts, has consistently spread ‘flamenco billy’ around the world for the past decade. The band's lyricist and vocalist went home with his hands burnt by the hot oil and the one in charge of selecting the most characteristic songs of the sixty-nine in total recorded by the group. He pulled out twenty-one in the end to shape up ‘10 años de Mártires’ (‘10 Years of Mártires’), a journey through that “sung newspaper” which has created its own self-identity based on social commitment, renewed lyrics, the invention of new cantes and a broadened scope. The tribute is going to be accompanied by a documentary put together by Estudio Mariscal, with footage taken in the tours around the world, in the dressing rooms, at the studios... And no, it is by no means a farewell, but rather one step further in a project which, as long as the world inspires it, declares itself “indefatigable”.

Chico Ocaña, Mártires del Compás (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Weigh up a decade of Mártires del Compás.

It's not done with the intention of a before and after, but as a continuation of the journey which we started, me, twenty years ago, and as a professional group, ten. The truth is that these things used to be done when groups disappear or die out.

We got a little scared...

Me too. The thing is that I think since we're not Top 10, the company is grateful that a group like this has been traveling around the world for ten years with a name and a unique musical concept: ‘flamenco billy’. I think it's a prize not to the records you see here - the gold records by international groups covering the walls -, but to perseverance. We have stronger and stronger ties; the group is increasingly tight-knit. The differences in age haven't been a problem, just the contrary; mutual affection, respect and perseverance in the idea I put forward when forming the group. We opened a way that didn't exist, like Christopher Columbus. They had faith in my project and devoted body and soul to these six albums. This is a tribute to all those people who've made Mártires del Compás stay at the top, to the fans more than the group itself.

There were hard times. The documentary on DVD reflects how the group has become increasingly tight-knit, the adventure of adapting to flamenco...

They're people who didn't use to have anything to do with flamenco. In fact, Julio and Alberto's first group was hard rock, Jesús was a painter who likes playing the bass by ear and Noly used to play a bit of flamenco, especially sevillanas. The idea of adding compás was martyr-like. But with people's perseverance, affection and honesty, everything can be achieved.

Reveal how the songs are created as well. What's the process?

I start off the lyrics from what I see, from what I read. And always basing myself on the perspective of any flamenco style; then I animate it, I dress it up. I've always said my songs are naked children that they dress up with their feeling: the bass puts on their little shoes, the guitar puts on the little skirt if it's a girl and the trousers if it's a boy, the box drum brushes their hair and splashes on a touch of cologne, Rocío gives them a feminine touch and what I give them is presence. They dress them up without hesitation, without prejudice, with absolute freedom. That's the way to build. I don't stop and think about it. I read, see and deduce.

With very clearly vindications, or not?

	Chico Ocaña, Mártires del Compás (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

I've been a person who's gotten involved all his life. I lived with Franco, I lived through the transition, I'm in this parliamentary monarchy and in this year of 2005 I'm listening to what PP (the People's Party) is saying about homosexuals. Imagine. Mártires del Compás is a sung newspaper. As long as there's news, there'll be Mártires. I've seen a lot of groups fall for being spineless and they'd been Top 10. When you don't have anything to say, people get bored.

Afterwards there's a pack behind you trying to imitate and they sell more, but in the end they're full of hot air and will come down sooner or later. Mártires is the only group that's going to decide when and how it wants to go. It's not going to be the multinational or the crowd, but when there's nothing to denounce or tell. And that's going to be hard in this world and this society we live in. We have a healthy future ahead of us.

Has involvement caused problems for Mártires del Compás?

Not openly. But for example, we hardly play in Andalusia. I don't play in Seville by my own decision. I live there because the group members live there, but I'm a cultural exile. I don't like the way they deal with cultural policy. When five out of every ten Sevillians hear the word culture, they think of the Fair, Holy Week and El Rocío. Forget that. Twenty years listening to the same message bores me. And it's a city where I wash my clothes and leave. I've got my little spot in La Alfalfa, El Chiringuito, which has a beach name and I go out on that stretch of the street. The truth is that it's a city that has to change a lot, despite having had the socialists for years... or ‘socialistos’ (‘social wise guys’), I'd say. It's hard to find a place in Andalusia where you can play. Firstly, because people don't like involvement. Secondly, they're not interested in groups that don't sing spineless things either. Thirdly, because Andalusian TV is very boorish.

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