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Tell us a little about Isidro Muñoz, the ‘collaborator in the shadows’.

Isidro is a wonderful man who lives a private life, and who doesn't want anything to do with photographers, the press, TV stations... And I think he always has fresh ideas. He plays true flamenco because he's a great guitarist and songwriter, and I think he's a unique guy. Isidro isn't the kind of person who writes a lyric and gives it to just anybody. When he writes he knows who he's writing for, he knows who's gonna sing it. And that's very important: he knows what he's doing and he knows who he can and who he can't give a song to. It's an ace up my sleeve. We met many years ago, in 1969 in Madrid. The first thing we did was to illustrate a conference by Domingo Manfredi. When we saw the photos we couldn't stop laughing because you could see how shameless we were. We were really young and we wouldn't have had the nerve to illustrate the conference in any other way... and it was at the Ateneo de Madrid, no less. But when you're young you have that desire to make it... and it's good we have that. If we always had the responsibility we have today... It's great that at thirteen years old you want the whole world! Show me the places to sing, and I'm on my way.

José Mercé

How is the creative process shared between you?

We work hard, we're a tough team. The truth is we spent the whole summer in the studio recording, dubbing vocals, dubbing guitars. But really the whole process takes over a year. He writes the songs, he calls me, I go to his house, we look at the tunes, this one works, this one doesn't, this line's good, that one I don't like so much... And, of course, it's a process that takes time, and hard work, but really when we finished the album you sit down and give it an unbiased listen, and you realize it was worthwhile.

Is he very demanding?

Very, very. I think he knows how to draw out the best in me. Isidro knows me really well, he knows I'm incredibly lazy, and he knows how to put the pressure on. He knows what I'm capable of, and he won't let me alone until he sees it. He says: “OK, off you go, but I'm telling you what you sang is useless”. Isidro is a real perfectionist, he likes to do things properly. And at the same time he's a real bohemian. Sometimes we take ages to do one track, and others take ten minutes, and it doesn't even feel like you're in the recording studio even. Like the soleá, if you listen it sounds like we're at home doing it... that says something.

Your other partner in crime is Moraíto Chico...

He's always there with me, we've been together many years now. When I go out on stage and I have that guitarist beside me, it gives me so much confidence, and I know I can relax with him around. And then we worked with some superb guest artists: my cousin Diego Carrasco on the rumba ‘Saliva curativa’ (healing saliva), Joaquín Grilo on the alegrías...

Tell us about Diego Carrasco.

Artistically speaking there's nothing to say because we all know what he is... a genius. As a person, I have to say he has amazing human qualities.

And Joaquín Grilo?

He strikes me as a true bailaor, and a guy who really loves music. The good thing about this work is that all the people I worked with, my whole team, don't treat this work as a way to earn a salary. They get involved, they're committed. And if we have to do the track twenty times, they do it. And sometimes it isn't even Isidro and me, it's them saying “no, I don't like it that way - let's do it again”. In fact the rock song ‘Oxígeno’ was all finished, and a month later they made us start again - the musicians - they wanted to do it better. The truth is I'm really happy with that because they're people who really work hard, and they put feeling into it, it isn't just for the money.

José Mercé

And you use two guitarists from the same school but from different generations: Moraíto Chico and Diego de Morao. What does each one contribute?

Father and son. Like I said, I learn a lot from the son. Young people have lightning reflexes that we just can't muster. They catch it in flight. These days, out of all the youngsters playing guitar, Diego de Morao I reckon is a tremendous musician. For example, take the bulería ‘Confí de fuá’. Morao was going nuts trying to get the feel of the song right, Isidro was going nuts too, and so was I... Every day we laid down guitars, but it was no use, the next day we had to do it again... And along came Diego de Morao and he sorted it straight out. I think without youngsters like that you couldn't do this kind of project.

Do you think that's true of the flamenco scene in general?

I think young people are making an enormous contribution. I always tell them the same thing: that they shouldn't rush - it'll all come with time, so long as they do things well. The things they can do with feeling and really want to do. There are a lot of young people doing great work today, and earning flamenco a name for itself.

When flamenco meets pop or rock... is it enriched by that?

I think so, yes, it is growing - so long as it's true fusion. Just simply sticking other instruments in apart from the flamenco guitar doesn't mean it's fusion. If they're playing a different kind of music on a bass or violin that has nothing to do with what I'm singing, where's the fusion? I think when you play other instruments and make other kinds of music, you have to adapt it to what you know, to flamenco. What I always try to do when I play another kind of music, like in this case on ‘Oxígeno’ or on ‘Clandestino’, is to drag it into the territory of my flamenco. Of course it's rock, but it has to have a flamenco flavor, because that's the only thing I know how to do. I sing flamenco.

The album also contains a traditional repertoire, with martinete, toná, fandango, soleá... Can you innovate with those old-time cantes?

I think you can revitalize them, keep it dignified, treating the foundations and the roots of flamenco with respect. I think you can do anything, so long as it's respectful. What we can't do is a fandango that, just because it's got a violin in it, is supposed to be flamenco fusion. That just doesn't seem right to me.

And after ‘Confí de fuá’, you're planning an anthology...

I hope that at the end of 2006 the Ciudad del Flamenco in Jerez will have been inaugurated... for everyone's sake. And I hope we'll be able to present it there.

What's the idea behind the project?

To cover all the flamenco palos I can - an extensive anthology of styles, but one that doesn't coincide with anything already on the market. I want to make a 21st Century anthology, where all the lyrics are new, all related to things that are happening in everyday life, but with José Mercé doing the vocals: my feelings, my way of singing.

And while we're waiting for the anthology, you'll be doing the ‘Confí de fuá’ tour...

We'll be presenting the album on 22nd November 2004 at the Teatro Lope de Vega in Madrid. On 25th November we go to Barcelona, and on the 29th we return to the capital. And that's when we start our tour of Spain. I hope that afterwards will come Europe and America, but I still don't know what countries we'll be able to go and perform in.

The New York experience last year was fantastic, wasn't it?

The truth is, I went out there scared to death. And it was a marvelous surprise to see the audience's reaction. We played Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, New York... To arrive at the Town Hall in New York and to know it sold out a month earlier was incredible. And the audience was on its feet singing along to seguiriyas, malagueñas, soleá. There were Spanish speakers there who sang ‘Aire’ and ‘Lío’. But what most surprised me was your average New Yorker, who didn't understand any of what I was saying, but who seemed so enthralled. They asked the translator in the dressing room what lyrics were about. They couldn't believe it. It was an amazing experience... because in America they're used to seeing guitar and dance concerts, but a guy sitting in a chair and singing? That's a little trickier.

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