Tino van der Sman, flamenco guitarist.
Interview
“We’re living in an
era in which
rhythm is overrated”
Silvia Calado, August 2007
Flamenco swells with pride when
speaking about its international scope. And it has its
outgoing side, but still rarely ingoing. With exceptions.
One comes from Holland with a guitar and goes by the name
of Tino
Van der Sman. The Dutch tocaor, settled in the lands
of Seville, has just released his second solo album, ‘Tino’.
And he’s gone in search of risk and diversity on
this record. The “spark” has been provided
by Cepillo, who he repeats with as his producer. Like
all his colleagues, he regrets the lack of attention from
the record companies. And he expresses his opinions on
toque these days in which the jondo map is starting to
rub out borders.
How did you come to flamenco?
| |
Tino Van der Sman
(Photo Remco van Blokland) |
There was a guitar hanging on the wall
in my house and nobody played. And all of a sudden, I
wanted to learn how to play an instrument... a child’s
whim. Since the guitar was there, I looked for a teacher,
and he happened to play flamenco.
What caught your eye about that
type of music?
At first, it was the teacher above all
who inspired me. Then I started listening to Paco
de Lucía and Paco
Peña. I’ve always loved music. I don’t
know why I liked it. I didn’t have any relatives
or friends who played an instrument or listened to flamenco.
It was all my own decision.
Diverse instructors have been
involved in your training. What teachings have marked
you? Who’s influenced you the most?
Paco Peña’s way of teaching
has influenced me the most. He’s a true maestro.
He taught me technique, but above all, the nature of flamenco
and its styles. Then I got to Seville and at the Cristina
Heeren Foundation, I got a good base of accompanying cante.
And I’ll also point out Gerardo
Núñez, since I love to hear him talk
about his views on flamenco and life.
It’s curious that you got
your degree in flamenco guitar at the Professional Conservatory
of Rotterdam, a Dutch city...
The Conservatory of Rotterdam is a limited
school because it’s in Holland. By that I mean that
I don’t think you can learn flamenco in a country
other than Spain because much of flamenco lies in the
culture. I learned a lot about guitar, about music and
I had the chance to devote myself entirely to guitar with
a scholarship and to study a great many hours, but I really
started to understand it all when I got to Seville.
... since in Spain the formal
studies are being made official now.
I think it’s really good that you
can finally study officially, showing that there’s
awareness of the great value flamenco has.
And from pupil, to instructor.
What do you try to get across to your students?
It depends a lot on the pupil and his
abilities. Above all, students come to me from abroad
who need a lot of analyses and explanations. I try to
contribute things that are hard to learn outside of Spain.
But above all, for them not to forget to enjoy themselves
and have a good time playing.
Then as a professional, you gain
experience accompanying both bailaores and cantaores.
What does it take to play for each of those categories?
To accompany baile and cante, you have
to have agility above all else. If you accompany a lot,
the problems are worked out naturally. It’s clear
that the two disciplines are different and require a different
way of playing. In the south, at least, accompaniment
for cante is more highly appreciated, something I disagree
with.
Tino van der Sman with Gerardo
Núñez in Sanlúcar
(Photo Kyoko Shikaze)
The next step was your début
album, ‘Desatino’. Tell us about the story
and contents of that first record.
The first album is a guitar album with
a soloist’s toques and basic production. It’s
a smooth album with a lot of love.
Now you take another step forward
in the creation of your own repertoire with ‘Tino’.
Present the album to us.
The second album is riskier. I’ve
tried to play more aggressively than on the first one
and the production is more extensive. Many of the toques
have come out as a result of accompanying baile, just
like the structure of some of the songs. I wanted there
to be variety, and at the same time for it to sound homogeneous;
that’s why I recorded toques with really different
natures.
You have Cepillo again as your
producer. What does he contribute to your recordings?
I’m a guitarist who usually seeks
out the melody and for it not to sound too romantic, I
surround myself with musicians with a lot of strength.
Cepillo
livens up my songs. Then as a producer, he has a virtue
I love; he makes everyone recording feel comfortable and
confident. He gets the best out of each person that way.
There’s an extensive list
of young cantaores. What criteria did you follow to choose
them?
I’ll say again that flamenco is
open to many forms of expression. I think cantaores like
Vicente Gelo, Fabiola, Sonia
Miranda and Sebastián Cruz give the album the
diversity I was looking for.
The “creative freedom”
is highlighted in the booklet, even of “reinventing
styles”. Is that the road you want to take in your
music?
The phrase “reinventing styles”
isn’t mine. I just try to contribute what I can
to flamenco. I don’t aim to do anything, and at
the same time, I demand everything of myself. I’d
love for my guitar to sound like Tino.
Do you think it’s hard
to innovate in flamenco? Is enough innovating done?
I think everyone has to decide for himself
if you innovate well or not. The classicists are there
to slow down what might be going too fast and vice versa.
I think that’s the way life is.
You’re also surrounded
by other instruments such as contrabass, percussions,
piano, xylophone, Cuban tres... Is that a sign that flamenco
is more and more open to other influences?
I don’t think my album is a sign
of new trends.
And there’s a touch of
baile, in this case, by Andrés
Marín. What would you say about this avant-garde
bailaor?
This avant-garde bailaor is someone who
loves and knows pure flamenco to the max. I think that’s
why he’s able to innovate so much and so well.
A reflection on today’s
flamenco guitar scene, the roads which are opening up,
the weight of tradition, the musicians who inspire you...
Guitar is being played really well: good
technique, good sound, flavor, creativity… It’s
a shame the record market is so bad off because I’d
love to listen to recordings by many of my colleagues.
The only thing I see is that we’re in an era when
rhythm is overrated, in my viewpoint. Careful, you have
to have rhythm and the more, the better, but always according
to the music and the expression. An entire song with staccato
bores me. And the same thing happens to me when you overdo
it with the syncopation and finishes.
