Features
Friday, 05 February 2010 06:02
Written by Jenn Chan Lyman

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The musician gives us an idea of the man underneath.

Flamenco calls to mind certain images. A woman swirling passionately, her costume dramatically red and boldly ruffled. A guitarist strumming feverishly, his chin thrust downwards and his brow furrowed in earnest. A bartender sobbing desperately, his heart strangled by the memories of lost love that the music evokes. Okay, scratch that last one. Simply put, an image of unabashed passion. That’s the general idea I had as I climbed the stairs up to the top floor of the JZ School to chat with Abraham Carmona, mastermind behind Flam3ntriko, the imminent installment of the JZ Concert Series taking place this Sunday.

But Carmona up-close would surprise you. None of the flash or ruff of a flamenco cliché and all of the absorption and pensiveness of a musician captive to his own talent. Don’t let the shirtless marketing materials fool you, Carmona is no aspiring pin-up, but a complex artist, straightforward without frills. Native to Seville, Spain, heart of the culturally-rich Andalusian region, Carmona is a guitarist, vocalist, and, recently, pianist, whose grandfather, father, and four brothers are all musicians. Carmona has been in and out of Shanghai since summer 2006, performing his own music that is grounded in flamenco and laced with salsa, tango, bossa, funk, and the occasional rap. Here’s what Carmona had to say about the life and times of a young gitano born into flamenco.

Do you remember the specific moment when you recognized your passion for music?
I knew from the first time I heard the guitar when I was seven, and the first time I put a chord on the guitar when I was eight. The music was inside me, something that cannot change. My father told me about the year that I was born, to gypsies this is important, and he was crazy about the guitar at that time, practicing many hours a day when my mother was pregnant with me.

I remember being five, six years old, and playing games with my father, where he would hide the guitar from view and I would have to guess which string he was playing, which note. I always won (laughs).

I have four brothers and all of us play something: singing, guitar, flute, sax, and my little brother plays percussion. But my father says that it was me who got the natural quality. It is nothing that I have because I want it, I was born with it. In the ear, the mind, there is always something that I can create, not just music, but any kind of art, like painting or poetry. Those things come very naturally to me. My grandpa had [that quality], too.

Do you ever wish that you didn’t have that quality?
Oh, yeah! (laughs) I am kind of a shy person. I don’t like many people around, and the life that I have is much crazier than the life that I want to have. I would prefer to be a simple person with a normal life. But life has never been normal. From eight to fifteen years old, I was practicing 8-10 hours a day. By the time I was fourteen I was already working every night at a flamenco show in my city. And then from fifteen, I was working professionally in Japan, France, Germany, until now. This kind of life, somehow I chose it. But I didn’t choose to be how I am, to always have this feeling that when an idea comes, I have to do it. Sometimes I want to cancel everything. I did that a few times, and it doesn’t work. The world is calling to me.

So how did the world call you to Shanghai?
I came to Shanghai because I was terrified of the kind of future, the kind of life I had in Spain. I was never home. I was always traveling, working, or composing. My friend in Sevilla has a motorcycle business here and he told me about Shanghai being an interesting city. So I came to have a break, to forget about things for at least 3-6 months.

For the first two months I had a lot of fun, going out every night. But then suddenly, I met these musicians and saw a few bands and I was really impressed. I was at The Melting Pot with these musicians and they had a jam session. I didn’t have my guitar, but a Chinese guy, very nice guy, had a classical guitar and I tried a few notes. Chris [Trzcinzki] was there on the drums and he followed me so naturally that we ended up playing there for a couple hours. I had not had fun playing for a long time. I met JQ [Whitcomb], the JZ School, had more jam sessions, and everything came together.

What is the biggest difference between Sevilla and Shanghai?
I think the cosmopolitan thing. Here, I have a feeling that I am anywhere. I can meet someone from the States, a Russian guy, a German guy. The windows are open and you meet people from somewhere else. You see not just Chinese culture, but other cultures. Everyone is like a window to another culture. Here you also meet a lot of people (chuckles). In Sevilla, most of the people are from Sevilla.

What do you miss the most when you are away from Sevilla?
The river, Guadalaquivir. I miss that river. I live close to the river and I love to walk around the river in the morning. It is very quiet. I miss that.

You seem to be drawn to quiet. Is that why you named your debut album Silencio?
Silencio was a pretension to bring silence to my life, but actually the opposite happened. It is a hope, a desire of something that I hope to get sometime.

How did you develop your style as a musician?
My style is a consequence of everything that I’ve done. In the beginning I didn’t have a style, just watching and following musicians that I liked. I never copied other people’s songs, not because I refused to, but I always had that part in me that said, why am I going to play someone else’s music when I can play my own? Even when I was learning chords, I was trying to make my own chords at the same time. I have a crazy father who used to push me in that way a lot. “You are nobody if you play somebody’s song or melody. You have to be you.” He was crazy about that. You, you, you. I guess that’s what I have in my mind (chuckles).

How would you describe your own style?
It is music from the south. If you analyze the world, each country, each location in the south is always warm, open, and friendly. My music has the character of southern people and their way of living.

That’s interesting given that you are quite a shy person.
(Laughs) My music has nothing to do with my personality. It’s true. Actually, that’s why people always mistake me. They listen to my music, and when they see me aftewards, they expect something else. Usually they are disappointed (chuckles). The music is like, wow, all this (employs explosive hand gesture). When I listen to it, I think, who the hell is that? It’s something that I am familiar with, but it is not about me as a person, a human being.

So in a way, you’re a split personality. Why do you think that is?
Because I chose music. I could choose myself. It would be selfish if I do that, if I live my life with myself. I’m sure that everything would be so different. No music, nothing around, nothing about music. I could live that life with me, but I choose to live my life for music, for the gift that I have. It’s something that I feel I have to do. Most of the time I don’t want to do it.

When I talk to some musicians, sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a doctor or a businessman. I don’t have this dream to be famous. I am not like that. I hate that. I like a quiet life, where I don’t have to see anybody. But I chose this kind of life. Until today, I have not met anyone [with whom] I can share my feelings about this. Music is not a job. My holidays are still the same thing. I can be in Thailand on the beach, and the song, the melody is here (points to head). I never have a break. Sunday, Saturday, or four in the morning, I have to wake up and go into the studio because there is a melody in my dream and I am crazy about it. I want to record it, I want to write it and take it out of my brain. Then the next one comes.

You’re almost like a vessel. It must be tiring.
You’re right. It is really tiring. Sometimes I would like to go out, out of this thing, and I can’t. It’s something like this: you’re walking on the street and you see a nice house, and you’re interested in the house and you want to sit inside, so you get closer to the house. The closer you get, you feel something very strong, and when you get into the house, the door closes and you can’t go outside. That happened to me. I am inside the house and I can’t get out. But I am trying to enjoy the time in the house. You see I love to be a victim (laughs). I like to be in the house, but sometimes I would like to go out. But it’s like I can’t even look through the windows.

Would it be possible to write music from that other part of you?
It’s not possible. That one does not have music. I have a feeling that I can’t get it back, that boy that I was at four or five years old. I can’t get back that life even if I wanted to. I tried. [The music] is nothing that I can control, so I am going to try to learn how to live with it, to be happy. Otherwise, I would be crazy. Really insane.

Are you able to find quiet?
Sometimes. A few seconds (smiles wryly).

Tell us about the concept behind Flam3ntriko. What’s the 3 all about?
It is a three-dimensional picture of my music, a trinity. For the first time I am playing piano, guitar and singing. It will be one more step in my evolution as an artist.

The Flam3ntriko logo involves a triangle in a circle, an ancient symbol of protection, where the spirit invoked is confined within a divine circle. It’s also used by Alcoholics Anonymous, representing an integration of personality.

I am obsessed with Bach and he always had the number three in his compositions. I became obsessed with the number three, seeing it in everything, the kinds of rhythm, the times you repeat a melody. If you look at any of my songs technically, you see the number three. I admire Bach and I want to be a student of his. I have not found any composer that can do what Bach does with the number three.

What’s your favorite piece by Bach?
The Trinity, a composition he did to tell the history of the Bible. I’m not religious, besides my name, but that’s my father (laughs). [The Trinity] is amazing. When I was twelve, the symphony orchestra from Berlin was performing [the piece] in my city. I’d asked my father to bring me for my birthday and it was heaven. I fell into heaven that day. I’ve never had that feeling.

[The piece] is three hours, but for me it was like three minutes. In any project I start, a song or an album, my inspiration comes from that day. My mother fell asleep [during the show] and I was so angry at her (chuckles). On the way back in the car, I was singing the main themes of the whole show. My father knew the piece better than I at that time, but I absorbed everything. I felt like I was born that day.

The symphony orchestra that Carmona mentions could either be the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra or Konzerthaus-Orchester Berlin, Berlin’s symphonic orchestra. The Trinity may refer any of a number of cantatas (roughly 78) composed by Bach in homage to Trinity Sunday, the Sunday after Pentecost celebrating the Holy Trinity.

Do you have any specific influences on the Spanish side?
Not really. It was something I grew up with. I think that if I was born in Jamaica, I would probably do reggae today. I have music, I’m musical, so it doesn’t matter, flamenco, reggae, jazz, romantic, classical, anything. [Nowadays] people from my city will say, “What are you doing, you are mixing flamenco with other stuff, it’s not pure!” But I am not traditional. Nothing about traditional flamenco is in my heart. For me it’s just a name for different ways to play music, to express. I’m not a flamenco musician or any kind of musician, I am just a musician.

How did you select the different members of Flam3ntriko?
I tried many musicians and finally found these great musicians. Each of them are really professional and hard-working, nothing like me at all (chuckles). They’re professional, on-time, and always do their homework. When we play, I know they have fun. Two weeks before rehearsal, I compose and record on my own, recording the drum, bass, guitar, and everything, and I give it to them. Then in the rehearsal, the interpretation is always different. Each of them gives his own personality to the music. I like that.

Flam3ntriko features Lawrence Ku on guitar, Chris Trzcinski on drums, Jeremy ‘Dr. Jay’ Lasry on bass, J.Q. Whitcomb on trumpet, and Peng Fei on violin.

What should we expect of the new compositions in Flam3ntriko?
There is a new song, the first song that I will perform with the whole band, called “Tangillo” that I am very happy with. Something amazing happened there. The song is two things: Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Cadiz, Spain. It is a mix of the feelings of these two cities, a flamenco rhythm with an Argentian tango melody.

Will you be coming out with an album based on the new songs in Flam3ntriko?
I think it would be great to do a recording here in Shanghai this year. I’m talking with my manager about it and I think it’s going to happen. Rent a studio for 24 hours a day and sleep there (smiles). In Spain, I have to go home and then go back to the studio, but here I can just live there. Make an album in three months.

In Silencio, the track “De Vez En Cuando” (means “sometimes”) has what could be characterized as rap. What inspired you to include rap?
There was a rapper from Detroit that I met here in Shanghai. He was my manager for a tour for Ballantine around China, and we lived and traveled together for two months. He would rap every morning at breakfast. I had that song, “De Vez En Cuando,” with Spanish lyrics like, “Sometimes I love you, sometimes I hate you,” and he rapped with similar lyrics in English. When I recorded the song, I asked him to rap and we had a lot of fun. After that, sometimes when I’m at home I will record a rhythm, take a mic and walk around my house, just talking. Me in my pajamas trying to rap to a flamenco rhthym (laughs). It’s a very free way to do music.

What is one thing, if anything, that you wish your audience knew about you?
Nothing. But if they really wanted to know something about me, I would want them to know that I’m not as interesting or energetic as I am in the show. The show is an hour and a half, where a day has 24 hours, and if you’re with me for one day you will see that I am not always like that.

Okay, tell me honest, what's up with the chest-baring marketing photos?
(Laughs) I just do what my marketing person tells me. I don't approve or not approve.

What is next in your story?
I have no idea. I am accepting myself and learning how to put myself in two parts: me as a person, and Abraham the composer/musician/artist. Now I am trying to figure out what I really want to do, what kind of music I want to do. I have these new ideas, especially in the last three months, new melodies and new harmonies. I have the feeling that something important is coming in how I create. Probably in the next year something is going to happen. I had that [kind of] feeling three years ago and Silencio happened.

These last two years, I have been performing, singing, playing guitar, piano, and percussion, so now I feel more complete as an artist. I am going to use these tools to do something that I really want to do, but I don’t know what it is yet. One thing that my grandpa and all of my family always told me is, “Be true and honest with what you do, and in that way you never have problems.” I really believe that.

Feb 7, 3pm, Flam3ntriko, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, RMB60-300 (6854 1234)

 

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