Marina Carmona: “And why don’t you make some flamenco music?” they tell me. If they knew me they would see that I’m not that person” | Celebrities | S Moda

The surname Carmona commands respect and is almost accompanied by a musical staff, because behind it lies a deep musical legacy that is part of the history of our country. The baton is taken over by Marina Carmona (Madrid, 31 years old), daughter of Antonio Carmona, leader of the group Ketama, and the respected manager Mariola Orellana. “My identity “It is an album full of an immense fusion of sounds and feelings,” he says. Because emotions are, in the 10 songs that make up the album, as vital as the musical notes, since he did not want to focus only on love and heartbreak. “As we mature and acquire emotional maturity, there are things that can hurt more than heartbreak. I wanted the songs to be a manual of the search for identity for someone who goes through the duality of not knowing who they are or what they want to say,” he says.

The title “His most personal album” has been repeated so much that it has lost its meaning. But in this case it is literal, isn’t it?

We thought a lot about what I should call my first album and I realized that with these 10 songs that life sent me, I was perfectly defining my identity. In these songs I talk about many parts that live inside me and that shape how Marina Carmona sounds. I want people to see my closeness, my loyalty to music and that strength that has helped me define and find the identity I longed for. Belonging to the Carmonas, planting my little seed and being able to close my identity within such a great musical legacy was a challenge. I think I have risen to the occasion. I am proud of the album, and I know that there is still some time until it bears fruit, because it has to be listened to a lot. It is not music from today, nor commercial. It is the perfect album to listen to on a trip.

He says he wants to help with his songs. What can help a society as turbulent and tense as today’s?

We have to remove the taboos regarding many subjects that we don’t normally talk about. On this album there are songs that speak to you directly, for example, about addiction, because we all have someone close to us who has gone through that or who has had toxic relationships. What you have to do is help and know that you yourself don’t have that struggle, but that someone next to you does. In another song I imply that they will always tell you that you might end up being forgotten. Do people think it’s easy to stay in the industry? They have no idea of ​​the ups and downs I go through to make a place for myself! “And why don’t you make some flamenco music?” some people tell me. If a third of them knew me, they would realize that I’m not that person.

Precisely the Flemish It is a delicate genre, because as soon as it is touched, alarm bells go off!

Because it is one of the oldest genres. It also happens with traditional music, it is difficult to break stereotypes. I think there is a fear that the purity of things will be lost. How beautiful it is to be able to transform purity! One does not stop being more or less pure by losing part of one’s essence, because one is always in metamorphosis. At one time, Ketama were the first to break stereotypes, and I am doing the same. Flamenco lives in the pores of my skin, but I don’t need two flamenco moans to prove that I am flamenco.

What have you learned from touring with C. Tangana?

How important it is to surround yourself with a good team that supports your work. Behind The Madrilenian There were a hundred or so people travelling to put on the show. For me, being there was like being in Cirque du Soleil. There’s a lot of work behind it, and I learned the discipline that you have to have. And it’s not enough just to sing beautifully, you have to create a show.

Does it make you dizzy to be the daughter of two icons, to have people always expecting so much from you?

Without a doubt, especially because you think that perhaps what you do will never be enough. You will always be compared to the strong legacy left by someone in your family. What I have learned is that the most beautiful thing about belonging to a saga like the Carmonas is that each one has their own identity, that you like them separately, but that when you see them together, you see that complicity on stage, those looks… It is something that happens with the Morentes and the Flores, who are examples of how beautiful it is that within a family there is so much diversity. What I want is to be allowed to have that space for my music.

The other day Emma Roberts He said, speaking of nepo babies, that women are beaten more. Do you think so?

It can be more difficult, because making a name for yourself as a woman means that you are in the minority, although I think there is a cool revolution going on. I see it in Rozalén or Vanesa Martín, women with a lot of personality who show that we can belong to the industry and that we have the same ovaries.

An example of the power of women in music is Taylor Swiftbut you don’t send hidden messages to your fans in your lyrics like she does, but rather it is very clear…

When I explain the lyrics, they hear it in a different way. I like to say where the song comes from, because it’s a way for people to see that I’m human, something they sometimes tend to forget when they see us on social media. It’s a close way for me to communicate with them. Count to ten It is one of the most special songs, because my nephew sent me the lyrics when my sister Lucía didn’t know she was pregnant. I got lyrics like what happened to Sole, from Presuntos Implicados, when she wrote My little treasureThe lyrics say: “Mysteries of a life that begins in my navel.” When I finished writing the lyrics in my notebook, I thought it was a very nice message, but I was overwhelmed by the phrase. I decided not to remove it, because it sounded natural, and now I understand that it is a gift for my nephew.

When she was little, her father used to say: “Marina has a little thread there that isn’t coming out yet.” When did it come out?

That little thread was a way of telling my father: “My voice is here, but I don’t feel ready to show it to the whole world.” I have always been into singing in small committee, And I mean singing in my mother and father’s ear. I remember one Christmas when my mother wanted to go to sleep when we were driving from the Flores house to another one. To stop her, I sang in her ear. She turned around and asked me: “Since when do you sing like that?” My family wasn’t aware of what I had, but it’s not that easy to find your voice, especially in a house of so many artists.

Speaking of parties, before the ones The Javis There were those of the Carmonas. What are they like?

The reputation they have is that they are very welcoming to outsiders. Names like Lenny Kravitz and Jennifer Lopez have stayed in my house, and they felt right at home. When someone comes from outside, we throw them a welcome party.

What have you learned from Rosario, which you say is your greatest coach?

She has a special magic, not only as an artist, but as a person. She has always shown me that everything comes at some point, that the shadows we live with sometimes go away and that it is essential to investigate the heart and the truth of oneself. It has helped me a lot to know that it was not worth putting on a mask, and that I would arrive with my truth. In the song Vives en mí there is a musical bridge in which I talk about there being noise in my mind, so I cannot hear my voice, and I resolve it with a phrase that Rosario told me: “You are so pretty, my girl, don’t cry.”

How do you stay at the helm of the ship at such a young age and working with a dozen producers?

I am very self-confident, even though I am sometimes false. I showed confidence because I needed to be respected: it was a way of reaffirming myself. I have found my sound with 10 songs. It has helped me to have Victor Martinez at my side, who is one of the producers and who guided me when I was desperate. Since everyone has their own sound, I had the impression that I was not going to coordinate, but when I realized that I was the captain of the ship, I knew it was going to work.

For captain, her mother…

She shows me more and more of her strength every day. What I value most about her is that she has continued to earn a lot of respect in the industry, being a woman and a manager. She has really pushed me with discipline and with the staging. The magic of creating a certain mystery is essential, and it comes from my mother, who makes me not lose focus. People think that making an album is a matter of a couple of months, but I have been working on it for almost two years, because for me it is my letter of introduction. That is why it was vital to sum up my identity in the album. It costs people a lot of effort and money to see someone in concert, so as an artist you owe yourself to that.