We live in fast paced times and everything is changing.
Manolo Sanlucar and Paco de Lucia lived under ...
completely different circumstances.
When I started to play guitar ...
we had turntables ...
with a tone arm and needle ... So old-fashioned.
To hear a Falseta we had to position every time the needle in the right place.
To hear a jazz record for us was much harder than it is today ...
because todays huge media offerings did not exist .
Today the young people live differently ...
they feel differently and have quick access to global information.
Today they can listen every guitarist without leaving the house.
This is probably what they call the "information age".
Everybody listens and interacts with everybody else. In the result everything resembles kind of.
I earlier times the distinction was clearer what was Flamenco and what was Jazz or classical music.
Thanks to the young generation, these spheres meet today more than ever.
That's why modern guitarists play differently.
To find your own way and style, ...
to make your own flamenco is also very difficult.
You should also not forget that the Flamenco guitar is a very young field.
We have only three or four generations of concert guitarists - at most.
It starts with Montoya, Niño Ricardo, then comes Paco, Manolo Sanlucar. Then we come.
We do not distinguish between composers and performers ...
we need both compose well as play well.
All this makes it so difficult.
But in front of a large audience ... it's all about ...
to face the audience and do your thing. So on stage you need charisma, experience ...
But above all you should have fun, with what are you doing.
You have been listening Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and rock andalúz and you also played it.
How did you get to Flamenco from this?
It was a bit different. I started in Jerez to accompany Flamencosingers ...
in a tavern; the then active people. These were ...
Tío Gregorio el Borrico, Terremoto de Jerez ...
This is how I learned the basics of flamenco.
But since I was young I was also very interested in other musical styles.
I liked Pink Floyd a lot and I still do.
They have this great guitarist and virtuoso.
I always had a great interest in artists. Not so much in styles, but in artists.
If there is a musician who I like to hear and he plays Brazilian music ... so what?
That is how it happens that in my own music are so many different influences.
What are the influences today? What are you currently listening to?
I hear everything. For example, classical music, contemporary music ...
I really like Jazz. Not the Jazz ...
... but Jazz artists. I just like it when someone makes good music.
I listen to almost anything.
But if you are dealing with a lot of music and you love it ...
it's becoming increasingly difficult to find interesting works.
The guitar is in a very difficult situation.
The guitarists today are playing at a level ...
that is no longer accessible for the majority of the audience.
To really understand this level, one must understand something about the instrument.
The result is ...
that today everybody wants to see Flamenco dance.
Even for the concert agencys guitarists are too strenuous.
A guitarist sits there, does't move ... you can only listen.
And you need time to listen. But people do not have time.
They want everything quick and do not want to think.
It ought to be simple but spectacular.
That is why it is difficult today as a guitarist.
On the one hand even easier than before. But on the other hand still very difficult.