Sant Sadurní de l’Heura, a small village right in the middle of  Baix Empordà, is bathed in yellow and green. All over spring creates a unique landscape. Like the indefinable music of Paula Grande (Girona, 1986). The composer welcomes us with a cup of coffee. She lives in a house with amazing views, where the wind combs the horizon. Paula talks openly, thoughtfully and cheerfully.

Your album, ‘Interestelar Journey’ has been described as “jazz  fusion”… what does that mean? 

That was more of a way to label it. I wouldn’t assign it to a certain  style although jazz was actually what I started singing. And they say “fusion” because what I do isn’t classic jazz, it isn’t a fixed thing. I intend to mix traditions and styles and I do feel comfortable singing different kinds of music. 

I’ve found echoes from flamenco in some songs… is that right?

I was interested in flamenco for a while, but I see it more as a way  of life rather than a musical style, so I wouldn’t say I’m a flamenco singer. In the song ‘From me to me’ the guitarist is Pau Figueres, an incredible classic musician who also plays flamenco, amongst many other things. He leaves his imprint in the song, that’s maybe what you felt. 

You live in Empordà now. Many artists agree that it’s an ideal place  for finding inspiration. Do you think so? 

I believe that all spaces, the further from the city they are, the more  favourable the conditions are for connection. Art arises more easily when linked to a space of peace where the pace of life flows differently. I believe that Empordà is ideal for that. I moved away from the city to live more in tune with the way I understand life. 

How does Paula Grande compose?

That reminds me of a friend, Canserbero, who once told me that he  could spend five months without writing anything and then, suddenly, write ten songs in a day. For me it’s quite the same, it comes in phases. It’s very rare that music and lyrics come to me at once. I often compose ideas without a story and later I think of words. But I really don’t have a fixed way to do it. In some live shows you experiment with looping, effects and pedals. 

Where does this interest come from?

It came from the need and the will to make music on my own. As  I couldn’t play any instrument well enough to do it in front of an audience, I went into the electronic world, which is a field of infinite possibilities. I’m always behind a little machine. 

You’ve been touring around Latin America. How was it?

It was wonderful to be able to share time with local musicians and get  a deep insight into their traditions and rituals. I love Andean music. Over there music is something really organic, which doesn’t mean that everyone is singing — like in Andalusia not everyone can dance flamenco. But the truth is that you feel creativity differently down there and I fell in love with that. 

You sing in Catalan, Spanish and English. Which language do you  feel more comfortable in? 

Spanish is my mother tongue because both my parents are Spanish  speakers. And Catalan is the language of my life journey — I always say I’m the first Catalan in our family. And I also sing in English because I’ve grown up listening to music sung in this language and some lyrics come to me like this. Depending on what I’m trying to say it comes in one language or another. The next album will be called ‘I am’ and it will be in Catalan and Spanish. It will have more lyrics of protest, with some rap, and for this, I didn’t feel so connected to English. 

The songs of protest come from the times we are living?

Some of the lyrics were written years ago. Protest is something that  has always been in my discourse: social commitment and awareness, feminism… Suddenly it appears parallel to our time. I’m really keen to release them and spread the message. And I feel optimistic because it seems that people are acting more consciously, no matter which political tendency they follow. 

You say that the next album will have a lot of rap. What do you think  about ‘trap’? 

I think in trap we often find a misogynist and/or superficial message  and that worries me because I believe that music should be an expression of conscious commitment. I must admit that I can’t say a lot about it because I rarely listen to trap. It creates ruffles in me, that’s all.//