The world fell in love with Russian Red in 2008. With his velvety voice and his heartfelt lyrics, like Cigarrettes. But the red-lipped singer was just a piece of Lourdes Hernández, an explosive and multifaceted artist, who decided to silence the music inside her to explore new paths. Russian Red flourishes again ten years later and does so with a love letter in the form of a self-dedicated album. A fresh sound that seeks to induce indie music lovers into a state of intoxication with their erotic and in love ‘I’.
He returns to music with ‘Volverme a amor’; Does she do it with suspicion or emotion?
Very excited. I couldn’t release an album again if I felt suspicious of any part of my life that has to do with music, obviously, because life gives a lot. But, in general, regarding the suspicion, I am in a moment in which I feel free and very connected with myself. I can release an album now because I feel good and I feel like it, I think I missed the part of me that had to do with music, not only the part related to the songs, but also with being on stage, channeling my emotions, recover that role a little.
Did you miss Russian Red?
In these years I have had very different roles and so I have missed that role, that of the singer, that of the woman who opens up and tells her story. When I was younger I didn’t understand the value of having a platform to express all of this. I also didn’t intend to create a character like Russian Red, I simply created him as a pseudonym for any art projects I did. When my character became known I had no idea what it meant to have a public dimension, to air my emotions and make my most vulnerable side available to people. She was not prepared. Now that I have been away from the spotlight for a while and understand music in a different, more conscious and mature way and that Russian Red, the singer, is one of my many characters, I return with a completely new enthusiasm.
He says that he has fallen in love again, but with yourself. In fact she tells on social media that “Russian Red is only alive in love”, what does she mean exactly?
Falling in love touches everything. Sometimes it is a phase prior to love and other times it is simply a mirage. In this album I talk about both. The emotion that surrounds Falling in love again has to do with all the aspects of falling in love because, in fact, if I have been able to make an album about it, it is because I have been exploring myself all this time. I have discovered that the singer in me is only awakened through falling in love. I have found a way to fall in love more holistically, towards myself, my past, my history and my family. And that state connects me with inspiration.
Can you be in love while married?
As an adult you enter a phase in which you do not allow yourself to fall in love with anything or anyone, because you are already in a relationship and you already have your life packed. The “get rid of trouble, falling in love or feeling things.” But in reality, falling in love is something that helps us channel who we are. It has to do with knowing yourself and self-discovery.
Does your music help you heal?
With this album I explore my artistic, technical and spiritual side. I had never before experienced music as fully as I do now because I had never been so on top of the production of my songs. Before I felt a separation with the song, but now, we have composed almost all of the songs on the album in the studio. Living that creative process has been incredible, seeing what sound works well at each moment, feeling it inside in a visceral way. I hadn’t experienced that before.
Are you one of those who listen to music all the time?
No, only when I drive, but since I don’t do it in Los Angeles, I leave that moment for when I am at home, calm and with a drink.
The album comes out on February 24 but you have already released I understand nothing, do you sing it to yourself?
I sing the entire album to myself. In the end, falling in love is a quite selfish state. It is like a fable to my own fantasy of love that also helps me ritualize the moment I am living.
You have commented on occasions that the music industry is toxic, how does it feel to return to it?
Where I don’t connect with the industry is with pantomime. That they require you to have a character, appear in spaces or participate in something that is not organic in your artistic process. I don’t agree with that. Furthermore, I am now on a record label (Sonido Muchacho) that understands my times and the fact that I do not want to make a career exclusively of music, that I live between two countries and that I want to explore other artistic aspects.
She talks about her actress self.
Yes, and many others. When I left music – I have never actually left it, only for the gallery – it was partly because I had a desire to explore other artistic disciplines. I felt claustrophobic just dedicating myself to releasing records. I started looking into acting and they called me to do some things. And then Ramona arrived. Director Andrea Bagney sent me the script and I loved it. That project and other works, such as the series A Perfect Story, made me consider life as a film.
And yours, what gender is it?
A dramedy, for sure. With a lot of romance, of course.
You live between Los Angeles and Madrid, do you have different lives in both cities?
In Madrid I don’t have a routine but in Los Angeles I feel like I need it to find myself. I go out for walks a lot because there you either force yourself a little or you don’t walk at all and I have ended up considering it a routine. Los Angeles is good for me to download information, it helps me have another perspective and even fantasize about another life. In Madrid I am busier, with my friends and family. They are different rhythms.
Where do you take those walks in Los Angeles?
To walk my dog ??Chula and meet Miranda July – one of my favorite artists – I always go to the Silver Lake Reservoir.
To his comings and goings he now adds the tour, which begins on March 1 and arrives in Barcelona on March 8. Nervous?
Yes. I have a large repertoire and now I sing in a way that works in the studio, let’s see how it goes live. But I’m happy because I have a great band: Amber Grimbergen, drummer from Hinds, Teresa Gutiérrez, from Ganges, Alex de Lucas on bass, from The Parrots, and Luichi, who is the guitarist from Cupido.
