They spent the whole morning sitting in front of the cameras, giving interviews to announce Maná’s return to Spain after 6 years, on a tour that will include the iconic Mexican band’s first visit to London. And so, so static, it seems incredible that they are the same ones who just a few nights ago did not stop moving on the stage of the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, an immense venue where this year they completed 16 concerts to 20,000 spectators per night, a demonstration of the power and validity of those who started timidly in their native Guadalajara almost 40 years ago to become the most influential Spanish-language rock group in the world. And despite the fact that during the meeting with La Vanguardia it is Fher Olvera who brings the singing voice, drummer Álex González and guitarist Sergio Vaillín also contribute their voices. Bassist Juan Calleros, a longtime member of the group, just nods and listens. All four undoubtedly share the enthusiasm for the concert they will perform on Sunday 9 June at the Palau Sant Jordi and which, under the title México lindo y querido, brings together many of the group’s most popular songs.
I got the impression that you had a great time at your concerts, is that so?
Fher: Of course, very much so! Let’s set up a whole party. The truth is that we are very lucky to have this job because every concert allows us to enjoy ourselves and the people. We live it as if it were the final match and this is what the public appreciates and entrusts us with their euphoria. It’s a reciprocal thing.
The lyrics of the songs are about broken hearts. Was it worth suffering so much to write them?
Fher: I would have preferred not to have suffered so much, but I think that we Mexicans tend to be melancholic people and this is partly due to the heritage we have of the music we listened to when we were children. Then, one also has strong loves and lives that sometimes become tragic, like that of El reloj cucú, although I must clarify that the meaning of this song has been changing, because the sadness of remembering someone who you died, as it happened to me with my father, who died when I was 7 years old, it turns into nostalgia, and that has a beautiful part, because when you remember someone, that person exists again and is there with you This is very comforting.
When you sing, do you reconnect with the moment when you created the songs?
Fher: Absolutely, I always connect with it; what’s more, there were songs that when they came out I couldn’t sing them because it broke my heart and we barely got to play them on the next tour. I actually don’t have a teleprompter, which almost all artists use, because I’m more connected to what I’m hearing and not what I’m reading.
What makes you come back to Barcelona to play at the Palau Sant Jordi?
Sergio: We love all of Spain, but without a doubt Barcelona is wonderful, there is one of the most important jazz universities there, and playing at the Palau Sant Jordi is incredible.
Fher: We have a special affection for Catalonia because it was the last place we managed to conquer, despite the fact that we were already playing in big places in Madrid. The Catalans were the most difficult until they started to fall in love with the band and in the end all of Spain fell.
Álex: We showed up at a disco where Prince was one of the owners and we played Vivir sin aire with a quartet, a song that is recorded on the album Maná en vivo. 40 people came to see us, that is to say that we cut stone, in Barcelona.
Álex: Sant Jordi is spectacular, I remember that with Fher we went to see Eric Clapton and I told him “one day we will fill this place to the limit”. Then there you realize that Maná is an inspiration that sometimes, when you think that things cannot be achieved, with work and talent, everything is achieved.
Is it more difficult at this age to maintain the energy required for the work they do?
Fher: I’d rather die on stage of a heart attack than watching a series on Netflix. It’s obviously harder than it was 25 years ago, but you also do things that compensate because you know that in order to have sustainable energy for more than two hours you have to sleep and eat well, exercise every day and dedicate yourself to going out and playing without occupying -te of the rest of the things.
Álex: And reduce alcohol!
Fher: Yes, we used to drink a lot more alcohol, now a little less. You see it in Mick Jagger or Paul McCartney, with their age and how they maintain themselves, and you understand that there are ways to support themselves well.
Soon they will enter the studio to record an album. Is it harder to compose now than in your 20s or 30s?
Fher: It’s different, I think that all the experience you carry inside what you lived in your 30s or 40s is still there. I have a girlfriend now who suddenly when I start writing some lyrics she says “Who are you dedicating it to?!” for the story was not much like the one he had with me, and he thought he had a mistress. Then I explained to him that it was a story I had saved from 15 years ago and that one of the sentences I had read had blown me away.
Álex: It is also important to hear new things. We are not in our comfort zone, in other words, we are still hungry, we are a band very passionate about what we do and it is amazing to discover new sounds and concepts. Also, we are still alive and unfortunately we continue to see many problems in Latin America and our beloved Mexico, as well as the wonderful things that are happening there.