Pablo Díaz-Reixa has always stepped to his own beat. Earlier this year, the Canary Islands-born artist, best known as El Guincho, emerged from a five year break to release his fourth album HiperAsia.Inspired by a chain of Chinese bazaars in the outskirts of Madrid, HiperAsia played almost like an ode to chaos—Pablo describing the transient and eclectic sound to NOISEY earlier this year as falling in love "with the buildings and their products" and how they "often [became] more interesting than the originals." Thinking back to his earliest accomplishments, Pablo was never shy of disparities in both sound and vision; his Pop Negro single "Bombay" garnering the online attention of millions that would lead to his past collective work, including Alegranza, to be wildly celebrated.
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Somewhere between his debut and touring, Björk reached out to Pablo, asking for his own touch on her multi-sensory Biophilia record. At this time, it felt like the music world was lined up for him—it was, arguably, the peak of his successes—but not too long after, fate quivered: his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Three years on, Pablo returned to his music, humbled and certain of what he wanted to achieve.Remembered by Australian audiences for his energy and creativity, El Guincho will be returning in the early months of 2017. Noisey gave Pablo a call to chat about HiperAsia, touring expectations and his Latin Grammy-nominated clip, "Comix".Noisey: What have you been up to since the release of HiperAsia?
El Guincho: Touring a lot! I was touring America and Thailand, doing a few festivals and a tour with Crystal Fighters which just ended recently. I've been writing music for other people and producing bands; again finding the music.I thought "Comix" was even better than "Bombay" and can see why it was nominated at the Latin Grammys. How did the clip come about?
Me too! It came about with the director, Nicolás Méndez, who's a good friend of mine and part of CANADA. We made "Bombay" together as well. When we sat down and started thinking about writing the video, we knew it had to tie in hip-hop elements—the song uses a lot of hip-hop chords, you know? It's not a hip-hop track, but it definitely had a lot of codes in terms of beats and sound which we were thinking about. We asked, "what if we do a similar thing with the video? Like an ode to hip-hop culture, literally?" We knew we didn't want a typical music video though, where people are in the car or dancing or whatever. We wanted to champion using the hip-hop context and try to make something interesting out of it.
El Guincho: Touring a lot! I was touring America and Thailand, doing a few festivals and a tour with Crystal Fighters which just ended recently. I've been writing music for other people and producing bands; again finding the music.I thought "Comix" was even better than "Bombay" and can see why it was nominated at the Latin Grammys. How did the clip come about?
Me too! It came about with the director, Nicolás Méndez, who's a good friend of mine and part of CANADA. We made "Bombay" together as well. When we sat down and started thinking about writing the video, we knew it had to tie in hip-hop elements—the song uses a lot of hip-hop chords, you know? It's not a hip-hop track, but it definitely had a lot of codes in terms of beats and sound which we were thinking about. We asked, "what if we do a similar thing with the video? Like an ode to hip-hop culture, literally?" We knew we didn't want a typical music video though, where people are in the car or dancing or whatever. We wanted to champion using the hip-hop context and try to make something interesting out of it.
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Would you say it's more the music behind it rather than the lyrics for you when it comes to creating visuals?
Yeah, definitely. Lyrics don't usually play into it. It's like, where does the sound come from? By that time we were putting the music video together, especially thinking back in terms of 'Bombay', there wasn't this need to try and go for a totally futuristic vibe. In compared to that, making up a story is how we create the ideas for the video—I spent a lot of time at different galleries, finding inspiration for writing different videos to which I've pulled into my other music clips.It's been interesting to see you stay true to the music you love to make. Has it always come easy?
The Latin Grammys were really conservative, but it's like any Grammys… and it's changing, people are starting to hear more about what it's like on the streets. For me, I feel the people are ready for things that are different. I always keep in mind the people; when I produce, the reason for me is to be real in a song, so maybe people can relate to that and feel it. Regardless, people can always dance and feel that way.Making music for people who can understand both Spanish and English, do you feel like you've been working in two music worlds up to this point?
Definitely. My career was always focused on America, Australia or any English-speaking markets. It's interesting because people can relate to my music the way they would their own, listening to their own locals. They relate but it's still different—I listen to music and I can feel it in my own, melody wise and energy wise. It's like comparing the two and only feeling the worth of these emotions and vibes of a song that works for them.
Yeah, definitely. Lyrics don't usually play into it. It's like, where does the sound come from? By that time we were putting the music video together, especially thinking back in terms of 'Bombay', there wasn't this need to try and go for a totally futuristic vibe. In compared to that, making up a story is how we create the ideas for the video—I spent a lot of time at different galleries, finding inspiration for writing different videos to which I've pulled into my other music clips.It's been interesting to see you stay true to the music you love to make. Has it always come easy?
The Latin Grammys were really conservative, but it's like any Grammys… and it's changing, people are starting to hear more about what it's like on the streets. For me, I feel the people are ready for things that are different. I always keep in mind the people; when I produce, the reason for me is to be real in a song, so maybe people can relate to that and feel it. Regardless, people can always dance and feel that way.Making music for people who can understand both Spanish and English, do you feel like you've been working in two music worlds up to this point?
Definitely. My career was always focused on America, Australia or any English-speaking markets. It's interesting because people can relate to my music the way they would their own, listening to their own locals. They relate but it's still different—I listen to music and I can feel it in my own, melody wise and energy wise. It's like comparing the two and only feeling the worth of these emotions and vibes of a song that works for them.
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How did growing up in the Canary Islands impact your sound?
Growing up there you really feel like your own person… you hardly see any other Spanish people at all. You eat different food, you listen to different music and you wear different clothes; it's very distinctive and it inspires me every day. I remember when I was a little kid, I felt like nothing could be bad for me—as I grew up, I felt like these experiences from Canary Islands helped shape my music and defined who I am.
Growing up there you really feel like your own person… you hardly see any other Spanish people at all. You eat different food, you listen to different music and you wear different clothes; it's very distinctive and it inspires me every day. I remember when I was a little kid, I felt like nothing could be bad for me—as I grew up, I felt like these experiences from Canary Islands helped shape my music and defined who I am.
You took a long break from music to look after your mother when she was sick. Does she still influence your music?
Yeah. Before my mother got sick I was on one of the highest peaks of my career. I was writing for Björk and had a lot of professional opportunities… everything was going good and I was really happy. It was a very humbling experience. Taking care of her, I spent a lot of time in the hospital and met young kids who were also sick—it was difficult. Stepping away from my career when she was sick, it let me think and I wondered if I had left music too long… for my life after that, I felt like I was chasing. With my mother's life and taking care of her… it was a different part of life, you know? I think if you don't experience it, you don't know what it is. She definitely inspired me though and my music.Would you say that through this experience, you've grown to be able to live in the moment and take yourself less seriously?
Yeah, and it links to your other question; I'm from the Canary Islands and I'm Canarian—people just think like that, remaining positive. We just sit on this island in the middle of the ocean, so you can't always take yourself seriously and you have to put yourself out there. It's just who I am.How did it feel to finally come back to making music and writing?
It's my favourite thing in life. I love recording… It was very good, I think, even though leaving and coming back can be a bad move on your career, especially in your best moments. I think those few years helped me a lot work out what I wanted to be and what music I wanted to make. The main thing was always clear though, I wanted to write music forever, you know? Maybe not professionally, but it was definitely something I wanted to do. The break allowed me to see my career from a different point of view—I was looking in from outside—and on all the decisions I had to make in terms of what I wanted to do. I decided to keep it loco and keep it fresh, otherwise I'd be caught up thinking what other people think as well, like people from a big label. I knew what I had to do and discovered what it feels like to follow that.El Guincho Australia Tour 2017:
Feb 15 - Sydney at Oxford Art Factory
Feb 16 - Melbourne at Howler
Feb 17 - Melbourne at NGV
Feb 18 - Perth at Perth Festival
Yeah. Before my mother got sick I was on one of the highest peaks of my career. I was writing for Björk and had a lot of professional opportunities… everything was going good and I was really happy. It was a very humbling experience. Taking care of her, I spent a lot of time in the hospital and met young kids who were also sick—it was difficult. Stepping away from my career when she was sick, it let me think and I wondered if I had left music too long… for my life after that, I felt like I was chasing. With my mother's life and taking care of her… it was a different part of life, you know? I think if you don't experience it, you don't know what it is. She definitely inspired me though and my music.Would you say that through this experience, you've grown to be able to live in the moment and take yourself less seriously?
Yeah, and it links to your other question; I'm from the Canary Islands and I'm Canarian—people just think like that, remaining positive. We just sit on this island in the middle of the ocean, so you can't always take yourself seriously and you have to put yourself out there. It's just who I am.How did it feel to finally come back to making music and writing?
It's my favourite thing in life. I love recording… It was very good, I think, even though leaving and coming back can be a bad move on your career, especially in your best moments. I think those few years helped me a lot work out what I wanted to be and what music I wanted to make. The main thing was always clear though, I wanted to write music forever, you know? Maybe not professionally, but it was definitely something I wanted to do. The break allowed me to see my career from a different point of view—I was looking in from outside—and on all the decisions I had to make in terms of what I wanted to do. I decided to keep it loco and keep it fresh, otherwise I'd be caught up thinking what other people think as well, like people from a big label. I knew what I had to do and discovered what it feels like to follow that.El Guincho Australia Tour 2017:
Feb 15 - Sydney at Oxford Art Factory
Feb 16 - Melbourne at Howler
Feb 17 - Melbourne at NGV
Feb 18 - Perth at Perth Festival