In conversation with Jairo Perera (Santa Coloma de Gramanet, 1975), pseudonym Little hell boy bomb, there is never a shortage of good laughter. His wrinkled eyes speak of years of practice, although his hesitation and humorousness do not prevent him from talking about other, more serious topics.

For example, he has no problem criticizing Madrid, the city where he lived for 10 years, “following in the footsteps of Barcelona and becoming a theme park for tourists.” He also remembers with a mixture of love and nostalgia the origins of his family from Jaen, who eventually found their place in a peripheral area of ​​​​Barcelona, ​​where the word “neighbor” meant that when someone was missing something, there was always someone who needs it? could apply.

When he says “Santa Coloma”, the grimace of pride on his face is almost indelible. “It’s one of the ugliest cities, but we have some notable mentions. There are stories Pedro Pico and Pico Vienna, Makoki and they also say that he lived Gilbert Sheltonartist Freak brothers. There is the Singerlin area, named after the Singer sewing machine factory, and we also had the Estrella Damm, which, when it was good, was made in Santa Coloma. It’s also a city where one can still understand the meaning of the word “neighbor” and feel like they are part of something. And this is a treasure for me today,” he explains in an interview with the publication Independent.

For Muchachito, the important things in life go beyond the material. He prefers to value intangible assets, such as the empathy evoked by a smile or a friendly greeting, the sight of sunshine on a workday, and, above all, the ability to share. An artist from Santa Coloma just released What could go wrong (El Volcán), an album that recovers the concept of music from marching band from New Orleansmade together, and the more companies, the better. An album between rumba, swing and rock, without losing the street style that has characterized the Barcelona band throughout its career.

Ask.- IN What could go wrong There is something very common in your music: influences come and go from one side of the Atlantic to the other.

Reply.- When people tell me that I do rumba, I sometimes feel a little uneasy because it is true that I have a rumbero accent and way of playing. And that means a sense of humor, little sleep, a love of bars, a passion for the neighborhood. But I really like Anglo-Saxon music and my touch has a lot to do with rock, it is in the rhythms of the lyrics that there is rumba, because I am a mixture of many things, but it is in this style that I can be more. ironic because writing quote-unquote love songs is very easy, but the beautiful thing about songs is that they are natural, but then they take a lot of work, it’s a long process and sometimes you don’t realize it until you feel like you’ve done it.

IN.- It’s been seven years since your last album, and six years have passed between that and the last one. Is it difficult to get Muchachito into the studio?

A.- No, Wow To Peret Yes, it was difficult to insert it. I had a studio and one day he came with it Ramonet, which for me was an absolute emotion because they were the bosses, tito. When they arrived, they said to me in Catalan: “You did everything well, mom, how handsome, he’s gorgeous… Shall we go to the bar?” And that’s it, the study ended. In my case it takes a long time because I’m a bit quirky. For example, to make this album, I spent a year creating the place where we recorded it, which was not the idea, but it got out of hand because the work was quite difficult. We have been working for many years and what I can no longer do is climb into a hole, I need light, I want to see the sun. I’m tired of coming somewhere at 9 and leaving at 12 at night without ever seeing the sun. Therefore, we are very pleased with how the release of the ship turned out, we called it Bombo Loco. It’s all done with double windows and double glass doors to let light in, but with pretty tight separation so they’re boxes within boxes and don’t bother anyone with noise.

IN.- Listening to the album feels like it was a party to celebrate the making of the album, where the music is very fun and the lyrics retain that mischievousness you were talking about earlier.

A.- Yes, I’m throwing away pearls, especially there are songs, for example, from Oh no.

IN.- You sing, “I’m not a robot,” where does that come from?

IN.- Well, this happened to me while I was looking for an apartment and suddenly they told me: check, I don’t know what to know that you are not a robot. How can you tell me to prove that I am not a robot? But the robot is you. It talks about how we are made of flesh and blood, imperfect, and the sadness that comes with cities where there are more and more things you can’t do. I don’t like prohibitions, I don’t like this thing in modern times that it’s like we’re carrying a stick stuck from the bottom up, there are people who don’t even say hello anymore. It is important to smile and say hello not out of politeness, but out of sympathy; these are signs of trust in another person. There is nothing more beautiful than a smiling person, he is always much more beautiful.

IN.- Popular music that talks about earthly problems has little in common with anything you hear on the radio, where singers talk about whether they have expensive cars and watches, apologizing for a life that most of us will never know.

It’s very sad that today your photography is more successful than the book you wrote, the painting you painted, or the album you released.

A.- The whole point is that everything is set up to elevate the ego, and this is very tiring. I have almost 50 songs already, and the truth is that there are things I don’t think I’ll sing and never see myself singing. I’ve never been like that either. It’s very sad that today your photography is more successful than the book you wrote, the painting you painted, or the album you released. It’s sad that kids say, “I want to be famous.” At what cost? at what price? So what did you do? Where is the content?

Many things we experience today are leading us towards this. Always connected via a screen to communicate means that the first thing we see before another person appears is our face. All this has nothing to do with meeting and socializing in parks or bars. We live in a time when the ego never stops growing and it seems to be rewarded as well. The more selfish you are, the better it is for you. What you want me to tell you doesn’t interest me at all. I plan to watch my ball, play organically, and sweat until I leave this world playing. And share, because this album would not be possible without my people. I think we’re living in a time where we’re completely lost, with very hackneyed references. I don’t have children, but I talk to children a lot because I’m interested in knowing what they think, and the truth is that they have a pretty screwed up worldview, they know that studying doesn’t mean getting a good job, that love ends and much more. another thing that I will have to learn in other ways, or at least not at such speeds.

IN.- In this work you make a statement about the swing music of New Orleans. Why did you decide to go there and make What Can Go Wrong?

A.- I’ve always loved mixing this, I’ve done similar things on previous albums, but I wanted to take it even further with this one. Essentially, the group is marching band, New Orleans style, chirigota or carnival style, whatever you want to call it. I wanted to find that sound, although there are songs that we allowed her to take in other directions. But at the heart of the album is New Orleans, the music that street bands play for funerals and parties alike. In fact, when it is played at a funeral, it is something very curious, because it is accompanied by slow and calm songs with long puffs of wind. And when everything ends and everyone goes to the feast to eat, those same songs speed up and become joyful. Like: “Come on, come on, come on, come on, we need to cheer up!” But, for example, at a funeral we are very inclined to laugh or tell jokes. After so many tears you have to laugh because it is a release valve. I have a photo of my cousins ​​and I from the day we went to say goodbye to Grandma, and we all walked out laughing. Laughter is an antidote and a necessity.

IN.- Both rumba and swing are music from very different places, but they both meet in the same place – on the street where Muchachito is from.

A.- Music has one peculiarity: it existed before speech, it is the first telephone, it is a means of communication and a language. I speak Spanish poorly, Catalan, worse, imagine English. But I played with a lot of people I couldn’t communicate with except by playing, and we got to know each other a lot better. It’s a very magical thing.

IN.- You’ve talked about the importance of sharing and coming together to create. What do projects like G5 or The Flying Gang mean to you? Will we see them active again?

A.- They are both very different. With G5, while we were making that album, I was like, “What are we doing? No one will understand this,” we started writing, and suddenly a glass fell on us, and came out from there. The paper is wetl. So G5 has a lot going for it as we gathered around the table with sherry and ham, enjoying the moment with our colleagues. I’m a 100% fan of these four characters, what can I tell you about them? Kiko (Poison)who has had a terrible impact on my life since I saw him. crystal ball when he came out dressed as Frankenstein. And the same thing happened to the others, Criminals They are named after his song. Either way, G5 is still alive in one form or another. We call each other, look for each other, sometimes get together, although we didn’t even take pictures for people, we just went to eat, laugh and enjoy each other. And if we touched something, then we did it for ourselves and that’s it.

La Pandilla was a much cooler thing, more for live performances. It was something fun and grotesque at the same time with these anti-hero costumes. What bothers me about La Pandilla’s actions is that I don’t remember many days. It was a lot of fun, but then rebuilding the body… It was easier with G5.

IN.- More professional?

A.- Not so much, because there is also this hooliganism of getting together and seeing what happens, because each of us is directing our own project and has it more or less, but when we are together, there is no director. Here is a weather vane and a rooster moves up and down, turning in all directions. I already told you that when we finished the album “Tucaratupapi”, I thought that we made surrealism that no one would understand, but one day, while listening to the lyrics, I thought: “Damn, this album is a song that needs friendship and freedom. ” “.