I am from Ferrol. I have to talk about football and Racing de Ferrol, which is our source of energy. But if I talk to you about sports, I have to talk about the sea, about rowing. I am a son and grandson … of a sailor
Well, give it.
I changed the beach of Pantín (Ferrol) for the Pantano de San Juan (Madrid) and for the Hoces del Río Duratón (Segovia), but my way of living the sport is linked to the sea. I have practiced bodyboarding but, above all, it is paddling with my father and making time stand still.
Do you get inspired when you row or are these tasks better to undertake more relaxed?
I swear to you that I composed rowing. Supposedly, we are very much accompanied by all this screens and networks. But I think it’s the other way around: we are more alone than ever. When you row, there is no cell phone and you start thinking, you make self-criticism, you enjoy the silence. When someone can’t be silent, something happens. I do enjoy it, I don’t dislike it. Things occur to you. It is wonderful to compose while rowing.
«When you row, there is no cell phone and you start thinking, you make self-criticism, you enjoy the silence»
Who is your favorite athlete?
Teresa Portela. It is one of the biggest in the sport. Olympic runner-up in Tokyo, among other achievements. He is the most disciplined person I have ever met in life. I don’t believe in friends, I believe in work. When I talk to her about it I can’t believe it. Teresa gets up at 4 in the morning to go into the estuary, I don’t even want to think about what temperature. He leaves the estuary for a while and, in the afternoon, he goes to the gym… I didn’t know that and it’s brutal.
Welcome to the world of the elite athlete.
Of course. I met Javier Gómez Noya at the Ferrol high school and there I began to see what, from the outside, is not valued enough, which is the work of a true athlete. That’s how music and sports differ. In music, you can have your moments of silence. But an athlete can never stop being one. You are always an athlete, above all. Be careful with what you eat, how you travel…it’s amazing.
You have rubbed shoulders with the top of the podium.
Look, Teresa told me: “I can’t get sick.” I didn’t understand what he was referring to. And he told me: “I have to train seven days a week.” No, your effort is not valued enough.
«An athlete can never stop being one. Be careful with what you eat, how you travel… it’s amazing.”
Why wasn’t Grandpa able to get Racing de Ferrol completely into his vein?
We didn’t arrive on time. I have always believed that it is because he did not take me to the stadium regularly. But he did sing to me every day. For this reason, I have had more of Los Panchos and Los Sabandeños from him. Maybe that’s why I’m a singer-songwriter. For him. My father took me to see Bebeto at Depor, I do remember that.
It’s hard for me to believe that, being Galician, he didn’t go crazy with that Depor de Bebeto.
See if I’m manic and obsessive, when I went as a child to see Deportivo de La Coruña and Bebeto scored, I heard an entire stadium scream. Of course I enjoyed it and had fun. I liked seeing so many fans screaming. And, then, I was thinking about a concert. I asked myself, will I ever sing for so many people? I enjoyed watching football, but I took the details to the music level.
The reward is how hard you are hitting. Do you know that there are athletes who love their music?
Yes of course. Dani Carvajal and David De Gea have come to listen to my concerts, for example. Also Garbajosa. I have an anecdote with him that is very difficult to forget because with how big he is and what a good guy he is…he would sit in the front row, in ‘Libertad 8’, and block the vision of many. Then he would shrink, my poor thing, so they could see. I was very uncomfortable and it tasted terrible to me. One day I told him: “Jorge, we have to find a way for you to keep coming, but be more comfortable.”
«Garbajosa sat in the front row and blocked the vision of many; then he would shrink, he was very uncomfortable”
I assure you that you swallow quina when you like a singer-songwriter. And it seems to be the case.
Of course there is a link between the athlete and the musician. Although the life of the athlete does not have much to do with that of the singer-songwriter. I have discussed that with them. Theirs, they must make the most of it. Ours, the longer the better. But that direct relationship exists.
Have you asked them what they like about a musical style so far from what they project?
No, I haven’t. It is true that now many tickets to my concerts and many records are sold. Why now? I have no idea nor do I want to have one. I don’t want to have the key to success because then my passion runs out. And curiosity.
To love, to heartbreak, to the sea, when do you plan to sing about sport, which is still another passion for many?
I take note, but be careful that I have a song in which I say “I am 26 and by rowing with my father I am true.” And that phrase is very important because, probably, the most beautiful thing in my life has been waiting for the weekend to arrive to go out paddling with him, practicing whitewater kayaking, tying rods to the kayak and getting into three-meter waves, with that feeling of not knowing if you were going to get out of there and I always did, thanks to my father.
Well, with such an experience the issue would already be
Yes. I must write something else and I will. I accept your challenge because I owe a lot to this sport of rowing. The next album should contain something like “Rowers to row.”
