Raimon : Interview with Catalan Protest Musician

When I flew over to Spain to interview famous protest music artist, Ramon Pelegero Sanchis, better known as Raimon, I had many expectations. Touching down in Valencia, somewhere that is well known for endless sunny days, I learnt found many new things.To address my first expectation, it was an unusually foggy day in the small town of Xàvita, Raimon's home town and the place in which he had chosen for this meeting. We settled down in a small restaurant which he claimed to be among the best in Spain, and sure enough, despite its small size and outdated decor, it was completely full. I admired the way everyone around me spoke, in quick, warm Spanish, how they rolled their r's and how the words seemed to sound so energetic.

 Raimon began by looking back, rather fondly, at the first events in his music career. He talked about his days in university where he first began acquainted with the Catalan culture while studying history. He laughed wholeheartedly as he remembered the first time he sang at a public event, but commented that "it still got me to the place I wanted, I was invited to sing at an event in Barcelona". It is important to reference that, although Raimon remains humble about this fact, his style was strongly unique. Despite his influences from the Catalan culture, his style took a turn from the classic "French style" of popular Catalan music. He targeted his own community, the Valencian working class, in words of speaking up and expression. Raimon commented, "I spoke about issues I saw everyday, injustice, social inequality, and even school!" His work was not always political despite his image of protest singer, he mostly touched on real problems in his everyday world. These topics, while controversial, talked about everything from justice systems to media manipulation. "To me, it was important to talk about these things, I wanted to spread it to the world." And Raimon got to his wish, he made his way from Spain to Paris and Germany and later released an album in France. From there, he continued on to tour countries all around the world, from Belgium to Argentina to Japan. Through the years and between all these cities, he worked with many different music styles, "I had many different experiences, I really enjoyed working with the French avant-garde artists" he told me. When asked about music styles, he couldn't help but smile, "I had many, I even had an electronic music phase. But to me, it wasn't about how the music sounded, but the importance of getting the thought out". Raimon's discussion of real life issues allowed him to reach not only his community, but people all around the world. "Music is a way to reach people, to make them feel heard, to speak out, to bring these problems out in front of the world" he added. From his first lyrical piece, Al vent, To the Wind, he touches on the idea of us being born into a life that is full of grief. His music can perhaps be considered a form of relief for anyone within these struggles. A notable example is his song Diguem no, loosely translating to 'let's say no':

Now that we're together

I'll say what you and I know

and often forget:

we've seen fear

be the law for everybody.

We've seen blood

-which begets only blood-

be the law of the world.

No,

I say no,

let's say no.

We don't belong to that world.

We've seen hunger

be the bread

of the workers.

We've seen

locked in prison

men full of wisdom.

No,

I say no,

let's say no.

We don't belong to that world.

No,

let's say no.

We don't belong to that world.

As we can see, Raimon made a large impact on his community and was among the artists of his time that spoke out about issues. The whole time, in a unique manner that was able to reach people and help them relate. His major role in Nova Cançó ('the new song') allowed him to become known as one of the most influential protest musicians in Spain. And thanks to his powerful lyrics, he will be remembered for his development of Catalan music, and looked up to by many.