You have looked at the world from a privileged perspective, from the perspective of locally engaged musicians and music lovers. What do you see?

I think of Kapuscinski, that journalist who slips away with the most disadvantaged. I enjoy reading his work lately. When he proclaims another form of journalism, when he proclaims that it is necessary to live with local people to take the pulse of a reality, I get a smile because we musicians have a much easier path. We are not going to extract information immediately, but we offer it first. Journalists have a hard time overcoming prejudice. In our case, communication starts as soon as we start playing music. It is much easier to open all the doors. It's a privileged situation, no doubt.

What do you see... That the only option left to us is the Auzolana, which smells of war all over the world. I'll tell you about the Berlin case. Kurds and Turks have always organized left-wing demonstrations together. This year we have seen, among other things, the Kurds and Turks who live there, especially young people, beating each other up because Parliament gave their consent to enter northern Iraq.

The situation in Palestine is hyper-serious. What to say, about the atmosphere of the banlieues, of Paris... The geographic physical political map is constantly changing. It is not because it is apocalyptic, but now that we are experiencing the failure of an economic system, immense conflicts will emerge, in addition to those that already exist.

Also what is happening in Latin America. What a pain it is to the general system, not only to the United States, but to capitalism, to globalization, to be defeated by the proposals of the left on the gallows.

You're talking about Evo Morales.

Yes, but also about Hugo Chávez, Rafael Correa or Lula da Silva. It’s spectacular how capitalist companies, whether Spanish or Basque, protect their profits, take advantage of even the slightest opportunity to strike at Chávez. It may be a strange character, but be careful, the changes he has promoted are enormous.

Evo Morales is the most shameful thing to do. An Indian, by the way. They are repeating everything they have done against Salvador Allende: to place some of the anti-government spaces in the private university so that those who oppose it can later say that they are university students... They're following the same guidebook. If they don't get Evo Morales down, they'll kill him.

In Mexico, the army enters everywhere, without a shred of shame, under the pretext of drug trafficking, when we all know that drug trafficking is controlled by politicians.

The conflict between India and Pakistan, they also have an atomic bomb; India and China, saying that they will not ignore the development of some nations; the return of nuclear energy...

And there's nothing to hold on to.

I once called myself a suicidal optimist and an active pessimist as a therapy against skepticism. Some doses of postmodernism are good from time to time, taking the distance and laughing at everything, but the exercise is too recessive when there is no strong left referent.

However, as a friend told me, the script of socialism is there, what happens is that the filmmakers were very bad. And we're going to have to get back to that, with attempts at communism that will drive self-management... Of course, respecting the local culture, learning from these terrible mistakes made before. Communism of the human face, or socialism of the 21st century.

The situation around music is always beyond. The understandings that can happen already happen in music. It can make great contributions.

We have mentioned that you have observed the world through the prism of local music lovers and committed musicians. What have they seen through you?

There is great admiration for having maintained the independent path on the one hand and for singing in a minority language on the other. With the exception of the other recent example of Sigur Ros from Iceland, there is no one in the world who moves on the international circuit singing in a diminished language.

I remember in Argentina, the singer of Todos tus muertos, she is black, she threw me that she doesn’t even know where she comes from, and I had to sing for her in Basque too.

On such occasions I always refer to Jamaica, when we entered the heart of it. They applauded and admired our language, our culture’s contribution to the musical form that has come out of it.

The women who transmit a lot of energy in the album stand out, both musically, through their voices, and aesthetically, in the little kernel of the album, on the cover...

I proclaim the renewal of all discourses and I am also vigilant with regard to theories about feminism. The avant-garde movement that wants to take us beyond the genre, the so-called Queer caught our attention in the G8 counter-summit; especially their pride, as it is said in Cuba, the “Guaperia de barrio”, the saying “Hey, we are here”, and the points of arrogance that they sometimes have. We already have Queer Action in Bilbao.

We’ve seen this in the movement of blacks musically, with James Brown or Public Enemy. In the Basque Country, “I am Basque and I am proud,” said Negu Gorrak 18 years ago. We were talking about language, but it can also be extrapolated to political identity.

Most of the women who appear in the images on the album are from the neighborhood, from Moscow in Irun, who work with the record company Choque, who go out to dance when I do some Sound System, who claim the visibility of lesbians. Since the clashes around Alardea, a very free environment has developed for this type of proposal. That's what you've got on the record.

And the same in terms of voices. Bajka, for example, suddenly began to sing after the concert in Berlin. I was impressed, what a voice! An incredible record, it contains the whole book of black music. Even Nerea Olaxa, when I was doing a sound test, started yelling at us... I was petrified. Time stopped for a moment. “But what was that? “!” I said later, “the roar of the female

lion!” Marina Ojos de Brujo, who sings in Mila Bila, with that flamenco touch, Miriam, Sorrun, Minsa, Kaori and Ophelia, this girl from Dublin... What strength you all have.

Women, and especially lesbians, have created a great movement in rap.

Strong Arabic speaking rappers, too.

We have a great relationship with this band that I brought to the album. They are significantly influenced by the rap that takes place in Paris. Mainly because they started rapping in Arabic in Algeria before in Palestine, influenced by French rap.In the wake of what the Public Enemy singer said at the rap conference in

New York, the rap axis is completely changed. Now the focus is on the peripheries, on the Arab peoples and on the African groups, the origin of this mold, which are recovering this character of boqueror.

What about hip hop here?

As long as the hip-hop here does not develop in Basque, the young people will continue to speak Spanish, even if they are Basque. Young people mostly listen to rap, but in Spanish, that’s their reference. We've got to turn this around, or we're having a party.

Eighteen years ago, I thought hip hop was going to have a big boom. We saw bertsolaris, Sarasua, Maia, Lujanbio, Peñagikarano and company rapping next to the Red Winters. Then the Selekta Collective was born, but they separated, and now only MAK remains in Basque.

Time has passed and I have to say that I was wrong, or that I was half right, because I thought this explosion would be imminent. But he'll have to grow up later. Rather, it needs to be pushed. I would say that certain musicians, youth centers, programmers and agents must make an effort to strengthen it. When you use the word strategic here, I'm futile. Now put the word strategic to everything and move forward, we all have to obey.

That’s what it is, so juxtaposed, that it should be promoted and not a huge tent. The name alone makes me tired...

It causes asthma.

Just like that! Welcome to the Jurassic Park, excuse me, the giant tent. I’m talking about the museum, it’s good to visit it, but to stop living in it, plus, hey!

We want to do new things, the world is constantly on the move. Let’s see if we can break this generalized derision of the beginning of the century, this lack of perspective once and for all. And in the meantime, gigantic concerts, gigantic bars, putting traditional music on the chiringuitos doesn’t help at all. That ended a long time ago for me. Now I think it's too much.

Without impetus, no attractive young team can be found. I remember Mikel Antza’s interview with Kortatu for the Light, when we only had the model.

Like many others, your lyrics are full of literary quotes, but this time they are more poetic, giving way to different interpretations. Where did that categorical Fermin stop?

In the '80s we were in the Cold War, in the politics of the bloc. When Cortado began, Nicaragua was fighting against the Sandinista contras. Then I was twenty years old and now I am 45, and we are not the same, neither I nor the world. We change with the world, and I disagree with what has been said at a certain time now because the context has changed completely. This is what I proclaim from Marxism, to make an accurate analysis at every specific moment. You know, I've always followed two philosophical lines, Marxism and existentialism. And I still hold on to them.

I am still categorical on some occasions. Check out this album's Don't Classify This Year: Stop the TAV, have you heard? Stop the AAV!

What do you think of the interview with Arnaldo Otegi in Gara?

It is said when Bilaka Miles came out, that responding to the blow with blows won’t get us anywhere. Another movement will have to be organized as soon as possible, but what is there is, I do not want to consider it lost. I said in the New that we need to eliminate militarism once and for all, that we need a broad transversal movement. Since then, EA, ELA, Rafa Diez... have said many things about the sober people. That’s where the force will have to come from, no doubt.

In answer to your question, I was excited to read it in the interview. But in my opinion he had to be more courageous, and a few days later the Azpeitia bombing came.

When he says that a social majority is in favor of change, Otegi leaves one important thing unsaid. That is, that this social majority wants the armed struggle to stop. When we get the Nationalist Left to repeat what it said after T4, when ETA is told that it must return to the parameters of the ceasefire, then a political earthquake will occur here. Meanwhile, very long sentences, difficult to decipher. In order to be credible, things must be said clearly.

You're always four steps ahead. Now that you have just released the album, you are already involved in many other projects. You’ve released Bass-que Culture filmed in Jamaica, you’ve played the feature film Mirant al cel, and you’ve played other short films before, you’re working on a documentary about Palestinian musicians now and you’re on fire... Thinking about getting into the movies?

In the case of the Palestinian documentary, the idea is to open windows, make the invisible visible. This is the way in which we musical activists intervene in other realities. In addition to being able to listen, make them see the situation in which they live. It will have a great impact, I'm sure.

Music and film are two of my greatest passions. Would I have made a movie? I'd like that, no doubt. I love to hear stories, and I love to tell them. Watching a movie is a great time for me, even if I don’t like it. “Do it!” everything starts screaming, it won’t be interesting! It will also be time for the fictional film... I would like to, yes... Let’s say, in five or ten years?

In the words of Andoni Tolosa, you have been more orphaned since the departure of Mikel Laboa.

A
wonderful greeting that was offered to you on the Agiña Mountain. Outside of the official speeches, very emotional. As soon as Artze started talking about “our margins” we were all very excited. Atxaga, the Equilibria Tx... The impossible to forget. I recently made a selection of songs for El País. When I put the song of the lava, I told them that their music reminded me of the existence of the Basque Country. And when the dust blew off, when we stopped crying, we all came down from the mountain, strengthened.

Strong movements come out breaking with the previous one. That’s how we came out in the 80’s, creating a break with our predecessors. Mikel Laboa was the only link. In large part, it was thanks to The Clash and Mikel Laboa that I learned how to make battle songs.