In Arean this proposal is very different, but something else the song has some trace of your previous group: long development, tendency to experimentation...

The truth is that at that time it is composed. It was my school to learn how to make music; I come from there, the influences are there and I learned those ways of working. Today I think I'm talking about another sound: most songs have a shorter development and I don't hear the music I heard at the time, I'm in another creative situation.

They're more transparent songs, more pop.

Since I started alone, I've been looking for that transparency, to clearly understand what it is like when you listen to the song and that there is that magic that I'd like to find. When I listen to music, I often realize that there are songs that enter you easily; when they are finished they have not led you to strange fields, that is, you have looked like a familiar song, but you know that you have never heard it. That seems to me to be magical. Because when we say that music is "personal," many times -- and I don't know why -- we understand that music has to be strange, it has to be dark, or you're doing the crazy... And I disagree: it seems to me that personal work can be a very clear music, that comes from a state of tranquility and that, without realizing it, makes you breathe deeply into your heart.

I think it's one of those albums that wins with auditions.

A friend told me that at first he liked two or three and that he gradually liked the whole album. And that's what I'm looking for, myself, when I listen to my songs, I really like listening, but I don't get bored. As an author, I have to listen many times to my songs and I always like them to look new.

Despite being the base of the pop-rock, I would say you've searched for other influences...

Yes, for example, On and Happy, the second song of the album, I finished in Granada (Spain) and already has folk influence, that of flamenco, that is why it is surely made in Spanish; The magic reptile moves away from the forms of classical rock... Those are, above all, the ones that move the farther away from the pop-rock... and there is a site that has a post-rock touch.

For that water he reminded me of Itoiz, how about?

I've been told that it has that influence, also that of the Police Group. I completely agree, that song is perhaps the most poetic of the album: it is joyful, it is pure, words are a claim of eternal youth... When you touch it, it puts you in such a joyful situation.

There are songs that have a clear meaning, but other times you have left the interpretation more open...

I think there are two trends in my writing and I move forward with both. For example, in the case of Ihesa, it's clear, the whole narrative talks about an idea; and I think you can create a concrete feeling by saying things clearly, it's OK. But other times, maybe because you've started making the words later, or because you haven't found the time, you start paying attention to other things: words, sonority of words ... And you take a slightly more surreal trend. Frankly, I like the two. Antonio Vega himself or Neil Young -- I've been listening the previous time, and in some songs every sentence goes into his air, and they touch me a lot. On other occasions, we are grateful for the clarity of Ruper Ordorika, which leaves on the table what he thinks about some things.

Since we are talking about words: Another of the differences I've noticed with Arean is that before you had more tendency to ellipsis, to the very short letter; maybe you've written it longer...

I used to make songs differently, and nowadays, as they are more poperos in terms of form, it asks to say more things. In addition, the screams played a very important role in Arean songs, especially on the second album; and, to the cry, you can spend a lot of time. But well, here too are short letters: In Arean there were magic reptiles or On and Happy. In longer songs, yes, I've had to get to work as a writer.

Has it never been a distant job for you? By the way, does the letters pass to your writers' friends to give their opinion?

When I make songs, I don't teach them, to find out if they liked it or to look for the approval. Yes, I asked how a phrase is said in a different way, or if a word is well said ... But the closeness of writers has always been a help: the brothers [Igor Estankona] have a lot of books here and I have read them, as well as their poetry.

He also participated in the literary magazine Zantzoa between 1996 and 1998...

So I started to see that you can put on paper the words that you have in your head, that you can publish, that people like ... We were recitals, and that's where I experienced what it was to play for the first time in public. That, in the end, gets you on a line and then you continue, but never forget that those were the first steps.

Speaking of Arean's first album, Rockdelux's critic wrote: “Where are you coming from? In the song Borja Estankona looks like a very special singer-songwriter.” Now that you've published the solo album, what do you think of that "singer-songwriter" label?

I remember that criticism, for us it was a push on the shoulder... and when I read the word “singer-songwriter” it did not give me any other feeling. Many singers are good and have been called without any problem. If they call me that too, I have no problem.

You said, however, that you wanted to act alone. Does the team associate it so much, or more responsibility than you wanted to assume?

I played two songs from Arean's first album alone and while we were together I also gave some concerts alone, I felt my own with Arean's songs and the ones I created alone. Why? Many times, I didn't put the battery in the bars, because we were struggling and I also made concerts of that kind. Then the group was dissolved and from there comes what today is: We spent years in a group in the area, it was a very tied thing, and when it broke, I had to spend a long time to see that I was able to get ahead. The truth is, I didn't see many people, understanding the project as one more member of the group.

The best motto, the one of oneself.

Yes, I wanted to go ahead, always with the people: Along with Jimmy Arrabit and Itsaso Etxebeste, Maite Yurrebaso has also made a video clip for the album [Hor bat kantarekin; ikusi hemen: http://youtu.be/8i-Cn8pGOws] and we can say that it has been many people who have participated in this project, but I take the lead. It is especially noticeable when composing songs: being immersed in the whole structure that the song has, until it is finished. In this first album I have made a song with the words of my brother, Written there is nothing, but I consider that in this way, above all I will be the one who does the lyrics and songs.

You presented the album in May, what reception did you have?

People liked it, and at concerts we're playing a bunch of new songs, like half the repertoire.

So, new album for next year?

That's the goal, yes.

You're producing!

(Ha, ha, ha) We'd always like to do more songs, when I start composing, I've never felt like I'm very productive, but they come out and that's a joy.