You can say they're pop-folk songs and they hear the album for the first time. But in the second hearing, you can see that you're drinking from other styles. Because of its trajectory, it's hard to label yourself.

My intention has been to make real songs. I wanted to make some humble songs, able to convey, without taking too much into account the style. I made them with sweetness. It is true that we often hear that it is an acoustic disc and associate it with heavy or sad songs. That was not what I wanted, and I have tried to strike a certain balance.

Has the contribution of partnerships been important?

No doubt. I can defend songs with voice and guitar, but the collaborations give them another touch and add to the album the point of view and personality of other musicians. You've colored it up.

You've recorded the songs at home and on your own. Does that give you more freedom so you can tailor your work to your liking?

It's the fourth album I've recorded at home. When I participated in projects like UK, Fjord, Etsaiak or Governors could not do so, but I feel able to do so with this acoustic project. In addition, this allows you to record to the letter. If a technician saw how I recorded it, maybe I would spark sparks, but I want to do it, experimenting with sound. Many times, when you go to a study and you don't dare to say what you have in your head, or you propose and you get a bad face, and that purpose is lost. In that sense, I wanted freedom. In addition, it is cheaper and, in addition, my life is a puzzle of many pieces, so I did not have time to dedicate myself for a month to studies.

Guitar, slide guitar, voice… You've also been in charge of percussion.

My instrument is guitar. I even sing, and within my limits, I'm getting more and more comfortable, not trying to do anything weird. I touch the bass, or at least I can touch, and also the battery. From the point of view of percussion, I saw that I could keep track of rhythm, and I myself put some piano chords.

And how can you take all of that to the direct ones?

We work in the quartet we started in 2010: Iñaki Jaio in drums, Isusko Ramón with saxo, Mikel Arakistain at the bottom and myself. I think in the live songs win, because they're musicians with a lot of resources. What I've done on the album drummer gets much better Iñaki, for example; the saxo we've got into almost every song; Mikel and I, on the other hand, have been working together for twenty-one years on various projects and we understand each other very well.

Today's musician has a great technical capacity, but some people think it has nothing to say. What do you want to tell your songs?

Songs are a fusion of word and music, and I've sought the balance between them. I did not want to make a technical demonstration. That is why I also wanted to cooperate with the words. Leire Bilbao, Aiert Goenaga and Mikel Etxaburu talk to us and turn on something inside. My goal is for music to get this effect to more people. I settle for that.

With the song Zubia, composed by the words of Mikel Etxaburu, did you want to remember the Popular Wall of Ondarroa?

That is how it came out to us, it was not a measured choice. A few months have passed, but we live it very closely, as Urtza, Mikel and I are close friends. You do not decide to cry, tears come out involuntarily; for the same thing has happened to us with this song. It's the consequence of what we felt that day.

As you're also a music teacher, your profession is music.

If you're singing in Basque, it's not easy to get out enough to live with it. When my enemies were in the group, twelve years, I did nothing else. But it was another situation: we offered many concerts, we sold many albums… Today, I would appreciate having more direct and being able to dedicate more time to the musical work. But I don't think it stopped being a professor, though. I've met most of my album's collaborators at school and you learn a lot by teaching classes.

He has been involved in many projects. From your experience, what is the key to success in the Basque Country?

The most successful one in my career has been the Etsaiak. We made a fjord and that worked very well. But in general, I'm surprised that you hear interesting Basque groups and see that they only offer five concerts a year. On the contrary, although hundreds of groups are created that go the same way as Betagari, they occupy all seats. It is true that some who propose new things have gone down the road: Napoka Iria, Mursego or Joseba Irazoki for example. They deserve it. In general, I've had a lot of surprises.

Are the enemies or the Governors astonished to see him give acoustic concerts?

I'm often told: “How have you changed style, right?” You don't know that in 1997, I had an acoustic project called Zain, and I published three instrumental discs. They think I've always played hard music, and all of a sudden, I bought an acoustic guitar and put it on me, as if I had been given the wind from the south.

It has been in this for years, but can the novel Basque musician advance?

The social and economic situation has changed, as has the way in which it is organised. The first few weeks I had concerts on the fronts. That's weird now. There are places to start giving concerts, but people don't respond like they did before. In general, we won't see the unknown group. I don't know if we don't settle for what we've seen on Youtube.

Social media has changed the way we take those first steps. Before you had to offer a lot of concerts so that your group’s name would spread from mouth to mouth. Now with a little imagination and making some videos, you can make yourself known without offering you any direct.