Why did we stay at the Sierra Nevada school?
You told me to propose a place that was special to me. I studied at the other school, in the upper Sierra Llorca, in Mendigoiti [the neighborhood of Mendillorri in Pamplona has upper and lower parts]. But in my teens, when I was 14 or 15 years old, this was the place where the youth of the Sierra came together.

When I started coming here, I started to get in touch with people who weren’t on my usual circuits: girls, gypsies, older people... This is where I met Ben Yart and many other musicians. It marked my life and I have beautiful memories.

What were you doing?
Things from young people. The parents of the school were not happy and they left the school with the children by 6:00 p.m. and that’s when we entered.

Maybe because they didn't think you were a role model for the kids?
That's what it is. Let's see, there was everything. There were people who played handball, football, cards, basketball... There was also a big drug trade and that was quite rude, but it is true that the young people of the Sierra did not have a place to be and that also had an impact. Don’t even think we were doing anything special.

You told me that you met Ben Yart there.
Yes, he was already making music with other rappers at the time. For me he was like a spiritual father in terms of music. He was the guy we had very close to, who was doing different things. I also listened a lot to Emmaus Traperos and La Grifa, but through Ben Yart I saw that it was possible to do other things.

Did that help you make music?
Well, that took away my embarrassment if I wanted to go ahead. Urtasun [Xabier Urtasun, friend] and I listened to a lot of rap and we both thought about making music, rapping.

How far is it from Julen Goldarazena to Flako Fonki?
Not that big. When Julen Goldaraz's is happy, there's not that much distance between the two. But I am a very dubious person and I have a lot of insecurity. As a result, it can be said that I suffer from cycles of depression, so when I am sad, the distance between Julen and Flaco is greater. I don’t think anyone who lives in Bilbao and sees me from there thinks I have a depressive tendency, looking outside I don’t give that image.

Flako Fonki is the cheerful and open mood of Julen Goldarazena, but inside me live different natures. As I often get sad, I would not say that Julen and Flako are the same, but I would not say that Flako Fonki is represented.

That's what I was gonna tell you. Is Flako Fonki a character? -
I don't know. It can be said that it is a character, but I also represent this character as Julen in part in the day to day. To use irony all the time, to do foolish things... it’s also part of me, famous or not, that’s how I would be on the street.

And do Julen and Flako have a good relationship or have they ever gotten angry?
For example, what?

When Julen was sad to be forced to do some Flako things at some point.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Now maybe less, but when the Chill Mafia exploded it was hard for me because I was totally depressed at the time. I couldn’t resist the image I was looking out at – the one I had created myself. I was very bad and it was very hard. There were many times when I had conflicts within myself and I also wanted to leave music behind. Or, more than music, the public image.

Will Flako Fonki die with the Chill Mafia?
I don't think so. This depends on the context. I'd say I'm more sensitive when I'm alone with someone. I'll listen to you, I'll answer you well, and I think I'll be closer to that way from now on. If I start making music by myself, I don't think I'm gonna be making fun of people. I will follow the path that Flako Fonki has begun, given the folkloric issues, but regardless of the attitude so far.

When we made music with the Chill Mafia it was inevitable to laugh at everything, it was not the time, not the place, to say that I was depressed. Maybe now, I don't know.

Can it be a matter of age?
Well, what is it?

The fact that the Chill Mafia was a 20-year-old gang of boys meant that they had to behave in a specific way and that time has passed.
Yeah, it's possible, I don't know if it's hormonal relaxation or... And as for the music, I know that if I did a song with Kiliki [Kiliki Frexko, Beñat Rodrigo who is also a member of the Chill Mafia], for example, it wouldn’t be a song like Barkhatu.

In 2021 you didn’t know who Sarri was and a few days ago I heard you talking about his lyrics on Radio Euskalerria. It’s just an example, but it helps me to ask what path you’ve followed in terms of references for the last four years.
The path I took was to go where I wanted to go. In 2020 I began to delve into Basque music.

With the launch of the Chill Mafia?
No, the team was formed after that. Kiliki and I were listening to a lot of Basque music at the time and that motivated us to start the Chill Mafia. In 2021 I found the seed of Basque music, the seed of Basque music that I love, and I have come to know who Sarri is. For his poetry, his words to Mikel Laboa, his famous song Sarri Sarri...

Apart from that, since your interest in Basque music begins, what path have you followed as a listener?
I don't know if it's Attention Deficit Disorder, but I'm pretty obsessive. In any case, they are short-term obsessions. In recent years I have heard not only Basque folklore, but also Spanish folklore. Mexican music, country music... It’s true that I have a special love for here and that this goes beyond these short-term obsessions.

When I listen to a song by Mikel Laboa, I see that the lyrics belong to Joseba Sarrionandia, so I go to his Wikipedia profile and look at the lyrics he has written. If I go into a song and find out that I like that artist, that’s where the obsession begins. It's kind of a chain... I'm listening to PinkPantheress now, it's British and it's very trendy right now. And I'm hearing a lot about Ice Spice, too.

What do you stick with about the Chill Mafia path and what wouldn’t you repeat?
Today's Julen Goldaraz regrets getting into some trouble. I wouldn't do it at all right now. This is one of my challenges: to put aside the disturbances and live in peace. I would do what I did, but I don't want to go through with it. I regret it personally, but not artistically. And good things, I don't know, I've had a lot of contact about it. It has forced me to cultivate shame and has helped me get to where I am.

How do you see the musical landscape of the Basque Country at the moment?
Actually, I can't talk about this too much. I haven’t been listening to contemporary Basque music lately. I’ve recently listened to Olaia Inziarte’s album, for example, and I found it incredible. Then I know that there are many cool bands: you – Ibil Bedi –, TOC, Tatxers... are the first ones that come to mind. But I don’t think I’m the ideal person to ask about contemporary music, because 90% of the Basque music I listen to is from another time.

We've also heard you sing jacks lately. Do you intend to go on from there?
Oh, yeah, yeah. Because next week I'm stuck with Mattin from Mirua to join. I don't know exactly how, but yeah, I think I'll keep going. I have always liked to take the expressions that are part of the local folklore and make them mine. They can also be jots or verses. I also love the country, but I don’t know if I see myself doing that... I’m especially caught by the jacks, for simplicity or for simplicity.

We also pulled a jack with the Chill Mafia, Jota ACAB [now The Dog]. But that was a bit of a joke. I'm going to try to make the next jack I'm going to do more relaxed. Lorena Álvarez has one, La mano ardiendo, I think I'd like to play from there.

Do you need someone's approval?
Yes, I need it and a lot. I have a huge security problem and I often think that everything I do is rubbish.

And who do you turn to in these cases?
I don’t usually share what I do with the musicians, I usually send it to friends who are not musicians, I feel less pressure with them. But there's one more thing I should work on.

You’ve also started teaching chess on your YouTube channel. What is the purpose?
I have always liked chess, but there are two things: on the one hand, when I started participating in the Barraka program I thought that I would like to be a public person of the Basque Country and, on the other hand, a friend started playing chess. Uploading chess classes to YouTube could be a way to help my friend and also keep her public.

But there are more things there: I also thought it was important to create content in Basque and I think there is no such thing as chess around the corner.

Do you think you can be a reference with that?-
I don't know. Just two issues of chess and Basque have been reduced and I don’t think this can become mainstream.

But without becoming mainstream, people who have you as a reference for other things can now see you giving chess classes in Basque on YouTube.
Yeah, that's right. Sometimes I forget that for people, Julen Goldaraz and Flako Fonki are the same person. For me it would be Julen Goldaraz who is playing chess and Flako Fonki who has done everything I have done publicly so far.

Yeah, I get it.
The truth is that, beyond the more selfish motives, that is, the desire to be a public character, I have been more insistent with the Basque question lately.

I have begun to move in more militant circles, to meet and empathize with people who are in full militancy around the Patriotic Left in many things. Being close to this community makes me happy and excited.

Did that bring you closer to Israel?
I think so. I’ve improved a lot in the last few months. I don’t know if I’ve improved my Spanish or lost my embarrassment, but that makes me very happy. Not for political reasons, but for personal reasons.

It is also political.
Oh, well, yeah.

Have you tried to make room for a greater presence of the Basque language or have the things you have done have brought the Basque language to the center?
I don't know what to say. I have always had a special relationship with the Basque language. In the same Chill Mafia, the only song in Basque on the last album is sung by me or I think all my songs on the first album are in Basque. He's always been there.
Maybe at the beginning of the Chill Mafia I didn’t have so much contact with the Basque world, because we were the “criminals” of the moment and it gave me a little respect, but now that time has passed, I am ready and willing to do some things that I would not have done before.

I'm not much less militant, but I'm closer to it.

You have also been playing with Artificial Intelligence [AI].
Oh, yeah, yeah. I think that if the Internet offers me resources and tools, I am one of those who use them, especially if they are related to the artistic world: illustrations, memes, music...

Now it’s gone out of style and I don’t think it’s special, but at first I thought it was crazy in the best sense. We did a collection of songs called Montón the mixtape 2009, but that was a joke.

I am mainly interested in how the issue progresses in the video or audiovisual industry.

Why the end of the Chill Mafia at BEC?
On the one hand, to end up in the Basque Country and, on the other, for money. Beyond all the criticism that we can receive, bringing 6,000 people together at BEC is immense for us.

And what do you think of this fashion of filling large rooms?
On the egocentrist side, I think it’s good, or better said, it’s good for us. We’ve tried to live from music or what can be done around it so far and in that sense I think it’s good to do so.

It is true that, at the same time, there are few groups with the capacity to mobilize so many people and I do not know what benefits it brings to the Basque music community in general. I don’t have a lot of opinion or knowledge to talk about this topic without saying anything nonsense, so what I can say is that I understand the criticisms against this concert model.