In 2023, Alejandro Sanz wrote a message on his social networks that said: “I’m not well. I don’t know if this is of any use but I want to say it. I’m sad and tired.” Then he added: “I’m working to make it go away… I’ll get to the stage and something inside will tell me what to do. But sometimes I don’t even want to be there.” Two years later, the Madrid singer collected two Latin Grammys on stage in Las Vegas and thanked “his team for making it possible for me to believe in music again after a long time, after losing the illusion.” With the boost of recognition under his arm, he publishes “And now what +?”, his new studio album.
They are songs with different styles, but they sound like Alejandro Sanz.
Yes, I don’t know if it’s a defect or a virtue but it’s what happens when you come from a school like flamenco, rock and Italian ballads. I can’t get rid of my voice and I have tried to make the whole album have meaning, but also play with the music, because that is the gift.
You have to have a good time, but you also don’t have to wear clothes that don’t fit you at all. Exactly, not dressing like a squeaky thing.
No, no, no, I mean, I’m not going to wear platforms or anything like that, because I know they don’t fit me well. It can be played, but with a musical dignity.
Are you afraid of expiring?
There are many things happening. We have gone through a stage in which musical excellence was not the essential requirement to succeed, but hey, this has happened all our lives. It was very evident at one point, but artists have been aware for some time that they have to contribute something different musically and that things have to be done well and that they have to sing minimally. No, anything is no longer valid. So, many very interesting artists are coming out there and I think there is a very promising future coming.
As a singer, how do you feel?
I feel very good, really. I mean, during all the tours we have done in Mexico now, the 25 concerts, my voice has felt very good. Communication has been perfect with the band, with the public. I work much better on my voice. Now I sleep a lot, many more hours and that’s the secret, basically: sleep a lot, exercise your voice and then the more you sing, the better you sing.
Have you learned to better regulate your professional and personal life?
This profession is very monopolizing and you enter and you don’t realize it, but you leave aside your personal life, your family, your loved ones, your leisure time… and the other things take up more and more space. And that causes you to get sick at work. It was a process, but I managed to give everything its space. I used to be able to spend 14 or 16 hours in a studio and now I don’t do it even if I want to.
He sets limits.
I do sessions of 5 hours maximum and I put it like this. And after the concerts I don’t receive everyone, although a lot of people sneak in, but I don’t want to receive everyone. If I get off stage I’m going straight. There were times when I found myself holding on to the last one left in the dressing room giving me the tag.
Feel like you’ve paid a price for success.
Yes, I have paid various prices. This is like everything, it is divided into several sections. I paid the price at first, the shock, let’s say. And then I have been paying a price that I had not realized I was paying, like VAT, personal income tax (smiles)… until you pay it all.
In Riowa, he sings: “Because I am like this I won, but I have lost so much.”
This song, with Elena Road, is very special because it talks about the lives of artists. Tell how you separate yourself and stop calling your mother, your parents, your loved ones, your children and you distance yourself and lose time because you want to succeed. And it is told what you give up precisely for that.
Even if it is with a huge suitcase of memories.
Of course, music is very beautiful, because of the opportunities it gives you, it is a job… it is the dream job. Everyone wants to be a singer. It’s true, I’ve realized these days, I won’t say everyone in the literal sense, but for many people it is the dream. Then you have to know that it is not all gold that glitters, not that there is a lot of work behind it. It is necessary to give up many things and have a great capacity for endurance.
He also sings: “don’t throw me flowers, that’s for the dead”, which also has a reading from the point of view of an artist, right?
The phrase is a bit hesitant. Talk about how many people cling to you when it suits them and then disappear. There are many people who flatter you and then at the slightest change they change paths.
They just gave him two Grammys. What are awards for you?
Well, those awards in particular are very important because they are the most important in music, that is, they are the awards that the industry, your colleagues, and the professionals give you. It is recognition for me, but also for all the people who have worked on this album. I receive it with great affection, it makes me very excited and good, and it serves to give you a little push, to say: “well, we are doing well.”
Precisely in the reception speech he commented that he had lost his hope.
Yes, I lost hope at the time because there was no talk of music around me. They talked about numbers and they gave me numbers on the blackboards and such, many algorithms, many numbers, many strange things. And I wanted to talk about music. Then I started to lose consciousness. I got into this because we were going to talk about music, because I was going to be able to make music, to make songs, but I see that it’s not about music. So, when I was able to talk about music again and I was able to return to this album, build a team of people who were excited about this project and who helped me get excited again, the excitement returned because my love for music has always been there, but the industry has a very ugly side.
But I guess you’re used to that side by now, right? Because all life…
No, I don’t want to get used to that. What I want is to get him away from me. In other words, everyone should do their own thing.
That is, you don’t want to worry about…
No, I want to have a… Obviously there are a lot of people within the industry who want to make it pretty. Of course it has its share of business and everything you want, but there are people who don’t, who don’t care about making the industry ugly and that is wrong. Case closed.
Have you ever thought about quitting over the years?
Every day I thought about it for a while. But I will never be able to leave music. I don’t understand life without music.
He is the most successful artist, the best seller in the history of Spain.
I don’t give it importance. The day that matters to you is that you have already started to lose. I am always a learner.