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ENRIQUE IGLESIAS: SINGER By Cristina Fallaras El Mundo Monday, 18 September 2000 “I accept the fact that someone might not like my music, but to hate me personally...” MADRID - Enrique Iglesias, who begins a mini-tour through Spain - on Wednesday he will be in Madrid, the 21st in Barcelona and the 25th en Santiago - had a telephone conversation with this journalist on September 3rd, after his concert in Hannover. It wasn’t until 12:30 at night that this journalist heard a voice over the hum that was coming from the car. “Cristina? This is Enrique. Don’t worry, I’m not tired. Go ahead,” he says after 12 previous interviews. And one asks himself/herself: “Who said that this guy is never serious. If the entertainment business has professionals, he’s an example. It’s surprising that Latin music is coming to the Swedish and the Norwegians.Let’s be sincere. This is not Latin music. I don’t sing salsa, merengue or flamenco. What I do is pop. It’s still surprising. It’s incredible to be in Stockholm in front of 7,000 people singing Experiencia Religiosa. But this latest CD in English is the one that has given me the most on a worldwide level. Were you expecting a good response in Europe? I had a lot of faith in this CD because it’s very well produced, with good songs and something special that could work. Does the language have any influence on it? For me, English is the universal language for singing. It flows over the melody easily. I, also, was raised in the United States and my influences are Anglo-Saxon. Do you usually speak English? English and Spanish. What is your show like? The musicians are kick ass. We have rehearsed a lot. The backup vocals are perfect and I have a drummer who is a machine. Everything is more finished than they were in the first tour and the response of the public and the critics is very good. Why, then, do people pick on you so much? It could be the typical jerks that are always going to hate Enrique Iglesias, but what pisses me off is that they don’t hate my music, they hate Enrique Iglesias. Does it bother you? I accept 100% that someone might not like my music. But that they hate me... How, then, can I sing with people like Tom Jones, Pavarotti or Whitney Houston? Why does that happen? I have no idea. It could be that my music doesn’t seem profound or intellectual to them. Should it? R: Look, I’m only obligated to do the music that I feel like doing, the music I like and that my audience likes. Are you satisfied? One hundred percent. If not, I wouldn’t sing. The depth is not so much in the lyrics as it is in the music and the way the song is sung. I don’t know. Maybe they expect me to sing a political report. *** politics in Spain? It’s like that everywhere! In the United States worse! Do you mind if I ask you about Pinochet? No, not at all . I sang in Chile, in Viña del Mar, when the Pinochet thing was going on, and I noticed a frightening tension just because I was Spanish. Does it make you uncomfortable that people ask you about politics? In Spain it’s the same nonsense with the left-wingers and the right-wings. Not long ago I sang at the Democratic Convention for Al Gore and nothing happened there. I was there to entertain people. Do they put you to the test? They do it because they think “Let’s see how ignorant this guy is”. It’s not about ignorance but because I don’t live in Spain. But there always has to be some halfwit out there trying to destroy me. Does it upset you? There came a time when I felt so depressed and I worried about it so much that I decided ‘no more’. Just when I stopped worrying myself about it things started to go better for me in Spain, where I have sold almost a half a million CDs. Now, how many people do that. Are you Spanish? Yes, I feel Spanish. And how do you view Spaniards? Very European? European? Is that good or bad? In Spain I don’t think they ever get as serious and cold as they do in Europe, for many reasons. What has always been funny to me is that in Spain they devour anything with the American flag. McDonalds, for example. Could it be an inferiority complex? Yes, they have one, but less and less of one. In the United States you can go from nothing and become whatever you want. It’s a place of opportunities and if you show your success, people love it because they think they can also make it. In Spain that’s the worse thing you can do. The jealousy begins, and they say, “He’s a son of a b!tch” and they’re out to destroy you. Do you belong to the “dot com” generation? Well, now my friends never give me a call, instead they send me an e-mail. They also say that it’s the ONG generation. Do you know what I’m talking about? No. Cooperation, human rights . . . Sometimes I feel bad. With more time a lot could change. I’ve done things for children with AIDS. I’m involved with a foundation for them where they organize events and I help by singing. Does ecology concern you? I’ve never paid much attention to it. I’ve been more concerned with AIDS. I think they hide it too much in North America. But since Clinton became president, things have progressed a lot. Do you like Clinton? I used to like him. He’s a Democrat and he understands young people. But in the United States there’s not that much difference between Republicans and Democrats. Let’s talk about your generation, the generation of designer drugs. Do you see drugs around you? I’ve seen a lot of ecstacy, because it seems like now that’s the in thing in the clubs, and people take a cheap pill and are buzzed the entire night. But my friends are not much into drugs, maybe a joint. Have you ever lacked anything or have you always had everything? I can’t complain. “I’m in an interview”. Cristiana, sorry, but I’m here signing autographs. (Female voices, commotion, apologies from Iglesias). Don’t you get tired of all of this? There are times I get a little tired of it. But, can I tell you something? Now that you ask me if I’ve ever lacked anything, I think there are people who hate me for that. I can’t complain. If I did, it would be unfair. Do you have teachers? Bruce Springsteen. I’ve always admired his simplicity. His song have only three or four chords and simple lyrics that most of the time talk about love. If you took the musical favorites of all those intellectuals you criticize me, 9 out of 10 of them have songs with simple lyrics. Any more teachers? My father. He has taught me to be a good father and a good artist at the same time, which is tough. (Fans interrupt again). Are you tempted to run away? Yes. What do you do then? I try to lose myself and sometimes I accomplish it by writing songs in whatever paper I find lying around. I write a lot in airplanes. |