By José Gandue @Gandour
It's been quite a while since he's been on the radio, and those with good memories remember his show, called Spanish Classes, On 88.9 FM, the now-defunct Super Station. Later it moved to public airwaves. and for the last fifteen years he has been the director of Radiónica, A contemporary-style radio station belonging to the Colombian State, the only national radio entity where a local group has a real chance of being programmed and rotated for the enjoyment of the audience. His name is Álvaro González Villamarín, but everyone knows him as the Professor.
González, who has always had a preferential space dedicated to literature in his morning programs, She has embarked on writing and publishing her first book. Songs for astronauts, a publication in which he brings together One hundred short stories and poems inspired by tunes that have marked his life. Let me clarify: The Professor doesn't analyze the recordings in question. No. He creates personal texts inspired by what each song left him with. Among those hundred productions are works from the last fifty years, ranging from Little wing, of Jimi Hendrix, until The More, of Mabiland, including Bring me closer, of Village, González himself was a member of this group a few years ago. Their music includes rock, pop, hip hop, a fusion of folk and contemporary styles, and some electronic music. The selection is diverse and testifies to the broad spirit that González has when he listens to and feeds off music. With a foreword by Mario Mendoza (author of Satan, Buddha Blues y Witches' Sabbath, among others) and published by Espasa, Songs for astronauts It is already being distributed in Colombian bookstores and It can be obtained in digital version on the main specialized portals. Regarding this premiere, we arranged a meeting via WhatsApp and we talked to the Professor about it:
Where did the idea for this particular book come from?
In 2014, the idea of creating a kind of Astronaut trilogy through writing was born. I wanted to do it through chronicles, short stories, and a novel. Initially, I wanted to develop the chronicles, but in 2015 the short stories took over. Moreover, this narrative construction became a great creative challenge, and that's how stories inspired by songs that were part of my life began to appear.
What song started this type of storytelling?
That's a good question. The order of the songs in the book corresponds to the story of the creative process; that means the theme Late Night, Foals' song was the first to come to mind, and Bring me closer "De Aldea" was the last one. It was a great suggestion from the book's editor, Andrés Grillo. That decision allows the text to have a kind of organic life, very true to the sensibility that existed during the writing process. It's moving to see that we are built from songs.
He left one of his own songs for last. Was it difficult to reconcile his work with different lyrics?
The last story, which features Aldea, the band I played with a few years ago, was a tribute to that project and what it meant in my life. I always felt very comfortable and happy writing song lyrics, so returning to writing them brought me great joy. It's clear that writing a song is different from writing a text, but I saw commonalities, perhaps most of them connected to my perspective on my different environments. To be honest, I felt very inspired to create lyrics again, in this case, for a work of fiction.
Who do you feel has been the best songwriter among your favorite musicians?
I would divide it into groups of lyricists. On one hand, there's the narrative power of rap, with artists like Los Petit Fellas, Alcolirykoz, Lianna, Mabiland, La Etnnia, and Alí Aka Mind. There's a kind of literature there that really grabs my attention because of its remarkable ability to interpret life, whether through poetry or chronicles. And of course, there's the natural literature of rock, with artists like El Mató a un Policía Motorizado, Love of Lesbian, Vetusta Morla, Eruca Sativa, Mon Laferte, and Natalia Lafourcade. It's a great group of lyricists.
Okay, I'll give you a short test, I hope you accept the challenge:
Hehehe, go ahead.
A song to start the day?
Good morning from Los Petit Fellas
A song to end the day?
Salvation from Tash Sultana.
A song for a first kiss?
Wind of Caifanes.
The saddest song?
Everybody's gotta learn sometimes by Los Korgis, Beck version
What is your favorite song from this entire catalog?
The Poet Halley by Love of Lesbian
What song should be played at their funeral?
Sæglopur by Sigur Rós
Finally, what's next for you as a writer?
The second book of the trilogy is coming, this time I will risk writing the chronicles, perhaps from a narrative experimentation, I hope.
