Interview with Jesús Senra de Sidonie

We have to confess that today’s interview makes us especially excited. Sidonie is one of the leading independent pop bands that turns each new album into an event and each concert in the city into a party. We are self-confessed fans of the group and have followed them for years. When they stayed with us for the first time and we met them in person, they definitely won our affection. They have stayed at the Sauce Hotel several times, you can see them in the photo with Maribel.

They visited us at the beginning of the tour to present their album Sierra y Canada, a decided commitment to electronic music. In a few weeks they return to the city for one of the last concerts of this year’s tour, and we can’t wait. We contacted them and they answered some questions that we want to share with you.

The album sounds spectacular, but how do these songs work live?

At first it was difficult for us, since the album was recorded without doing any prior rehearsal, so in part it was like recomposing the songs to be able to play them live. Little by little they took shape until they began to sound wonderful. With this summer’s concerts we have been able to see that the songs from the new album are already as important in the repertoire as the group’s old hits are.

I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t ask you about one of the favorite songs of many of your fans, including myself. A wonderful rarity, almost a lullaby on a rock album, How did Giraluna get to the fantastic Côte d’Azur? Is it still playing at concerts?

Giraluna was a pearl that Marc brought to the rehearsal room one day. They are one of those songs that you immediately realize are going to work amazingly, both in the studio and live.

I remember when we recorded all the choruses of the song, one by one weaving that web of voices, one beautiful summer afternoon. We still play the song at concerts, although now we have added new arrangements, thus giving it a new sound for live performances.

Sidonie is a classic in Saragossa. What is the Saragossa audience like?

Well honestly, one of the best. The first times we came to play in Saragossa we already realized that that audience would accompany us for many years. In addition, we have made great friendships with many musicians and fans in the city.

In Saragossa we are proud of the musical offering, the concert halls and the attractive agenda each weekend. What do you think of the music atmosphere that is breathed in the city?

The truth is that it is a very musical city. There is a lot of support for music and great professionals working in and for the scene. At the end of last year we went to play at La Lata De Bombillas, which was the first venue we visited in Saragossa, and around us there was still that excitement that we saw when we went to play there for the first time.

Musicians spend a good part of the year on the road, hotels are almost a second home. What is the strangest thing that has happened to you in a hotel?

Well look, now that you ask… In a hotel in Ibi, a city where we went to play a few months ago, the next morning I went down to the cafeteria, as always, to have breakfast. When he saw me sitting at one of the tables, along with the rest of the team, the hotel manager became quite violent, to the point of wanting to hit me, because he said I had arrived late for breakfast (1 minute after closing). The truth is that that was quite strange.

What absurd object cannot be missing from your suitcase?

Another suitcase within the suitcase.

Sierra and Canada have little to go. Do you have any new project in mind? Where are the shots going to go?

Now we are saying goodbye to the Sierra and Canada tour. On December 19, in Granada, we will perform the last concert of this tour, but not before passing through legendary venues in the country such as La Riviera in Madrid and the Razzmatazz in Barcelona. On November 27 we will be in the Las Armas room in Saragossa.

During the tour, in the few breaks we have had, each one composing at home, we have continued releasing new songs. The idea is to start working on them thoroughly starting next year, but not before having enjoyed a small and well-deserved vacation in some lost place in the world. In March 2016 we will begin recording what will be our eighth album and we hope that the first single will be released at the beginning of summer.