Xavi de la Iglesia: "With Blaumut's first album everything hit us in the face"

BarcelonaAfter 10 years working in a bank, Xavi de la Iglesia (Gràcia, Barcelona; 1979) left his fear behind and decided to be happy and earn a living by singing. Since then, de la Iglesia has been the vocalist for Blaumut.

He has been a musician, however, since he was 6 years old: "My father played the guitar at home, I watched, and I started playing on my own." In fact, as a teenager, he entered the working world through the door of art: "I was paid to do drawings for the menu boards in restaurants." He then headed towards the music sector: "I played in clubs, live music, guitar and vocals, and that's where my first salaries as a musician came from." And he combined this with studying law at university: "I didn't have a vocation to be a lawyer, but I wanted to have the degree to have a career." Even so, he assures that training has given him "tools for everyday life" and a stable job: "It was a job to earn money and make a living afterward," in his case, dedicating himself to music on the weekends.

"In 2011, I sent demos I'd made home. We included things Vassil and Oriol from Blaumut had put in, and a record label was interested. And I said, 'Wow, maybe it's time to make an album, right?'" the singer explains. He continues: "We thought: we'll do a show, have a beer, and get on with our lives, because each of us had our own story. But at that moment, everything blew up in our faces. We were doing a lot of concerts, very poorly paid, but there were a lot of them, and it became quite incompatible with work."

And, although at first it was profitable for them because of the number of concerts, they have gradually become more professional: "You grow, and over the years it begins to compensate you financially." "Obviously, it's not a stable world, you don't have a fixed salary, nor are you insured, but in the end it's about being happy." Blaumut is one of the biggest projects of her life: "It has allowed me to have a marriage with five people, which is not easy. It is already difficult in a couple... And also, in this case, it has a very brutal emotional component." However, she assures that in the big things they have always understood each other and have created a bond of brothers: "It's a brutal experience."

Currently, the group is working on new projects: "We are preparing a tour that will last all of next year. After that, we will probably take a break. And calmly we will start making music, without rushing." Because if it works and makes you happy, "it would be illogical" to leave. And he hopes he can always make a living like this: "For me, writing lyrics, making melodies, is absolutely therapy."

In this sense, he has a thorn in his side to do something parallel to the group: "Exploring other territories. I have a restlessness. More experimental music. Because it's something very internal to me, it's a drive and I've always been guided by instinct." So, in the next five years it's possible he'll lay "the first stone."

In fact, he also has a project in the world of illustration: "I started to dedicate myself professionally with Covid. I got the opportunity to work for a publishing house, and there I did a lot of covers." "For me, they are two things that go together. I did the covers of Blaumut's last albums myself, I really like to draw in a very poetic way and I write in a very graphic way," he says.

As for personal finances, he considers himself a thrifty person: "The important thing is not to stretch your arm further than your sleeve." And he has never suffered for money: "If there has ever been a strange impasse, I have always trusted that things would work out." And when it comes to hobbies, he spends money on food, traveling and buying instruments: "I am capricious and I say I want this one, now the other. Obviously I would like them, but then my practical side comes out and says: do you really need it? If not, it is not necessary."

As for housing, he lives with his partner: "We live in an apartment that belongs to his parents and we don't have to pay rent or a mortgage. If one day the opportunity arises, since I like to invest and I like to save, then maybe I will consider things." And, in fact, he has never taken out a mortgage: "I think that the fact of having worked in a bank has made me avoid loans." "I have made some purchases, like a parking space, and I have made some investments," but always sensibly, he explains.