Terrae: "There are still certain stereotypes about the Ebro, as if we were exotic to a certain part of the country."

BarcelonaThe heartbeat of the Ebro River resonates in the music of the duo Terrae. There is the ancestral pulse of jotas, fandangos, and traditional songs, and the contemporary pulse of electronic textures. There are stories passed down through oral tradition and diverse expressions of anger connected to injustice and neglect. In this project born in Flix, there is no shortage of joy, dance, or a desire to share. Its creators, Andreu Peral (Tarragona, 1986) and Genís Bagés (Lleida, 1987), authors of the album, speak about it. Our grain (Microscope, 2025), one of the best of last year according to the ARA.

Says that Our grain It's "a journey downriver through the stories of the Ebro's cultural heritage." Which part of this heritage interests you most?

— Genís Bagés: All of our intangible sound heritage. Obviously, there's a very strong tradition of jotas and fandangos, but we're also interested in the perhaps lesser-known realm of work songs and tambourine songs, which are particularly characteristic of the Ribera d'Ebre region due to its proximity to Priorat. We also try to explore all aspects of our imagery, including the literary, that of all the people who have written about the Ebro River or who have some kind of connection to it. It's a journey through sound, but also through literature and heritage in general.

Both have previous musical backgrounds [Andreu Peral in Lo Gitano Blanc and Genís Bagés in the field of jazz and improvisation]. How did Terrae decide to move forward?

— Andreu Peral: We have similar tastes, yet we're also quite different in certain aspects. In my case, I've been singing traditional songs in Flix since I was 17. There was a man in Flix, Mr. Batiste, who composed over 200 songs—an incredible number. He would compose while walking to work at the factory, and in the afternoon he would prepare the songs to sing with the choir. I probably felt a urge to explore and incorporate all of this. Age is also important because it makes you look back a bit and say: okay, now I really need to know where I come from, what I've absorbed, and what has shaped me. My grandfather sang at all the celebrations; he was a big jota singer. And Genís's grandfather played incredibly well. I remember perfectly when Genís told me about it; it was during Holy Week, and I also remember being on the train to Barcelona and, before we got to Móra la Nova, replying to him with a WhatsApp and say to him: hey, let's start working on this.

Basically, what you're explaining is exactly the same thing he's done. Bad Bunny looking back to his roots.

— GB: Yes, him with salsa. We've been playing different styles for many years –jazz, rock, pop– and it seems that sometimes you look too far outwards.

Bad Bunny does what he does and still lives in Puerto Rico. If you weren't in Flix, this project might not have happened.

— AP: Yes, it would have cost more, because in some ways we would already be somewhat disconnected.

— GB: I had lived a lot in Barcelona, ​​and now I'm in Lleida, but I go down to Flix every week because I have family there, and yes, it's been a reconnection with the local area. I've just realized that I had a very provincial view, because I valued things from elsewhere so much; I was obsessed with Barcelona, ​​Berlin... Yes, I'm proud to have experienced some really interesting things, but have you paid attention to what's happening here and what's happening right next door?

— AP: We've been to the Terres de l'Ebre a lot on the museum tour, and you go to La Galera or Santa Bárbara and you say: what interesting villages.

— GB: It's very beautiful, and they have a rich heritage. For example, in Montsià, the last remaining potter is the one who made the water jug ​​we use in our concerts. These are crafts that aren't so different from what we do; crafts that require that daily work, that unique touch.

Along the Ebro River"The song, which perfectly captures who you are, comes from the songbook of Joan Amades and tells a story with a tragicomic touch that we can associate with the Terres de l'Ebre region. It begins like this: "Coming along the Ebro road, I find a man who's a bit off his rocker. If I put him on top of the donkey, they'll say I killed him."

— AP: Yes, it's the perfect story, and it also talks about how those who deviate slightly from the established norms are judged.

— GB: It also has that comical aspect. We also experience it that way when we perform it, because sometimes we notice that certain stereotypes about the Ebro still exist, as if we were exotic to a certain part of the country.

Could this perception have changed in recent years thanks to initiatives like the Eufònic festival, which give space to another type of contemporary Ebro culture?

— GB: Yes. In fact, we had the opportunity to play there in July. It's a leading festival. Many new avenues are opening up in the Terres de l'Ebre region; people who had lived elsewhere are returning and creating new things, like Vicent Fibla [the director of Eufònic]. I apologize if I keep harping on about this, but sometimes we feel like we're not being heard. There's also Les Noches de Tyrica in Alcanar, which is a very interesting festival. And the Lo Pati Art Center in Amposta. Things are slowly but surely progressing.

The album also features another reference point from the Ebro region, the writer Zoraida Burgos, who died at the beginning of the yearMusic your poem They have left us with the screamWhat is it about her that attracts people?

— AP: The force, because They have left us with the scream This is it, it's a cry of strength, of courage, a call to the world to assert oneself. Within Our grain, the poem They have left us with the scream It hits hard, because this is it Our graina scream.

In Our grain There's percussion singing, fandango, jota, and different percussion textures, including electronic ones. Expressively, it's very magnetic.

— GB: Obviously, we also want to manipulate tradition by filtering it through our own lens. When I pick up a tambourine, the first thing I see is that: the possibility of... loopThe texture, scratching it... That's how I approach it. We see tradition as something fluid and constantly under review. There are many groups that do it by playing exactly as it was done, and I think that's fine, but that doesn't come naturally to us. We also like the loops and voice effects.

Year after year, the Mediterranean Fair of Manresa programs proposals that share this character, such as Tarta Relena and L'Arannà.

— GB: That's right. Let's look at the past, but with today's eyes. The people who did it before were also pioneers in a way, and they were at the forefront of their time. There's another concept that might sound mystical, but it's important: when we're on stage, we try to engage with the past as if it weren't just the two of us. Terrae isn't just Andrés and Genís; it's as if we put our grandparents on stage and spoke to them in today's language.

On the disk, download Alidé Sans from the Pyrenees and takes her to the Ebro to sing one of the most successful songs on the album: The carnation seller.

— GB: Both collaborations, Judit Neddermann's in Delta Alidé's project and others arose from the idea of ​​building bridges. It's about connecting with other realities and people who are working with folk music from their own perspective. The carnation seller It really suits Allidé because she embodies celebration, street dancing, and activism. And it was really cool because she connects with the music in a very visceral way.

Listening The carnation seller I was thinking about how they would do it Ca la Fresca Remedy.

— GB: For us, it is also a benchmark, one of the groups that are doing very interesting things in Catalonia.

And with that defiant rage clinging to the present.

— GB: Completely.

— AP: Both collaborations are very different. Like the album, which goes through many phases. Perhaps Judit's is more cerebral. The festive part is perhaps left a bit more towards the end.

However, in the song that opens the album, You don't love me anymoreThe rhythm anticipates that there will be a radish and that everyone will end up dancing.

— AP: The radishes Where are they made? In the countryside. That must have been the beating song.

Both in the Mediterranean Fair of Manresa as in Cantuto de Cassà de la Selva This coincided with L'Arannà, who also draw on traditional knowledge to speak about the present; in their case, about Ibiza and Formentera. In their case, it's clear that the Ribera del Ebro is not only about the Battle of the Ebro, but also about the Ascó nuclear power plant.

— GB: Personally, I am very keen to talk about the current Terres de l'Ebre, with all its unique characteristics and all the things that are happening.

— AP: Music should build bridges, and one of those bridges is for collective sharing to achieve universal improvement. In this case, for the improvement of the Terres de l'Ebre region, a collective is needed, a collective that is active and moving more or less in the same direction. There's a major debate now about industry, which has always been a major obstacle for Flix, and about nuclear power. What will happen after all this? We're facing the same old industrial disaster, and now we need to broaden our perspectives. There's a huge undertaking to be done.

It's clear that environment shapes art. Xarim Aresté's music isn't the same now that he lives in Flix as it was when he lived in Barcelona. And Lluís Gavaldà explains that the big difference between Els Pets and Sopa de Cabra was that Sopa de Cabra lived in Girona and could sing beautiful songs, while Els Pets lived in Constantí, next to the petrochemical plant...

— GB: It leaves a huge mark. Delta itself, with its disappearance... The song Delta, by the folklorist Lluís de Montsià, is an ode to the Ebro and its landscape from the beginning of the 20th century and already speaks of it.

Lluís de Montsià was one of Joan Amades' informants, right?

— GB: To complete the commission for the Catalan songbook, Joan Amades had several informants throughout Catalonia. Lluís de Montsià was one of those in the Terres de l'Ebre region. Amades did visit Balaguer and Priorat frequently, but not so much the Terres de l'Ebre. We have these two sources of information that are strictly bibliographic, because there's also Joan Moreira, who wrote the book on Tortosa folklore. And then we have the visits we make to the villages.

— AP: Although we're a little late. For a long time we've lived in a state of carelessness. I myself lived in a state of carelessness because of what my grandfather sang, and that's a shame.

— GB: It's normal because when you're so young, you're not really interested in hearing war stories. It happened to me with the Battle of the Ebro when my grandfather, who had been assigned to communications, talked about it. He described the fear he felt when he had to fix a cable and could hear the machine gun going "pa-pa-pa-pa..."

— AP: And you wanted to watch basketball.

— GB: EITHER The SimpsonsThat's what they did on TV when I ate with him. It's really intense, because every week he told me things about the war.

What is your best memory related to music? And what memory would you like to forget?

— GB: I remember as a kid, putting on records at home and pretending to play the drums or an imaginary guitar in front of people. It's funny that one of my fondest memories is from when I was practically alone, but hey, that's when you let your imagination run wild. And then there are the worries before concerts, when things aren't in my control, when there are external factors that can ruin everything.

— AP: There are many good ones. When I played my first guitar chord, I was learning to play guitar later in life, around 24 or 25 years old. When I saw that I could create something with that instrument, something that came from within, a whole world opened up to me. And memories to forget? Surely anything I did reluctantly. If I don't listen to my heart, something will surely go wrong.

We were talking about Cantuto earlier. How was your first experience at the festival?

— GB: We were amazed.

— AP: When I arrived in Flix, I told my father, "We have to go to El Cantuto." It gives me goosebumps, because it's something... Wow, they're people who take such care with every detail, who put so much passion into it, that it's moving to be a part of it as a spectator, not just as a musician. And the way they convey joy. I think it's one of the most interesting things about our region.

— GB: There should be a Cantuto in every region, by decree. You find yourself in this unity and you feel empowered.

— AP: It has crossed my mind to do a Cantuto in the Terres de l'Ebre.