Mar Pujol: "To preserve the rural world, it is necessary that people who love and work the land can live there."

GironaIt's been just over a year since singer-songwriter Mar Pujol (Prats de Lluçanès, 1999) burst onto the Catalan music scene. With a warm and sweet voice, her work harmoniously blends poetry and music, interweaving the roots of classic folk with more contemporary sounds. Her debut album, Pantry Songs (2024), portrays firsthand the everyday experience of living in rural areas, without frivolity or prejudice. A trained early childhood and primary school teacher, Pujol is already working on her second album and has just received the Alícia Award from the Catalan Academy of Music for emerging talent. This Saturday, June 28, she performs at the (A)phònica in Banyoles, in one of the first concerts of a summer full of engagements across Catalonia.

How do you rate the Catalan Academy of Music award?

— I'm very excited. Having the Academy decide, a group of critical and committed people in the sector who look out for our rights and have an informed opinion about the profession, makes me feel honored.

Summer is a time of concerts and engagements all over the world. You're continuing with your tour. Pantry Songs?

— Yes, I'm eager to continue it, but also to give it some fresh air. With Bruna González, the cellist I play with, we're thinking about adding some new songs or different arrangements to keep the pieces alive. In recent months, we've done quite a few collaborations with other artists, but I've also started working on what will be my second full-length album.

Most of the concerts on your calendar, like the one with (A)phonica, are at small, more or less alternative festivals. Is this the kind of event you most enjoy performing at?

— Yes, I don't rule out playing at big festivals, but it's not my favorite format, nor do I think it's what the world needs. I'm happy to play at (A)phónica, because it's the kind of festival I also enjoy, and I always love being in the audience in Banyoles.

In fact, a year ago, in Salt, you performed a concert in a courtyard with a group of friends. As you're becoming increasingly well-known, is it important for you to be able to perform concerts like this?

— I love them. Making music only at festivals and forgetting about smaller venues, which lack as much financial or technical support, would be a mistake. You can't say yes to everyone, but you never do it either. It creates a special energy, since the smaller the venue, the closer the connection can be.

Do you feel comfortable with the singer-songwriter label?

— I feel very comfortable. There have been many singer-songwriters I admire: Silvio Rodríguez, Maria del Mar Bonet, Mercedes Sosa... Now, Anna Andreu, Rita Payés, and Ferran Palau. Being a singer-songwriter for me is like creating a craft between music and lyrics. I try to make sure everything fits together perfectly, so one thing doesn't become dissociated from the other.

And in that alchemy between music and lyrics, you talk above all about life in the rural world, with all its lights and shadows.

— Yes. There's still the idea that the rural world is underdeveloped or has fewer resources, or even that people are less intelligent. But now there's also an exaggerated idealization, and it bothers those of us who truly live there. It's a consumerist idea of the landscape and nature, because no effort is made to preserve it. To preserve the rural world, it's not enough to come here on the weekend and say it's beautiful; it's necessary for people who love and work the land to live there.