Manu Chao is punk rock, worldbeat, new wave and power-pop. Manu Chao is a socially progressive group. Manu Chao is a party band. Manu Chao is an international enigma, a local favorite and one of the few bands headlining Red Rocks this year that most readers have never heard of.
The French-Spanish Manu Chao was born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao in 1961 in Paris. Brought up around a fascinating international crew of artists and writers, Chao was worldly before most kids his age were walking. He quickly took to traveling and music, and soon the two combined as his love of punk and roots music combined with his passion for varying cultures and far lands.
Chao sings in six or seven languages, sometimes changing midsong. And his current life in Barcelona only contributes to the exciting melting-pot nature of his music, which will be displayed front and center Friday night when Chao headlines Red Rocks. The Denver Post caught up with Chao last week at a Vancouver tour stop to talk about the artist’s new music and the travels, cultures and people who inspired it.
Question: “La Radiolina” won’t be out until September, but tell us a little bit about the album.
Answer: It’s not very easy for me to talk about it because I don’t know what kind of monster it is. I’ve finished between 15 and 19 songs. Some are in English, some are in Spanish, one is in Italian and there’s another in Portuguese. The music is crazy. It’s a mix of a lot of things, some up-tempo, some slower stuff.
Q: Outside of touring, do you still travel as much as you have in the past?
A: Oh yes.
Q: And how has that influenced your new music?
A: You never know what’s going to influence the music. I’ve been spending a lot of time in South America the last two years, touring there and spending time with family in Brazil and Mexico, and there’s also my day-by-day stuff in Barcelona. I’ve spent some time in Africa. For me, traveling influences me a lot because I listen to the music everywhere I go.
Q: So you actually are careful to listen to local music in all of the places you travel? Good local music isn’t always the easiest to track down, so how do you go about finding it?
A: I do listen to local music. For the past two years, I’ve been producing an album in Africa, in Mali, and that has just been the start, because I’ve been listening to so much music there that I now know what they’re listening to. Now I go back and forth from there, producing this CD by a hip-hop band, and I understand the culture better.
Q: It seems like you’re playing more and more in the U.S. When did you first play in the States, and why are you playing more here now?
A: It was a long time ago, with Mano Negra, and I think it was around ’89-ish. But we’ve played all around the world, and the problem is that if you’re touring a lot in South America, you cannot be in Europe, and if you’re touring a lot in Europe, you cannot be in North America. In the U.S., there was a very long time when I didn’t come. Now I’m paying my dues here. But I really need to go to France again, as it’s been five years since I’ve been there. My problem is time.
Q: Is it easy for you to understand why people connect with your music, even though there are few Manu Chao fans who speak all of the languages that you sing in?
A: It’s difficult for me to understand why people like my music or why they’re touched by the lyrics. If you change the country, people like my music for different reasons. It’s not only one reason. Everybody finds their own reasons for picking up something different.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
