Marc Gili (Barcelona, 45 years old) has been a singer and composer for Dorian for two decades, one of the bands that helped define the indie national in quality alternative music. The group, which recently went through significant turbulence, releases a new album, Impossible futures. The musician says it is time to reflect more than ever and overcome the negative parts of life.
Ask. The album focuses on positive overcoming grief.
Answer. Grief must be crossed as if it were a fire or a lake. As the old Stoics would say, if we tend to assume that things must come to an end, we can focus on all the good that being with that person has brought us. We will be able to walk forward much more lightly and seeing with much greater clarity the new experiences that life puts before us. Remembering the positive things and the beauty of the shared path does not mean continuing to get hooked on the past, but rather it means projecting your mind on positive memories instead of negative memories to be able to get out of there in a healthy way.
P. So the title impossible futures Doesn’t it have a negative connotation?
R. We want to link it more to the idea that the Greeks had of the word crisis. It did not have the negative connotation that we have inherited centuries after 2,000 years of Christianity. For the Greeks, the word crisis meant decision-making and could be linked to the idea of movement to another side. For us, however, it has remained a moment that seems like the world is ending. The Greeks opened the perspective towards other futures that were not written and that suddenly became possible.
Remembering the positive things and the beauty of the shared path does not mean continuing to get hooked on the past.”
P. Did his breakup with Belly, a member of the group, almost take Dorian down?
R. There was a wear and tear of many years and it was by mutual agreement. The building collapsed in the middle of the pandemic and we were also composing a new album, which was our previous album, Ritual. That was a hurricane of sensations. I remember that we left the studio in tears and each one of us went to his new home. The band behaved very well and everyone rose to the occasion, at no time did anyone take each other’s side. That was crucial. I don’t know how we did it, but we did it. We had a lot of mental strength. I was also investigating if it had happened to other couples in pop music, and I realized that it happened to Fleetwood Mac, Blondie and, in Spain, to Amaral.
P. A band is something different. Where the sum of the parts is more important than each of the individuals. Is it a cause?
R. The unity of the band was essential. As in all painful processes, it almost always comes out stronger. After 20 years of career, we have learned to communicate in a non-violent way and, when one crosses the line and shouts, it is obligatory to apologize and give a hug to the colleague. And we do this automatically. Learning to forgive is the key. It can be applied to a group, family, couple or friends. Because the words sorry and thank you are the most important words in the vocabulary to have adequate mental health.
P. What other causes do you believe in?
R. I am a lover of human beings. I think that most people are good, but our environment has to help us develop our good side. Unfortunately, the political class that we have inside and outside the country does not set the conditions for this possibility. As a former Philosophy student, I think that human beings and civilization are good causes. Feminism or the fight for action in the lives of LGTBIQ+ people demonstrate this.
I think that most people are good, but our environment has to help us develop our good side.”
P. Any cause that you have given up on?
R. Musical radio in Spain. It does not take risks or accommodate proposals that it did in the eighties or nineties. That’s all mainstream.
P. Dorian turns 20 years old. What differences do you see from when you started and now?
R. In the past, at festivals, very few independent Spanish bands were professionals. There was a lot of amateurism. Twenty years later, the scene has become more professional because, the better the albums were, the more ambition the bands had and the more the public trusted these bands. Everything has become much more professional and the bar for live sound and the quality of the albums has been raised a lot. Therefore, there is a strong independent industry in the country.
P. Do younger people ask you for advice?
R. Yes and I only give you one: to look for your uniqueness. It can be a particular way of writing letters, a sound, or a way of dressing or being in the world. As Bowie said: “The artists who have broken the most in music are those who combine original music with a look original”.