Xoel López (A Coruña, 48 years old) remembers Vigo fondly because it was the city where he offered his first solo acoustic concert. It was in the Casa de Arriba, the mythical night room of Churruca. Years later, he was the guest artist to inaugurate the EL PAÍS Meetings in Galicia. With the auditorium of the Afundación Headquarters packed, the Galician presented his latest work, Oniria Popularby EL PAÍS music journalist Fernando Neira. The meeting was one of the activities organized by EL PAÍS+ in Vigo. Subscribers have also enjoyed a guided tour of the photographic exhibition Momentswhich celebrates the 50th anniversary of the newspaper —available until June 30 on Calle del Príncipe—, and a coffee with EL PAÍS journalists Xosé Hermida and Sonia Vizoso.
An anthem for Dépor
Xoel López is at full capacity. He published his latest work, Oniria Popularjust a month and a half ago —he presented it at the EL PAÍS Meetings in Madrid on May 19—. He combines the promotion with the first concerts of the festival tour, with which he will perform around the country during the summer. In this prolific period, he has composed the new anthem of the Real Club Deportivo de A Coruña, which celebrates 120 years of history.
“Making an anthem is complicated,” he explained. Celta de Vigo has C. Tangana, who composed Oliveira of the 100s for the club’s centenary. Dépor has Xoel López: “Just like C. Tangana left his mark, I have put together many of the things that I usually do in my music,” he argued, with parts of pop rock and others closer to folklore. “I wrote the lyrics the same night they proposed it to me,” he revealed. The final result will be released in a few months, but attendees were lucky enough to see some verses for the first time.
In Madrid, where he lives, his passion leads him to play indoor soccer and basketball every week: “I love it, but I’m the typical mediocre. I’m excellently normal at it,” he admitted. His thing is songs. After 17 albums and 201 recorded songs, the Galician confessed to having “all his eggs in the same basket.” “I trust that this will last until I retire, which I hope will be too late. I have no alternative,” he added.
Compose and compose
For Xoel López, “making records is a way of life.” His extensive discography allows us to draw an emotional and sentimental artistic map. Yeah End of an infinite journey y Reconstructionwith Deluxe, marked a before and after in their career, Atlantic establishes a pattern aesthetically and rhythmically. “Each album represents me at every moment. Sometimes it even portrays me in the future,” he observed. His composition process is almost linked to automatic writing: “I write almost unconsciously, as if my hand couldn’t stop.”
“In my environment, among men we are quite affectionate. We say ‘I love you’ to each other without much problem”
Xoel López, artist
Con Oniria Popular Galician has entered another level of the unconscious. “I composed very quickly, all the doors of perception opened. I wrote up to three songs in a week,” he said. Pursue beauty. When he achieves this, he feels a sense of fulfillment: “It is comparable to going to the cinema to see a good movie or finishing a great novel. These are moments of happiness that life gives you,” he explained.
During the meeting, there was time to reflect on models of masculinity. the song Trunk and root It is a hymn to friendship, a “topic little discussed in male conversations,” as Neira explained. “In my environment, among men we are quite affectionate. We say ‘I love you’ to each other without much problem,” said the artist. His sensitivity made him suffer, especially during his youth. However: “Without her, I would not have been able to be the musician I am now,” he said.
For a couple of weeks, Xoel López has not remembered his dreams. In the last one that he can tell, he saw Rosalía, as Sílvia Pérez Cruz already did. “They say that in dreams it is always you. That is to say, that Rosalía is not herself, but what she represents to me,” he explained. He linked it with his relationship with fame and exposure: “I have a lot of conflict with popularity. It’s something I try to manage.” And he assured that he is in a comfortable place: “I would like to continue like this, let’s say, until the end of my days,” he added.
Xoel López has been the latest protagonist of the EL PAÍS Meetings. Every month, prominent artists from the national scene chat with readers in unique meetings with live performances. By being an EL PAÍS subscriber, you will have access to meetings like this and many more exclusive experiences.Start enjoying the EL PAÍS+ website.