At five years old, Alba S. Torremocha (Salamanca, 32 years old) already had a violin in his hands. At seven, he played him at the Professional Music Conservatory in his city. But what really fascinated was understanding what came out of his guts. “I was more interested in the counterpoint and harmony than to throw myself four or five hours playing the violin every day,” he recalls. He studied the Baccalaureate of Technological Sciences, a “treatment” not to bother his parents, but at the same time he began to alternate the arch with the baton. He entered the Musikene – the Higher Music Center in the Basque Country – to study composition and with only 20 years he decided to move to the United States to specialize in the composition of music for film at New York University (NYU).
He no longer returned to Spain: he stayed to devote himself to the composition of music for film in one of the epicenters of the audiovisual industry. There has released some pieces for short films, but this summer has returned to Spain to present its first great project here: the soundtrack of The footballs 2second installment of the big screen of the Roberto Santiago’s book saga, one of the great phenomena of youth literature in recent years. The film opens this Friday in Spanish cinemas, directed by Miguel Ángel Lamata.
Ask. Why did you decide to study and work in New York?
Answer. I can tell you the exact moment I put on Google: which is the best place to study film music. I thought that if I introduced me to the best university in the world to study this and valued me and took me, it would be another push to dedicate myself to this.
P. Was there no Spanish university on that list?
R. No. In a superior conservatory, for example, which is the normal way if you study music, you are more focused on playing.
P. Is there a disinterest in the composition for cinema in Spain?
R. There is no representation. You can count on the fingers of one hand the known Spanish composers dedicated to this here.
P. What does he attribute it to? With 303 feature films last year, Spain is the second European country with more production.
R. You don’t hear much talk about the composition, the press does not talk about it. And that results in less children wanting to devote themselves to this, less offer, less schools …
P. Nor is it a profession specially given to fame, right?
R. If what you want is glory, the worst thing you can do is be a movie composer because when you have done your job excellently is when you least show.
P. How was your collaboration in The footballs 2?
R. It was a long time ago, when he played in the young Symphony Orchestra City of Salamanca, composer Fernando Velázquez addressed us one day. I told her that I was interested in composition. When I went to the United States, we kept contact and has become a friend. And he spoke to the producers of me.
P. How was the work with Miguel Ángel Lamata, the director?
R. A delight. From the first moment we understood each other perfectly.
P. Is this difficult to happen?
R. Basic things are usually understood very quickly, but there is a very subtle subtext that is sometimes more difficult.
P. In this type of projects, is the margin of creativity normally limited?
R. Each person is a world. There are times to mix a little everything and the producers have opinions, the director has another and you stay there in the middle … I like the negotiation or conversation part between the composer and the director, to have two creative ideas that in the end they have to converge.
P. Has it been difficult to assert your voice being such a young woman?
R. Yes, being a woman and young makes it more difficult. The first thought that people have, especially when you work with an orchestra with older people, is: “This one that will teach me.” It happened to me when recording the soundtrack of Los Soccer. Nothing happens, it is a bit cultural too, but I believe that internationally if you are a young woman it is assumed that you have no idea what you are talking about.
P. No problem? Have you not had consequences in your career?
R. I will never say I feel discriminated against being a woman. The truth is that you never know the projects that do not touch you, you don’t know those.
P. He has done projects on the migratory reality in the US or about apartheid … never something for children, never a comedy like now.
R. The first thing that Miguel Ángel, the director, told me was: “I do not want this to have music of children. This is a film in which the protagonists are children, but the emotions and adventures that pass are completely real.” It is a soundtrack for adults.
P. How has this music built?
R. We have taken everything to the extremes, which is what the contrast does and that the comedy comes out the most.
P. How was the work with the orchestra?
R. In the US I have learned to be very efficient. We had two and a half days of trial for 87 minutes. And the first day the sound engineer pulled me away and said: “Hey, Alba, if we continue with this rhythm, we finish the entire soundtrack today and we have hired the orchestra for two days.”
P. Are there other differences between both worlds?
R. Yes, in the idiosyncrasy of work. In Spain, for example, you get an opposition and voila. It shows that many of those orchestras that have been with fixed places for years are deteriorating because people take the square at 20 and the 50s no longer have the same level. In the US every three months they do a test and if you are not the best you are not. The result is valued much more and always on that first level.
P. Have you achieved a balance between demand and quality of life?
R. Now I want to focus more on quality projects, less quantity, and a quieter standard of living. And that’s why I just moved from New York to Austin (Texas).
P. His generation faces a future dominated by AI, do you think it is a threat to its work?
R. I see it as a tool. Fear has never given anything positive. It will come and we cannot do anything to change it. Our work as artists, instead of complaining, is to use it in our favor.
P. Do you already do it?
R. I use it for things that are not creative, but give me more time to create. Instead of throwing myself an hour doing budgets, I do it in ten minutes.
P. All the idiosyncrasy of the speed and efficiency of the one who speaks of the United States seems to marry the AI.
R. Art is an expression of the human being, not an execution of something. The expression of the human being can only be done by the human being. Everything will evolve and we will have to adapt, but I don’t see it as a threat.