Interview with Manuel de Angustias

Interview
with

MANUEL DE ANGUSTIAS

«Singing Bambino is very
difficult, you have to have lots of personality, be
very dynamic and have the flavor»

Manuel de Angustias’ artistic name comes
from his grandfather, a non-professional singer from
Utrera who recorded on Antonio Mairena’s major
anthology, although Manuel’s greatest idol is
his uncle Bambino from whom he inherited his singing
persona and his way of delivering rumba and bulería
songs. With his third recording recently out, Manuel
came through Madrid on with the presentation tour which
he hope will make his work, already well-known throughout
Andalucía, popular among Bambino fans in the
rest of Spain, particularly Madrid and Barcelona where
the legendary singer continues to have a huge following.

“Manuel de Angustias”,
just like your grandfather…
Yes, I took my grandfather’s artistic name, I’m
also Manuel and my mother is Angustias, so I’m
Manuel de Angustias.

Who is the elder Manuel de
Angustias?
My grandfather is well-known in Utrera, he wasn’t
a professional singer and never liked that world. He
sang seguiriyas, bulerías, soleá, pure
traditional flamenco with his own special style. He
recorded with Antonio Mairena and also made a record
with Tate Montoya, “Calle Nueva”, but he
never wanted to go professional…he was a butcher
and had no interest in that world. He went to Madrid
with Bambino three months but couldn’t stand it
and came back to Utrera. His recordings are there for
everyone to hear, he’s a great cantaor.

What about your uncle Bambino?
He’s been the mirror in which I’ve always
seen myself reflected, I’ve admired his way of
singing, ever since I was small, and that’s the
line that suits me best.

But
you have a personal style even singing Bambino…
I sing songs that aren’t Bambino’s but everyone
thinks they are. The song “Cobarde”, many
people have said how well I do “that Bambino song”,
but it’s mine, and I am aware I sound like him.

He did bulerías and
rumba, but has always been respected as flamenco…
Bambino was a creator, he sangs boleros to bulería
and created a way of singing rumba, always very flamenco,
and he had a privileged voice no one has been able to
reproduce…Bambino was flamenco above all else.

Bambino represented a style,
and a life-style as web…
He lived according to his own vision, and he was as
great a singer as he was a person, very generous, no
one around him ever lacked for anything. In the nineteen-sixties
when young people from Utrera got married they always
went to Madrid on their honeymoon to see Bambino…he
would take care of them and pay for everything, it became
a tradition, if you were getting married, you went to
Madrid to see Bambino.

In those days Bambino had
already crossed international frontiers…
During that time in Madrid there were singers like Camarón,
Turronero, Rancapino, Agujetas, Morente, the Moneos…geniuses
all of them, but the first one to be successful and
make big money was Bambino, he was the strar, the singer’s
singer…

Nowadays you don’t see
much of his style, there’s so much flamenco-rock,
flamenco-pop… Although it might not be right
to say so because I’m his nephew and that’s
my style, but singing Bambino is very difficult, you
have to have lots of personality, be very dynamic and
have the flavor…not many people can do it, there’s
me and a few others, Falete as well although he’s
more into lyrical singing.

You’ve taken some of
his songs and style, but what is your contribution in
adapting it to modern times?
It’s a problem, record companies want you to use
arrangements that will sound good on the radio and be
more commercial, but if you have a foundation in traditional
flamenco and your singing really grabs people, that’s
what flamenco is about, communicating, and that’s
where Bambino was one of the best,.

And how do you differ from
Bambino’s line?
Well, you could say Bambino was more of a “rumbero”,
but I like to put songs to bulerías more, and
with a slower tempo…Bambino was very fast tempos.
I don’t try to imitate anyone, and I’ll
never reach Bambino’s heights, but I do hope to
communicate that style.

«In Utrera there have
only been geniuses like Fernanda, Bernarda, Pepa de
Utrera, Gaspar, Bambino…»

In Utrera everything is impregnated
with Bambino’s sound…what about today’s
singers in Utrera?
It’s been twenty years since anyone new has come
up, I think people were reluctant, in Utrera there have
only been geniuses like Fernanda, Bernarda, Pepa de
Utrera, Gaspar, Bambino…and my uncle too, why
not? People were afraid to open their mouths, who’s
brave enough to sing in front of Fernanda at a ‘fiesta’?

However, I think there’s now a new crop of singers
in Utrera, each one with a particular style, fresh blood,
Tomás de Perrate, Luis el Marquesito, Mari Peña,
el Nico…there are really good people singing very
well. At the last Feria del Flamenco we presented Ahora
Utrera which we also performed at the Forum in Barcelona
and other places, little by little we’re pulling
ourselves up by the bootstraps.

Do you like traditional flamenco
singing?
Yes, I’m crazy about it and I sing it now and
again, but at private parties, fiestas, with friends
and family…soleá, siguiriya, my grandfather’s
cante. He was the first to record “Lágramas
Negras” back in 1965 and I like to do these thing
my grandfather did, he was a pioneer.

You’ve
traveled quite a bit, to Japan, the Américas…
Yes, and I was at Luis Alfonso de Borbón’s
wedding in Venezuela, his mother Carmen Martínez
Bordiu is a friend of mine and they hired me to sing
at the wedding, to give a flamenco touch.

Do you always interpret your
own repertoire, or other things as web?
No, I’ve always performed my own things…in
Mont-de-Marsan, Biarritz, Miami, Santo Domingo…with
my repertoire and my people…we hope to work in
Madrid as well.

Let’s talk about the
record, that song “Cobarde” that everyone
says sounds like Bambino’s…
“Cobarde” was written by Tate Montoya, it’s
a song done to bulerías, then there “Huye
de mí”, a tango-rumba by Paco Ortega, “Amarte
es un placer” in a version of a Luis Miguel song
which I do to bulerías, and “Sabor a mí”
which is also sung by Luis Miguel and I do as a rumba.

The song “Soy” is by Rafael Rodríguez,
a guitarist at the Los Gallos tablao whose song “Rumbo
perdido” is on the previous record, a rumba by
a butcher from an Utrera butcher. There are three Bambino
songs, “Amar y vivir”, “Ni me ofende”
and “El poeta lloró”, I always include
my own versions of Bambino songs.

What about the production?
Tere Peña, Lebrijano’s sister took care
of that because she knows me very well and is closely
involved in Utrera cante…she contributed her experience
and lots of love, I’m very happy with the result
and think she did a good job of directing me.

«On this record there’s
a more mature Manuel de Angustias”

Although your earlier recordings
are hard to come by, what Manuel de Angustias can we
expect to find on this new one?
On this record there’s a more mature Manuel de
Angustias, and in performance, more stage-wise. I like
live performance best of all, the movement, my little
dance, playing with the verses, it’s much more
exciting.

You already have a promotional
tour organized in Andalusia…
I’ve got more than 18 shows including Cádiz,
Málaga, Córdoba, Sevilla… But I
want to break that barrier and reach Madrid and Barcelona
where Bambino had many followers and was well-loved.

Text & photos: Rafael
Manjavacas