Pau Crego Walters On the Making Of ‘Avant Garde vol.1’
What was the creative process like for this particular 'Avant Garde vol.1?'
For ‘Avant Garde,’ my process has been to experiment and try to reach other parts of myself I didn't know where there every time I was in the studio. I started out as a "backpack" rapper wanting to always stay within 80- 90 BPM and making everything sound "lyrical" but as I explored more genres in music and opened my mind more I realised I didn't need to stay in one lane in particular and that's what these mixtapes are about as much as each story told within.
Sometimes within HipHop culture or any culture within any genre of music, there's this feeling that if you try to go for something more "mainstream" sounding you are selling out and trying to be something you're not. But if it comes naturally to you and you like making music why put yourself in that box? I want to do disco music in the near future and club-friendly stuff as well as deep and more thoughtful records.
What is your personal favorite song from 'Avant Garde vol.1' and why?
It's kind of impossible to decide for me. Specially since I feel my range has expanded a lot and there's still a lot more to explore. Right now I would say my favourite song is “Viento,” I really like how it sounds and I'm proud of myself for making a record like this. I think in Spanish hip hop at least people haven't heard anything quite like this and it represents very well who I am.
What impact do you hope 'Avant Garde vol.1' will have on your audience?
I hope this introduces me to them and they realise that I'm a versatile artist and maybe there's stuff they can enjoy more or things they don't like as much about me and my music but I think in this project and in the near future people will be able to always find a side of me to appreciate, or at the very least respect it. Understand that I'm a full human being and that's what we all are, sometimes we can be in one role and sometimes we can be in another and it doesn't make us less human or less valid.
Was there a pivotal moment in your life when you decided to follow your path as a musician?
Nothing in particular I can remember more than listening to other artists’ albums and thinking I want to make something like that someday, especially when I heard Good Kid M.a.a.D city for the first time, Baduizm by Erykah Badü and Blacklisted by Skepta.
If I'm being honest it happens to me almost every time I hear an exciting artist even if it's someone in the street just performing or in an open mic.
I'm excited cause I feel like every time I'm getting closer and closer to sounding like my "heroes" and also, finding my own within that expectation that I have of myself. Coming to terms with knowing I won't exactly be like them or have their journey but having the downright skill to match and be in that same category one day.
Have you ever encountered resistance or pushback when experimenting with your art? If so, how did you handle it?
As I mentioned earlier I think this was mostly my own struggle with myself. But I do feel like Barcelona's Hip Hop scene, at least at the time I was in that scene can be closed-minded in the aspect of not wanting to be labeled "mainstream" which I fully understand in the sense of, you don't want your music to sound like it came from the corporate machine of the industry but at the same time if you can make people dance and have a little escapism with your music why would you not want that? This has of course changed but at the time I was in those circles I felt a bit of pushback for trying to do my own thing and of course like any independent, unknown musician I feel like I'm constantly in struggle to get heard and for people to understand and appreciate what I'm doing. I feel like this is slowly improving but our expectations as musicians can sometimes be unrealistic and if you don't get that instant validation you feel like no one is on your side.
