Happiness is Just Around the Corner.

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by Mariela Perez

Formentera is an island of silvery sand beaches and exuberant flora and fauna located in the Mediterranean Sea, near Ibiza. Due to its small size, the island has no airport, and visitors only have access to it via ferry. This particular aspect gives Formentera the un-hurried pace that attracted Jarabe de Palo’s crew when looking for a refuge to record BONITO, their fourth and latest release.

If you thought that La Flaca was as cheerful, Depende as deep, and De Vuelta y Vuelta as reflective as Jarabe de Palo can get, you gonna have to think again. BONITO is all of the above, multiplied. Beaming, radiating happiness and enthusiasm this album can make your day.

The childrens’ chorus that at times resembles Manu Chao’s music, the Caribbean, Brazilian and world rhythms, the outstanding percussion, the uplifting messages and the overall festive mood we find in BONITO, will make you smile all over. Latin Rock doesn’t get any better than this.

Pau Dones, lead singer, has created a reputation with his inimitable ability to look at ordinary life’s details, and beautifully collage them into a song. He has written lyrics for a variety of Latin musicians ranging from Ricky Martin to Celia Cruz.

He spoke with us on his cell phone from Milan, Italy, about Formentera, BONITO, and his experience as songwriter.

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Pau, what a beautiful recording! It makes me feel great just listening to it. Are you aware of how your music impacts the listeners?

I am very aware of the emotions they create in me, but my main objective is to communicate with others. If those songs are able to create emotions in someone else, that’s just fantastic, because that’s my main goal, to create songs that people will acknowledge.

Tell us a little more about the experience recording BONITO at Formentera. I understand you and the members of Jarabe got up at 8:00 a.m. and went to the beach every morning before recording.

Yes. We wanted to make an album that would remind us that it’s worthwhile to live in this world, and that no matter what, the world keeps spinning. We wanted to make a happy album, a positive album, an album that would give “good vibes”. By going to the island we wanted to recreate that atmosphere. We recorded for about two and a half months, and mixing took us about a month and a half. Out of 25 songs we selected the 14 you find in the album. There, in the United States, this island is well known because during the sixties many hippies visited it. Even the Eagles recorded an album there.

How the idea of “Bonito” (the song) come to you?

It came one day as I realized I was being sabotaged with so much negative news. Everything coming from the press was news about the war, violence, and injustices. Then I realized that in the world we also have positive things. We have bad people, but also good people. I wrote this song as a protest for being manipulated that way. I wrote it because I wanted to send a positive message about what’s good in the world, and let people know we are lucky to be here, especially those of us who live in the first world. Honestly, it took me a while to write the lyrics, and add the music later. But I am very happy with how it turned out because I think it’s a happy and optimistic song.

Tell me about your writing process. What usually comes first the music, the lyrics or both?

It depends. It depends on the moment. Sometimes the lyrics come first, but sometimes is the music. What I do try to do is to match a good music to a good song, and to have this lyrics and this music understand each other. I don’t believe so much in the time or place, but in the need to narrate something. To write a song I must have the need to express something.

So you don’t try to set a time each day to write or anything like that?

If I have an idea I have to write it right there, wherever I am: getting out of the shower in the morning; in a bar having a beer; in a plane going from… I don’t know… from Mexico to Colombia. The process of writing a song can be like a paranoid act. If you have an idea in your head, you sort of feel sick to your stomach, and you start writing, and changing things around… Writing a song is like a fight where you don’t always have a good time, but where you always win.

What have you learned after recording four successful albums?

Well, what I know for sure is that I still have a lot to learn. I suppose I have learned some. There has been an evolution musically and lyrically, too. I have noticed in my music many influences because of being around people like Jovanotti [Italian rapper]. I think that listening to other people’s music takes your music from one place to another, without ever leaving behind your personality or your path. I have learned some, but there’s still a lot to learn.

What advice would you give to songwriters just starting out?

To write, but above all, to enjoy writing. In life you have to do things with a goal. My goal is to be happy and to enjoy the present. So my advice to them is to write a lot and to never think they know it all.

What kind of music are you listening to these days?

I have been listening to a lot of jazz lately, and also, more contemporary artists such as Coldplay and Sheryl Crow. I also listen to my all-time records like Bob Marley’s, the Rolling’s, Van Morrison’s, etc.