Asier Etxeandia

Maybe it’s the fact that when he was really a little boy he got bruised rather than praised. When he sings ‘El intérprete’, you know he’s looking back and inside himself when he croons, ‘When I was a little boy, I’d face the wall in a corner of my bedroom… and began to sing’.

What would Rosa María Etxeandia, your mother, say if she could see your autobiographical show?

–Mmmm… She’d be out of her mind. She’d be so happy to see her son became the man she expected him to be. She would’ve liked to see me. In fact, I’m fulfilling the dreams of two people: me and my mother.

What part of the show is the most difficult to perform?

–All of them. It’s a journey back to childhood, to the things I’ve been through. To the days when children laughed at me and bullied me in school. When I talk about my parents, my mother, whom I loved so much, who passed away six years ago..

Have you ever thought of throwing in the towel?

–Never, no way! There’s nothing else I can do. I’m a school dropout, I haven’t passed a single subject, I can’t do maths… What could I do if I didn’t sing? There’s no towel to throw in!

What kind of music would you listen to when you were in the bedroom you mention in the show?

–Madonna! I wanted to be a bitch like she was. I wanted absolute freedom. I’d also listen to Mocedades, my parents played their records. Actually, I’d listen to a little bit of everything: David Bowie, The Beatles, Silvio Rodríguez… Now I’m into Radiohead and Arcade Fire. I love people who expose themselves, who’re not afraid of being ridiculous, who leave their hats on through thick and thin.

Before making it in Madrid, you went to an acting academy and sort of fled away, and you even worked in a sex shop in Vitoria. What are your memories of those days?

–I had a rock band and a street theatre troupe; I used to hang out with them. I’m now 39 and I feel the same, but I’m a little bit homesick for those days of freedom, innocence and bohemia. I didn’t need much back then: a mattress in a room was enough. Now we pay mortgages and all that shit, we’re like clogs in the machine of society and I don’t really like that. It constrains your work as an artist. I have fond memories of those days, even of the acting school, despite the awful experiences with some teachers. I spent five years there, and in a way they were the best years of my life. Besides, I’ve learnt to forgive. With time, you come to terms with your past. You see things from a different perspective and get ready to face new, bigger, problems.

Do you feel you´re a prophet in your own land?

–There was a time when I felt I was being ignored here while everybody loved me in Madrid. When I staged El intérprete at the Arriaga Theatre in Bilbao, I was so nervous… It was so strong that I lost my voice due to fear and stress. But it sold out in three days, the audiences had a great time, and I felt I’d conquered my hometown.