L'Ham de Foc is a Spanish group that has made two beautiful albums. Their music is enchanting and intense. The Spanish sound is mixed with all kinds of influences from other traditional music forms. This creates the group's own timeless sound. The third CD is on it’s way and since the band is not really known here in the Netherlands (but does perform regularly in Germany), an introduction is in order. Who are L'Ham de Foc? Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
The core of the group is formed by singer Mara Aranda and by Efrén López, who plays the various string instruments. We are also the two who make the compositions and lead the band. There are six other musicians besides us. The complete band is as follows: Mara Aranda: vocals, didgeridoo, tanpura Efrén López: zanfona (hurdygurdy), oud, saz, laouto de Creta, langeleik, santur and other string instruments Diego López: percussion (davul, bendir, riq, panderetas, kanjira...) Eduard Navarro: traditional wind instruments (gralla, dolçaina, Xirimia, gaita , gadja...) and string instruments (llaüt, moraharpa...) Constantino López: cittern, oud, saz, mandola. Hristos Barbas: ney, kaval, renaissance flutes Osvaldo Jorge: percussion (tabla, riq, ghatam, darbuka, redoblant...) Juan Manuel Rubio: medieval harp, zanfona, saz, santur. We are based in Valencia, but since it is difficult to find musicians who play the instruments we want, they come from all over Spain and even Greece.
When did you start making music?
As L'Ham we have been playing together for eight years now, but everyone played in other bands before that, with different styles. Some in purely traditional bands, others in more experimental groups. Mara and I (Efrén) met in another band from Valencia, which no longer exists. We discovered that we could inspire each other by composing music that we both love. That is how we started our first sessions at home with simple recording equipment.
Where and from whom did you learn to play traditional music?
Mara studied traditional Valencian singing, and still does, with the best singer ever from Valencia, Apa. Mara and I live together and travel regularly to Greece and Turkey to learn to play the instruments that come from there, such as the saz, laud and oud. Eduard Navarro (one of the musicians in the group) has been teaching the Dolçaina (traditional wind instrument) for more than twenty years. A while ago he went on a field trip and recorded old people who still knew melodies from the old days in small villages. Another musician, Osvaldo Jorge, had a scholarship to study percussion from the North and South of India in Delhi.
Is it true that most of your music is not really traditional, because you wrote it yourself?
We don't like to take traditional melodies and play them our way. We prefer to create our own songs, using the aesthetics and tradition in an open way. All the instruments we use are traditional, we don't use keyboards, bass guitars or drums. However, we try to create a clear and powerful sound of our own. For this we use instruments that have their limits compared to modern instruments, but for us they have a personality.
How would you describe your sound; Spanish, Pan-European, a fusion of Southern European and Oriental music?
The word fusion is often used to give a name to forms of traditional music, whether it comes from Lapland, Turkey, Iran or Galicia, that is mixed with pop or another Anglo-Saxon style. We prefer to use instruments that are sometimes half forgotten, or undervalued, but that can be very inspiring in the process of creating melodies. Perhaps the constant element in our music is a certain form of aesthetics, the drone. You can find this in the medieval music that we find very beautiful, but also in Afghan music, our own traditional music and Scandinavian music, to name a few examples. In addition, we emphasize the lyrics and try to give a poetic twist to what we do.
Your two records seem to be conceptual works. What are your ideas behind these records?
As we actually said in the previous answer, it is mainly about a certain sound that is convincing, the use of instruments that sound really magical and that we ourselves do not even understand a hundred percent because they are not used in other music. When you listen to "modern" music, 90% of the sound is based on guitars, bass and drums. We therefore believe that rock music is the most conservative form of music you can play today. The first album, U, was a very powerful album, the second, Cançó de Dona i Home, was much more ethereal.
What can we expect from the upcoming third album?
The second CD had many quiet passages, but we also felt like we played a lot with compositions of rhythms that we had never used before, such as 11/16, 9/8 and 5/8 bars. However, these pieces were never made on purpose, they emerged in a natural process. Each CD reflects what you are doing at that moment. It is difficult to define your own work, but people who have already heard the new CD say that it is more rhythmic again. The harmonious feeling of Cançó de Dona i Home has disappeared and has made room for a more rhythmic sound. The Turkish saz plays an important role on the new record. We have six different saz instruments, six different big ones, and in several songs this instrument forms the basis. Another aspect is that we use more open structures without thinking about the length of the songs. So there are pieces with long instrumental passages, which may not be so easy to listen to at first hearing.
There is always a lot of time between your records. Is it a long process for you until a record is ready? Can you tell us something about the creative process?
If we would just play traditional songs we could probably make a CD every year. A new record demands a lot from us, too much to just release something. In addition to L'Ham de Foc we have other projects running in parallel that give us new ideas that later find their way into the music of the band. We are not a band that works traditionally and therefore where everyone participates in the creative process. Mara and I compose the music at home and when we have something important to say we record a new CD, without thinking about how we can present that music in a live situation. Only when we have to perform the songs live do we start thinking about the musicians we need for that. Every CD is a project and sometimes the band will look different when we have new repertoire to play live.
What is your view on traditional music? Should it remain pure or are experiments necessary to keep it alive?
We believe that both are necessary. We have worked with other groups that are purely traditional, but also with musicians who do not shy away from experimenting. Tradition is not something static and fixed. It has never been that way. As an example, you can take an instrument like the accordion. This is recognized in Bulgaria, Colombia, France and Egypt as a traditional instrument. But if these traditions had been closed to this instrument at the time of its invention, the possibilities that the instrument offers would have been lost. There are more examples like this.
Is traditional music on the rise in Spain?
Yes, in Spain you see more and more groups, festivals, workshops and instrument builders. We cannot say much about the market for this music. We ourselves listen to mostly purist music that never penetrates the music business.
Translated from: https://www.folkforum.nl/archief/profiel/5119-interview-lham-de-foc
