La calçotada inspired Figa Flawas in creating his second album La Caçotada (Halle Records). “The concept of calcotada fits perfectly with what we stand for, in calcotada you have a good time with almost nothing, just four calcotadas, a table and a piece of field, and in the end, the important thing is the company », says Xavier Cartanyà, DJ and producer of the group, in an interview with ACN. Afrobeat , rumba, reggaeton, hip hop, rap, disco pop, drum'n'bass, bachata, bosa nova, electronic… The album consists of twenty songs intertwined with this diversity of styles. However, singer Pep Velasco explains that food is What gives coherence to the work.
Velez de Vals, the Calcutada festival, as they explain, is very close to them. “We used it and it gives us a distinct cultural touch because we're from Alt Camp and the Falls,” Velasco says. The idea for the album came from the question: “What if we did a calicotada?” In fact, the band became Friends of the Authentic Calcotada 2023-2024 after releasing the first batch of Calcotadas in one of the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) fields of Calcot de Valls at the end of November last year.
Cartania points out that the concept of calcotada fits well with what they stand for: “In calcotada, you have a good time with almost nothing, just four calcotadas, a table and a piece of field, and in the end the important thing is company. If you go to a seafood dinner, that's more snobbery.” “You need the food to be very good and in Calcutada if there is no company, you can't afford it.”
Velasco explains that the one thing that gives cohesion to the entire album is the food. “The vast majority of metaphors relate to food, images of fruit and food vocabulary and this is highly related to sexual content.” It is an LP with 20 tracks, many of which they have published such as “Si tu m ho demanes”, “Diabla”, “4 Kisses”, “XTRATERRESTRES (na de na)”, “Xalalà” or “Musegu”.
“We wanted it to be immersive because the album starts with salsa and ends with vermutillu.” The album consists of a “variety of colors and musical styles” that are an “invented metaphor” for the diversity of guests that the Calcotada can receive. Velasco points out that calcotadas can be family, friends, or typical tourist calcotadas, “for people who are not from Vals and who want to enjoy authentic calcotadas in Vals.”
“It's come”
In “Es ven”, they made a “sample” of Raimon's classic “Al vent”, that is, they took part of the popular song to insert it into their own theme. “We were singing a breakbeat and hip-hop song and we wanted to sample it and we thought 'Al vent' would be a good sample and it came out perfect and that's how the song was born,” Velasco says. On “Mala sang” they also sampled “El bandoler” by Lluís Llach.
cooperation
Among the collaborations on the album, on “La Salsa”, Horny's session consists of musicians such as trumpeters Klaus Struink (Stay Homas) and Gregory Hollis (Si Tangana), keyboardist Kevin Diaz (Compota de Manana), and percussionist Oscar. Ribera “Tubatá” and producer Carlos Avatar. They also collaborate on “La Calçotada” and Mushka on “Diabla”; Barcelona singer Alba Armingo in “Fillet”; Paul Bordas in “Mala sang” and Lluís Gavaldà in “Xalalà”.
Three and a half years of “100 degrees”
It's been three and a half years since Vega Fluas released his debut single “100graus”. During this time, Valz released the album “Joves Tenres”, won the Sóna9 Award, their presence on country shows has increased and they have recently received nominations for the Enderrock Awards. Now they release “La Caçotada,” an album in which they tried to reflect everything they learned and do things professionally and in the best way they know how, says Velasco.
Cartania admits they saw a lot when they won Sona9, even though they took it in November 2022. “When we got involved, we were already experiencing tremendous growth.” However, he explains that with the publication of “Musegu” they have grown a lot and this has made them a “major name” in the emerging new scene and in Catalan music. Velasco believes the group's presence at major festivals also helped. “We kicked the whole of Catalonia, and whether you like it or not you are throwing seeds away.”
Every day, Velasco says, they are “cutting through the stone”: “You have to be ready to make music, compose, demand, be open to the ramifications that open up in the audiovisual world, networking, promotions, and you also have to be on top of everything.”
The singer points out that they have some mental structure of how to do things, but they don't know where they will end up. “It's a constant game and then we improve it.” Planning an album allows you more of these freedoms and that's the blessing of making an album: “the ability to experiment and do new things,” adds Cartania.
Live from music
The group's singer points out that they want to make a living from music, and on an artistic level, the goal that will be achieved is for people to enjoy the music and be able to reach more audiences, “aware of the stylistic and linguistic limitations that we may have.” Cartania emphasizes that they want to continue making the music they love, reach more audiences and have a fairly long career, which is only about two years long.
“We're not a band with a guitar and a bass player and a drummer, we're two people in front of a computer and the computer is a dice and a sound program and you can work with whatever instruments you want,” Velasco declares. “If you add ingenuity and desire, you can experiment wherever you want. The good thing is that we have the tools that allow us to be versatile.” Cartania states that people in general now listen to everything and have fewer complexes. “We'd be bored if we only did one style.”
a trip
Vega Fluas confirms that he will try to surprise in his live shows. “It won't be the same concert as last year, there will be dancing and more live music with more instruments,” Cartania says. “We want to surprise everyone all year long.”
The album showcase tour will begin in Girona at the Strinis Festival on April 6 and will continue at the Sala Apolo as part of the Cruïlla Primavera on April 20, with all tickets sold out. At the Camprodon Festival on April 27; At the Inca Satellite Festival on May 18; At Capro Rock, June 15; And in Canet Rock, July 6; And in Cruella, on July 10; and at Feslloc in Benlloc, on 12 July; At Pirata Beach in Gandia, on 13 July and at Talarn Music Experience, on 18 July.
The Great Calcuttada Festival in Vals
Figa Flawas will put the physical form of the disc on sale at the Gran Festa de la Calçotada de Valls on Sunday. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Albatti will host the Vega Flawas tent, where everyone will be able to purchase the new album in its physical format for the first time. From 14:30 to 18:00, the tent will be in the party area of the Agricultural Society.
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