María José Llergo: "When you fly in a globalized world, it's very easy to get carried away by the wind if you don't have a root to return to."

She's just been to Córdoba , to her hometown, Pozoblanco, and also to Hinojosa del Duque. She performed in Poland a few days ago. Up ahead are cities like Paris, Manchester, London, Brussels, and Copenhagen. And Jerez, of course. María José Llergo (Pozoblanco, 1994) continues with the tour for her album ' Ultrabelleza ,' which, before taking her abroad for the second time this fall, still has some special nights in store for her in Spain, like the one this August 16th. at the Tío Pepe Festival in Jerez de la Frontera.

" I'm a huge fan of La Paquera de Jerez ," María José Llergo stated over the phone in an interview with ABC a few days before the concert. "I have a song that deals with my own bisexuality called 'Un Novix,' and the melody is a bulería by La Paquera . For me, it's so beautiful to give back to Jerez a little of the enormous amount that the singing of Jerez gives me. And of Cádiz in general! Starting with Camarón," the Cordoba-born artist explains about this event, which, for her, is special: "It's incredibly emotional, the responsibility of doing it well and living up to expectations. I'm thrilled to be able to have a beautiful audience there and give back a little of the enormous amount that they've given me without them even knowing it."

-You've just been in Córdoba for a few days, following the initiative you launched with Viento de Pueblo to help Hipólito, a potter from Hinojosa del Duque. How did the initiative come about?

I saw that Viento de Pueblo made a video about Hipólito highlighting his art, and I loved it so much that I shared it. In that video, Hipólito said he had a dream he hadn't yet fulfilled, which was to pass on his knowledge to someone. Because, due to life circumstances, his relatives never dedicated themselves to pottery. And he's the eighth link in his lineage who is a potter: his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, his great-great-grandfather, his great-great-great-grandfather, were all potters. He was very sad that the chain had broken for him. And although he couldn't teach his children the art of pottery, because they have other types of jobs, he would still like to be able to teach it to someone. So I said: this can be fixed in a second.

I spoke with Juan García from Viento de Pueblo and said, "Let's organize a day and find people." I opened a question box on Instagram, and tons of people started signing up—tons and tons... more than 100! We made a selection; my idea was to keep it to less than ten, so that Hipólito could feel completely comfortable with the people who came during his first meeting and really connect with the apprentices. I can say it was a complete success; Hipólito was all smiles. The meeting lasted from August 3rd to the 10th, a week long process. People came from all over the Iberian Peninsula, but also from Germany and Belgium. So we're very happy. The meeting was just ending today, and we're going to do it again as soon as possible because it was truly wonderful. In the end, the experience was a success.

-This has also served to give visibility to these trades that are being lost, which is not the only one. Have we accommodated ourselves to the industrialized world?

With industrialization, globalization, and the rise of aluminum and plastic, there are ancient and ancient crafts, such as pottery, that are being lost. The use of clay to make figures that last for centuries is incompatible with the fact that we constantly buy expired products on Amazon; it makes us not value handmade things. And I say Amazon, as I can say any other platform. The value of handcrafted craftsmanship is that it also lasts a lifetime. Handcrafted pieces are passed down from father to son. I have wicker baskets from my grandfather Ángel, wooden figures that he handcrafted before he died. They were passed down from my grandfather to my father; my father passed them down to me, and I hope to pass them down to whoever comes after me.

-In an interview with ABC, you made a comparison between your music and craftsmanship, saying that you felt a similarity in the way you approach it.

It's a way of understanding life. It's taking a long-term view rather than a short-term one. That's why when people talk to me so much about trends, I say: I look at them, I observe, I learn from them, but I never jump on a trend. That's also my way of doing things. It's my way of thinking long-term rather than short-term.

-Building your career and your compositions on fashions and trends makes everything fleeting and non-permeable, right?

-Of course, and not even in myself. I mean, what I want to give to society is a true, pure, and as transparent a reflection as possible, so that when I leave this world I feel at peace because I know what I've given is sincere. Not doing something because it's trendy now, period. That doesn't fulfill me either.

-Is the disappearance of these certain professions a sign that something is wrong? What are we doing wrong?

-That we don't know what our roots are. So it's very easy for someone to take them away from you without you even realizing it. And then, when I've tried to find them, they're gone, there are no more documents, no more proof that you come from there. It's very easy to fly in a globalized world, but when you fly, it's very easy to be carried away by the wind if you don't have firm roots to return to. So all these crafts, all these legacies from our grandparents... they're really a way to connect with who we truly are and grow from there, but not the other way around. Because it may be too late when you want to look into your origins and see that they haven't been cared for. Maybe until you find the root.

Speaking of roots, you've been living in the mountains of Madrid for some time now. How are you handling the change?

It's a gamble, especially because when you're touring, it's not as easy to tour from a rural area like my region. Unfortunately, we're not as well-connected as a big city. I hope we get to the point where we are, where we are, and we have the opportunity to travel back and forth home all the time and from there also build careers like this one. Look, I go back to my hometown a lot. I mean, I've been back four times in two months. I go a lot, and that's what keeps me from losing my mind.

-Be close to the root, as you said before.

-Of course, and above all, when I'm there, I do things that truly nourish me and that I feel are also nourishing for my roots. Because it's not just that I feel protected by it, but I try to water it so that those who come after me find a super-favorable environment and find evidence of who we are.

-Those of us who are rooted in the village tend to experience summer differently, and with such a long tour and living in Madrid, how are you coping?

I seek out my time in the village, and especially in nature. That's what recharges my batteries the most. Simply observing animals, caring for animals, looking at the sky. I try to maintain balance. I know it's complicated and that the word balance is a contradiction in terms because once you achieve it, you quickly lose it, and once you lose it, you dream about achieving it all the time. It's like a utopia in my world. But I try to spend most of my time in balance. I mean, for me, it wouldn't make sense to be on international stages if I couldn't enjoy my family or my little animals, my donkey Manolillo, my grandfather. So that's why I tell you I go to my village four times in two months, which is very good for me. In the villages, people of all ages come together, whether in the countryside, at a festival, in a park, on a bar terrace, and we talk about things across the board.

-That is not so common in cities.

-More than anything because those family threads that connect us all don't exist. In the villages, if you have a lot of tomatoes and your neighbor has a lot of onions, well, you give each other a little bit of each, and everyone has everything. In the villages, hunger is what rules. You're downstairs in the yard with your friends, like I spent day and day and day with my friends in the yard of my house, and I'd come home because I was hungry or because it had gotten dark. Or suddenly you'd be out in the countryside playing with your cousins in the pool, having a great time, and your mother's voice would sound, crossing space-time: María José, let's eat! And you: Well, goodbye, I have to go [laughs]. And you leave.

-The clock doesn't exist.

There's another kind of clock. The biological clock, of being hungry or sleepy. The heart clock, of wanting to see your grandfather who's already walking to the field and you're going to give him a glass of gazpacho before he starts plowing the land. The sky clock, where night falls and you have to go home to sleep. Or even home to look at the stars with your parents. I'd say that even permeates your compositions, which speak a lot about nature, even about spirituality, about pause.

-Have we lost that view of the world?

"I don't know. It saddens me to think we've lost it, because it's very valuable. I hope it doesn't get lost. I mean, anyone who doesn't know God prays to any saint. And when you look at the starry sky of, for example, my region of Los Pedroches, and then you go to the starless sky of, for example, a big city like Madrid, you also realize humility, the greatness of simplicity. That we have to clear the sky of clouds and pollution so that the little diamonds can shine every night."

-Continuing with the nature metaphor, you're still on a very long tour with 'Ultrabelleza,' one could even say it's been a time of sowing. What do you hope to reap? Perhaps with the next album.

-This is very atypical. I mean, living two years touring on an album these days… I think I'm reaping something very beautiful, which is a creative process I had with 'Ultrabelleza,' quite demanding on my part and seeking continuous experimentation, so I'm happy because I feel that what I sowed with a lot of love ultimately bears lasting fruit. And that also makes a lot of sense to my way of thinking. Because it wouldn't make sense to think like this if, when it came time to reap the rewards, the result was different.

-It makes you feel on the right path, that you are right about the decisions you have made.

-I feel like it makes sense. I don't know if it's a matter of reason or not, because I never like to have it. It's a huge burden. But I feel like it does make sense to think long-term like this, and that both as an artist and as a person, it's what I want. In my personal relationships, too, I always look for the long term. That's important. Taking care of the care, the dedication, the pure thoughts and feelings. Well, the same with my music, exactly the same. And it yields good results. In other words, a stable bond, a lasting bond, a truly beautiful bond. A nurturing bond.

-The body gets used very quickly to what is easy, to what is disposable.

-That makes you sick. It takes away what little humanity we have left, it takes it away. And it takes away your little health, and it takes away your little joy. I mean, when something nourishes, it nourishes in the long term. Not in the short term, then it's not nourishing you, it's giving you something and then taking three times as much away.

-You mentioned earlier the creative process for your previous album. How's this one going? Because you're already working on the third.

-Well, the creative process for this album has been wonderful and super fun. You'll understand why [laughs]. I can't tell you much, except that I'm really enjoying it more than ever.

-After the summer comes the international tour. What's the most rewarding aspect of this type of tour abroad? And conversely, what do you find most challenging?

-I'm pretty grateful in general. Because in every country I've been to, I've found bigger audiences than I expected. And then, for example, I'd never sung in Poland before. And last week I had a concert in Poland and I had a really great time. We were at a festival, the OK Festival, and it was all post-punk, punk, heavy metal, psychedelic rock bands. That kind of music, you know? And I'm like, wow! How scary! I mean, right behind me, on the same stage as me, right after my concert, Fontaines DC was playing, which is one of my favorite bands. But of course, they make music that's diametrically opposed to what I make. And I was scared. In fact, I was telling my team, I don't know, will they understand me? Will they like it? Will they connect?

-But they did enjoy it.

-If you could see the people... they were enjoying themselves! They were connecting. I scrabbled in my English. A few words in Polish too. It was a super receptive audience, super music-loving, super fun. One of the most beautiful experiences I've had with this album, so let's not underestimate the power of music. Because it's all-powerful and it's a bridge between human beings. It makes us unite and surrenders us to beauty. So I'm so grateful and so happy. And I'm also discovering that I often set my own limits. Because music itself opens me up to the world. So I don't have to be afraid, I have to have love.

-Did you manage to speak with them, with Fontaines DC?

- No way! I saw them a little bit and ran into their backliner, who was next to mine. And I was really excited. I saw them on stage. I'll also tell you, I'm a super shy person. In fact, I went to see Julieta Venegas recently and I was super shy. I don't want to bother anyone, I don't want to bother anyone. And Julieta: "Man, María José, come here!" And me, do you know me? Oh, how amazing [laughs]. I'm super shy. And I respect the people I admire so much that I almost never approach them or ask for photos or anything at all. I just enjoy their presence and their essence. And it's rare that people see me taking a photo with someone I admire. More than anything because it inspires a lot of respect. And shyness. And also in those moments, I disconnect from my phone. I take photos with my eyes, that's how I'll remember them forever. Then someone always comes along and says, "Come on, take a picture!" And in the end, the picture is taken. But I stick to my guns about living in the here and now because it's all I have. The present.

-You've said before that what Fontaines DC and you do is diametrically opposed, but you share two important things: roots and commitment.

"I think that's a compliment. I think an artist has to be committed. We have a very big platform, and we have to say things that matter."

-There's a certain amount of controversy with artists who don't take a stand, who don't use their voices... That voice is still a responsibility. Why do you think this happens?

-Because there are interests above all else. And they often condition us. We have clauses in the contracts we sign many months in advance. And many times you suddenly realize that a festival is financed by a fund. And you find out two days before that performance and you have a team already in place and a contract you can't break, because on top of that, if you break it, you'll be hit with a huge fine. My freedom is also enshrined in a contract with my record label. We live in a capitalist system where there is free trade, and trade is often freer than people. That's why I don't like to judge any artist based on the actions they do or don't do. I tend to focus more on the music, and when there's something I like, I'm passionate about, I share it, I listen to it, I learn from it, too. But the thing is, we live in a capitalist system where not everything is what it seems. We shouldn't judge.

-In your case, you do take a position.

I'm lucky because I take a stand and I take a stand. And I can strike a balance between myself and my artistry. And no one's going to tell me what to think. I'm going to make songs about the Mediterranean and the people who lose their lives crossing it in 2025, which seems completely crazy to me. We can't call ourselves developed countries if these atrocities happen. To me, it's inconceivable. A social injustice that truly hurts me. So I make songs about it. But I understand that not everyone has the freedom or the desire to receive hate. Because even when you take a stand, you receive hate, and you prefer to focus on the music because, in the end, we are artists and we make music. I can't help it, honestly. It hurts me to see evil, even if I don't do it, but it hurts me. If I keep quiet, it sticks inside me.

-In the end, that music speaker also serves to convey those messages. To summarize what you said: it's a bridge between humans.

I really liked something that happened in Seville: there was a Palestinian flag waving in the audience at Interstellar. I politely asked the fans who had it for it. And the flag waved on the microphone stand throughout the concert. There are many ways to show solidarity. Show and demonstrate. And there are many people who help. For me, there's material solidarity, and another that's more ideological, spiritual, or heartfelt. You can help in many ways. There are people who can help materially, but also take a stand, speak, share, and feel solidarity. And sharing it emotionally is also very nourishing and helpful.

-Help us not to lose our humanity.

-Yes, absolutely. Because if not, we're dead. If they take away our humanity, then what are we? Objects? All the time at the service of the market, of capital. I don't see it.