In this interview, we delve into the world of CIUTAT, who share their inspirations and unique perspectives.
1. Introduce Yourself to the Casawi Community: What drives you? What's your artistic vision, and what sets you apart from the crowd?
We are Ciutat, a band from Barcelona. Ciutat means “City” in Catalan, but both of us are actually from small towns. What drives us is creating a 360º experience around our music, and we believe that’s what makes us different. Going to one of our gigs is similar to attending a Cirque du Soleil show, but with four guys playing jazzy electronic pop.
2. City Inspirations: How has your city influenced your artistic path? Share how its streets, culture, and energy have molded your work.
As we said, we both come from small towns in Catalonia. But we meet in the city, and Barcelona is where we live and operate. That’s also why we picked that name, because a city is a place where like-minded people can meet and explore their particular interests together. Barcelona has always been an open city, and historically has been a crossroads of different cultures, with the Mediterranean Sea as the door. We are very fond of that and we try to reflect this mixture in our music.
3. Creative Process: What fuels your creativity? Whether it's a ritual, a muse, or a moment of clarity, we're keen to learn.
Good question. If all artists had a clear answer to that question, we’d probably be doing nothing else. We are not entirely sure, but we suppose it has a lot to do with experiencing things (letting things happen to you, love, heartbreak…).
I (Jordi) once had a jazz teacher who used to say that no matter how technically virtuosic you are, you need to have lived things in order to have something interesting to say in music. And I tend to agree.
4. City Lifestyle and Art: How the places you lived influenced your career and work?
Living in different places has definitely shaped our work. Growing up in a small town, surrounded by nature, also I (Guillem) lived in London, which definitely shaped my taste in music. But then we both ended up in Barcelona, as we said, about five years ago, and we randomly met at a Kamal Williams concert in Sala Apolo (probably the most influential music club in Barcelona).
Big cities allow you to connect with other artists. In our case, that led to the creation of our DJ and producer collective “Mainline”. At the same time, being in the countryside gives us space and distance to reflect, disconnect from the scene, and stay focused on what really moves us. The contrasts are essential to how we create.
5. Latest or Upcoming Projects: Give us a glimpse into your current endeavors and what lies ahead on your creative journey.
This week marks one year since we started traveling regularly to Granada to record an album with a flamenco artist. It’s going to be quite different from anything we’ve done before, and we’re really excited about it. We’re still not sure exactly when it will come out, but it’ll be sooner rather than later, since we’re now in the final stages of finishing the demos.
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