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Written by Mario Ivan Oña
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Tuesday, 15 January 2008 |
Manu Chao looks terribly nervous backstage at Philly's Electric Factory club during his biggest North American tour in over 15 years. Although I'd interviewed him by phone a week earlier, I wanted to see how the real Chao stacked up against the almost mythological Chao— the world-traveling musician known for going into remote villages in Africa and Latin America to jam with locals. After pacing around like a nervous boxer before his bout, he walks toward me—a total stranger—extends his hand and says, "Hi, I'm Manu."
To understand why the term "legendary" precedes him, it's important to start from the beginning. José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao, born in Paris, is the son of Ramón and Felisa, two immigrants who left Spain and the Basque Country, respectively, during Francisco Franco's fascist regime.
"My mother's youth was very complicated due to the civil war in Spain," Chao explained during our phone interview. "My grandfather was condemned to death in Spain and had to flee the country." This partially explains Chao's general distrust for governments and his self-proclaimed status as a "citizen of the time."
"Once I grew up a little, I went into my neighborhood, which was very rock 'n' roll and rockabilly, and took to the great adventure of the streets," he continues. "It was impossible to play anything else or you'd get beat up. The big one for me was Chuck Berry—without a doubt. Later, punk arrived, despite the malandros [hoodlums] of the neighborhood not accepting it. Eventually, we brought in The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, The Ramones and we started forming bands." Chao "left everything to go and make music" when he was about 17. "I don't regret not finishing school one bit," he says. "In time, music gave me the opportunity to travel and travel is the best university."
For the most part, he's been on the road ever since. After fronting two shortlived bands called Hot Pants and Los Carayos, he formed Mano Negra—France's multilingual answer to The Clash—and toured heavily. The band opened for an entire Iggy Pop U.S. tour, played the South by Southwest festival and gave concerts while traveling by ships and trains throughout Latin America in the late '80s. But the singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer really didn't hit his stride until going solo and delivering his two monumental albums—1998's Clandestino: Esperando La Ultima Ola and 2001's Proxima Estación: Esperanza.
Since Proxima Estación, the world has changed enormously. September 11th had just happened. Bush and Cheney were re-elected. London and Madrid bombed. Lebanon invaded. Terrorism and anti-American sentiment proliferated. Not surprisingly, his outstanding new album La Radiolina (Because/Nacional) is a declaration of a global state of emergency.
Backstage in Philly, after saying hi, he quickly perches on an old pool table and I lob a few softies at him. Chao turns the table on me with questions. After revealing that my family is Ecuadorian and telling him that my father is from Cuenca, he says: "One of my favorite memories was playing in a remote little village outside of Cuenca." When I ask him how the gig came about, he smiles and says, "When the people ask, how can you possibly say no?"
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 January 2008 )
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