How did the idea of collaborating on this album come up?

IBONRG -This album arose in January 2018, from the death of the poet and txalapartari Joxan Artze. Then I was proposed to participate in a tribute that would take place on his first anniversary. I wanted that, at least in the part of my tribute, the txalaparta had an important place, and I thought of inviting Enrike Hurtado, since he works developing sotfwares created by himself. Among them, one dedicated to interact with the txalaparta. So, the first step was to invite Enrike and start reflecting on Artze’s texts, as well as on his way of working, in order to create different materials from all of this.

How was the composition process?

IBONRG -The album brings together works composed in two periods. On the one hand, the materials properly created for the two 2019 tribute concerts (more or less, half of the pieces were created between 2018 and 2019). And a second phase, in the spring of 2020, already with the intention of recording an album that same summer. There are 11 pieces in total.

What are the songs like?

ENRIKE HURTADO -The songs are quite different from each other. Each one comes from a different process and with different instrumentation. Some have piano and voice, others have piano and voice and txalaparta, others are collages made with the computer, piano and computer… there is a bit of everything. Each one has contributed elements and materials from his own field. We were looking for a union, a balance between both.

How was the recording process?

IBONRG -We recorded the whole album here in this place, by ourselves, with this piano, with our microphones and different material that we borrowed. We did it all during the summer of 2020, at night, in peace and quiet, and we used this piano, a txalaparta and the computer. We have also counted on the technical help and collaboration of Tzesne, who has been in charge of the mixes. On the other hand, the graphic material, the design and the booklet that comes with the vinyl has been made by the artist Jon Martin. As for the technical aspect, Estanis Elorza has done the mastering and Ibon Aguirre has left us material and helped us with the midi. But basically, all the production is ours.

What is the title of the album?

ENRIKE HURTADO -The title comes from one of Joxan Artze’s many poems in which he played with the sound, that kind of visual poetry he did, where the sound part has a lot of presence. In this case “oMOrruMU baMAt” would be ‘orru bat’ (a roar).

IBONRG -He intersperses syllables a little with the idea of the txalaparta, of that play of tenses, of that trot. That can be glimpsed in your visual poetry, especially in your works from the 60s and 70s, on which we have based this album.

What is the order of the songs?

ENRIKE HURTADO -We have tried to find a balance. As the material is so different, the objective has been to compensate the sonorous material, so that the piano tracks are not all in a row, or the txalaparta tracks all in a row.

IBONRG -Yes, the fact that there are such different sonorities has caused us headaches when it came to establishing the order. But getting this arrangement right is part of the game, since the texts are also very different from each other. We have tried to find a way out, where the vanishing point could be.

Any considerations on first listening?

IBONRG -As it happens in almost all music, more than one listening is necessary to get into the songs. As you get to know the songs you discover new things and, at the same time, the order of the songs also brings a meaning to each one. A meaning that gives the previous or the next song and that, separately, would not be identical. Not only with this album, I think this happens with all music. It is necessary to go deeper into that relationship.