Who is Pional?
A guy from Madrid, Spain who loves music.
You’re Spanish, yet your lyrics are often in English – how did that choice come about?
Yes, I think it’s because it sounds better to my ears. Whenever I have tried to record something in Spanish it doesn’t sound as good as English, somehow.
How challenging is it writing lyrics in a different language and how do you cope?
Well, it is not that difficult as most of my lyrics are very simple. Some of them are also repetitive; if the narrative is longer, what I usually do is work backwards. I write a melody with lyrics in Spanish and then I translate it and see how it works.
How did you get into the scene?
It happened very organically. I was making music as a hobby, from my bedroom, really. I would upload my stuff on myspace and that’s when people started getting a bit curious. Eventually, James Holden and other cool artists started playing my music and then I met John Talabot, and we started working together. We still do, to this day. It was a very organic way to realise that music (which is my old time passion since I’m a kid) now is my fulltime job. A strange feeling, but I’m very happy.
Your last release was When Love Hurts, last year, showing a somewhat different sound to your previous releases. How did that come about?
I wanted to try something different. Before this record, I never sat to write music in a way that maybe a band or a songwriter does. Telling stories, describing a feeling, referring to personal stuff… It’s weird, because as an electronic music producer I was never in that situation before. I wanted to create music that I like to listen to, kind of a mix of electronic music with acoustic elements, like drums.
Then, a year before this release came out, I moved to a new studio that was much bigger. So I had the chance to try out a lot of new gear like drums and amplifiers, and make a lot of noise in the room. I recorded a couple of tracks and then I thought that it could be cool to put the result out there.
Can you tell us more about your connection with John Talabot? Did this influence the direction your music career took?
Well, we both have a long relationship, we reached out via myspace long time ago and since then we are very close. He asked me to release music on his brand new label, at the time called Hivern Discs. I was so excited to release my first release as Pional on his record label. Since then we worked together, first making music together for his debut album and also releasing music as Lost Scripts. Of course, working together helped me to be what I am right now. We played the Talabot liveshow together and we learned so much about touring, playing everyday for weeks, touring with The XX. I would say that the relationship was not just an influence, but a learning process. That’s what we both probably got over the years working together.
What do you think of the electronic music scene these days?
We are living in a special time. There are millions of artists right now and I think it is amazing how electronic music has grown over the last years. People are more open-minded, and that’s probably because of the EDM impact – all the major mainstream labels who, whether in a good or bad way, put electronic music on the table for massive audiences. What kills me is that now everybody is an ‘influencer-creative director-DJ’. I have the feeling that there is no respect for people who really do this for his passion to music and not just for a trending fad to take the money and run.
What about Spain, in particular?
It is the exact same situation. But I would say that Spain – or all Mediterranean countries, really – for some strange reason are a bit far from places like Holland, in terms of electronic music culture. Still, I love seeing my 14-year-old cousin listening to the likes of Axel Boman’s music.
How have you seen your sound evolve through the years?
I’m the kind of person who goes every single day to my studio. When I’m in town I work 10 hours a day non-stop. I love it; sometimes I just spend hours trying to learn how to get a sound. Every day I learn something new, and that’s super exciting.
What’s next for Pional?
I have so many things coming up soon, mostly a couple of releases plus some remixes.This year I put out a track for an EP series called Equation III. The track is Pulstar, and it’s a remix for Pale Blue. I have also just released a track, called State of Presence, for the Permanent Vacation compilation. In the next months I will release an EP for Permanent Vacation and there will be a few other surprises, too.
What can we expect from your Malta performance?
Im going to DJ, so I will share my favourite music and I really hope people will have fun.
Nil By Mouth featuring The Wedding Present, Happyness, Weval and Pional takes place on September 30 at The Dome, San Ġwann. The event is being organised by Hairyamp Promotions and Trackage Scheme. Tickets are available online.
https://shop.trackagescheme.com/event/nil-mouth-sessions/