With an atmosphere somewhat rarefied by the electoral hangover and a cold wave that has refreshed the usually warm Brazilian spring, Sao Paulo is preparing to premiere this Friday night its first edition of Primavera Sound. The Barcelona festival, which already landed in Los Angeles in September, has now set out to conquer Latin America and in the next 15 days celebrates not one, but three consecutive editions: the one in Sao Paulo and two other simultaneous ones in Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires next week, with a lineup headlined by global stars like Björk, Travis Scott, Arctic Monkeys and Lorde. Its director, Alfonso Lanza, explains the keys to this ambitious international leap.
What does a city have to have to host an edition of Primavera Sound?
Any city with a sufficient base of music fans can have a Primavera Sound. We are, it is our identity and our daily driving force. And we know that we are not alone in the world, nothing else would be missing. Then that city or country must have an international projection, an airport with connections, it must be able to take on the logistical challenge, have the complicity of the local authorities and must have a rich cultural scene. São Paulo obviously has all these requirements.
What does this expansion mean for the Barcelona brand?
Much. We like to proudly carry the motto ‘created in Barcelona’ around the world; It is one of our hallmarks. Also the guarantee seal of “coses ben fetes”. And if I think about the values of Primavera (careful musical curatorship, gender parity, commitment to sustainability, integration and revitalization of the city’s cultural life), Barcelona is also one of them. It defines us.
During the pandemic, the festival was not held for two years and the live music business is one of those that suffered the most. And yet, it is the moment of greatest expansion of the festival, where does the money come from?
At Primavera Sound we think that festivals have to be self-sustaining, that is, financed by ticket sales, consumption and ‘partners’ who bet on us. We trust that all the Primavera Sounds in the world will be able to generate the necessary volume of self-financing. We want to strengthen our independence from large groups: if we have more festivals, we accumulate more contracting capacity, which in the end is the basis of this business and what allows us to program freely.
65% of those attending Primavera de Barcelona are foreignerswhat percentage is Latin American?
The Barcelona edition has been attracting international audiences from more than 150 countries, with a special focus on the United Kingdom and the United States, hence the Los Angeles edition. But the Latin American public has grown a lot in recent years. In the last edition we had more than 10,000 attendees: 3,000 from Brazil, almost 1,500 from Chile and nearly a thousand Argentines. The potential of these countries, if we are able to transfer the spirit and quality standards of Barcelona, is enormous and the level of ticket sales proves it. They will be editions that start with very considerable amounts of public. In Brazil the base of young public is broader than in Europe.
“We are amazed at the passion with which the Brazilian public lives music. A lot of passion and very little cynicism”
How was the poster designed?
We do not want to be like a multinational franchise that arrives without taking local particularities into account and the ‘lost in translation’ effect is produced. The local scene must be represented. And the lineup is designed featuring artists that we know the public has been waiting for a long time to see, that are a discovery, that pose challenges to the audience and others just for the fun of it. With those four categories covered every day you get a perfect festival day. What amazes us about Brazil is the passion with which the public experiences music, it is already noticeable on networks. They deliver from minute one. Lots of passion and very little cynicism.
There are also Spanish artists such as Bad Gyal, Amaia or Carolina Durante. Does the festival aspire to act as an ambassador for the music made here?
The idea with all LATAM festivals is to create a corridor so that artists from there end up coming here and those from here, there. We have been bringing artists from Argentina, Chile or Brazil for a long time. So now it was time to bring artists from here. Much more is known about our music than many might think.
“The public of pop has been globalized since Elvis”
Björk and Artic Monkeys stand out on the bill. To what extent has pop been globalized?
The pop audience has been globalized for many years, it is not a new phenomenon. Since Elvis? Since the Beatles? The great ‘headliners’ are ‘headliners’ precisely for that reason: because they are stars in whatever country they play.
This first edition is followed by those in Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, which will be held from November 7 to 13, why are they simultaneous?
It was a question of opportunity. If they go so often it is to create a contracting ‘hub’ that facilitates the ‘booking’ of artists, the three editions feed each other: few artists are worth going on tour to a country, let alone a continent, for a single date. You have to create a ‘routing’ that makes sense for them to get started.
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The last edition in Barcelona that was preceded by some tension, when a festival director even said that Barcelona “did not want & rdquor; to Primavera Sound. Would they say the same again?
We are delighted to hold the festival in Barcelona. It is part of our identity. For months everything has been fluid between the city and the festival.