DIALOGUE WITH ANNA ANDREU AND MARINA ARRUFAT

Welcome to our interview with Anna Andreu and Marina Arrufat , two talented women who have united their musical skills to create a unique and inspiring project. Anna is a singer with a warm and emotive voice, while Marina is a versatile and passionate instrumentalist. Together, they produce beautiful and soulful melodies.

In this conversation, Anna and Marina talk about their joint musical project (the Anna Andreu group), their inspirations and their experiences on stage. Discover how music has been a powerful link in their lives and how they have managed to unite their different styles to produce something truly special.

You both had worked on other projects and had come from different life stages. What inspired you to join forces on a common project?

Anna: We were both going through a time of great change. I had left work to focus on the songs that were going to be part of the first album, and Marina had had to take a break from playing the violin due to a shoulder injury. She told me that she wanted to get back into contact with the drums. It was an instrument she had played as a teenager and had really enjoyed… so I accompanied her to a rehearsal room to spend the afternoon so she wouldn’t have to play alone.

Marina: That day at the studio, Anna started playing some of the songs she was working on and since I had heard her humming them at home, I intuitively accompanied her playing. We realized that the songs moved more and the lyrics lost some gravity , they were lighter.

You have the opportunity to make a living from your vocation. I guess that helps when you get on stage and see a lot of people moving to the sound of your lyrics and melodies and it eases the vertigo a bit. Are you happy with what you have achieved with these two albums?

Anna: We are very happy, the people who listen to us send us their affection in a very direct way and many times they tell us that the songs have been part of important moments in their lives, this gives me more vertigo than the concerts hahaha

Marina: As a couple, it gives us the opportunity to experience beautiful and emotional moments, and obviously we also share times of nerves and uncertainty, but it makes up for it a lot. I am a classical violinist and I also collaborate on other projects and groups. Anna focuses on writing and composing the songs and is more aware of the decisions that concern this project, it is a good balance.

You define your music as 'chamber pop'. You yourselves coined this term, but how would you define it? Who are your references?

Anna: It's an idea that came up a couple of years ago, it's a simple way of saying that we try to play together and affect each other on stage, to be very aware of each other when we play. When I saw Marina play with her string octet for the first time I realized the difference between playing at the same time or playing together, how they breathed, how they marked the entrances with their gestures, it impressed me a lot, and, keeping the differences, it's what we try to apply in this project.

What inspires you when writing and composing your songs?

Anna: This is the area I focus on for months until I show the work to Marina and we start to build everything that is not voice and guitar. Normally, I don't have a clear idea when composing, maybe more of a mental image. The idea appears as I move forward in parallel with the lyrics and melody, they affect each other. It's like unearthing something that already exists, I dedicate myself to removing the sand that surrounds it and then I polish it.

What is it like to work in the music industry as a woman? And as a couple? Have you ever felt at a disadvantage?

Anna: I try not to think of myself as working in the music “industry” – I’m not a very romantic person and denying that I do wouldn’t make sense, but it does get me a little down thinking about it like that. My record label and manager both work in the music industry; I try to make songs and, separately, put ideas on the table so that the project remains profitable and viable.

As in all other facets of our lives, we have also experienced ugly moments, due to the fact of being women and due to the fact of being a couple.

Marina: Being a couple has brought us many good things too, we are a very good team and we know how to read each other immediately if there is a problem or one of us is not comfortable. The truth is that I can't imagine spending so many hours with someone other than Anna... hehe What I do feel is that it would have been great for us to have more role models of lesbian women on stage, especially when we were younger.