Inside Nico Casal’s Studio - A Creative Escape Outside The City
When I met Nico one thing was clear: his energy made him impossible not to like. I think this first encounter was at a bar in Madrid’s old town, some years ago, a sunny evening of October, surrounded by friends. He had this calm look, a genuine closeness.
Recently, due to the pandemic and several other reasons, Nico, his piano and multiple keyboards, moved outside the city. From a tiny apartment on a high floor of a building in crowded Madrid, to a stone little house, with a garden with huge windows.
Freedom and fresh air. It’s the place where I go meet him. We have a coffee on his porch, enjoy the winter sun on our faces and talk about how much we want to travel somewhere far again. Nico has become a good friend of mine during these last years, and I am not too objective. I think he’s a really talented musician, but also a really kind soul, so I will stop complimenting him here, to let him be the one talking. And share with us what’s going on inside his head. And inside his studio.
Do you remember when the passion for the piano awakened in you?
I remember being 6 or 7 years old, watching television with my family in the living room and running to my room to try to play by ear on a keyboard the melodies I had heard in movies or advertisements. My parents, seeing that I never got tired of pounding that keyboard, decided to enroll me at my local music school when I was 8 (I will always be very grateful for that) and I think my passion for music and especially for the piano as a way of expression came up at that moment.
What was it like to leave everything behind and go live in London? What was your dream or what did you have in mind when you made that decision?
I was 25 years old, I had finished the music studies, I had been working as a piano teacher at a municipal music school for 5 years, composing music for shorts and documentaries ... and my life in general was easy and chilled. Even so, I knew I needed more, I wanted to know another culture, seeing the world, leaving and being by myself.
The decision was not easy at all, and especially during years of economic crisis, where leaving a job like mine was a bit crazy (and many people around me did not understand it very well). After two years trying to get scholarships without any success, I decided to drop everything and move to London with my savings to study a master's degree in film composition and work at the same time. I don't really know what I had in mind at that moment because during the first months I regretted many times having left Galicia and my easy life, but little by little I found my place and I found myself on the way. I ended up living in London for almost 6 years and I am aware that it was not an easy experience, but today I am who I am thanks to those years. I had difficult moments, but I also had a great time and lived experiences that I could not have lived elsewhere.
How do you see the acceptance of the type of music that you make in Spain? What is the type of person who goes to your concerts? If there is only one type...
I think that little by little a very interesting scene is being created, there are more and more small festivals with different proposals, independent labels, promoters and the audience is more open to new proposals... For example, I just played in the beautiful concert series called Encaja2, that takes place in the stage box of the Jovellanos theater in Gijón, and in a few weeks I will participate in the FIAS, the International Festival of Sacred Art of the Community of Madrid. I have also been lucky enough to perform at the San Sebastián Jazz Festival or the BIME. I am very grateful that such different festivals in Spain are interested in my proposal. It’s amazing. About the kind of people, I don't think there’s one in particular, or at least that is my perception. Up to now, in the concerts that I have given, there has been a very beautiful mix of ages and backgrounds.
Why do you think it is important to be in contact with art today?
I think that art, in whatever form, teaches us to see different types of realities, it can take us to other worlds, it makes us feel emotions, it provokes empathy. It also makes us more sensible, teaches us to look. And it is a way of communication and expression. What else could you ask for? :) And nowadays, in these difficult and new times that we are living, I believe that it is more necessary than ever.
You injured your hand last year. And hands being your way of working ... How did you experience the process you had to go through when you had surgery and was your recovery complicated? How did you tackle this uncertain challenge?
They were difficult months, especially psychologically, but in which I have learned a lot. Above all, it was hard not knowing for a long time if I would completely get sensitivity and finger movement back or if I would have sequelae. In the end, to this day I can't fully bend my finger but thankfully the tendons were not damaged, and I can use my right hand normally again. And above all I can play the piano again. The situation was very close to getting really serious and it would probably change my life completely, so I have to see the positive side of all this and take it as a learning opportunity.
What is your working method? How do you find inspiration?
I do not have a defined method, it depends a lot on whether I am involved in the soundtrack of a feature film, whether I am making a spot, or whether I compose for myself; each process is different but improvisation is something common in all of them. One of my great references has always been Keith Jarrett. I love sitting at the piano, spending hours improvising and gradually molding and searching for what I want. Even so, many times in 4 hours I do not get anything, I get up, make a coffee, take a walk, and when I return, it takes me 5 minutes to get it. Other times I come up with ideas while driving, taking a shower ... sometimes it’s hard for me to.
What is your relationship with nature?
It has always been accompanying me and I have not been aware of what I needed until I missed it. Since I was a child, in Galicia, I have always been surrounded by mountains, green landscapes. Visiting my grandparents across two towns every weekend and spending a large part of the summers. I lived in Vigo for many years with the sea next to it ... and when I moved to London, I suddenly missed it a lot. I think it affected me more than I imagined.
Last year the quarantine caught me in Madrid in a very small interior apartment from where not a tree could be seen. And in those 3 months being locked up I also realized that I needed it, that is why as soon as we could, my partner (and two cats and now a dog) and I moved to the outskirts of the city, close to the mountains, to be surrounded by nature. In recent years I have realized that the more I am in contact with nature, the better I feel.
What motivates you the most about your job that helps to overcome any obstacles and professional uncertainties? What does it bring you on a personal level?
It motivates me that it is a long-distance race, you never stop learning and you never stop encountering new challenges and obstacles. Furthermore, each project is different. Sometimes I miss having a bit of stability and schedules or knowing what I'm going to do 2 or 3 months from now, but in general I enjoy it so much that I often don't consider it work, that's why I feel very lucky.
Where would you like to focus your career on, in the future?
The truth is that I would like to continue on the path I am on now, combining my work as a composer of soundtracks with the development of my solo career, composing new albums reflecting different personal moments and new stories and having the opportunity to perform them around the world. There's no harm in dreaming :)
Culture and nature. Two of the “most wanted” experiences we’ve been longing for these past year. Two elements that a lot of people realized were a luxury nowadays, a medicine to the soul, something essential to their lives. And something that was maybe taken for granted when we had full access to it.
That’s the reason behind this interview: to give value to Nico’s profession, to his personal experience and growth around it. He faced this pandemic surrounded by cats, music, some personal obstacles, and finally moved close to the mountains, finding a much needed breath of fresh air.
Words & photography by Madrid correspondent Marta Aguilar
You can follow Nico on Instagram @nicocasal__
And via Spotify below