When you think about bagpipes, what comes to mind? Kilts? Misty moors? How about electric guitars and crowds going nuts during a live performance?
Meet Carlos Núñez.
Núñez, from Galicia, Spain, has made a career of bringing traditional instruments and music onto the modern stage, playing with the likes of The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Sinéad O’Connor.
Núñez will be playing at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College on Thursday, and I had a chance to speak with him Wednesday.
Q: You started playing the bagpipes when you were 8, how did that happen? It seems like an odd instrument to be taken up by someone so young.
A: At that time, every child in school used to play the recorder, and I loved that instrument – it was such a beautiful sound, so magical and special for me. And my teachers said, “Look, Carlos, the next step, the natural step, for you is the bagpipes, the gaita,” because the bagpipes, it’s like the national instrument in Galicia, my hometown, you know? Like a symbol. Galicia is the Celtic part of Spain, the gaita is a symbol.
Q: Is there a difference between Galician bagpipes and other bagpipes?
A: Well, historians say that there was a time in the Middle Ages when the bagpipes were all the same in the Atlantic, so there was a sort of unique Atlantic pipes. So, from all the west coast, of the Celtic coast, of Europe, there were pipes everywhere. I mean, it was the same instrument. And they think that the pipes that they played in Scotland and Ireland arrived from Galicia. So there was a sort of connection through the seas, you know? Like the old Celtic times, all the boats that kept connected, all the different countries – same thing with their bagpipes. And it’s very beautiful because then we believe that Scotland developed a different way of playing, Ireland had a different way, but the idea of the instrument is the same.
Q: You’ve collaborated with a ton of people – are there any that really stand out?
A: The first time I came to the United States, I was in the early 20s, … that year, I played Carnegie Hall with Roger Daltrey of The Who, also with Alice Cooper, with Sinéad O’Connor. I was so happy because I was with my idols. I was with The Chieftans. What was really nice was that they appreciated my music, and they talked to me like “Wow! This is amazing! The sound you get from this piece of wood – what is the name of this instrument?” I felt a lot of respect from all these rock people; they respect our traditions, and that was very nice for me. It encouraged me to continue with Celtic, with traditional music.
Q: Your sound is very ethereal, I think. How would you describe it?
A: I think I have two loves: One love are the flutes. The flute is a platonic love, or a spiritual love. And then the bagpipes is more of a sexual love, a passionate love. The bagpipes are like the electric guitar – it’s very passionate … In fact, yes, I think the gaita, the bagpipes, were the electric guitar of the Middle Ages. One thousand years ago, no electricity, no power, so everything was just acoustic. And this instrument is so passionate, so much energy … people become crazy, they start to dance. In fact, at our concerts, people sometimes cry because they feel the emotions. Then at the end, they come on the stage, dancing with us. It’s a big party; always a big party.
Q: That goes into my next question. I’ve seen you referred to as the “Jimi Hendrix of the bagpipes.” So, what kind of show can we expect from you here in Durango?
A: (Laughs) I have to thank your colleagues, all the U.S. journalists because I think you are always very generous to me. Very imaginative people; you always have a great imagination. And then when I go back to Europe, all the journalists, they just repeat what the Americans have managed to do … Well, look, I think that there is something interesting about the energy that comes from the instrument. We play Celtic music, we play Medieval music, a bit of rock ’n’ roll in our sound.
Q: You consider yourself sort of an ambassador for Galician music. Why is it so important?
A: I think the Celts, and Galicia is one of the sort of Celtic countries. The Celts were not a nation; they had the art of sharing ideas, the art of sharing music, sharing problems through the sea. There was a sort of brotherhood, a big brotherhood between all these countries. Today, Celtic music is not about nations; it’s not about countries. I think it’s something really international; it’s something you find in the United States. When you come here, you come see that the Celtic message of brotherhood, the Celtic message of, “Hey, we are all together connected under respect for the traditions,” this idea that there is always something good coming from the traditions; there is knowledge, there is something that you may give also to the next generations. This heritage is so important.
katie@durangoherald.com
If you go
What: Carlos Núñez.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
Tickets: $22.50/$35. Available at www.durangoconcerts.com and by phone at 247-7657.
