I learnt in South America and in Africa that people who have really big problems in the ghetto always keep a sense of humour and remain positive. If not, you go down.
Manu Chao
For me, the more I think about the problems of the world, I feel I have to be positive. I wouldn't like to fall into cynicism or nihilism. That's not in my nature.
Every time I met any of my heroes I was disappointed - the exception was Joe Strummer, who was like an uncle to me.
What 'Clandestino' is talking about is problems of borders, and more and more hermetic borders all around the world.
I was in a bar in Rio and a cow walked in, I looked into its eyes, and I saw such tranquillidad, serenity. Then I started seeing cows everywhere. I realise why the Indians worship them.
My best capacity is to edit. If anything, I am a specialist at editing: my usual approach is to record a song very long. In the beginning just jam, jam on and on. Then break the song and play with it.
I was born in France, but I would have been happy to have been born in Senegal or in Romania or Japan. I don't care. This planet is both so small and so big, but I'm part of it.
It's stupid, just because I was born with a French passport, I have the right to travel all around the world, but if I was born in Mali, or Venezuela or Bolivia I couldn't.
Everyone always said you have to make it in the States. But I always thought the best way was to make it in South America first.
You never know what little idea or joke, what flame flickering really quickly, will become a song. That first idea, it can come any time. If it's in Spanish, you go on in Spanish. If it's in French, French. If it's in English, English. Or Portuguese. I'll try to do my best. I like Italian, though I don't speak it much.
A CD is only a snapshot of the songs at a given time.
The capitalist system is out of control. Everybody should be their own leader. In our own lives and families and neighbourhoods, we can find solutions to live together in a more soulful way. Everybody can do it. That's what I try to do in my neighbourhood.
Success is something good, and something bad. I don't know if it's good to always go after success.
I was raised in France, and the American culture was present everywhere. On TV, on the radio.
I write new lyrics as I'm traveling and I like to record in the place where I had the original idea. Sometimes I rerecord when I get back to Barcelona because I have more-power studio there.
I'm not a real producer, so if someone asks me to produce, it's only because they like my sound. I'm not a professional, all I have is my own way of doing things, my little tricks.
A lot of people say my songs are political, but that's not by plan. It's because I never found a place where everything is OK, so I just write about what my reality is, follow my instinct.
Immigration of people has been important for the story of this planet, to make what is today.
Imagine thousands and thousands of years ago, when the human race was born in Africa, if we'd not allowed them to get out of Africa then we wouldn't exist.
I love going to sleep in one city and waking in another.
I can spend hours and hours and days and days in the studio changing the music, because I love that.
I never really work on just one CD - I'm recording, recording.
