Voice Over Arnau Sala Floating Through The Void by Simon Friel

Arnau Sala, a fixture on the city’s underground art and music scene for the last ten years, is a plethora of many things but he still manages to be, in person, much greater than the sum of all his creative parts. And while the harsh, raw sound of his music and the bleak, visceral images of his art might suggest otherwise, he is, undoubtedly, one of the good guys. I met up with him to discuss cults, confusion and creativity.

SF: Arnau, you’ve been trying to make things happen in the city for the last ten years. How do you find working here right now?

AS: Barcelona is a tough city for those who aren’t "officialized". There's lots of work but generally things work on a friend-hires-friend basis. It can be real good if you have friends or good contacts, I guess. Generally, I feel most people only like to be taught and influenced by some sort of major guru. I think that makes them feel safe enough or interested enough to discover something that they had never heard of before. From my perspective, I think this is a very social city where people tend to need to belong to some sort of social group of people to feel safe and psyched. When you do what only you like, you are likely to be ignored, because I think "the generic Barceloneans" don't like to be confused. I think people in Western societies have the tendency to want to have everything under control (myself included). I live in a constant struggle of trying to avoid that by throwing myself into the realms of confusion and the unknown.

SF: Personally, you're involved in many things, Les Aus, Bèstia Ferida, Ozonokids, your art shows, and those are the things just off the top of my head— do you not find that it is often a case of one thing detracting and distracting from the other?

AS: One hundred per cent. It's an actual response to a concentration disorder that I've suffered from since my early days. It makes me compulsively start projects, to project a million ideas into many different spheres. I've tried several times to stop doing so many things and just concentrate on one or two, but I really can't help it. Before I realise it, I’m involved in a million new things and I can't run away from them. When I was younger I used to leave a lot of projects unfinished. Currently, I generally finish all my projects, many times not the way I would have liked (I can get very sloppy), but I usually get a little less psyched at the end of every project because I’ve already started another. It's pretty much like I somehow let the senses lead me through the immensity of the universe. It has worked until now, but I don't know how much longer it will work.

SF: In spite of all this diversity, and jumping around, is there a common theme beneath it all that you identify as tying it all together?

AS: I think there are things that suddenly come and go, but somehow there's a strong mysticism of some sort always present in all of my works. Funny thing, I didn't realise it until not too long ago. Now that I’m more aware of it, I try to give a meaning to this psyche that has been somehow always hidden but always present in my projections and me. I like working on pieces that are "open". I like how even though I have ideas in my mind, those ideas can be transformed and distorted as the project goes on. Fate and emotions always play a big role in what I do.

SF: Talking about emotions, you've said in the past that you have the feeling that your work is just being thrown out into the void without it ever really being appreciated and valued by anybody. It must be difficult to keep putting things out there when that is the feeling you are left with after having put so much effort into them.

AS: Yeah... I feel that way sometimes. But some others I feel like the total opposite. It's a weird feeling. One day I feel so isolated that it makes me hate the whole of humanity, walk around the street and curse; it makes me want to punch people in the face, or fucking gas them! Then sometimes I feel like I am being overexposed or overrated. I look at some people’s work and think that what I am doing will never be as relevant. I think that could be the same kind of loneliness that makes people join churches and cults.

SF: Cults and churches, both things people join in hope of some kind of escape or bigger answer. Do you find that submerging yourself in your work is something that helps you in a similar way?

AS: Everybody needs answers, and we all wonder, but I guess this is all more about finding about who I am and what the hell it is I’m supposed to be doing here, or what I’m supposed to accomplish. Two days ago I talked to someone who told me that I should stop trying to “find myself". He said, "You know which things you do right. Forget about everything else and start focusing on only that". I couldn't agree less. I feel like even though everyone's looking for answers, we all too easily find a quick answer that shuts all the rest down automatically and allows us to focus on other things. I like being confused because that makes me try to get the answers from the passion generated by my actions and thoughts.

SF: And have you found your answers yet?

AS: I found some. Not sure if they're the right ones, though. There are always going to be questions, I hope, right up until the day I crawl into the black hole.

SF: Good luck, and enjoy, finding out the answers.

Enter the cyber world of Arnau @ www.arnausala.info And check out Les Aus and Bèstia Ferida at My Space. Want to get a little more personal? Visit Arnau’s studio where you can pick up all his label’s latest releases as well as other weird thing like modified instruments and art pieces. All very limited and rare! Mare de Déu del Pilar 15 (bis).