San Salvador
San Salvador describe their sets as a “battle.” It’s no exaggeration. They engage in sonic warfare.
The French sextet crafts some of the most absurdly difficult vocal music recorded—ever. The songs sprawl beyond 10 minutes, unfolding themselves and revealing more and more complex sections and hidden, dizzying depths. Ever spiraling harmonies erupt into polyphonic chants, men and women’s voices becoming fused. If vocalists had their own Guitar Hero, San Salvador’s La Grande Folie would be the final challenge. But the sheer magnitude of their compositions accents the desperation and energy rattling through every song. Accompanied only by percussion, San Salvador’s frenetic approach to acapella music isn’t in the same universe as a barbershop quartet. The flexing muscles that make up the foundation of their music has more in common with metal or the madness of avant-folk. You don’t have to understand a word of San Salvador’s dispatches from the French Massif Central to be compelled. It is blood boiling, cinematic, scope shattering music.
The interview below was conducted over email with San Salvador leader Gabriel Durif and translated from French by Victoria Celestine.
What changes did you try between the studio and the live performance? On the album you can pan voices and use light touches of electronic drums--was there a need to make listening to the album rather than listening live a different experience?
In fact, we tried to bring the record closer to the live experience. We played the music a lot on stage before we put it on a record. It was important for us not to miss this passage from one to the other. To succeed in restoring what we had acquired on the stage, the set is very massive; we engage six singers, without interruption, from start to finish. We were very afraid to record soft, disembodied, songs without a gamble. We have therefore, as a priority, worked on these challenges.
The voice range throughout the album is often packed tight, there’s not a lot of notes in the low bass range or high soprano range. How do you think this compact range of notes affects how you sing with each other?
We are a mixed and even parity choir (three women / three men). I didn’t want to distinguish between the views of men and women. We don’t have an exclusively harmonic (in the sense of harmony) approach to choir work. We don’t reserve the upper parts for some and the lower parts for others, but always have the possibility of mixing everything. From time to time, being able to organize the unchaining of women's voices in the bass (low women's voices are very beautiful!) and put men in an uncomfortable high-pitched situation. For the rest of the time and arrangements we find compromised tones, in this kind of pseudo medium that you describe which allows us to sing all together. Once we "land" on this key, I very often change the arrangement I had originally planned to make each other's timbres stick to the melodic lines and voices that each one has to defend. I would say that this is my “polyphony” project. Superimpose monodic lines independent of each other, which can meet at times, and start again in opposite directions at other times. The important thing is that these melodies are best suited to the performer that brings them to life.
Some of these songs seem incredibly physically demanding, how do you take care of your voice?
We learned the profession of singing late. "At the end of the truck" or "at the job" as they say, here in France. We therefore do not have a specific vocal technique as the base. We build them up a bit like that, over time and blindly, through experience and experimentation. As for "care", we were, until recently, big cigarette addicts. (Ouch!) We are trying to quit, one by one! For my part, it is my 4th or 5th time to have quit. 15 days tomorrow. Help! For the rest, we will see!
How did you go about composing the exceptionally long songs like “La Liseta,” what drew you to these lengths, was it simply what the narrative of the song demanded?
Yes. It's a song about a pseudo-seduction story that is actually nothing more than a rape story. There was something loud and fair about making the sound last. Making the song last to insist. Circling around the subject. Trying to describe the complexity of this moment. The fuzzy border that the song maintains with the pseudo-consent of the young girl. Then unleash violence. Bring to life this moment which seems to last for hours but which in reality only lasts, perhaps only a few minutes.
What were the practice sessions like for these songs?
Over several weeks, we made little bits and pieces, hooks. Sometimes on a sentence, sometimes on a word. Sometimes I had prepared them, and sometimes they came to me on the spot. Our job is to put these pieces together, and to find the wire that will connect them.
What parts of Massif Central folklore and history influenced the music?
We sang a lot when we were young, the popular music of our region. We have, I believe, understood the main lesson. Noting that this directory is a directory that is always restarted. There are a lot of people here in France who have a fixed vision of traditional music. In reality, "tradition" is a moving concept. It has always supported society in its changes. Our job is to continue on this path.
What’s the most fun song to perform?
Ouch! To tell the truth, we take great pleasure in singing songs that are not the happiest.
So, “fun” may not be the right expression. Talking about joy is undoubtedly more appropriate and in this case our most enjoyable piece is undoubtedly “La Grande Folie.” Because it's always at the end of our set, and we consistently deliver all of our last strength in its battle!
“Los Mes de Mai” has a number of sharp rhythmic changes, did the narrative of the song demand them, or was it something else?
For once, no. Or at least less than for a song like “La Liseta.” I would say, it was more the music that demanded them. There were these two linear polyphonies in the first part of the song. Smooth. They absolutely had to be broken (otherwise you risk getting hurt quickly!). The end, on the other hand, is more faithful to the text, indeed. It’s the story of a woman who will pretend to die to get the man she loves back. We attempted to sing that.
Were these compositions written down as sheet music?
No. Many of us (including me) do not practice music theory. We really come from oral communication practices and we communicate with each other in this way. We sing the parts and we memorize them.
For listeners unfamiliar with your language, were there certain emotions or feelings you wanted to get across sonically, even if they didn't understand the lyrics?
Yes. This is indeed what we hope for. Striving for a form of universality, beyond words, of what is sung and what is said. The Occitan language is not understood by everyone here in France, and we were keen that everyone could grasp a part of it, claim it beyond a strict linguistic understanding. Our concerts abroad (especially in Latin countries) have partly confirmed this. Some people told us they had the feeling of understanding or recognizing, finding a part of their experiences in it. The music of their childhood, the music of their villages, their landscapes ... etc
Hopefully the same goes for English speakers! Will you tell us? We are coming to North America (USA and CANADA) in July ...
File Under: Interviews