World-renowned flamenco, rock and pop musicians The Gipsy Kings are set to head round the Australian countryside in April, headlining venues in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth, in addition to their slot at the Byron Bay mega-festival. The Grammy-winning flamenco rock act, which features core original members Nicolas Reyes and Tonino Baliardo, is responsible for some monster hits including ‘Bamboleo’, ‘Volare’ ‘Djobi Djoba’ and ‘Bem Bem Maria’, meaning these shows will be something to see! We sit down with lead guitarist and co-poducer Tonino Baliardo ahead of the shows.
Hey, thanks for chatting to Forte Magazine. We’re looking forward to your return to Australia this year for both Byron Bay Bluesfest and a national headline tour. What keeps bringing you back to Australia?
We love all of Australia from the cities to the country. But what we love the most is the Australian fans. That is what keeps us coming back. We are especially wanting to come back to help them back from the fires that have been so devastating this year.
This marks your return after a five-year hiatus. What have you been up to in that time?
We tour every year around the world and get a chance to catch up with people in every country we travel to. We worked on the movie from John Turturro (The Jesus Rolls), which is based on the character The Jesus from the Big Lebowski. We have some music in it and we were are also in the opening scene of the movie. The process was so interesting and we think the world of John. We are also working on new songs and material for our latest recording project. We hope to have something out in late 2020 or early 2021.
You captured the world’s imagination 25 years ago with the self-titled debut album – can you talk us through the musical growth/evolution of The Gipsy Kings sound since then?
This is timeless music. Rumba Flamenco is much older than the Gipsy Kings so we keep playing and trying to get better sharing the music to all that will listen.
Becoming a genuine world music phenomenon around the world thanks to the hit ‘Bamboleo’ would surely have some perks – what’s best the most memorable experience to come from that single?
The song itself was indeed a huge hit, however, being Gypsies we love to travel the whole world. Having that hit has enabled us to tour the world for our whole career. It has been an honour and privilege to win a Grammy Award, to play with bands and music we have idolized. But the best of all is to make the fans happy when they come out to see us.
What do you believe it is about this music that has contributed to the longevity of it and the band?
It is the timelessness of the music. We are glad to continue our old traditions and bring the music forward with our take and experience of the last 35 years. Every time we play, we learn something new.
As founding members, songwriters and singers, are there any pre-show or recording rituals that have become a bit of a tradition with The Gipsy Kings over the years?
We make sure to bring the Gipsy passion to every song we do.
Bringing music to every corner of the globe is an amazing aspect of your career; has there been a standout country or city that you hold a special place in your hearts?
We are from France so home is always a special place. But we love to play everywhere that we are welcomed. It is great to be back in Australia and certainly a country with cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane Perth to only name a few, that are fantastic and favourite of ours. The people are wonderful and welcoming.
What can punters expect from these upcoming performances? We imagine people should be advised to wear their dancing shoes?
Of course! Always bring your dancing shoes. We will be mixing in our music from the past with new material. It indeed has been five long years, get ready to RUMBA!
See The Gipsy Kings live at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne on April 16 2020. You can find tickets via www.bluesfesttouring.com.au/
