Albert Pla, the Artist Who Had All His Ideas as a Child and Believes the Audience Matters More Than He Does

An interview with Albert Pla rarely proceeds in a straight line. A question suggests one path, and the Catalan artist takes a tangent. The expected answer turns into something else, leaving it unclear whether he is provoking, playing or simply saying whatever first comes to mind.

That unpredictability is part of the performance. Pla will return to Buenos Aires on September 30 with The Surprise Band to present “Rumbagenarios” at Niceto Club. The show mixes rumba, theater, humor, poetry, projections and dance, and has one stated ambition: to be a party.

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Rumbagenarios is a show we are already finishing. We have been doing it for two years, and we felt bad about ending it without coming to Argentina and Uruguay.

Pla says the production has been running for two years, and the group did not want to finish it before bringing it to Argentina and Uruguay. In Argentina, he says, they have never performed a show with the audience standing. Earlier performances had a calmer atmosphere, with people seated. This time, he wants the full band, more dancing, familiar songs and a more carefree spirit.

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This time we want something else.

Asked how he defines himself, Pla says he sings very long songs with very long lyrics, almost like stories. His creative process begins with an imaginary musical film featuring many actors, music and dancers. Cost forces the idea to shrink into a theater show, then a band, and finally Pla alone with a guitar. He says the process still works because he laughs a lot.

Childhood runs through the conversation. Pla describes the swimming pool where, he says, all his ideas were born, and he returns to the child he once was. For him, the audience should not be ordered into silence when it wants to sing. “Rumbagenarios” is intended to make something happen rather than simply present songs.

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I’m a guy who sings very long songs, with very long lyrics, almost like stories. Anyone who has the patience and wants to listen to nonsense, come along. In the end, it gets fun.