“Battiato is a spiritual guide and a teacher”

The journalist Eduardo Laporte (Pamplona, ​​1979) began writing about Franco Battiato just a few days after the death of the Italian singer, which occurred in May of last year. He wanted to fill the void of publications in Spanish with which he found himself and the result was
‘In the presence of Battiato’ (Silex, 2021), the first book that addresses his biography, from a personal point of view and to the essence, and which he presents this afternoon at the International Record Fair (Little Bobby, 7:00 p.m.).

–What do you think the void you found around the character responds to?

–His death caught us off guard a bit and perhaps his music was enough for us. But it is true that Battiato does not end with his music, but rather unfolds very enriching branches and serves as a spiritual guide even in a literal sense, because what he gives us, apart from his music, is an attitude in life, an approach towards East, to meditation, to the different types of religions… Thanks to the books that are published about it, we approach these multiple dimensions. I think it was necessary, as it is often said, in a trite way, a book about him, because the last one was from 1990, by Eduardo Margaretto. As soon as he died I got down to work, I couldn’t wait

–That spiritual part of the artist stands out a lot in your book. Why?

–A biography has many angles to be approached and one of them is spirituality. Perhaps Battiato can be defined as a mystic with a vocation as a musician, as Alessandro Gianetti says in the prologue. I also have these somewhat esoteric concerns and by personal inclination I was also interested.

–Did your investigative work begin immediately after his death?

-Yes, the same day of his death I went to a library in Madrid to look for what there was of him and I only found Margaretto’s book, which caused me a certain vertigo and I had to stock up on books in Italian. I know the same Italian as you (laughs) and I threw myself into this somewhat reckless investigative work. Later I deciphered his life from the official biographers and found it to be an exciting job. I have great gratitude for two characters who are Franco Pulcini and Aldo Nove because their work is very didactic, a work that I collect and create my own biography that has a more literary, freer vocation, more of going to the essence. I have been told that it is unconventional and welcome to be that assessment, because it is what I wanted. I’m not so interested in the data, the producers or the rare records, but in making an approach to the nuclear.

–Is it a book for beginners or will someone who doesn’t know him know who Battiato was after reading it?

–I have focused it on all kinds of readers who have a curiosity about music, a certain interest in spirituality, transcendence, but making it enjoyable, and that the book itself enriches you. That gives you a general culture. It is a constellation of references that speak of Tolstoy, Pablo D’Ors, Baroja, Eric Clapton… I make a salad, as he would say, quite kaleidoscopic in which everything obeys an internal logic, an ordered chaos and my greatest hope is that People who are not a die-hard fan read it and find interest, because Battiato is a spiritual guide and a teacher.

– You affirm that being a follower of Battiato is «belonging to an open and discreet tribe». Were they two personality traits of his?

-Yes, because he didn’t marry anyone, he was an individual being, but at the same time he liked belonging to the community, to religion, with its limits, to later break them. Battiato is in all the sauces, he is always cultivating himself. We Battiatians recognize each other from afar, we are strange geeks with a particular sensitivity, but we can be from other clubs. I am a barojiano, from Dylan, from Cohen. We have our saints but there is an Olympus where Battiato is clearly carved in the first place.

– Has your contribution been given adequate importance in Spain?

–Sometimes there is a somewhat superficial reading, like the heterodox character who sang ‘I want to see you dance’, which appeared in Tocata and perhaps all its ramifications have not been studied in depth. His music is like a Trojan horse that enters hearts but it is also difficult, full of nuances. And this book tries to do justice to see that music is the tip of the iceberg of other cultural riches. I try to be the guide to the guide and make the most chewed path so that its importance is known.

– Is a record fair the natural habitat to talk about such a book?

–The truth is that it is a very propitious context for debate. Music is good to listen to but also to talk about. As a writer, the figure of musicians interests me because it is the purest art and all of us who are in other dimensions envy the musical creator who has the gift of turning his concerns into that universal gift. Battiato said that he used music as a time machine and I think that Santander organizes this event is great news that serves to spread his message more slowly

– There is precisely a verse in which you say that it is your favorite song, ‘Nevski Perspective’, which says «And my teacher taught me how difficult it is to discover the dawn within the shadows». What lesson have you learned in this process?

–We can confirm through Battiato that we have an inner self that, as we build it, will never abandon us. That ability to have a world of their own, is a kingdom that each one must shape in their own way, to see the light through music, more than the garbage, corruption or anxiety that surrounds us. Try that the center we have, is more or less permanent. For that trip you have to have curiosity and a constant search.

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