Barcelona wakes up cloudy when Ana’s already in the train on her way to the photo shooting. She gets out of the taxi while I notice hers gold hoops and her squared jet blacked sunglasses. She holds a coffee on her hand and muzzy cool look. We’ll be the entire morning at the Cotton House Hotel, a neoclassic hotel in the heart of the Gran Vía. I explain her what the session is going to be about. “I want it done like the scene on Pretty Woman in which Julia Roberts slides into the hall of the Grand Hotel squeezed into her dress while guests are looking at her with an inconveniently gaze. I want to make a clutter the protocol, Ana. This is not the place where we belong, but we still need to be ourselves. That’s why we are here.” I tell her all these while we take the carpet elevator and she laughs – I can see that behind that noisy indie attitude and the gigs all around the world, Ana possesses an honest and spontaneous naturalness that is really hard to find-. We reach the hotel room and we start the shooting; at midday we stop to grab a menu at a restaurant terrace; she tells me how much she likes jewellery, her days living in New York and many other things that you can read below.
Oct 26.2017
Ana Perrote Interview
I guess there have been many changes but, what is still there since “Deers – anyone else but you”?
“i believe we are as enthusiastic as day one. we shout the same way when good news arrive, on fridays we get drunk with the same people and when we get on stage we sweat the same or even more. i think we will always keep our feet on the ground”
From Carlotta’s Room to Glastonbury in a really short amount of time, how was your process of becoming an adult?
“it’s been a bit nuts, but i think growing up is like that ! we just had to do it very quickly and with a bunch of eyes on our back but by being 4 of us, and being friends that are going through exactly the same thing and exactly without knowing how things needto be done, has helped to make it easier.”
Talk to me about your talents and passions beyond music.
“how hard is to speak of one’s own talents, isn’t it?? i can tell you that i love cooking, learning, travelling (haaaa!)…”
Do you thing that the success of a girl band is, paradoxically, a rescindable act just because we are living in such a patriarchal and sexist society like ours?
“well, it may sound silly but YES, i think so. we had never seen before other girls on a stage, everytime we went to see other friends rehearse or practice it was always boys, while the girls were sitting there watching (which i still love doing too!). what I mean is that carlotta and i didn’t start playing guitar until we were 19 and 16 respectively because we didn’t even think of doing it before. it’s not like my parents said “ana, today you have to wash the dishes while your brother rehearses”, but simply and foolishly it never crossed our minds that we could also grab a piece of wood with 6 strings and place our little fingers in a way that some noise came out of it. it makes me really happy when girls come to me to tell me that they began a band between girlfriends and that we were who suggested that idea to them. even for the veeeeeeryveeeeeryyyy little group of girls that don’t like what we do. i hope they pick up a guitar, bass, drums, clarinet –or whatever it is- and say “look ana, fuck off! i play much better than you”
I’d love to know a bit more about your creative profile: what artists or creatives do you follow?
“the true thing is that most of the people that inspire my fashion come out from instagram. i love some profiles that inspire me for the looks i use in gigs”
You told me that you live halfway Madrid and New York. Which cities inspire you to write, compose…?
“well…so so…in fact i live in madrid, but last year i spent a lot of time in new york. since my boyfriend lives there, and, as i don’t spend enough time away from home lol, I go to see him a lot. to me, new york is my number 1 for fashion inspiration, in fact everyone I mentioned before is from there. i like it because it’s so expensive to live there that I think no one has enough money for high priced clothes, so they use a lot more their imagination and re-invent clothes a lot”
This is the first time you collaborate personally with a brand. Why did you accept being the campaign ambassador for costalamel?
“to begin with because, costa, i like you as a person hahaha you’ve been sending us clothes for a while now, and you came to every gig we played in barcelona. i also enjoy a lot that the brand comes from barcelona and that everything is produced there. i appreciate more and more where the clothes are made and who makes the garments. it’s really difficult to compete with the huge brands but i think you are doing it in the right way, with great enthusiasm, it reminds me of when it began. also, it’s great to support a brand from here whose owner is not Amancio Ortega (ooops).”
This collection speaks about the beauty of contradictions, could you tell me a contradictions that Ana has and makes her be as she is?
“im letting grow the hair between my eyebrows!!! answering this to this question is a contradiction??”
To end with, tell u show the shooting went, and also which garments from the collection you like the most?
“well i had a great time! i love Barcelona and i enjoyed a lot the montjuic graveyard. it was cool that you let me wear anything i liked and made me feel comfortable and above all, THAT THE CLOTHES YOU CHOSE WERE MY SIZE which is a thing that never happens to me in the sessions we do haha. my favourite clothe i think it’s the sherpa hoodie!”
