Carlos Quintana Anaya
With his curly brown hair flopping to his shoulders and dark sunglasses, Carlos could be mistaken for a young Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, but his flamenco guitar-playing quickly sets him apart from any pop star. I found Carlos seated on one of the benches lining the port playing his classical guitar supported by a myriad of looping pedals and backing tracks. He is one of the few musicians who actually has a legal permit to play here. It is a coup d’etat to have this privilege. Poised and elegant, Carlos woos the onlookers with his technical skills and his sensitivity on his classical Spanish nylon-stringed guitar. But making music on the street is not the only commitment Carlos has to his chosen profession. For several years, he has been the force behind organizing street musicians in Málaga to secure more opportunities to play in the city and at the port. I spent some mornings with Carlos at a small protest that he organized outside the Port Authority as he led a small band of street musicians in discussions and planning to convince this administrative body that street musicians are an asset to the city and should be welcomed instead of ostracized from public life. His leadership for all street musicians mirrors his passionate commitment to his art of making music for all people on the street to enjoy.
My name is Carlos Quintana Anaya, and I am 32 years old. I’m from Málaga. When I was a child, this is very curious, the music was noise for me except for this group that sings If You Want To Be My Lover. The Spice Girls. Maybe I was 6 years old then. My father didn’t listen to music unless he was smoking weed, but I have an older brother that we have the same mother but different fathers. His father is a flamenco singer and guitarist. My brother sings flamenco since he was 5 years old, and he’s 6 years older than me. He works in flamenco music now. My mother is a novel writer about environmental issues and a teacher, and she listened to classical music.
In class when I was 12 years old, we had to play the recorder. In that moment, I liked to practice and play this instrument. When I was a teenager, I liked romantic music, melodic music, pop music, and flamenquito. My father bought a piano around this time for a decoration. It’s funny, we had a piano in our house, but not to play. He liked to collect old things. The piano was like furniture. Impossible to play, but I learned to play a little on this piano. I wanted to play more, but my mother said, “It’s better to play the guitar!” Then at 14 years old, I started taking guitar lessons. In the music shop, there was a class. In the very first class, I felt really interested to play. I practiced a lot and my older brother always said to me, “If you want to play good, you have to practice a lot, a lot.” For me, this was like a challenge. My brother say me, “You have to play every day.” So, I played every day. I started with simple popular melodies, not scales. After that, I learned more complicated songs like Romance Anónimo, a very popular classic song. It’s easy to play but sounds amazing.
Later, I developed my interest in flamenco because my brother sings flamenco. I thought I could accompany my brother, but it was very difficult because if you want to accompany someone in flamenco, the singer sings and then you have to follow that. Not the singer follow the guitarist. I started playing at family gatherings. I remember one time I played Romance Anónimo, and my brother say me, “You don’t play very good. You have to practice more.” I was very angry with my brother, but it gave me more motivation.
My plan when I finished high school, I did not want to study music because I preferred to have a job! I saw my brother struggle as a musician waiting for people to call him for work. I didn’t like this. At that time, I wanted to study psychology. My second option was economics. The third choice was philosophy. My qualification wasn’t good enough for psychology or economics, so I studied philosophy. For me, I wanted to be a philosophy teacher. During my studying, we had an economic crisis, and I didn’t see any sense studying things that don’t exist – just ideas - philosophy. One day, my friend called and said me, “I met a flamenco guitarist who plays at the Roman Theater. He gets a lot of money. You can do it, too.” I said, “I don’t play in the street. You are crazy!” In that time, it was less accepted by the people than now, but I had the opportunity to watch this guy play, and I changed my opinion because he did it different. He played very good. He had an amplifier with very good sound. And the people feel admiration for him. I started to think if I give flamenco guitar classes, and I do concerts and I play in the street, I can get enough money to live instead of studying things that don’t exist in university. In that time, I eventually saw the possibility of playing guitar in the street and get money in the street easier than my brother.
The first time I played alone with this friend watching I was 20 years old. I wasn’t nervous because I played in the garden without many people. In that moment, I didn’t make any money. It was just a first step. Then, I tried at the Cathedral but just like a joke. I wasn’t serious. At that time, it was a surprise that people don’t stop to listen. I was offended.
Then, I prepared songs and bought an amplifier. I practiced for maybe one year. The first time I played seriously I was very nervous. I started to play at the Cathedral, and the people have interest and stop and listen. But then the police came, and I had to move. I felt some relief because I was so anxious. This was an excuse to stop!
I quit the university after two years, and I worked for my dad in his caravan business in the mornings, but I made a commitment to the guitar. Before I made this decision, I had a great creative moment to compose a very good song. The creative moment to create that song was very magical for me and very transcendent. I was going to pursue my dream.
My father did not support this at all. My father say me, “If you want to play music, we don’t want you to live with us. Go to the street.” He thought I was lazy. My mother say me, “It’s not a good idea, but I’m not going to kick you out.”
At some point I wanted to leave the job with my dad permanently, and I had a big fight with my father. I said him, “You can’t say I’m a lazy person because I work with you in the morning and then even more hours with the music after that.” As a musician, I worked more because I have to practice, play in the street and look for other shows. My father never apologized for this, but now I get more money, so now my father is a little more supportive. He lets me use his car to go to my concerts!
I have support from my mother, but I am getting more independence every day. I had a plan to get a caravan from my father’s business and put in the camping area near Málaga and live there. When I say this plan to my mother, she say me, “This is a very crazy idea. I have a flat. You can stay in this flat. It isn’t necessary to sleep in this caravan.” My father said, “You are crazy.”
So, I am lucky to have this flat to live very cheap. It gives me time to practice more and improve. In the last 10 years, sometimes I work with my father in the morning, and sometimes I work only with the guitar. I didn’t have to pay rent because I was living with my mother. My parents are separated. I was able to spend a lot of time practicing because I didn’t need so much money, and I improved a lot. If I only work in the street, I don’t improve because I have to repeat all the time the same songs a lot. When I practice, I practice improvisation to modify the songs, and I learn more songs.
I imagine many ideas about playing in the street. For me it is very magical, especially when I play flamenco in front of the Roman Theater because it is an historic and beautiful site. I can play all that I want. For me it is very ideal. I want to do something interesting for the people. I look for new harmonies or interesting mix of flamenco and Jazz. But today we can’t play here. It’s a long story.
In the street, you can see how I make the music, but I discovered sometimes the most interesting music is not what the people want to hear. I discovered this. I also play more popular music with my friend Rocío, and the people like it.
Now I have permission to play at the port. No many people have this. I play 4 or 5 days every week now. In the summer, I will play at night because it is too hot in the day. With the money from working with my father, I can pay the bills – electricity, water - and with the money of the street I pay for what I need. I have more concerts in hotels now, too. My dream is to compose songs with lyrics and have singers sing my songs.
Also, I always like the idea of having a family. For me, it is always a good idea with another condition – with a good house, a good job and stability. My brother has a family, but he is very burned out. He lives in a little flat with the children and wife screaming in a small place. He is always struggling to get work as a musician. I don’t want this. I know I have to work hard and lose some freedom if I want a family. I have to change if I want this and evaluate the situation. And of course, I need a woman!
I enter in the street musician movement 10 years ago. In 2008, there was a new regulation about noise in the street and it was absolutely forbidden to sing or play music in the street. In 2017, we accomplished to get some points to play in the city center, but there were some musicians who were abusing this right and playing too loudly or playing in the forbidden hours, so again music was forbidden in 2019. Then the pandemic kept everything shut down. After the pandemic, I started again to organize in 2022 because others wanted to organize and I wanted my ideas to be included, and with time I became the most active person and the leader. We had to organize again to try to bring the music back. The port is controlled by other authorities and in the past it was legal. The police normally didn’t remove the musicians, but with the prohibition in the city, all the musicians went to the port, and it was too much. Then the port made rules to apply for permission, but it is very difficult. Only three people have permission now.
I remember one time I was playing in front of the Roman Theater, and one woman come and say me, “I have no money here. I go to the bank to take money and I come back.” I say to the woman, “I finish in ten minutes because I want to take a Coca-Cola.” And the woman say to me, “No, I bring Coca-Cola for you no problem.” Fifteen minutes after, the woman come back with a Coca-Cola and give me 50 Euros. But it’s not always good. One time I had a verbal fight with a homeless guy because in that spot I started to play, and this homeless person said, “You are playing where I want to be.” This guy took my guitar case and asked people for tips for him! One angry neighbor started to say to him, “For one time a good musician comes here to play. Why are you going to bother him? We are really angry with you. Let him play.”
It’s funny. It still bothers me when people don’t stop to listen. When people stop and don’t give me money, it’s no problem for me. For me it’s more valuable the interest of the people. If you play good, there is more respect. People can see people playing in the street now and not feel pity like they felt in the past thinking that we are poor. We were a very very poor country and the people on the street asking for money were begging and punished. This is left from the Franco era. Playing in the street in the minds of the people used to be related to being poor. Now it’s more normalized. I feel very proud of my work. It’s something with a lot of merit now.