"I'd Rather Not Be There If They Don't Give Me the Place I Deserve"

Despite spending all day promoting 'Aguachile', her latest work, India Martínez laughs a lot. She is happy, satisfied, and eager to start her summer tour to perform in public an album where she brings various styles of regional Mexican music into her own realm: "It's curious how everything has blended so well with my flamenco voice," she says. Already a young veteran of Spanish music, the girl who used to sing at the port of Roquetas de Mar ('the girl from the port', they called her) would now be fascinated by India’s professional journey: "I don't usually look back because I'm always very busy with the present, enjoying it and setting new challenges, but it's true, what would that girl say? I don't even know what she would say."

-At the moment, your favourite Sunday snack must be aguachile.

-Of course, hahaha. It makes a great snack.

-Why this connection with Mexico now?

-I really wanted to, but what I didn't have was enough time, especially when it's a process of searching, inspiration, learning a bit more about the culture, the music. That needs time; you have to go there to live for a while and meet people who can contribute to this style. But I found the perfect moment and the perfect team. Everything has happened very naturally, and the result is even better than I could have imagined.

-In 'Caviar' you sing: "When have you seen caviar served as a second course?" Have you ever felt that way?

-Well, maybe in some past relationship, in something where you see you're not being given your place and you say "I don't want to be that." It's a song for those who need to know how to leave a relationship, and do it with dignity. Sometimes it's not easy because you still love that person, and because not everyone puts the same effort into a relationship: when you give your best and commit, it's hard to leave something like that. But, well, that's how I am. If I'm a bother, I'd rather not be there if they don't give me the place I deserve.

-There's also a bit of heartache.

-Also, also, but very elegant, very cheeky, with irony. But it's true, I think it's the most heartbroken album I've ever made, hahaha. And if you mix flamenco with regional Mexican, which is very much like that, well, that's what you get, but in a very empowered way. It's like "I'm leaving, there you stay."

-In 'Aguachile' you work with established artists like Ángela Aguilar, Edén Muñoz, or La Adictiva. How was it to collaborate with them?

-When you delve into a style that isn't yours, you have to be well surrounded, so going hand in hand with people like Edén Muñoz, who is a god there, is a luxury. Ángela Aguilar has a lot of merit because, being very young, she also represents regional music like theirs, without going for urban sounds or anything, and the group La Adictiva brings a more Sinaloan sound. Culturally, all of that seems super interesting to me. I don't know if they'll like it more or less, but it's been a job done very thoroughly and from the love and admiration I have for Mexico. Because we love a mariachi here, we love Mexican sounds a lot.

-By covering 'Ovarios', Jenni Rivera's song, you sing: "Everyone publishes my name, many with bad news, they don't know how to burn me while I die laughing." Does that mean you're over the controversies?

-There it is.

-Like the fuss over your performance with Will Smith at the Lo Nuestro awards.

-Hahaha. It makes me laugh, as the song says, because they don't know what to say about you anymore. Many times, you do or say something and half of it is made up, or they spread a rumour, or they blow up insignificant things. But, well, we like the intrigue, the gossip, the mischief, and we're human, right? Everyone, whether you like it or not, in the end, those things catch our attention.

-There was also a stir on Instagram when you posted some bikini photos. What's going to happen when they see you recreating 'American Beauty' on the cover of 'Aguachile'?

-Well, look, since it's the album cover, they haven't said anything to me yet. However, if I post it on my social media, they say all sorts of things.

-You've already presented the album in Mexico, and it has been very well received.

-Yes, the feedback has been great. One always has that doubt whether they are on the right path, if it will be liked, but doing things from the heart and from love is always the right path.