Meet Las Migas, the all-female two time Grammy-nominated Flamenco band: ‘In a lower level of being famous, you still have your space’

The women of acclaimed Flamenco band Las Migas — Marta Robles, Alicia Grillo Risco, Laura Pacios and Carolina Fernandez — have a lot to be proud of. Besides conquering national and international stages with their powerful performances, the trio have landed two Latin Grammy nominations, have won the Min Award, and also recently launched their new album Libres. But what stands out most about them is not just their achievements but the journey and passion that has led them to win such accolades.

In this candid interview with , Marta Robles, composer, music arranger and the producer of their new album, reflects on the art of Flamenco, their Grammy nominations, making a mark in today’s music industry, performing in India, and much more. Read the edited excerpts below: 
What is your favourite part about Flamenco as a music genre? 
It would be the energy, power and passion that comes with the sound and vibe of Flamenco. That’s the essence of it, and we always try to keep that essence in our songs. 

In what ways, do you think, has Flamenco evolved over the years?
I think earlier it was more singing centric, then they started incorporating the guitar, and today it’s a very high quality, complex form of music. You have to be very trained to understand and play it, it’s very difficult. But a lot of new ideas are coming in, like the art Rosalía comes from the Flamenco scene but she does something a bit different today — and we’re so happy to see so many modern things like that happening because Flamenco will always be alive if people continue to reinvent it in new things. 

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What challenges did you face while creating a space for yourself in the mainstream music scene?
I try to do things that nobody else is doing — it’s always been important for me to be original. I started to play Flamenco because I came from the classical music world, and I wanted to do something different. So after investigating Flamenco, I thought that if we create a female band — that’s going to be totally new because when we started Las Migas there were no female bands in the Flamenco scene at all. And because we were always original, that gave us a lot of space already, since we were not doing the same thing as others. Social media has helped us a lot too, to spread our music. We have people writing to us from around the world, those who play our songs and want to know things about us. Just the other day we found out that we were nominated for the Latin Grammys 2022 in America for our album ‘LIBRES’. So all of this is happening because of social media and the way the world is today, since we are able to easily share our art with so many people.

Did the pandemic affect the band in any way? 
It was very hard in the beginning because we had to cancel so many gigs. At first we were totally lost, but then it was also good because we had time to compose songs and record this album. We had been so busy otherwise — so the lockdown, especially for me, was a positive experience because I felt like now I can breathe a little bit at home and think about what the next step is.  

Do you believe Latin representation in the music industry is getting better with social media and increased exposure? 
I’m not sure, because I feel like to an extent it’s still the same — only the very well known arts get attention. But, when you’re in a lower level of being famous, you still have your space. We have our own audience, and it’s enough.

What was it like finding out you were nominated for the Latin Grammys this year?
We were nominated in the past, for the best album of Flamenco but this time we are nominated again — and we got this news right after the concert in Delhi while we were having dinner. When we were told we are nominated again for the best Flamenco album in 2022, it felt very, very, very exciting and nice. 

How do you like India as a venue to share your art and love for Flamenco?
India is a country we have been interested in since a long time, because we love your music, art, dancing, colours, the spicy food, and style of life. There are so many things we wanted to learn about, especially because life here is so different than in Europe. We’ve only been in India for a short time but we’ve seen how nice and kind the people are. So it’s been an amazing experience — one that feels too short. 
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