French mainstay Vitalic signs up one of Spain’s most established DJ and producers in Cora Novoa for a thrilling debut on Citizen Records. Three albums and 10 EPs into her career, Cora Novoa has released on Henry Saiz’s Natura Sonoris and John Talabot’s Hivern Discs as well as running her own Seeking The Velvet, which is designed to seek out Barcelona’s new vibrant, creative talent. She was the first woman to collect the Best DJ award at 2017’s Vicious Music Awards in Spain and has a fantastic live AV show that enthrals all who hear it. This fresh new EP is an electro and techno offering of maximum intensity and gave us the perfect excuse to invite Cora Novoa into our Tour Baggage series.
The city I would love to move to one day…
I’ve always been living in different countries and cities. I am also lucky that with my work, I can travel and experience new cultures. However, I have realized Home is where I’m best off. Currently, I live in Barcelona, but I know in the future I’ll return to Ourense, the city where I was born.
Every three months I need to go back to Ourense to see my family, my land and friends. This is what we call “morriña”, and something that all Galicians have in common. It is the feeling of missing our folklore, culture, our landscapes and gastronomy. It is part of our identity.
The city is small, very familiar, but with a lot of charm. Thermal tourism is popular (you can enjoy a good thermal bath by the river while enjoying the beautiful landscape) as well as the cities unique gastronomy (“empanada”, “carne o caldeiro”, “pulpo a la gallega”, “filloas”). Combine this all with its historical centre and roots very linked to the viticulture you are left with natural environments as beautiful as the “Ribeira Sacra”.
The last place to blow my mind was…
Definitely Japan. I went there four months ago and it’s one of those trips I would recommend everyone to take.
The Japanese culture is very different from the Spanish one. I was fascinated by so much. The respect they have for each other. Japan’s organisation is like no other country. I have never seen anything like it. Things were so clean, their gastronomy so fresh and rich in flavours. The two major religions Shinto and Buddhism were both enchanting and diverse. It even satisfied my inner nerd with the vast amount of video games, technology and manga on display. It was a shock in many ways, but I loved being able to feel free there.
I have visited Asian countries where because of my outfit or haircut I have felt very out of place. In Japan, it is quite the opposite. People look at you so positively, intrigued almost. People can dress the way they want without feeling judged. I also adore their sense of beauty. The way fashion is alive there. The Japanese aesthetic is very elegant in general but it was the urban fashion, I fell in love with.
I never get on a flight without…
My essentials when I travel are a good book, a few episodes from the series I’m watching currently watching. A good selection of new music, some fresh fruit as well as some dried fruits. While I’m flying I like to combine reading with watching an episode of a series then, of course, taking a nap to recharge my batteries.
The most surreal thing that’s ever happened to me while travelling was…
In 2010 I was doing a live act to close Sonar Festival in Barcelona and Sonar Galicia. The first one was on a Friday, and the second one the following day on Saturday. Naturally, I had to take a flight from Barcelona to A Coruña. The surprise came mid-flight when suddenly in the middle of the flight when a DJ started playing with a fully-equipped DJ booth next to the cockpit door. It was crazy because people didn’t expect it. These are those moments that are impossible to forget.
The most unique place I’ve ever played was…
The most impressive place I have performed was in “Los Jameos Del Agua” in Lanzarote (Canary Islands). It’s a protected natural area designed by the artist and architect “César Manrique” (an icon of the island’s identity).
In reality, the “Jameos del Agua” is a volcanic tunnel. Part of the tunnel runs on land but there is another part that submerges into the sea surface. It is a place of impressive beauty, the energy you feel there is special. Lanzarote is one of my favourite places in the whole world. I have travelled there a lot and I feel connected to the island in a very special way.
The daftest thing I’ve ever done while travelling…
When I was living in London, a very daft thing happened to me. I had to perform in Paris and I left in plenty of time for the airport. In London going to the airport is a real odyssey, especially at certain hours of the morning. It isn’t the same as Barcelona, which with a motorbike takes 20 minutes.
I had to get up early but I arrived with some free time, so I took a tea to make time and calmly I went to the security control. When I got there I try to pass the QR code through the machines and I get an error. I try again, and again the error comes out, again, and the same thing. I start to worry, I think… “shit, I must have looked at the time wrong, and I’m late”. I open the computer and start looking for all the information, but everything seems to be fine, the time is correct. I start to get overwhelmed, shuffle the possibilities, call my agency, and before they pick up the phone I realize that the flight is scheduled for the next day. I feel very silly at that moment, but I breathe easy because there is a solution.
My Lost in Translation moment…
I remember very fondly an anecdote when I was returning to Barcelona after premiering my last album “Mental Diary” at the Tate-Modern. I had trouble boarding because the stewardess said I was carrying too much weight in the two cabin bags. It was true, they were a bit overweight. However not as overweight as her attitude deserved. I think she was having a very bad day and she took it out on me. It was a very delicate matter because I was carrying the modular synth and very delicate machines of different sizes and I couldn’t check them in.
Finally, she had the “brilliant“ idea of making me check in the 2 empty cabin bags and let me take all the machines with me. The problem was I didn’t have any kind of bag with which to carry them. Luckily, there were people on the flight who were understanding and left me bags with which to carry all my stuff.
It was all very crazy. The silver lining was it resulted in one of the most rewarding talks I’ve had on a flight in a long time. Next to me sat a man with whom I began to talk about life. His name is “Rodolfo Castellanos”, a Cuban classical ballet dancer and choreographer who lives here in Barcelona. I loved the conversation I had with him, I found his life super interesting, the work he was doing as a choreographer and the experiences he shared with me. After that we emailed and I invited him to the presentation of the ACT 1 of “Mental Diary” in Barcelona. I still find it incredible that these things happen by mere chance.
The best hotel I’ve ever stayed in…
One of my favourite hotels is “Hotel Barceló, Torre de Madrid.” Very few hotels can match the leisure and cultural offerings, its decoration, location. It has a superior, attention to the needs of its guests. It also has breakfasts that are out of this world, with smoothies of different flavours, suitable for vegans or all kinds of intolerance. It’s one of my favourite hotels in Spain.
In Belgium, there is another hotel I love the “Hotel Warwick Brussels Grand Palace.” Simply for its location and the breakfasts. I have never seen a breakfast with so much variety and attention to detail. You have this feeling that you are living in a “grand palace”.
