Aitana

“I’ve always felt really connected to music.” When we listen to Aitana (San Clemente de Llobregat, 1999) say this, nobody questions it. But where does that connection come from? “My grandfather on my father’s side used to sing, I was always told he was a flamenco singer —reminisces Aitana. He had an artistic side, but I never met him because he died young.” The past almost always explains the present. Aitana started working on her present since a really early age, coinciding with her taking part in a primetime television show. “Until, at 18, when I got into Operación Triunfo, I never imagined that I could live off music. Sometimes, dreams do come true, and I also had a stroke of good luck because the stars aligned, plus how hard I’ve worked as well.”

Aitana’s career is flying higher than ever, also internationally —last year she toured Latin America for the first time (11 Reasons + Tour)—, and she tell us what it has been like to cross the ocean to connect with her fans in Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. “My relationship with my fans is something very beautiful, they know all my songs and give their all, there’s never a slump during the concerts,” Aitana celebrates. She confesses that, during those tours, the team that work with her become her family and she feels profoundly grateful: “I wouldn’t be where I am today without them because in this world you never get anywhere alone.”

“My relationship with my fans is something very beautiful, they know all my songs and give their all, there’s never a slump during the concerts”

From inspiration to songwriting
How are Aitana’s songs born? Which situations inspire those lyrics that move fans, whether making them dance or cry? “Some days you feel that inspiration, which comes through things that happen in life, things I’m told or a book I’ve read and that has made me cry.” In those moments of inspiration, Aitana uses a tool we all have to hand: “When I’m at home, I love recording the melodies that come to mind on my phone.”

“Being talented is knowing how to tap into and externalise what makes you happy, make the most of it and give into that creativity. Everyone has something special”

Songwriting is something Aitana has been developing throughout her career. “Before getting into Operación Triunfo, I’d never written a song—she confesses—, I did more covers and hadn’t even considered writing my own songs, something as normal as that. When I left Operación Triunfo, I travelled to Los Ángeles and started tapping into all that creativity I had inside and didn’t know how to get out.” Now, she admits, she particularly loves that part of the process and shares what she considers the key to that process: “I believe that, when writing songs, you need to be true to what you feel and know, to the music you listen to and the references you have.”

Over the last few years, Aitana has collaborated with artists like Sebastián Yatra, Natalia Lacunza, Alvaro Díaz, Amaia, Morat or David Bisbal, among others, which, she admits, have enriched her as an artist. “When you collaborate with other artists, that connection makes you share your talent. It feels like exchanging energies and is incredibly beautiful.” Talent that Aitana associates with happiness: “For me, being talented is knowing how to tap into and externalise what makes you happy, make the most of it and give into that creativity. I think everyone has something special they can share.”