Introduction: This is Abel Robaina's translation of a short interview that Juan Formell gave on Cuba's Radio Progreso in the summer of 2001. The interviewer was Ramón Valdés. To hear the interview in Spanish, go to go to the Granma site and click on "musica".

Ramón Valdés: Some people say that Los Van Van is falling apart, and others that it's renewing itself. What does Juan Formell have to say about it?

Juan Formell: Well, Ill say that's it's renewing itself. Naturally, everybody has the right to pursue their own projects. I think that César Pedroso, who is a great musician, could have done this a long time ago, but he decided to do it now. I think, though, that at a certain age, it's not easy to confront the challenge of a new band, but well, he made the decision and we got a new pianist. So Van Van is moving on.

RV: 31 years later...

JF: Actually, it's 32 (smiles). Los Van van had lasted so many years because whenever we had a problem we got new musicians, new arrangements and new tunes. The band has a lot of new tunes and sounds for the album, called "Van Van en clave de sol", which we haven't been able to record, due to litigations with our record label. [note: this interview is from summer of 2001]. It's been two years since we last entered the record studio, so I had time to experiment with new sounds.

RV: New formats as well?

JF: No no no! The format is the same. The difference is in the musical arrangements. For example, the new piano player is a highly-educated musician. I can use him in more complex stuff, and it's the same with the new violin player. They are musicians with a rigorous academic foundation. By that I don¹t mean that the ones we had before were bad, but the new guys give me the chance to do more sophisticated works.

RV: So you won't play any of the old repertoire?

JF: No, we'll still play the old stuff. In Cuba, we don't play certain things any more because the public thinks it's too old, but we continue to play "Ay Dios Ampárame" and "La Cabeza Mala" and stuff like that. While abroad, we will play stuff like "Sandunguera" and even older stuff.

RV: Is Songo in the new milennium embracing a new sonority?

JF: No. Songo is still Songo, but I'm ready to compete with any of the new bands. And who is my competition? Carlos Manuel y su Klan & Moneda Dura. I don't want to compete with anything that's old.