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Recording your music has never been easier, or more accessible than it is today. This is why Catalan guitarists are so special. Jordi Mestre Lopez has gone out of the way to make life hard for himself – but with spectacular results. We first encountered Jordi back in 2020He was about to embark on his first. Soul Mountain expedition. In it, the guitarist, with the help of his cameraman and video producer Jordi Rulló and high mountain guide Roger Lopez de Haro, scaled the Tuc de Mulleres – a 3,010m peak located in the Pyrenees of Lleida in Catalonia – with a guitar strapped to his back, and at the top of the mountain recorded an instrumental track inspired by its majesty.
Jordi undertook a second expedition in spring 2021, but in the autumn of last year, he undertook his most challenging and ambitious ascent yet – scaling the 3,009-metre Besiberri Nord in Vall de Boí on the edge of the Pyrenees. But more than just an artistic project, Soul Mountain’s third expedition was done with a deeper purpose – to raise awareness of a hidden impact of the climate crisis that is gripping the world, that could change the nature of these majestic mountains forever.
Jordi was available to talk about his latest adventure, the challenges of recording acoustic at 3,300m above sea level, and the reasons he needed to upgrade the gigbag in order to complete the ascent.
Is there any significance in the time and place you made this third expedition.
“This third recording took place in Vall de Boí, inside the only national park in Catalonia and one of the best kept in Europe, Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici national park. Besiberri Nord is one of the highest and most well-known peaks. As opposed to the previous recordings, which were shot in spring and featured plenty of snow, this one was recorded in autumn and has a higher predominance of rocky landscapes.”
“The new song, The ChangeThere are introspective moments, which contrast with rhythmic parts or sudden changes in, We needed a place with a varying environment to reflect this, a beautiful but challenging setting that would allow us to make a slower ascent at times, but also with more technical sections.”
“Besiberri Nord fit all these requirements that the song demanded and allowed us to emphasise on the climate change issues we wanted to bring forward, which have a huge impact especially in the fragile high mountain environment.”
Can you give us some more information about these issues and why Besiberri Nord is a good match to raise awareness?
“It has a huge rock glacier, an area where ice is kept under a whole mess of rocks. Although the rocks are visible from the surface, large chunks of ice beneath keep them together. As opposed to the more widely known glaciers where ice layers are visible, rock glaciers don’t experience any growth and are currently receding faster and faster.
“Global warming is making this glacial rock subjection system disappear, which can cause severely dangerous landslides. On top of that, rock glaciers are an important water reserve in dry seasons, so their recession also has an impact on the high mountain ecosystem.”
You’ve upgraded and altered your equipment since we last spoke – can you explain a little about what that has entailed?
“Our previous recordings featured the electric guitar, and we used an acoustic for this one. The best thing about this recording was that we didn’t have to transport an amplifier all of the way up.
“However, an acoustic guitar meant having to carry a voluminous guitar case on my back. My MonoVertigo was clearly bigger than the one I used to play the game Yamaha Pacifica Mike Stern Signature on previous occasions.”
“This presented quite a challenge, since we had to go through narrow, rocky sections. Acoustic guitars are often more fragile than electric guitars, so I had no choice but to rely more on the protection of the Mono case. I must say that it really exceeded expectations again and the guitar made it back home without a scratch.”
“Another improvement would be that we recorded the line signal directly. This time, we used a Radial EngineeringJDI passive direct box allowed us to get a clean, high quality sound. We also used a T.Bone Ovid System CC 100 microphone to capture the acoustics, which gave us surprisingly positive results given its relatively cheap price.”
What are the challenges when recording an acoustic and an electric in extreme conditions?
“This was our most difficult recording to date. It was great not to have an amp, but it became a problem when recording started. On the previous songs we could set the amp in a place where it was safe from wind, put a microphone right in front of it and save us from capturing any ambient noise.”
“This time, however, and even though we had the line signal from the DI box, we really needed to capture the acoustic sound with a microphone next to the guitar body, which made the recording more exposed to ambient noise. We couldn’t completely avoid the wind, since it is rarely calm at 3,000m heights, but luckily our expert sound technician was able to restrain it in the mix. Ultimately this gave the song a unique feature and a certain personality.”
“The recording also took place on a cold day, the coldest we’ve had so far. This may look strange as we were surrounded by snow on previous occasions, but that’s the way it was. It took us almost two hours to finally get a good shot.
“Can you imagine playing an acoustic guitar at 3,000m altitude for almost two hours? Although I thought it would be impossible, we were able to make it work, despite the fact that acoustic guitars are more sensitive than other instruments to temperature and humidity changes. I had to adjust tuning constantly, since wind gusts were strong and cold enough to drop tuning down half a step on some strings.”
How do you hope that the video you’ve made of the expedition raises awareness about these little known impacts of climate change on this beautiful part of the world?
“One of the biggest challenges for Soul Mountain is to capture and show the beauty of high mountain environments, as we underline their rivers, lakes and glaciers as one of the main life sources in our planet. Nothing can be conceived without their preservation.”
“We try to add a touch of sensitivity to it with music, aiming to awaken feelings in our viewers and listeners. We try to make them aware of the need for natural preservation and culture as two of the necessary pillars for a better future.”
“I also think we have a very varied audience. We aim to attract music lovers but also people who are interested in adventure sports and hiking. When you are passionate about something and you put effort, sensitivity and dedication into making it, it’s likely to make people think.”
You’re also raising money for the Kilian Jornet Foundation with a guitar giveaway, can you tell us a little more about this charity and why you’re supporting it?
“The Foundation was created by one of the most important mountain athletes ever, Kilian Jornet. After a long career in which he won all the most important mountain races in the world, managing to beat astounding ascension records on each continent, he decided it was time to do something for the mountains in return.”
“The foundation works with and finances several projects dedicated to studying, preserving, and raising awareness about high mountain environments. Collaboration with organizations like the World Glacier Monitoring Service, (WGMS), to observe glacier recession, one of the most visible effects of climate change. Studying this process is key to develop preservation projects of these glacial masses which accumulate 60-80 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves.”
“Thanks to our collaboration with the prestigious Fanatic Guitars we’ve been able to get D’Angelico Guitars to give away an awesome D’Angelo Excel Tammany acoustic just like the one I used in this recording. We’ve organised a nationwide draw where a minimum €5 donation to the Kilian Jornet Foundation gets you a chance to win it.”
“All funds raised will be transferred to WGMS to support their initiatives, such as the acquisition of measuring equipment for researchers or the development of educational programs for schools among other things.”
Finally then, what’s next for Soul Mountain – more ambitious expeditions?
“I think Soul Mountain has just begun. I am very active and always on the lookout for new challenges and goals. Right now, I have to rest for a long while due to an injury I’ve suffered in the mountains, but I am already thinking about our destinations for 2023.”
“I want to make the most of this period of recovery by writing new songs for Soul Mountain. I’m considering climbing Aneto, which (3,404m) is the highest peak of the Pyrenees. I will most likely put my skis on and pick the electric guitar up again to take Soul Mountain higher than ever before.”
“I also want to cross the Maladeta glacier, the biggest ice mass in Spain, in order to keep flagging the devastating effects of global warming, since rising temperatures in high mountain environments are threatening to make it disappear within 25 years.”
Learn more about Soul Mountain soulmountain.cat.
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