How was Lluís Cabot, according to his friend: "At 11 years old, he played an electric guitar bigger than him"

PalmaHe was a futsal goalkeeper until he started to be afraid of the balls. He also did swimming. He liked (and maybe still does) playing Pro Evolution Soccer with friends. He has a younger brother, with whom they grew up in the Escorxador neighborhood. He is a "polyhedral and difficult to explain" character. Perhaps it is his elusive and distant character at first rather than anything else, but even his lifelong friend, Àngel Mendoza, finds it difficult to define the character of Lluís Cabot (Palma, 1990), musician and producer. He is known, above all, for having been the leaderof Da Souza for a decade. Àngel Mendoza, who will introduce us to the character, was the band's drummer.

Music brought them closer before they were teenagers. At 11 or 12 years old (Lluís is a year older than Àngel), "when the green electric guitar he played was bigger than him," he already gathered a few lads to make music in the evenings. That was just the beginning, because after that band came another and another: "First we did covers, but then we started composing our own songs. And it is here where I think Lluís found a world. Suddenly it was clear that Lluís had a very special ability to build a sound space. He never looked for the easy way: he had original ideas, his own perspective." The name of one of these first bands was No som uns aficionats (We are not amateurs), but in reality, Àngel remembers, they didn't have much of an idea yet.

Even so, the young musicians kept going and the cauldron of creativity began to bubble: “Our life, at that time, revolved a lot around music. Friday afternoons were sacred: we would go around the music stores in Palma, to see if they would let us try out guitars, pedals, or drums that we couldn't afford to buy. It was almost a fantasy. We were kids with a lot of desire, but not much idea.

Those Fridays heated up the musical brain of the kid behind the green electric guitar. Regarding musical style, he celebrates that they have always listened to everything: “We were very influenced by bands like Antònia Font, especially for this freedom to do unexpected things without trying to be strange, with a desire to reach people. There were also very diverse influences: from Led Zeppelin to Linkin Park and La Oreja de Van Gogh. Lluís has this somewhat chameleonic ability to delve into different styles, analyze them, and make them his own. It's a vision he also has with football: like a coach's vision, analyzing the whole. I wouldn't rule out him suddenly deciding to become a coach.”

According to Àngel, “Lluís has always had the soul of a producer and clear ideas in terms of composition”, but at first he was more focused only on the guitar: “He was very good with the instrument, he had his moment of showing off doing solos, but then he left that part to focus more on the whole, and not just on the solo aspect”. And he adds: “He has a part of wanting to be a leader, but without fully being one: a kind of leadership without seeking prominence. In all the bands we've shared, he has had an important role as a composer, like a compass, but at the same time always very open to sharing and incorporating what everyone contributed.”

When describing Lluís, Àngel is clear: “He is an intelligent person, with a slightly obsessive character when it comes to working, but with a very playful dimension that he has never lost”. However, not everyone will know this version of the producer: “He is a rather shy and reserved person with those he doesn't know. He has an introspective side, he can even be a bit distant at first. But with his loved ones, he is the opposite: affectionate, close, and capable of opening up a lot. He has this duality.”