How was Tomàs Graves, according to his friend: “He was cheerful, talkative and a bit of an explorer”

PalmaThe love for learning and curiosity have turned him into the “total artist” he is today. This curiosity was nurtured in a home where culture was present at all times, whether in conversations, homework, or family games after dinner. A graphic designer, writer, musician, and passionate about animals and nature, he decided to sell his house in Deià because he no longer felt comfortable there, overwhelmed by the tourist traffic and overcrowding. He now lives in the Pla de Mallorca, in a wooded rural setting. We are talking about Tomàs Graves (Palma, 1953), and we are brought closer to him by the musician Ramon Farran.

Farran has known Graves –son of poets Robert Graves and Beryl Pritchard– since he was six years old, when the musician from Barcelona began courting Lucía Graves. So they were first brothers-in-law, and with time and shared affinities, they became friends. Ramon, who is a few years older (born in 1939), does not hesitate when speaking about Tomàs: “He was a positive, cheerful, talkative, and somewhat exploratory boy. From a young age, he already showed interest in natural things; he displayed a special disposition for seeking contact with animals and treating them with affection,” he recalls, adding that Graves has always been “cooperative,” “generous,” and a “very open” person.

He grew up in Palma, very close to Blanquerna street. Later, he studied at a school in England, eventually returning to Mallorca. At home, Farran says, the family relationship was, in general, “correct and very affectionate.” The particularity was that Robert Graves worked constantly: “He imposed a schedule on himself, and there were hours, both in the morning and in the afternoon, when he would disappear to dedicate himself to work,” recalls Farran. His mother, Beryl, he says, was “lively,” and “wanted things to be in accordance with her way of thinking.”

In this environment –and with a very close relationship with the musician Kevin Ayers and the Beatles' songs playing in the background– Tomàs went on “sharpening his intelligence” and forging a way of being in the world: attentive, awake, listening. In fact, Farran and Tomàs have collaborated in music: “Artists like Paloma San Basilio, Joan Manuel Serrat and Julio Iglesias passed through my studio. For Tomàs, that environment was completely natural. I think that this naturalness allowed him to learn a lot: he opened himself up and let in all that musical culture”. Farran, a jazz musician, asserts that the driving force behind the legendary Pa amb Oli Band “is a very good musician”, and recalls that, in Barcelona, they used to go out to play in the street near the Rambla with friends. Tomàs has also been in charge of some of Ramon Farran's album covers, who insists: “He is a totally artistic person: he has a creative disposition that goes beyond a single discipline”.

The driving force behind the Pa amb Oli Band also wrote a book about the pa amb oli. It is inevitable to talk about gastronomy, but Ramon is a man of very clear ideas and vivid memories. He had never seen Tomàs refuse any food and he ensures that, currently, he is a very good cook. “For me, music and food are two things that, in a way, are related within the same language. I don't know how to explain it better. A musician likes to eat and eat well, and that is what happens with Tomàs and food!”.

He has never seen him cheat or do mischief –only once when doing a race with a spoon between his teeth and an egg on top– and he admires him for this tireless and insatiable curiosity: “In 1979, Tomàs went to Nicaragua for political reasons and to get to know the country. It is a decision that also shows his openness to the world. I believe that everyone should have this open-mindedness. The most beautiful thing in life is learning”.