Joan Pons of El Petit de Cal Eril: "It could happen that the tenth album is the last"

PalmaEl Petit de Cal Eril return to Mobofest 8 years after doing so in their second edition, in 2018, when they were the first non-local band to perform at the musical event that over the years would become, in its own right, the Festival del Pla.

“We were the first band not from Mallorca to play at the festival. There were a lot of people, more than expected. It was an incredible night. Da Souza were playing, we already had a relationship with them, but the friendship became even stronger. It meant establishing connections with many people from Mallorca that were consolidated and have accompanied us for many years,” recalls the musician from Guissona, Joan Pons.

It was at the Puig de Consolació, in Sant Joan, where the first three editions were held and where Mobo has returned 10 years later to celebrate the last dance and the grand finale from this Thursday until Saturday. “As it deserves, says Joan Pons.

“We stayed for a week's holiday. On the second or third day, we already brought out the chairs in the square to cool off with the villagers, and it was fantastic. The inland villages of Mallorca remind me of my land, La Segarra, where I was born. Whenever I come, I feel very much at home, I see a very special connection with the land”.

In fact, at that time we were staying with godparents of the organization. “There are very few festivals like this: they love music and what they do, and that doesn't always happen.” And he recalls “running the van aground in a mud pit and them helping us” and even, an excursion “to a lost cove that Miquel Serra showed us”.

El Petit de Cal Eril, active since 2007 and, after nine studio albums, is about to release their tenth, a number that metaphorically coincides with the same one with which Mobo celebrates its last dance. “I have some songs recorded and I will surely make another album. Sometimes I wonder if it's cool to leave it at nine or make the tenth, or what we should do. What is clear is that this band will not last forever. Having a project for so many years is very complicated. It’s a reflection that sometimes comes to my mind and it could be that it’s the last one. I have many ideas to do different things, and the tenth album will be there,” reflects Joan Pons.

“I have so many doubts, there are times I like what I do more, others I don't like it at all and I would change everything, but I've discovered that what you have to enjoy is the journey, not the final goal because there isn't one. It's always starting from scratch, that's how I feel about art. It's exhausting but at the same time exciting”, concludes the musician. 

Joan Pons is one of the architects of a particular sound, style, and production, which years ago became known as metaphysical pop. “I feel part of a team of people who have focused on a type of music, on how to record and understand it. It's always interesting to find a way of expression that makes you feel a little unique, because otherwise it's easier to fall into redundancy”. 

He does it with his loyal trio, Jordi Matas, Ildefons Alonso, and Dani Comas. “I feel part of a team of people who have focused on a type of music, on how we record and understand it. It's always interesting to find a way of expression that makes you feel a little unique, otherwise it's easier to fall into redundancy”

A singular and authentic sound that he has managed to create and from which he wanted to pivot, leaving behind those more volatile textures and grounding it more in guitars on his latest album Eril, Eril, Eril (Bankrobber, 2025), a title that is a real statement of intent. “The name of the family home is Cal Eril”, which is where he has his studio and where he records all his music and from which his unmistakable sound emerges. “In villages, people often don't identify you by your surname but by the name of the house. I'm the youngest of four siblings. I never introduced myself like that to anyone but people told me. When I made my first songs in 2007, in the folder I didn't know what to put so I put El Petit de Cal Eril and it stayed that way. For many periods I've wanted to change it because when you choose a name without thinking too much about it, it can happen that you don't like it or that it doesn't represent you, but I was never able to and now I have it internalized and it doesn't bother me, although there have been times when it did”, he explains. 

Tonight's concert this Friday is the only one on this tour that El Petit de Cal Eril will play in Mallorca. “I'll stay one more day to see Antònia Font. We are sad about the loss of Joan Roca from Antònia Font. It will be a very emotional and moving festival. Life has these unexpected turns and you have nothing else to hold onto but music, and it will be the way to share the emotion of life and the vulnerability of people.”