“think it’s because these music genres make you vibrate, no matter the language nor the culture. Once you hear it, you feel it, you don’t need to think or understand the lyrics (of course, it’s better if you do).”

Cecilya: Nostalgia of Old Good Music Days

Since she was little, Barcelona born, based in Paris Cecilya (Mestres) always knew she would dedicate herself to music. At the age of three, she came home with a brochure from a music school insisting that she wanted to sign up... And she didn't stop insisting until they signed her up. And that's where it all began. Music theory, singing and classical piano classes. At the age of 14, she stepped onto the stage as a solo singer for the first time, and since then, they haven't been able to get her off them. In 2015, she decided to embark on the first trip that would change her life by moving to Mallorca. There she discovers her passion for the blues, rock'n'roll and the 50s. She started from scratch playing in the street, until months later she managed to make a living from music working as a soloist singing in hotels, bars, pubs, venues and festivals. In 2023, on the Spanish blues label Meseta Records, Cecilya's second album of original songs is released, under the group name Cecilya & the Candy Kings. "Back in 1955" is an LP in the purest rhythm n’ blues style of the 50s with an international dream team (Sax Gordon, Rodolphe Dumont, Paul San Martín.) Cecilya & the Candy Kings release their new album "Parisian mambo" (Release Day: 18/04/2025) with Rock'n'Hall by Dixiefrog.

(Cecilya Mestres / Photo by Philippe Poitevin)

The album is a tribute to the city of Paris, which has made the Catalan singer grow musically since she settled in France. The songs on the album will take you back to the 50s by the hand of a woman with a powerful and luminous voice committed to the causes of her time. The lyrics of Cecilya not only speak of love and celebration as rhythm and blues did at that time. They also speak of dreams (broken or not), internal struggles, healing, emigration, her native Mediterranean, the luck of being a free woman, the superficiality of the world we live in and the nostalgia for better times. The music, signed Rodolphe Dumont, has been produced in detail to enhance the personal universe of Cecilya. Retro soundscapes and catchy melodies will take listeners back to the days of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. "Parisian Mambo" captures the essence of Golden Age rhythm n’blues - a blend of blues, rock n’ roll, boogie-woogie, mambo and more.

Interview by Michael Limnios

How has the music influenced your views of the world? What moment changed your music life the most? 

I’ve grown up knowing that I wanted to dedicate my life to music even if I didn’t know how and there were no musicians in the family… I guess it was written in the stars… haha. So I guess I always had a different view of the world thanks to music. Since I was a child (and now still), on my free time I listen to music or I go to see concerts or I get to sing songs that I don’t do on stage just for fun.

At school, nobody wanted to seat next to me as I was singing all the time. At the age of 3, I asked my parents to enrol me to a music academy and I kept on insisting until they did. I remember earning cash prizes for being a good student at high school and university and spend all of the money on singing lessons (that permitted me to go to the Royal Academy of Music in London to take vocal technique lessons). I think it’s unusual for a teen to be as motivated as I was at that time… I also combined my media and communication studies at university with musical theatre studies (singing, dancing and acting). Honestly, I don’t know how I did to manage my schedule at that time.

I think the moment it changed everything was when it finally happened and I could dedicate myself to music completely. It was 2015, one year after finishing my studies and I decided that I didn’t want to work anymore as a designer and communicator (I just put up for some months, in fact). I left my job and took a plane from Barcelona to Mallorca as a friend of mine told me that « maybe » I could make it in there. So I started busking in the streets with musicians I met there and a few months after I was regularly playing in hotels, bars and venues every week. Now I look back and it seems crazy, but I made it, I started dedicating myself to music with an overnight decision of leaving my old life behind! I’m happy I did it at the right time and I didn’t wait.

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? What is the driving force behind your continuous support for your music?

I think what describes better my music is retro music with contemporary values. On my three LPs you’ll be able to hear retro sound ambiances. You can hear the influence of the 1950s decade music, even though I can’t tag my first solo album « Cherry blossom » as a particular music genre. There were no boundaries when creating this album. As for my music with «Cecilya & the Candy Kings», I think the first album « Back in 1955 » (Meseta Records, 2023) was a presentation of who I was and a statement of intentions of the music project. In this upcoming album « Parisian Mambo » (Rock’n’Hall by Dixiefrog, April 2025), I openly write about dreams (broken or not), internal struggles, healing, emigration, my native Mediterranean sea, the chance to be a free woman, the superficiality of the world we live in and the nostalgia for better times.

The driving force behind my music is that I think I have something to say, either on stage or on my albums. I’ve always loved writing, so I think I’ll continue writing songs and taking them around the world on my shows until I’ll have nothing left to say.

”miss authenticity. I think it’s much easier to reach the public, so there are many artists doing one kind of music because it’s trendy or because they see that there’s « a gap for them in that genre » (believe me, I heard this from an artist’s mouth).” (Cecilya Mestres / Photo by Philippe Poitevin)

Why do you think that the Blues and Rock n Roll music continues to generate such a devoted following in Europe?

I think it’s because these music genres make you vibrate, no matter the language nor the culture. Once you hear it, you feel it, you don’t need to think or understand the lyrics (of course, it’s better if you do).

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you'd like to share with us?

One of the most incredible moments I lived making music was in December 2018. I was touring around Argentina with Nacho Ladisa and the Buenos Aires Blues School people and we went to a countryside region called « Entre Ríos » where we played two gigs during a weekend that were more than 200km away one from another. On Friday, we played in Paraná and there was this guy called Jaco who loved our performance and told us that he would come on Saturday to the other gig in Gualeguay by bike as he didn’t have a car. And he did. Of course, when he arrived at the concert we offered him the entrance and having dinner with us. In Argentina I learnt that people who don’t have much are the ones that can give you more of them. And after all these years… I’m still in contact with Jaco!

What do you miss most nowadays from the music of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

I miss authenticity. I think it’s much easier to reach the public, so there are many artists doing one kind of music because it’s trendy or because they see that there’s « a gap for them in that genre » (believe me, I heard this from an artist’s mouth).

I couldn’t create music that I don’t like or that I don’t feel… It’s more than a trend, I think it’s a necessity to create. And if you don’t have nothing to say, you can’t force it… Personally, I think it has to come naturally. I hope that with the imminent arrival of artificial intelligence, artists will find a way to be authentic and real, something that these machines will never be. But maybe I’m too optimistic… haha

”The driving force behind my music is that I think I have something to say, either on stage or on my albums. I’ve always loved writing, so I think I’ll continue writing songs and taking them around the world on my shows until I’ll have nothing left to say.” (Cecilya Mestres / Photo by Barbara Sanchez Palomero)

What does to be a female artist in a Man's World as James Brown says? What is the status of women in music?

I think there’s still a lot of work to do for obtaining equality in music… Though there’s more and more female artists in the music industry, most of the bands announced in festivals are still led by a man. And if we talk about the percentage of musicians on stages, there’s definitely a lot more men than women. I hope this changes in the near future.

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today, to develop it and present it to the new generation?

I try to do my best to keep on innovating mixing style. I could also say that my lyrics not only talk about love and party, they talk about issues concerning modern life. As I like to say, I love vintage style, but I have contemporary values. Some of my songs talk about being a free woman and an expat, which I guess is normal nowadays but not back in the 1950s. So I think many people could feel identified with my lyrics.

I think that new generations could love blues, rhythm’n’blues and rock’n’roll more than they usually do now. The thing is that they don’t hear this music on mainstream medias all day long as they hear other music. Looks like big labels have absorbed all channels on which they listen to music. Even on social media, big labels pay money to influencers to promote the music they want young people to listen to.

When we play at the Caveau de la Huchette in Paris we have the living proof that young people do love our music. The mythical venue is always packed with young people aged 18-25 years old. Some of them, they come regularly or they started following us since they attended to one of our concerts in there.

Let's take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really want to go for a whole day?

I’d like to go back to the late 1950’s in the United States to be able to see a festival with a line up starring musicians I admire like Little Richard, Johnny Guitar Watson, Sam Cooke,…

Cecilya - Home

(Cecilya Mestres/ Photo by Philippe Poitevin)