Are you guys really
Cuban?
Of course we are Cubaño. I come from Canaguey,
I was born there, in 1953, so C-A-N-A-G-U-E-Y is where I come from,
you know. I’ve been living in this country now for twenty years.
The other guys, Clemente, Rodriguez, my brother, also my uncle, is born
and brought up in Havana and came down to join me in 1968, where we
lived together. Not together as a man and a manly man, is not the, you
know, the manly love, OK. Though, Clemente is gay. We are not lovers,
though we stay together and we work together. We are Cubaño,
and very proudly so.
Are you all family
then?
Yes, of course. Archerio is the only one who is
not actually blood family. Acherio, is a street kid, he is my nephew.
I met him in Havana one time, he was dancing for money, you know.
I saw in him something that reminded me of myself when I was first working
as an entertainer, as a singer on the street, in a live band, and I
saw the kind of dancing he was doing. It was very similar to a dance
that I started, the Latin style of ‘B-Boying’ which is mixing
the salsa style, and the traditional rumba with flow-mos, footwork.
Kengo is my son, my bastard son, a lot of people know he is illegitimate.
I used to work in entertainment in 1978 for some time and lost my wife.
She didn’t die or anything, she ran off with my best friend Pedro,
fucking bastard.
To get over this I got involved in the Socialist game, I ended up working
for Cubaño merchant navy, I ended up in Osaka, where I was able
to meet Kengo’s madre, his mum, who had sired this beautiful half
Cubaño, half Japanese love child. So yes, we are family, it’s
a family affair.
Are you moving for
a soul revival?
Well, not so much the seventies disco, just the
kind of música that we do is soulful. It is a mix of funk, hip-hop,
Latin, we try to do six decades of Latin música. The kind of
records that I like to do are emotive, soulful, energetic, I think is
important, sometimes we do a love song. Like our next single, we have
coming out in June, ‘My Love is Alive,’ that’s going
to be more of a funk-rock song, more of a (he breaks into song) ‘I
theenk it’s time to get red-eee, to realise just what, I have
found’ it’s different kind of thing you know. ‘Million
Stories’ is more of a straight funk, hip hop record you know,
more of a rolling baseline.
So we want to bring the soul music back in, but not just in a seventies
fashion. As long as you have that feeling inside the música,
which is what you can get a hold of, then you can create this emotive
feeling, and touch yourself. (Miguel’s voice drops) I never leave
the house for touching myself.
I got the impression
that you’re quite a lady’s man?
Mmm. A lot of people ask, ‘Miguel, how do
you maintain being such a man of fifty three years of age, and pumping
all the time?’ Of course, a lot of people also go to my Miguel’s
School of Pumping at Neasden Community Centre, which I take for the
young guys who are not having so much luck with the ladies. I take a
course for them to help them be better lovers, better guys who are maybe
able to fuck in a better manner.
Is
that a night class?
Yes, yes, it’s a night class. It only costs,
I think per semester, I’m only charging, is very cheap, only £50.
There’s no problem for you, is OK for me also.
What kind of advice
do you offer?
Just fundamental stuff, really. You know, a lot
of these guys coming to Miguel’s School of Pumping, they are really
struggling with the fundamental pumping stuff. So they don’t know,
really, how to speak to a lady or make contact in a physical manner.
Maybe they have not got enough confidence to look at them in the eyes,
whilst they jab their finger in them. You know, you never know. Just
kidding, just kidding. The ladies for me, not a problem for a long time.
I was involved in a hundred and eleven porno films, from 1974 to 1980.
Did that distract
you from your musical career?
Well no, because at the time I was still doing
the música, but I cemented my celebrity, in my country, as a
porn star. I must tell the truth, that is what I am famous for there.
Then in 1980 they said, ‘Miguel, if you want to clean up your
act a little bit, you could do a TV show called “Good Morning
Havana” ‘ and I had that show ‘Buenos Dias Havana’
for seven years. It was the most popular show in Cuba. Period. Then
I had to leave Cuba, as I came out of retirement to do one more porno
show in 1988, this is the time that I came out, I made a mistake, I
didn’t know who the starlet was, and it turned out she was the
Minister of Agriculture’s daughter. And so I had to choose between
prison and exile, and, as you can imagine, I chose exile, to the wonderful
United Keengdom! And ended up camping in Edinburgh for some time. Great
city, Scotland is beautiful.
You have a feeling
for the Scottish people?
Yes of course, beautiful people, very strong in the heart, very loving,
party guys, drinking - no problem.
Would you recommend
the adult film industry for ladies?
I haven’t worked in the industry for a long
time, but I know now that most of the people that I worked with are
now working beneath ladies, and I don’t just mean in a literal
sense, I mean the amount of chicas that are controlling the industry,
they are directing, they are producing, they are the people who have
the monopoly on the industry, it is a fact. People are always looking
at the industry as that woman are being exploited, exploited, exploited,
but now the ladies are in charge. Sex is always going to be there, and
people like to have it off, I like to have it off, I’m sure you
do, whether it be with a guy or a chica, I’m not sure, I don’t
want to cast any dispersions, I like to say is great, I say great, get
involved. Not in the industry itself, but just get involved.
I see you’re
supporting Goldie Lookin’ Chain in a couple of weeks?
I don’t think we are supporting, my friend,
no, we are on the same bill. I wouldn’t say we are supporting.
We’ve just come back from Australia, we’ve been on tour
with James Brown. We host a festival out there called the Good Vibes
tour, so I’ve just been on tour with the godfather of soul for
the past two months, it’s been absolutely fantastic. The Goldie
Lookin’ Chain, lovely Welsh guys, we done a few shows with them
before, very funny, warm gentlemen, who like to rap about love and the
real life stuff that happens in everyday life and particularly like
Maggot, he has a great turn of phrase, and an even better eye for the
half chance.”
What do you think
about the smoking of ‘the herb’?
Oh, it’s great. I’ve been smoking
for many, many years, and just nowadays only in the evenings, I like
to use it for relaxing, because after many years of smoking, it’s
been an inspiration musically. In the daytimes, a little bit too lethargic
to get about the business, you know?
You seem to be very
fashion conscious, is that arranged or just what you’re comfortable
with?
I like to call the style ‘classic.’
I found the look I was comfortable with, I have a gentleman called Rodriguez
who makes my suits, who has been not so much my stylist, but helping
me with clothes and bits and pieces for thirty years now. He makes all
my suits, he’s a gentleman from Canaguey, from Cuba. People say
it is a little bit retro, but it is not, it is my style, maybe I look
back , it was something I found in 1980, 1981 a kind of look that I
just kept going. The young guys are just following me, trying to emulate
my image and styles.
You have a TV show
coming up as well?
Yes, we’re going to be working with MTV
this summer and also we’re talking about doing a weekend variety
programme for one of the terrestrial channels, I cannot say which one,
they put the manacles on my mouth about this one, but there’s
a lot of things coming up. The show we’re working on is a musical
driven variety programme, to have, of course, the música, the
funny touchings, and the general joyousness of the week.
Do
you have a plan to go into films?
Well, we were talking before with the guys from
Vertigo, maybe four years ago, they’re the guys who have done
Human Traffic. They’ve been very keen to do a Cubaño film
for some time, but we’ve been on tour for some time, and it takes
a lot of time to film. We’d love to do it, maybe by the end of
this year, maybe before them, but just now we’re planning to promote
the album, the single, just released on the thirteenth. We’re
trying to touch as many people incorrectly as possible.
OK. You’re
very multi-talented - how do you define what you do?
I think, maybe it’s a cliché, but
just as an entertainer. I was able to grow up, and marry different influences,
you know, the comedy, the comedia in español, the dancing, I’ve
always been a dancer, and the canterra, which is singing, and rapping,
emceeing. I run my own school in Havana, the Havanerro School of Performing
Arts, it’s basically giving young people a platform to perform
and to gain some of these skills. I’m very happy to be able to
do a few things, maybe not to be ‘shit-hot’ at everything,
but I try my hand, I’ve done one hundred and eleven porno shows,
I also done ten films, just on their own and is great, is nice to be
able to mix it up.
Do you hope to return
to Cuba, when you’ve spread your fame internationally?
Well, I go back every year. I am able to go back
every year, but only for a little while. I go back and see my familia,
and my amigos. We performed there last year in January, we did a month
of gigs in Tina del Rio, and Havana and Canaguey so we’ve done
a lot of shows.
Would it be possible
for you to get your hands on some Cuban cigars for us?
Of course, no problem, for you, no problem. What
do you want? I’ve got Esplendidos, some Carribas, also Miguel’s
specials, called La Lunas. This is my make of cigars, I’ll send
you a box.
That sounds great.
How do you choose your brand? Taste, smell, complexion?
It is very simply really, you can tell a good
cigar if it is tightly packed, but still soft, you can press around
it. The tobacco is not so much soft, but just moist, tight, and not
dry. You can tell if something is dry, because you touch it and it is
too hard, it is fucked. It’s not been in a humidor, it’s
not very good. If you can pinch it , and it comes up a bit- that’s
how you tell a good cigar. If the tobacco leaves have been treated correctly
- you can tell by the taste. No problem. Different flavour for different
kinds of tobac. I will come up to your offices, bring up some boxes
for you, and I will teach you, we will have a tasting and see what you
think.
Excellent. Have
you got any last words for the readers?
Yes, I’d like to say to the estudiantes,
the people who are taking on tertiary education, to represent yourselves,
enjoy yourselves whilst you are there, I was lucky enough to do a little
bit, to study, they used to call me ‘Dr. Fat Fingers!’
I say to them enjoy university and the time you have there, because
it is time to celebrate, maybe you get some work done, remembering when
I was there, there is nothing better to be in the música, enjoying
the music, to celebrate and to spend good times with your friends, these
are the times that you will remember for the rest of your life. Hopefully
I will be able to touch everyone in a singular manner and the element
is of course is to look out for the Cuban Brothers album, called ‘A
to Z,’ out in the shops now. It is a fantastic album, twenty six
tracks - you cannot believe this, twenty six, straight in, it is fantastico,
we are introducing every song with a little story. It is fantastic.
magazine
representative: Michael Simon
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