As the saying goes “Fortune favours the bold” …
Joe’s creative collaboration with filmmaker & photographer, Fernando de France, goes as far back as 1995, when Fernando first introduced Pau Donés of legendary Spanish Latin Rock band Jarabe de Palo to him.
Joe’s unbreakable bond with Pau stood as a testament to the enduring strength of their creative collaboration and friendship. This connection led Joe to produce the first five albums for Jarabe de Palo—’La Flaca,’ ‘Depende,’ ‘De Vuelta De Vuelta,’ ‘Bonito,’ and ‘1M2’—and to mix the celebratory anniversary album ’50 Palos’ released in 2017.
The story goes like this … Fernando loved music and discovered Joe through his brother Carlos de France, a songwriter and bass player. Fernando introduced Pau to Lydia Fernández of Virgin Records España, who went onto sign him as an artist and asked him who would produce his debut album. Pau didn’t really know what a producer did but immediately set about the task of finding the right one by looking at his top 5 favourite albums – Joe had produced 3 of the 5 – ‘La Cancion de Juan Perro’ Radio Futura, ‘Echate Un Cantecito’ Kiko Veneno and ‘Que Es Lo Que Quieres de Mi’ Caraoscura
However, Joe first declined the offer to produce the album and undeterred Fernando and Pau jumped on a flight from Barcelona and rocked up to his studio in Acton ‘Moody Studios’ to convince him … which they did!
Jarabe de Palo “have influenced an entire generation with their Rock, Afro-Latin, Brazilian, Funk Hybrid Sound” allmusic.com
The friendship between Joe and Fernando has grown stronger with each shared experience and the successful completion of numerous collaborative projects.