Reino Unido ·
Fans, Small Stages and a Very Long Letter: Mike Sain't Louis on What Spanish Copla Lends to the Look and Sound of GAYFOLK
In a question-and-answer interview, the Madrid indie alternative artist who calls himself ‘the first AI singer-songwriter’ talks about drama that knows it is dramatic, a poison-pen reference for an ex-husband and an English lament that begins with a Spanish sigh
Madrid, 25 October 2026 – For British readers, Spanish copla might conjure a black-and-white film: a woman in a polka-dot dress on a little wooden stage, a fan snapping open at the exact moment the betrayal is revealed. Mike Sain't Louis, the Madrid-based indie alternative artist who presents himself as "the first AI singer-songwriter", has kept that picture close. His catalogue, PLANETA GAYFOLK, runs to 273 singles and more than 280 music videos, and the styles range from electropop to copla, alternative pop and ballad.
Mike writes all of his lyrics and is also composer, music producer, artistic director and CEO of his independent label, MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS. The music and vocal performances are generated with artificial intelligence, a production and arranging tool he directs. We asked him about fans, stages and the drama in between.
"Exaggeration that knows it is exaggerating"
Why copla? It is not the obvious reference for an indie alternative artist.
Because copla was camp before anyone in Spain used the word. A woman stands on a little stage and tells the whole room that her heart has been destroyed, with a fan in her hand and perfect make-up. She is suffering for real and she knows she is giving a show. Both things at once. That is exactly what I try to do. Camp is exaggeration that knows it is exaggerating.
Couldn't the AI simply give you that drama if you asked for it?
It exaggerates beautifully when you ask. What it doesn't know is that it's doing it. That awareness is the whole difference between camp and simple excess. A wig isn't camp. A wig put on with intention, at the right moment, in front of the right audience, is. The intention has to come from somebody.
The fan as a full stop
When you imagine the GAYFOLK world, where does copla show up?
In the gestures. The fan is a full stop. You open it when you've said something devastating and you want the room to sit with it. The little stage, the tarima, is the idea that your private pain deserves a spotlight and an audience. I think in pictures. Every song arrives with an image already attached, which is why there are more videos than singles in my catalogue. Copla gave me the vocabulary for those pictures long before I had the tools to make them.
A reference nobody asked for
"Carta de recomendación" sounds like the most copla thing you've written, even though the music isn't.
It's a monologue from the tarima, yes. The narrator writes a "reference letter" about his ex-husband for whoever comes next. Don't trust his blue eyes; they're coloured contact lenses. Don't trust what he says about his nationality, or his age, or his height. Seven years in hell, and the man is left at the height of a sock. And there's that line where the narrator says the first act was his, and now comes act two.
That sounds less like heartbreak and more like revenge.
It's justice with a fan. In copla the woman who was betrayed gets the last word in front of the whole village. I'm giving myself the last word in front of the internet. It's funny, I hope, but every detail in it cost me something.
There's a serious purpose underneath, isn't there?
Yes. With professional help, I turn years of relationships with narcissistic partners into songs, so that psychological abuse and what it does to your mental health become visible. If someone reads that letter and recognises the man, the mask, the stories, I want them to feel believed.
A Spanish sigh in English
"Before the Bells" is in English and very calm. Where is the copla there?
In the first two seconds. It opens with "Aaaay mi pena", a lament straight out of that tradition. Then it switches language and lowers its voice. The rest of the song is about the time before anything is decided: before the bells ring, before the morning asks us to be loud. No victory, no hidden plan.
Why go from Spanish to English like that?
Because the two languages hold grief differently. Spanish wants to tell you the whole story with names. English lets me leave gaps. The opening sigh is the copla singer on her stage; the English verses are the same woman afterwards, alone in the dressing room. The line I come back to is "Just being here the best we can." That's the whole song.
Britain, Spain and melodrama
What do you think British listeners will make of all this?
Britain loves a grand gesture with a wink, from music hall to panto. I think people there will recognise the trick straight away: you go completely over the top so you can say something true without anyone stopping you. And if their Spanish is rusty, every lyric is on the website next to the song.
Last question: fan or no fan?
Always fan. You never know when you'll need a full stop.
Listen and download
"Carta de recomendación", "Before the Bells" and the rest of the catalogue can be streamed and downloaded free of charge, with full lyrics, at https://mikesaintlouis.com. The music is also on Spotify, Deezer and the major streaming platforms. Many listeners first met the artist in 2024, when "Tan Cateto" went viral on TikTok. Instagram: @planetagayfolk.
About Mike Sain't Louis
Mike Sain't Louis is a Madrid indie alternative artist and self-described "first AI singer-songwriter" who writes every lyric he releases. Working without a record company through his own label, MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS, he has built PLANETA GAYFOLK around a trilogy of albums, "Descubierto un nuevo planeta llamado GAYFOLK", "Ojalá se pudiera viajar a GAYFOLK" and "El día de la liberación", conceived as one journey to a planet where everyone can be who they are.
Press contact
MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS info@mikesaintlouis.com https://mikesaintlouis.com Instagram: @planetagayfolk