palabras ROBIN PEREZ

Aterciopelados' Andrea Echeverri giggles when I mention her English is very good, unlike my Spanish which is poor. Despite my poor Spanish-speaking abilities, you don't need to speak perfect Spanish to get that Oye, Aterciopelados' first new album of original music in five years, is an uplifting, upbeat, and thought-provoking rock album. Aterciopelados are known to change up their styles, having embraced the traditional sounds of their native Colombia, experimenting with trance, trip-hop, and now going back to their rock roots, but sprinkled with virtually every kind of genre they’ve incorporated into their music over the past ten years. It’s this formula that have kept the velvety ones current, fresh, and definitely one of the very best Alt-Latino bands.

Your solo album (Andrea Echeverri) was about you being pregnant. Do you feel those songs could’ve been written if you hadn’t been?

No. Impossible. Being pregnant, giving birth inspired the whole thing.

If you did a second solo album, what would it be about—motherhood?

I’m not sure that I want to do another solo album. I do have a long term plan to have an album complete. Maybe I will do it with my husband.

When do you think that album could happen; in the near future?

I don’t know because it depends on how things go with Aterciopelados. It has to be like a weekend project because he also works. So that’s why I say it’s like a long term thing. No rush.

What was like going back and recording new music for the new Aterciopelados album after so many years?

It was good. It was a bit harder because with Andrea Echeverri, I made all the decisions, so I felt very comfortable with it. With Aterciopelados, I can’t. It’s like compromising. Two people saying what they want, sometimes different things, and then working until they find something that they both like. It’s like any group work. It’s not easy. But then you get to places where wouldn’t go on your own, and sometimes they’re very interesting.

Is Hector Buitrago easy to work with?

I’m not sure if we’re easy but we’ve been together so long, that we know how to handle each other. We know each other. Sometimes it gets really hard because of the tension, you get nervous and things like that. Overall, I think it’s easy.

So the chemistry was still there?

Yes, absolutely.

Would you say Hector is your musical soul mate?

I think so. He’s my favorite producer. We’ve worked with quite a few good ones but he’s very good at it.

The music on Oye is upbeat but the lyrics tackle some serious issues. Can you explain what some of those issues were that you sang about?

There’s one that talks about consumerism (Don Dinero). Such as consuming, buying everything. Solving all of your problems and all of your needs with money. It has lots of humor but it’s like asking yourself, how deep are you into consuming things? There’s another one that talks about sexual objects and how the culture views the female’s body and sexuality (Oye Mujer). That’s very sad, and I think that affects us as a gender. All of us. It makes us see ourselves different. It’s not happy at all. There’s another one that talks about protest in the music (Cancion Protesta). Protest against war, the hole in the ozone layer. In Colombia, they pour a fume to kill the cocoa plants, but they affect everything, and it affects people’s health. They pour it over the Amazon and over very important places with trees and animals. We protest against that. Protesting is not a terrorist thing. It seems like lately, it has become a little like that. We defend the protesting, and mention some of our favorite protest singers.

We have a festival in Bogotá once a year, and it’s organized by the government. It’s in a park and it’s two or three days, and it’s a beautiful thing that happens. So there’s a song that talks about that (Al Parque). It mentions the dancing and how beautiful it is to feel good, like we all belong to one tribe. There are love songs, and there are a couple of songs dedicated to Mother Nature.

Are there any songs that are about your family?

In a way. The one that talks about money and the one that talks about sexual objects, I’m thinking about my daughter and what she will have to face. I think it’s nice that she knows things very young, that you can have another opinion about things. Because if not, everyone thinks that way. There are many people who think differently, and I think that’s very healthy for her.

What kind of world would you like your daughter to live in?

I think out of those two things, I don’t want her to be influenced by money the most. The money thing that rules everything. Because of the money are the wars and because of the money, there are the problems with nature, and even the sexual object things, it’s all because of the money. I guess a world without so much greed, where the money wouldn’t have so much power. Where the heart has more power than the money.

What was the best part of recording the new Aterciopelados album?

The best thing is to find things. With Aterciopelados, we always try not to repeat ourselves and always go somewhere else. Find a place where you can express yourself and make a sound that is pleasing and beautiful, and I think we did. This album is more rock.

What were some challenges recording the new album?

I think the most difficult thing is the pressure because we didn’t do an album for six years as Aterciopelados, so everyone was expecting it to be great. So sometimes that could be heavy. The anxiety, nervousness. But then when you could let loose and forget all the expectations and enjoy yourself, you can do your job that you know how to do.

Is there a difference for you writing songs for a solo album as opposed to writing songs for Aterciopelados?

What’s different was the moment of my life. I was pregnant and I had a baby, and that was the difference. I didn’t even think that it was going to be in a solo album. I just wrote songs about what was happening. I think I got caught up by the whole situation—by the emotions, the tenderness, the love, and the whole thing. I don’t think it’s different to write songs for one or the other things. The difference is what is happening to you.

What do you feel was the best thing that has happened in the career of Aterciopelados?

The little things. When someone approaches you and tells you your music has been good to them. It’s helped them when they were sad or when they were sick. Those little things really are the best.

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