palabras ROB PEREZ

It would be fair to say that Andres Levin is one of the most powerful record producers working in the music business, certainly one of the most powerful Latino producers in music today. He’s worked with the biggest legends in soul, R&B, Hip-Hop, and rock, and is a founding member of the Afro-Latin fusion band, Yerba Buena.

Even if you haven’t heard of him, you know his music well, especially if you’ve been to the movies lately. Andres has already become a much sought after film composer, scoring the music for hit biopic, El Catante, based on the life of salsa king, Hector Lavoe. His film composing credits don’t end there. Currently, you can hear his work in the Mexican action comedy, Ladron que roba Ladron, followed by the reggaeton-themed film Feel The Noise, and the thriller Borderland. The man of many hats, literally and figuratively, always has something going on, but whatever he has his finger on, you can bet will turn into musical gold!

Are you constantly surrounded by and thinking about music?

Yeah, that’s fair to say. Except when I sleep or when I’m getting a massage. I don’t like to hear music. But music has been my oxygen since I’ve been 7-years-old.

You grew up with music all around you?

Yes.

Because of that, was there any doubt that music would not be your career?

I had other interests such as science and the arts in general. But my calling towards playing an instrument started very, very young. My father does the electronic, improvisational music of Venezuela, so there were always recording equipment and instruments . . . so I had basically, a studio in my room. I put together a couple of cassette tapes of organs and cans to bang on when I was 8, 9-years-old. I started putting my cassettes at the same time I started playing my instruments. I started making recordings and experimenting with tape, and cutting tape, stuff like that when I was a teenager.

Those early tapes, did you ever send them out to anyone? Did you get any sort of notice from them?

No. I have them in a vault. But there was one set of tunes that I did when I was fifteen that I sent to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and they gave me a full scholarship on that one particular tape. It opened a lot of doors. And I was able to come to the states.

As successful as you have become, what would you say was a major turning point in your career?

Well, there have been a few. I jumped around different aspects of styles of music, and aspects of the business. So I guess the first record I produced and wrote most of the music on—that put me on the map of the R&B and Hip-Hop world—was a record by Mischa Perez. Then I got to work with Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, and Gladys Knight. Six years later I worked with Aterciopelados, which opened up doors in a different world. I worked on a record with David Byrne and Marisa Montes. That opened up a lot of doors in Brazil. Then, obviously, starting Yerba Buena. I think that was a big turning point of getting back on stage and touring, and getting back to being an artist again. And then another big turning point was scoring films, which is what I’ve been doing for a year and a half. Scoring El Catante put me on the map of that world.

Because El Catante was based on a salsa legend, did you go very Latin-centric, specifically salsa-oriented with the score?

There’s a lot of aspects to the score. Yes, there is part of it that’s pretty much kind of the times, and the sounds of the time. Starting from the late sixties and its sound into the salsa sounds. I would say fifty percent of the score is dramatic and tied to the dramatic, emotional arc of the movie, as oppose to the time period. The internal, emotional development of the character.

Have you been enjoying this new career path of scoring films?

Yes I have. I’ll still produce records and I’ll still tour, but this is a different kind of exercise for the brain, and it allows you to work with different types of music and musicians, and directors. It’s a collaborative effort. The collaborative aspect of it is very interesting. I studied a lot of strings and orchestration at Julliard, which is stuff I don’t get to apply too much on record. So with scoring I do get to exercise it a lot more, which is great.

Did you find scoring films challenging?

It’s a lot of work. Very intensive. There’s a large volume of music that has to be created in a short amount of time. It’s a huge production, there are a lot of people involved, so it was definitely challenging. But that’s what I like about it. I’m grateful to have worked with great directors who are very sensitive to music, and respectful of what I did. So far I’ve worked with great, great people. So that helps!

From doing these scores, do you think you’ll move on to doing TV scores?

Right now I’m focusing on features. If the right television thing comes through I will definitely consider it. But right now my passion is feature films.

When will the new Yerba Buena album be released?

We’re putting out a new record for next year. We’re writing it and there will be a CuCu Diamante solo album coming out first in January. Then following that will be the next Yerba Buena record.

Because of everything you do, what do you tell people when you’re asked what you do for a living?

I usually say artist, music and film composer.

Describe a typical day for you

Begins early in the morning and ends early in the morning. It depends. The great thing about working on so many aspects of the music world is that there is no routine. So if I’m on a film schedule it’s totally different than if I’m on the road or recording with an artist. So my life basically, as far as schedules go, it changes depending on what I’m doing. But I’m a workaholic. I like to get up and get to work, do my thing. I’m always thinking about creative ways to do what we’re doing better.