WEBVTT - Adrian Quesada 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:22.916 Pushkin. Hey, y'all's Justin Richmond. Today on the show, we're 0:00:22.916 --> 0:00:27.876 talking to Grammy Award winning musician Adrian Quesada. He's best 0:00:27.916 --> 0:00:30.396 known as one half of the Black Pumas with singer 0:00:30.556 --> 0:00:34.156 Eric Burton, but since the pandemic started, he's been working 0:00:34.196 --> 0:00:39.036 on a solo project called Balros Psychodelicos or Psychedelic Bleros. 0:00:39.676 --> 0:00:43.356 Inspired by Adrian's longtime love of psychedelic music and Latin 0:00:43.356 --> 0:00:46.516 American love songs of the sixties and seventies, he started 0:00:46.516 --> 0:00:50.636 thinking about how he might recreate balros and balladas. The 0:00:50.676 --> 0:00:54.036 album includes singers from all over Latin America, as well 0:00:54.076 --> 0:00:58.116 as Tom Waite's guitarist Mark Ribot and Beastie Boy collaborator 0:00:58.276 --> 0:01:02.996 Money Mark. Released in June, Balto Psychoedelicos reached number one 0:01:03.156 --> 0:01:07.156 on the Billboard Latin Album Chart. On today's episode, Adrian 0:01:07.236 --> 0:01:09.596 and a few of the singers featured on the album, 0:01:09.796 --> 0:01:13.676 lay Angelica, Garcia, and Tita talk about how the new 0:01:13.716 --> 0:01:17.676 album came together, the collaborative process, and how boleros and 0:01:17.716 --> 0:01:25.516 bladas fit into Latin music today. This is broken record 0:01:25.876 --> 0:01:29.916 liner notes for the digital Age. I'm Justin Richard. Here's 0:01:29.956 --> 0:01:34.316 my conversation with Adrian Quesada and his collaborators lay Angelica 0:01:34.396 --> 0:01:38.916 Garcia and Tita So. Adrian, last time I was talking 0:01:38.916 --> 0:01:42.156 to you was for the Black Pumas record. You've been 0:01:42.236 --> 0:01:45.556 riding like a wave of love and success on that record. 0:01:45.876 --> 0:01:49.836 That was seemingly unexpected, i'd imagine. And your new project 0:01:50.316 --> 0:01:55.236 is Ballero Psychedelicos and it's a Solowish project, a project 0:01:55.276 --> 0:01:58.516 you did yourself, featuring a bunch of different singers. How 0:01:58.556 --> 0:02:01.596 did this come together? So this was very much a 0:02:01.636 --> 0:02:04.316 pandemic record, you know. And always wanted to do something 0:02:04.356 --> 0:02:06.596 like this because I've just really been obsessed with this 0:02:06.676 --> 0:02:09.276 kind of music for a long time. But when the 0:02:09.316 --> 0:02:11.156 pandemic started, I was supposed to be on tour with 0:02:11.156 --> 0:02:14.156 Black Puma's all of twenty twenty, like everybody else, you know, 0:02:14.236 --> 0:02:16.516 like my ear just cleared out, and all of a sudden, 0:02:16.716 --> 0:02:19.476 like I was home. I had nothing to do. You know. 0:02:19.516 --> 0:02:22.276 Some people were like baking bread and stuff, getting hobbies 0:02:22.356 --> 0:02:25.116 during the pandemic, but I just started making music. I 0:02:25.196 --> 0:02:27.796 felt like that was what was keeping me from getting depressed. 0:02:28.036 --> 0:02:29.436 I just finally had time to do this, So I 0:02:29.476 --> 0:02:31.396 just started cranking out a ton of music, a ton 0:02:31.436 --> 0:02:34.596 of instrumentals, and then just started reaching out to amazing 0:02:34.836 --> 0:02:39.956 collaborators like Tita and Ela and they kind of brought 0:02:39.956 --> 0:02:43.116 it all to life. When in the process of tinkering 0:02:43.316 --> 0:02:46.036 and sort of just trying to distract yourself, did the 0:02:46.076 --> 0:02:48.836 idea for this record come? I had a playlist that 0:02:48.836 --> 0:02:50.596 I'd put together of a lot of songs in this 0:02:50.676 --> 0:02:53.036 kind of style, and then it helps me finish things 0:02:53.036 --> 0:02:56.196 if I have a concept, Otherwise I'll make a hundred 0:02:56.236 --> 0:02:58.796 songs and never finish them, you know. So like that 0:02:58.876 --> 0:03:01.076 helped me very much, just kind of make it cohesive. 0:03:01.396 --> 0:03:03.196 What were some of those songs on your playlist? We 0:03:03.196 --> 0:03:06.476 should play one? Yeah, one of the anchors was a 0:03:06.556 --> 0:03:10.396 song by La Lupe called Boys Set to Them and 0:03:10.756 --> 0:03:13.756 that song I had just been listening to a lot, 0:03:14.356 --> 0:03:16.116 thought like, there are songs like that that you can't 0:03:16.156 --> 0:03:18.596 I'm not going to top that song, you know, so 0:03:18.596 --> 0:03:21.316 you might as well just cover it and get it 0:03:21.316 --> 0:03:23.396 out of my system. But it was a good exercise 0:03:23.396 --> 0:03:26.476 for me to like do that and recreate it. Sometimes 0:03:26.476 --> 0:03:28.796 that's just a good exercise to do something like that. 0:03:28.876 --> 0:03:31.436 And uh, actually one of the first people I called 0:03:31.516 --> 0:03:34.276 was Gobby Moreno who sang that does Who's sitting next 0:03:34.316 --> 0:03:36.476 to me? His sister and Gobby was all about it, 0:03:36.516 --> 0:03:38.236 and that was one of the first songs that came together. 0:03:38.636 --> 0:03:39.996 Do you mind a to be listening to the Loupe 0:03:40.156 --> 0:04:22.436 version for a bit now, I'll go ahead, Yes, Where 0:04:22.436 --> 0:04:24.756 did you hear that song? I don't even remember why 0:04:24.756 --> 0:04:26.356 I heard that one, to tell you the truth, you know, 0:04:26.396 --> 0:04:28.476 I just listening to a lot of music. I discovered 0:04:28.476 --> 0:04:30.516 that one just recently, just a few years ago. But 0:04:30.556 --> 0:04:31.996 when I hear a song that I like, like that, 0:04:32.036 --> 0:04:34.316 I'll listen to it ten times a day and then 0:04:34.476 --> 0:04:37.556 three times at night for like a month straight. So 0:04:37.596 --> 0:04:39.076 that was just the only song I could listen to 0:04:39.196 --> 0:04:41.276 for a little while. What stood out to you about it, 0:04:41.716 --> 0:04:44.196 oh Man, so much? I mean, she's an incredible vocalist, 0:04:44.516 --> 0:04:46.836 and just the love the arrangement, and I love the 0:04:47.076 --> 0:04:49.836 drummer was nasty on it. The whole song was just 0:04:49.996 --> 0:04:51.836 I don't know, I just I don't know. At the time, 0:04:51.876 --> 0:04:54.556 it just all really spoke to me. I think that 0:04:54.676 --> 0:04:56.716 the like the drama in the in these songs is 0:04:56.756 --> 0:04:58.756 one of the things that, for whatever reason at the time, 0:04:58.836 --> 0:05:02.356 was was really appealing. What genre would that be considered 0:05:02.396 --> 0:05:04.956 if you could pin a genre on it, you know, 0:05:04.996 --> 0:05:10.116 I don't really know. I mean maybe a fun yeah, well, 0:05:10.116 --> 0:05:11.916 you know, because the song, if you like play the 0:05:11.956 --> 0:05:14.116 song just like on a guitar and a singer, that's 0:05:14.196 --> 0:05:17.516 a volero, you know, but the arrangement is different. What 0:05:17.676 --> 0:05:20.156 makes a bolero? It's a ballad, I mean, I don't 0:05:20.156 --> 0:05:21.516 know what how else you would you break down a 0:05:21.876 --> 0:05:25.356 bolero like? It tends to be romantic. It can be 0:05:25.436 --> 0:05:31.556 like a slow and very passionate with the songs and 0:05:31.596 --> 0:05:36.236 the interpretation, but also very intimate maybe, and they can 0:05:36.316 --> 0:05:39.596 be aboletto can be made with like a big arrangement, 0:05:39.676 --> 0:05:42.156 or also can be just played with a guitar and 0:05:42.316 --> 0:05:45.876 very bohemian ish. I don't know exactly the definition, but 0:05:46.836 --> 0:05:52.796 something like that. So it's like a romantic song, story song. Yeah, 0:05:52.836 --> 0:05:56.636 I think the lyrical content mostly love, you know, romance, heartbreak, 0:05:56.796 --> 0:06:00.636 diary ish kind of like a ballad at its core, 0:06:00.756 --> 0:06:02.956 you know, But there's a style to like the certain 0:06:02.996 --> 0:06:06.156 chord progressions and things and that make it that you 0:06:06.196 --> 0:06:08.916 can identify, you know, like in that song, is there 0:06:08.996 --> 0:06:11.676 like an era or certain like that. I'm trying to 0:06:11.676 --> 0:06:14.236 think of like equivalence that would have been like the 0:06:14.276 --> 0:06:16.276 stack sound or the motown sound. Is there like an 0:06:16.316 --> 0:06:18.796 equivalent for that? Would it have been through fana or 0:06:18.796 --> 0:06:20.796 would there have been like a particular time or group 0:06:20.916 --> 0:06:23.716 that would most identify some of the sounds. I guess 0:06:23.716 --> 0:06:26.316 at least that inspired It's like La Loupe, for instance. 0:06:26.836 --> 0:06:30.036 The genre of bolero I think goes from Cuba a 0:06:30.116 --> 0:06:33.996 long time ago to very much like the vocal groups harmonizing, 0:06:34.036 --> 0:06:35.996 and then in Mexico there was kind of its own 0:06:35.996 --> 0:06:39.956 interpretation of it, and this particular album kind of references 0:06:40.036 --> 0:06:45.276 the like late sixties, early seventies electric instruments, arrangements and 0:06:45.796 --> 0:06:47.996 like Ela was saying, it very much kind of started 0:06:48.036 --> 0:06:51.636 on a you know, a guitar, acoustic instruments and vocals. 0:06:51.676 --> 0:06:54.036 But I think in the late sixties or early seventies 0:06:54.076 --> 0:06:57.716 was when people started to you know, play with electric 0:06:57.756 --> 0:07:00.356 instruments and the drummer would play kind of funky and 0:07:00.396 --> 0:07:02.516 like there was certain things like that, and that's that's 0:07:02.556 --> 0:07:06.476 that's very much the era that this album was inspired by. 0:07:06.916 --> 0:07:10.436 So almost like what British Lose Acts and the sixties 0:07:10.476 --> 0:07:13.596 did to like more traditional style blues like Spoonful started 0:07:13.596 --> 0:07:16.876 as like an acoustic, more folky I guess song or whatever, 0:07:16.996 --> 0:07:18.796 and then Cream gets it and makes it like this 0:07:18.836 --> 0:07:22.476 like insane electric psychedelic version. Is that kind of what 0:07:22.516 --> 0:07:26.076 happened to the Ballero at some point something like that? 0:07:26.116 --> 0:07:28.716 Except it wasn't the British. It was like Latin America 0:07:28.796 --> 0:07:30.956 continued to do you know what I mean? Like it 0:07:31.036 --> 0:07:33.076 wasn't like it came to the US and then Latin 0:07:33.156 --> 0:07:35.756 like these groups are from you know, Chile and mayhic 0:07:35.796 --> 0:07:38.436 Go and still very much have was happening in Latin America, 0:07:38.516 --> 0:07:42.036 Like but yeah, they basically electrified it. You know, did 0:07:42.076 --> 0:07:44.996 you guys grow up with this? Like maybe everyone can 0:07:44.996 --> 0:07:47.236 sort of speak to that, Like Adrian, you grew up 0:07:47.356 --> 0:07:50.436 in Texas. Would this have been a sound that you 0:07:50.476 --> 0:07:53.956 hear grown up? No? No, I probably grew up more 0:07:54.076 --> 0:07:58.116 with like the more traditional little sponsors like things like 0:07:58.116 --> 0:08:00.036 that from Mexico where it was very much just like 0:08:00.076 --> 0:08:02.316 a vocal group, and and like I didn't know that 0:08:02.396 --> 0:08:06.436 this electric psychedelic type stuff existed. I grew up in Guatemala, 0:08:06.556 --> 0:08:11.876 but not in my house specifically, but maybe, like I 0:08:11.996 --> 0:08:16.716 remember at parties or in school, maybe at one point, 0:08:17.236 --> 0:08:19.756 it's very popular. All the songs are very popular in 0:08:19.836 --> 0:08:23.996 Latin America, so obviously everyone knows them. So yeah, there 0:08:23.996 --> 0:08:26.876 are songs that of course I know them, got It? 0:08:26.956 --> 0:08:32.956 And Angelica. You're from La, right, yeah, I'm Salva mex American. 0:08:33.436 --> 0:08:36.436 So I grew up in and around La and other 0:08:36.476 --> 0:08:39.356 parts of the US. A lot of the stuff that 0:08:39.436 --> 0:08:42.796 my family listened to was based in like ranchera music 0:08:43.036 --> 0:08:46.756 and also like gumbia kind of a central So I 0:08:46.876 --> 0:08:51.916 heard boletto sometimes, but it wasn't as played in my house. Ela, 0:08:51.956 --> 0:08:54.476 where did you grow up in. I'm from Puerto Rico, 0:08:54.676 --> 0:08:58.436 so yeah, I grew up listening to boleros a lot, 0:08:58.476 --> 0:09:01.996 because in Puerto Rico you hear a lot of salsa, 0:09:02.156 --> 0:09:05.996 and a lot of salsa singers also sang boleros, so 0:09:07.436 --> 0:09:09.956 like at the same time you can answer salsa, but 0:09:10.036 --> 0:09:14.636 then you can feel a bolero and and we still 0:09:14.676 --> 0:09:18.196 do it. Like there's some like street karaokes in Puerto 0:09:18.276 --> 0:09:22.756 Rico that some older people go and sing like classical 0:09:22.836 --> 0:09:26.796 boleros or sometimes like with a guitar. It's like very 0:09:26.836 --> 0:09:29.156 you know normal there to go to a place and 0:09:29.236 --> 0:09:32.636 someone is just playing boleros with a guitar. So yeah, 0:09:32.636 --> 0:09:35.756 I kind of grew up a lot with different types 0:09:35.796 --> 0:09:38.156 of music, but bolero and salsa was one of the 0:09:38.236 --> 0:09:41.676 main music that's interesting. So yeah, So like salsa music's 0:09:41.676 --> 0:09:44.716 about dancing a salsa singer, then throwing a bolero and 0:09:44.756 --> 0:09:47.156 a set would be like Michael Jackson just throwing a 0:09:47.156 --> 0:09:48.836 ballad in a set or something. Right, it's just like 0:09:48.876 --> 0:09:52.476 gonna We're gonna slow it down. Yeah, And with salsa, 0:09:52.556 --> 0:09:55.316 the experimented a lot. I mean, salsa has a lot 0:09:55.356 --> 0:09:58.476 of jazz and a lot of funk. So there are 0:09:58.556 --> 0:10:02.396 some boletos that have like a funky but like a 0:10:02.476 --> 0:10:08.556 slow funky style, especially like with Fannia singers that in 0:10:08.596 --> 0:10:10.996 the seventh This Day explore with all that stuff. Some 0:10:11.036 --> 0:10:13.556 of them were living in New York, so they like 0:10:13.676 --> 0:10:16.316 explored a lot with music that was going on in 0:10:16.356 --> 0:10:19.196 New York and with the salsa mix, so it was 0:10:19.316 --> 0:10:22.276 very interesting. There's a lot of cool songs, so it 0:10:22.316 --> 0:10:24.356 can be a slow burn, it can be a slow 0:10:24.396 --> 0:10:27.396 funky number. Yeah. There's another cover song on here that 0:10:27.436 --> 0:10:32.836 Tita You sang by Jeanette, Right, can we listen to 0:10:32.876 --> 0:10:35.676 a bit of the original? Yeah? Sure, cool Now listen 0:10:35.716 --> 0:10:39.436 to your version. Damn, it's a good song. I wish 0:10:39.436 --> 0:10:43.676 I listen to your version of Triste. Let's just listen 0:10:43.676 --> 0:11:19.676 to a bit of that, profu yo. It's a beautiful interpretation. 0:11:19.916 --> 0:11:21.836 So imagine I must have started with you hearing that 0:11:21.916 --> 0:11:24.036 and getting obsessed with it, Adrian, Is that true? Would 0:11:24.076 --> 0:11:26.996 have started with you hearing it and getting obsessed. I 0:11:26.996 --> 0:11:29.716 had never heard that song, and probably March twenty twenty, 0:11:29.756 --> 0:11:31.636 like right when I started working on some of this music, 0:11:32.036 --> 0:11:34.636 my daughter was playing it in the house in like 0:11:34.676 --> 0:11:38.876 another room on her phone. How old is she? Sixteen? Oh? Man, 0:11:39.036 --> 0:11:41.156 she's got great taste. She has an amazing taste. And 0:11:41.196 --> 0:11:43.796 she was fourteen at the time, and uh wow. She 0:11:43.956 --> 0:11:45.996 was playing it on her phone and I was in 0:11:46.076 --> 0:11:47.556 my studio, but I had the door open because my 0:11:47.556 --> 0:11:49.916 studio used to be at my house, and it was 0:11:49.956 --> 0:11:52.116 like the Bugs Bunny cartoons like tune. I just like 0:11:52.116 --> 0:11:53.756 took off running. I was like, what is that? And 0:11:53.876 --> 0:11:55.916 she goes Jeannette, and I was like okay. I went 0:11:55.956 --> 0:11:58.196 back and like the next day I laid down a 0:11:58.276 --> 0:12:00.676 version of it and I changed the feel of it. 0:12:01.196 --> 0:12:03.076 When you get inspired to recreate a song like that. 0:12:03.156 --> 0:12:04.876 I'm sure it's different every time, so maybe we'll say 0:12:04.876 --> 0:12:07.236 specifically this one, where do you start? Where did you 0:12:07.276 --> 0:12:10.436 start on this one? That's funny. I actually, in my head, 0:12:10.516 --> 0:12:12.796 I thought that I would send it to, you know, 0:12:12.836 --> 0:12:14.996 the band Krunkben. I was like, I want to get that, 0:12:15.036 --> 0:12:16.956 I want to get them to replay it. What made 0:12:16.956 --> 0:12:19.436 you go to her to sing it? Adrian. One of 0:12:19.476 --> 0:12:21.276 the first people I talked about with this project was 0:12:21.276 --> 0:12:24.036 Gabby Moreno and she, you know, Gabby is Tita's sister, 0:12:24.076 --> 0:12:26.076 and as soon as I mentioned this song, she was like, oh, 0:12:26.116 --> 0:12:27.956 you have to reach out to my sister. She's like 0:12:28.076 --> 0:12:30.756 she she knows the song, and uh, you know, getting 0:12:30.796 --> 0:12:33.156 a co signed from Gabby was enough for me to 0:12:33.676 --> 0:12:36.476 reach out to Tita. And it's perfect, you know, absolutely perfect. 0:12:36.716 --> 0:12:39.836 It's really funny that when I started um making music, 0:12:40.156 --> 0:12:45.076 everyone kept telling me that my music, my style, my 0:12:45.196 --> 0:12:49.676 voice was like Janette's. They could see like the resemblance 0:12:49.716 --> 0:12:52.116 from like in the style and everything, and of course 0:12:52.116 --> 0:12:55.956 she's an inspiration, but I've never thought about it like that. 0:12:56.476 --> 0:12:59.996 And then I kept listening to Janette's music and I 0:13:00.876 --> 0:13:05.036 really love it. And so it's funny because Gabby told me, Oh, 0:13:05.076 --> 0:13:10.036 like you always sing like really soft, you know, like, um, 0:13:10.196 --> 0:13:13.516 you have this voice, like a delicate voice. Yeah, but 0:13:13.556 --> 0:13:17.076 it's it's a contrast because my lyrics are like really 0:13:17.676 --> 0:13:22.756 dark or about heartbreaks or it's never a happy lyrics. 0:13:22.756 --> 0:13:25.956 You know, it's never a happy song. But with my voice, 0:13:26.276 --> 0:13:28.956 it's like this song from Janette, Like the lyrics is 0:13:28.956 --> 0:13:32.956 really sad, but you know it makes you want to dance. 0:13:33.396 --> 0:13:35.196 Did you listen to it and try to emulate it? 0:13:35.236 --> 0:13:36.636 Did you listen to it and try to find your 0:13:36.636 --> 0:13:38.556 own voice in it? Or did you pull the lyrics 0:13:38.596 --> 0:13:41.156 and then just try to sing along to Adrian's track? 0:13:41.236 --> 0:13:43.716 Like how did you? You know? I didn't want to 0:13:43.756 --> 0:13:46.956 listen to it a lot because then I was going 0:13:46.956 --> 0:13:50.596 to sound like exactly like Jeanette, and I didn't want that, 0:13:51.076 --> 0:13:55.236 so I rather just like keep listening to the version 0:13:55.316 --> 0:13:58.556 that Adrians sent me, which I love, by the way, 0:13:58.596 --> 0:14:01.156 and I love that it's a little a little faster, right, Yeah, 0:14:01.196 --> 0:14:03.796 it's just a different feel, just to change the feel. 0:14:04.076 --> 0:14:07.716 I felt really comfortable singing this because it's like my style. 0:14:08.036 --> 0:14:11.396 It really came out really natural. Yeah, it's a cool 0:14:11.516 --> 0:14:13.516 version of it. It's like the tumble might be faster, 0:14:13.596 --> 0:14:17.156 I'm not sure, but it has laid back like groove 0:14:17.236 --> 0:14:19.076 to it that makes it like a little different and 0:14:19.276 --> 0:14:22.996 yeah interesting. Yeah. I actually sent um the vocal tracks 0:14:22.996 --> 0:14:26.236 and a few other things to a producer mutual friend 0:14:26.276 --> 0:14:30.476 with Elea from Puerto Rico named Pachman who's an amazing 0:14:30.556 --> 0:14:34.436 dub producer and musician, and I sent the vocals and 0:14:34.476 --> 0:14:36.756 a few separate things to him to he's kind of 0:14:36.796 --> 0:14:40.036 a dub scientist, master guy, and to dub it out, 0:14:40.076 --> 0:14:41.436 and he sent it back to me, and then I 0:14:41.476 --> 0:14:43.436 snuck it into the track, so it has like light 0:14:44.196 --> 0:14:47.956 flourishes of dub in there too. Who is Jeanette? She's 0:14:47.996 --> 0:14:51.516 an inspiration to a lot of um modern musicians, like 0:14:53.556 --> 0:14:57.716 a lot of you know, Mexican or Latin American female singers. 0:14:58.276 --> 0:15:02.116 I don't know. Have you heard this song? It's another 0:15:02.316 --> 0:15:06.836 hit by Janette? No? Should I play some if you want? 0:15:13.156 --> 0:15:40.796 Stan CONTI no movie walk Okay, deep us usk that's amazing. 0:15:41.436 --> 0:15:44.236 That's a great song. Yeah, yeah, Ela is the song 0:15:44.276 --> 0:15:48.796 that you sang. Was it a cover? No? Yes, I 0:15:48.836 --> 0:15:52.756 wrote the lyrics and Adrian did the whole music. Let's 0:15:52.756 --> 0:15:53.796 listen to it a bit and then I want I 0:15:53.796 --> 0:16:06.436 want to ask about that me baby see the kissing Yo. 0:16:06.556 --> 0:16:10.116 That's beautiful and funky and like all at the same time. 0:16:10.196 --> 0:16:15.956 That's crazy. Yeah, Conno, this is a much more traditional 0:16:16.036 --> 0:16:19.636 song than I guess you would normally perform, right, Eli, 0:16:20.636 --> 0:16:23.596 Maybe it's it's a part of me as well. I think, 0:16:24.116 --> 0:16:26.796 did you have the lyrics already when Adrian approached you 0:16:26.796 --> 0:16:30.876 to collaborate or did you write something specific to work together? 0:16:30.996 --> 0:16:33.596 Not at all. It was it was crazy because obviously 0:16:33.596 --> 0:16:36.116 it was all in the middle of the pandemic and 0:16:36.236 --> 0:16:40.956 my mind was in another place. And then suddenly Adrian 0:16:40.996 --> 0:16:42.756 asked me, like, do you want to do like a 0:16:42.756 --> 0:16:45.996 cover song or an original song? And I said, let's 0:16:45.996 --> 0:16:48.836 do an original song. I wanted to take the risk. 0:16:49.876 --> 0:16:53.116 But it was very fun to work with Adrian because 0:16:53.636 --> 0:16:58.036 I started analyzing, you know, his musical taste at first 0:16:58.276 --> 0:17:00.036 to see if we were going to be on the 0:17:00.076 --> 0:17:03.756 same page. He sent me some songs of boleros and 0:17:03.836 --> 0:17:07.836 I connected immediately because like he liked a lot of 0:17:07.956 --> 0:17:10.836 boleros that I also because blets, you know, they have 0:17:10.916 --> 0:17:14.516 their own style, like Adrian said before, so like you 0:17:14.516 --> 0:17:16.636 can like a voletto that maybe I don't connect with 0:17:16.796 --> 0:17:20.076 as much and it's some other style. So it was 0:17:20.196 --> 0:17:22.836 nice to see when he he sent me like some 0:17:22.956 --> 0:17:26.436 cool boleto songs and and we started, you know, getting 0:17:26.436 --> 0:17:29.916 into a particular vibe for this song. I like that 0:17:29.956 --> 0:17:37.596 she was testing your Adrian, let me see what's going on. Yeah, 0:17:37.916 --> 0:17:40.716 I mean I needed to, you know, because like blets, 0:17:40.756 --> 0:17:46.956 so you know, I'm pleo open ended kind of like. Yeah, 0:17:47.036 --> 0:17:49.996 and I also like, you know, these dark boleto songs 0:17:50.116 --> 0:17:53.476 as well, because there's some wonderful like bright boletos that 0:17:53.556 --> 0:17:57.196 are amazing. But I always like go dark, like even 0:17:57.236 --> 0:17:59.436 if even when I don't want to go dark, like 0:17:59.596 --> 0:18:03.916 darkness like wants me to go there, so I I 0:18:04.356 --> 0:18:06.756 and I also enjoy let you should watch out for that, 0:18:06.796 --> 0:18:12.116 by the way. Yeah, I try to manage it, but yeah. 0:18:11.916 --> 0:18:14.836 And I also like, um, you know, there's some wonderful 0:18:14.876 --> 0:18:19.876 singers and I love like great like fantastic, you know, 0:18:20.116 --> 0:18:25.116 spectacular voices. But I also enjoy like like these attitude voices, 0:18:25.356 --> 0:18:27.276 you know, if it's someone that you might know, like 0:18:27.356 --> 0:18:30.556 Dina Washington. Oh yeah, she had an amazing voice, but 0:18:30.596 --> 0:18:32.516 at the same time she was like talking to you 0:18:32.796 --> 0:18:36.276 through her voice, so um in Boleros. There are some 0:18:36.316 --> 0:18:39.236 other singers that have that style as well, Like they're 0:18:39.316 --> 0:18:43.316 telling you something very directly, and that's something that I 0:18:43.316 --> 0:18:46.476 wanted to do with the lyrics, you know, transmit that 0:18:46.556 --> 0:18:50.236 attitude like in a more you know, direct way as 0:18:50.476 --> 0:18:53.676 telling you something very important. What were you trying to 0:18:53.716 --> 0:18:57.956 say with that song? When you suddenly feel that in 0:18:57.956 --> 0:19:02.116 a relationship that you settle with something, but then suddenly 0:19:02.196 --> 0:19:06.956 you realize that you're settling, settling like with abuse, you know, 0:19:07.156 --> 0:19:11.436 because sometimes abuse can be small and difficult to perceive, 0:19:11.956 --> 0:19:14.636 but it's still abuse. And sometimes I feel like we 0:19:14.716 --> 0:19:18.116 get used to abusive patterns in a relationship, maybe because 0:19:18.116 --> 0:19:21.916 we've seen it in our family members or so, but 0:19:21.956 --> 0:19:25.876 we don't have to repeat things that always have been wrong, 0:19:25.956 --> 0:19:28.156 or we don't have to tolerate anything that we don't 0:19:28.156 --> 0:19:32.076 want to. So it's that moment when she realizes that 0:19:32.196 --> 0:19:34.316 and she says, this is something that I don't like, 0:19:34.316 --> 0:19:36.396 Like even if you bring me flowers of you try 0:19:36.396 --> 0:19:39.716 to decorate it, like the chort's not working and it's 0:19:39.796 --> 0:19:42.636 and it's hurtful and it's not a good relationship. So 0:19:43.076 --> 0:19:45.316 she's just saying in the course, like She's not to 0:19:45.316 --> 0:19:49.716 tolerate lies with Karino with affection. She don wants to 0:19:49.716 --> 0:19:55.436 tolerate lies with affection. So it's very dramatic. I connected 0:19:55.476 --> 0:20:00.596 with that era as well. With the music. Yeah, yeah, wow, 0:20:00.916 --> 0:20:02.676 it almost to me almost sounds like a like a 0:20:02.756 --> 0:20:05.556 Riza track, you know, like it's like there's this sinister 0:20:06.196 --> 0:20:08.156 feel to it. I don't know why, but like there's 0:20:08.156 --> 0:20:11.636 just like a dark, gritty feel. Oh well, yeah, like 0:20:11.836 --> 0:20:13.836 Eli said, you know, she wanted it to be a 0:20:13.916 --> 0:20:16.556 moody and set a tone, like, you know, especially with 0:20:16.596 --> 0:20:20.116 some of the subject matter, to just feel like vibe 0:20:20.236 --> 0:20:22.156 and kind of moody and not. You know, we weren't 0:20:22.156 --> 0:20:26.316 making a particularly bright, cheery song, so it was definitely 0:20:26.396 --> 0:20:29.236 setting that mood. But it also I think hip hop 0:20:29.276 --> 0:20:30.956 was such a huge influence on me when I was 0:20:30.956 --> 0:20:33.836 growing up. In my head, I wanted head bob like 0:20:33.876 --> 0:20:36.396 I'm listening to a hip hop song. Like, going back 0:20:36.396 --> 0:20:38.356 to the beginning of the production journey, did it start 0:20:38.396 --> 0:20:41.276 with like hip hop production? Yeah? Actually, I mean I 0:20:41.316 --> 0:20:43.916 started playing guitar when I was a teenager and played 0:20:44.396 --> 0:20:48.076 Nirvana and Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and skate punk stuff 0:20:48.076 --> 0:20:51.396 and whatever. Was really into guitar. But the first music 0:20:51.436 --> 0:20:55.716 that I started to try to recreate and dissect was 0:20:55.836 --> 0:20:59.316 a hip hop And then also my first actual like 0:20:59.436 --> 0:21:02.796 trying to make my own music was with an MPC 0:21:02.916 --> 0:21:05.796 two thousand, an NPC two thousand, Just so people know, 0:21:05.876 --> 0:21:09.596 it's like a old sampler. Yeah, yeah, of hip hop 0:21:09.596 --> 0:21:12.716 producers in the nineties uses those, And that was my 0:21:12.756 --> 0:21:18.236 first introduction into like programming and sampling and production and whatnot. 0:21:18.516 --> 0:21:20.636 What were you sampling at the time when I was 0:21:20.676 --> 0:21:22.356 doing that. At the time, I mean, I had a 0:21:22.396 --> 0:21:24.116 lot of records, and that was like kind of the 0:21:24.236 --> 0:21:26.796 crate digging, like when there was compilations of cool samples 0:21:26.796 --> 0:21:29.316 and stuff. But when I first got my MPC two thousand, 0:21:29.356 --> 0:21:31.276 I was really into jazz and I was sampling like 0:21:31.636 --> 0:21:35.636 just weird jazz, free jazz and all on guard jazz 0:21:35.636 --> 0:21:38.956 and stuff like that. But just learning how to do that, 0:21:39.116 --> 0:21:40.956 you know, because of the sound of the drums of 0:21:40.956 --> 0:21:43.276 an MPC two thousand, that's how I want drums to 0:21:43.316 --> 0:21:45.156 sound all the time. You know. As much as I 0:21:45.236 --> 0:21:47.796 used to listen to guns and Roses when I was 0:21:47.836 --> 0:21:49.676 a little kid, I don't I don't hear the drums 0:21:49.676 --> 0:21:52.196 like that. I hear the drums like Pete Rock, you 0:21:52.236 --> 0:21:54.076 don't hear the Paradise City drums. I mean, I could 0:21:54.076 --> 0:21:56.916 play all those songs on guitar, but you know my drums, 0:21:56.916 --> 0:21:58.636 I want him to sound like a hip hop drummer, 0:21:58.676 --> 0:22:00.836 you know. So that production style kind of like has 0:22:00.876 --> 0:22:03.796 stayed with you over the years. Just about everything I've 0:22:03.836 --> 0:22:05.916 ever I can't I can't shake it. It It was just 0:22:05.956 --> 0:22:08.636 too much part of who I am. How's it grown now? 0:22:08.636 --> 0:22:11.116 Because you're not still using a sampler, right, I've tried 0:22:11.156 --> 0:22:13.276 to bring three back to life that I have here 0:22:13.276 --> 0:22:15.756 in the studio MPCs, but it's like having an old car. 0:22:16.116 --> 0:22:18.676 It's a lot of upkeep and stuff, and it's just 0:22:19.156 --> 0:22:21.436 way more convenient now to do stuff on the computer 0:22:21.556 --> 0:22:23.516 and whatnot. But honestly, like a lot of these things 0:22:23.556 --> 0:22:26.476 are just we do live drums. We have to take 0:22:26.476 --> 0:22:28.556 a quick break, but we'll be right back with more 0:22:28.596 --> 0:22:36.676 from Adrian, Angelica, Tita, and Ela. We're back with the 0:22:36.676 --> 0:22:40.596 rest of my conversation with Adrian Quesada and his collaborators. 0:22:41.716 --> 0:22:45.476 Like on this record, you played almost everything yourself, or 0:22:45.836 --> 0:22:48.276 I started everything myself and then would send it to 0:22:48.356 --> 0:22:52.636 people like that. One has a Jay Mumford on drums. 0:22:52.676 --> 0:22:55.116 He used to be a hip hop producer and DJ rapper. 0:22:55.556 --> 0:22:58.036 His storian from New York named Jay Zone. So a 0:22:58.036 --> 0:23:00.716 lot of these I'm not like a great drummer. I 0:23:00.716 --> 0:23:02.196 would just do what I had to do, and then 0:23:02.636 --> 0:23:03.956 I would think, like it'd be a lot better if 0:23:03.996 --> 0:23:05.716 somebody else just played these, So I sent them all 0:23:05.756 --> 0:23:08.716 off in friends. A lot of friends replayed drums and 0:23:08.756 --> 0:23:10.556 then boards and stuff like that, and then I kind 0:23:10.556 --> 0:23:13.076 of did the rest, you know, besides other things I 0:23:13.116 --> 0:23:15.316 can't do, like flutes and violins whatever you hear like 0:23:15.436 --> 0:23:18.316 orchestral stuff that's not me at all. Did you arrange 0:23:18.316 --> 0:23:21.116 it still a little bit? And then a lot of 0:23:21.116 --> 0:23:24.476 that was just um actually shout out. Brian Donoho, who 0:23:24.516 --> 0:23:27.916