With a career marked by perseverance and absolute love for music, Andrés Suárez, a singer-songwriter with the soul of a rocker, has managed to transcend genres and borders, connecting with diverse audiences thanks to his authenticity and artistic sensitivity. From his beginnings at the Ferrol conservatory to becoming a benchmark for author songs, his career reflects an unwavering commitment to his art. He himself describes his trip as a mix of intimate moments in small bars and massive shows that celebrate life and music without limits.
The artist reviews the milestones of his career, the learnings that the stages of Spain and Latin America have left him, and his constant search to transmit genuine emotions before his concert this Friday, January 17 at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria. He reflects on the success of his album ‘Viaje de Ida y Vuelta’, born in full confinement, and advances the details of his next project. In every word he makes it clear that his mission is not just to make music, but to create spaces where people can get excited, laugh, cry and, above all, celebrate being alive.
What were the beginnings like in your first years in music?
My beginnings in music come from the family: I am the grandson and son of singers. I started at the Ferrol conservatory. From there I started a group when I was 14 years old. I changed the piano of the conservatory for the electric guitar of urban rock. Since then, music has been my life. I haven’t done anything else. I have always been radical in that sense: either music or nothing. I am lucky to make a living doing what I love, and I embrace that reward every day. From playing in the Madrid Metro or in Libertad 8, to filling a Wizink Center or singing for 15 people, each moment has been equally important.
‘Viaje de Ida y Vuelta’ has been a great success, even reaching number 1 in sales. How does it feel to see how your music has had that reach?
‘Round trip’ is a necessary play on words after a pandemic. I wrote it in 2020, a year marked by the pain and uncertainty that we all experience. During that house confinement, I was composing sad, hard and depressive songs, a reflection of the desolate landscape that we had to live through. But I decided to delete them all and reclaim the joy. The album opens with a reggae dedicated to a person with Parkinson’s, as the emblem of the album: reclaiming joy even in the most difficult moments. This album is a celebration of life and being here, although some, unfortunately, did not make it. It also has very personal themes: a rock and roll dedicated to my parents, an ironic song about hatersand others that took me out of my comfort zone. It makes me proud and it is an album that I will always have a special love for.
Speaking a little about your fans, what is the difference between your audience in Spain and Latin America? Do you find any difference between the relationships on both sides of the pond?
I don’t think there is a better or worse audience. It’s a dangerous and disrespectful thing to say. But it is true that in Latin America, my second home, there is a very special passion and love for Spanish author songs. There, artists like Sabina or Serrat are revered. They are studied in schools, fill football stadiums and are considered almost gods. In Spain 20 years ago I sang in the subway, and now I am here filling large venues. I love my country, its culture and its people, but what is experienced in Latin America has an intensity that must be experienced to understand. It’s awesome and a great lesson in the love of music. For me it is amazing how on the other side of the pond they love the singer-songwriter’s words in such a way. I feel deeply grateful for that. I remember my first concert in Buenos Aires, with just 20 people in a bar. When I started singing, I remember people started to stand up. I’m talking about my guitar and my voice in a bar. I thought it was a hidden camera, that it couldn’t be real. That’s how I feel in music.
His band is an essential part of his live performance. How do you work with them to create that synergy on stage?
We have been together for 18 years. They are more than my team, they are my family. They are with me every step I take, from rehearsing my tenth studio album to setting up the stages and playing the instruments. One has to always be grateful. Even though I’m at the front of the stage and receiving the applause, they are essential in everything I do. It is a team that I love deeply and to whom I owe a lot.
He has been described as a singer-songwriter with the soul of a rocker. What does this combination mean to you, and how do you think it is reflected in your music?
I come from rock: from La Fuga, Marea, Extremoduro, and also from NOFX and Rancid. But at the same time, I talk to you about Juan Luis Guerra, Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés, and about my versions in the bars. For me, music is music and my concerts reflect that. They start calmly and end with people up in their seats giving everything. I understand that you have to label music and define styles, but I love everything from rock and roll to heavy and classical music. And my concerts tend, of course, towards rock and roll because that’s where I come from.
What do you enjoy most about being on stage in front of your audience?
All. Mass concerts in large venues are spectacular, but singing in a bar, inches from someone, there is no greater test in music than that. Conquering with just your guitar and your voice is unbeatable. Today there is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence and direct onlinebut nothing replaces human contact. Looking someone in the eyes while you sing and getting them excited… That’s what keeps us alive.
For younger musicians who see you as a role model, what advice would you give them about perseverance and consistency in the music industry?
The best advice I can give you is what my mother gave me: work, then work, keep working, and when you’re exhausted, keep working. Luck also works. I don’t believe in miracles, with all due respect, I believe in effort and dedication. If you work hard and believe in yourself, things end up coming.
Work, then work, keep working, and when you’re exhausted, keep working. Luck also works. I don’t believe in miracles, with all due respect, I believe in effort and dedication
We know that he is working on a new album. Could you tell us something about the direction this project will take and what your fans can expect from these new songs?
It’s going to be a different album than the previous one, simply because life goes on and so do I. The last one was very vital, happy, full of love and humor. This is more visceral and emotional, because it reflects a moment in my life closer to heartbreak. You can’t be happy all the time, and I write what I feel. They are very sincere songs in which I want the public to discover that I have left my skin and soul in them.
We live in turbulent times in many ways. Do you think music has an important role as a tool to generate social or political awareness?
Without the spirit of that bitter memory to the mind that is the pandemic, it was said that music, literature and art saved us during that time. Personally, if I don’t have music, reasoning and judgment would really be lost. Playing a song and closing my eyes, crying and then being able to visit my parents in Galicia 700 kilometers away, was what saved me. We live in such a screwed-up reality, pardon the expression, between DANA, the pandemic, the pre-war and the war, that it seems like everything is going downhill. When people come to a concert and I sing ‘Rosa and Manuel‘, which talks about my grandparents’ Alzheimer’s, or a song dedicated to my parents, people start crying.
And I see how we then make a joke with the audience to make them laugh, that’s when I feel that my job is well done when I manage to make the audience escape from reality. During those two hours of concert, people do not want to hear about politics or conflicts. They want to escape, and so do I. Being able to see my musicians hugging, toasting with a glass in their hand and saying: “Let’s celebrate that we are alive and that we are here”, that is something that I also like about music, which is a wonderful escape. It serves to leave problems off stage and focus on the music, on enjoying.
Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about whether artists should take a political position. What is your opinion on this?
I have a political position as I have a social position, as I have a family position, as I have a position in love. We all have a position, the problem is how we live now. Since 2020, in this country, expressing a position means that a family or group of friends can break up. That is the problem, that politics surpassed reasoning and that we are reaching a point of social tension. That level of social tension that is taking us to a dangerous place. I have ideals, but I respect those who think differently. What’s more, I think that these differences enrich us because they will make me think. I hope we return to a time where we can debate without it implying an emotional or social war. I don’t know when thinking differently became a problem in this country.
Source: www.eldiario.es
