A few days after the release of their new studio album, entitled “Nuestro Año”, SounDars.gr contacted with Juan Ignacio Sucre of Los Mesoneros and talked about their new project, their upcoming tour, the beginning and the peak of their career, and much more.
With disarming honesty, Juan conveyed to us the atmosphere that exists between the band’s members, while confiding to us the reasons why “Nuestro Año” is their most optimistic record to date. Los Mesoneros, consisting of Luis Jiménez, Andrés Belloso, Andrés, Juan Ignacio Sucre and Carlos Sardi, from their very first steps in the music industry managed to be nominated for four Latin Grammy awards, however they never stop setting high goals.
Who is the music legend they would like to work with if given the chance? What is their relationship with the public and what are their upcoming professional plans?
Los Mesoneros is a pop group, formed in Venezuela, but based in Mexico. From the beginning of their career, they managed to be heard on the most important radio stations in their country, being part of the most important pop-rock scene in Venezuela.
Read the interview Juan Ignacio Sucre gave to SounDarts.gr below.
Hello Juan and welcome to SounDarts.gr!
So recently you released your album “Nuestro Año”. How do you recall the days when you went back in the studio?
It was a pretty tough album to work on because we have really struggled to find the voice of the album. After that, the recording, per se, was somehow challenging, since we managed to have a lot of ideas, but we had some difficulty finding the right direction for the album. That’s why we spent a lot of time doing it but I think the final result was really good, so we’re really happy of that album.
It seems to be the most optimistic album of your career. What was your motivation for creating it?
I think there were a couple of reasons. The first one should be related to the phase of our personal life right now. We’ve been having some wonderful experiences in our personal relationships, but we had a few setbacks. After getting past those setbacks, we managed to find the most positive side of our personal lives. We were, listening ourselves and understanding that that’s the life that we’re currently living, and that’s what we wanted to write about.
The first song of the tracklist is a collaboration with Caloncho. How did this collaboration occur?
Well, after writing the song, we thought about having someone with an optimistic sound. Caloncho was one of the first artists that we came up with, and we actually wrote to him. Well, our managers wrote to his managers, and we think he just listened to the song and he felt connected to it instead of getting to know the metrics and all the analytics behind that. The kind of artist that can relate to the song is the only type of artist we like to work with, the people that understands the music and not the numbers behind it.
We really enjoyed your single, “Su Lado De La Cama”. So what was the story behind the song?
Before writing a song, we have a specific story, which is all the physical stuff that reminds you of someone that used to be around you in your life. One of the most sacred things is usually the side of the bed off of that someone. So we came up with that title, “Su Lado De La Cama” and started writing some melodies around it. After we had a strong chorus, we started writing the rest of the song and understanding what the song would be all about. We actually had everything in mind, so it was a pretty fast song to write! It was pretty cool!
In two years, you’re about to complete 20 years together. Is that right?
Well, I think so. I believe so, yeah. I mean, we started really young, so that makes sense.
Can you remember the early days of you together as a band? What was your vision back then?
Back then, we were a couple of kids just playing some instruments in a garage, and we were just having fun without understanding what we were doing actually. We didn’t know how to record music. We didn’t know how to write music. It just felt really natural. As we kept playing and getting noticed, we started getting more professionalism, and that’s how we ended up to what we are right now. We still believe that we are those same kids. Actually, that was one of the main findings that we did on this record, like, finding ourselves as kids again and understanding that this is the reason why we do this is because we just like having fun while playing our instruments and the songs that we write. So, yeah, so it’s always one of the most important things for us as a band, to remember those days and bring them to the present.
With your debut album “Indeleble” you received 4 Latin Grammy nominations. Did you realize then how important your contribution was to the music industry?
Like I mentioned before, back then we just weren’t expecting anything at all. We were doing this for fun. So once we got nominated on our first album, it got really serious. That’s when we were told that the Latin Grammys, were something serious. We had to put our energy and focus on this and start working on more music. That’s how we got here. Those little things and also the people who like our music are the engine that keep us moving all these years of career.
After all these years of career, have you achieved your goal or are you setting even higher your expectations?
I think we always set a couple of goals. Like when we want to sell out a venue or a concert of our tour or whatever. Once you pass that, you want to go to the next level. So I think it’s never gonna be enough. But also we feel like we are among the lucky ones out there, so we appreciate the things that have been happening to us and we’re really proud of what we’ve done so far. We are also proud of working with the team that we’re currently working with. In that sense we’re always setting the bar a little bit higher, and that’s how we get to a bigger project.
If you had the opportunity to work with one music industry legend, who would it be and why?
Okay, that’s a really good question. I think it should be Paul McCartney. Yeah, definitely! I’m one of his biggest fan and I’m a Beatles fan too. Obviously his solo career is one of the best. I think he’s one of the best songwriters in the world, and also as a producer and as a performer! He’s one of the best!
What’s your connection with your audience? Can you share with us a special story of your interaction?
I think we’re really privileged about our fans and our community. Thanks to them, we are where we are now. I think we have a solid connection with them. We want to communicate more with our fans and be even closer to them. We’re always doing all we can to make sure that it happens. I think one of the best things about our fans is that they are present when we are on tour. They always manage to know where we are and they’re handing us, with a lot of respect, their presence. That’s something really beautiful. I always keep in mind all these stuff they sent us, so that’s also pretty cool.
Recently, you made an appearance at Lollapalooza Chile and now you are about to begin a big tour in Latin and North America. Can you give us more details?
Yes. We just started the “Nuestro Año tour”, which is our most recent tour to promote the new album. We’ve been in Chile and also a couple of more festivals, but now we’re gonna start touring in different cities in Mexico. Then we’re planning to go to some other cities of Latin America and then to the US. We’re expecting to have more dates in that tour. We’re really excited about it, and we hope everything goes well.
Do you have any other professional plans for the future?
I think we’re going to record more records. That’s why we are here.
What’s your motto in life?
Juan, thank you so much for your time to do this interview for SounDarts.gr.
We’re really grateful for having this interview. I hope everyone in Greece knows about our music and someday we‘ll just have a tour there.
Interview: Theodore Kolliopoulos
