by: LeAura Luciano
Writer, LatinTRENDS.com
Recently “Vive tu Musica con 5” kicked off the ultimate music
battle to find and reward the best amateur musicians. Over 100 bands
competed for a chance to be selected as one of five amateur, unsigned
rock and pop-star hopefuls, who will join superstars Daddy Yankee and
Reik in concert. The nationally televised finale will result in one
winning band receiving a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at a showcase
with a major recording studio.
I had the opportunity to catch up with “Vive tu Musica con 5”
judge and Chilean rocker Beto Cuevas. As the lead singer of the band,
La Ley, for over 15 years Cuevas traveled Latin America, Europe and
the US with his fellow musicians Mauricio Claveria and Pedro Frugone.
Cuevas achieved great success with La Ley and peaked charts with
songs such as El Duelo, Aqui, Fuera de Mi and Cielo Market, earning
them a Grammy and two Latin Grammys among many other awards and
achievements. When the band decided to split 3 years ago, Cuevas
decided to pursue his solo career. Naturally, we chatted about his
role as a judge, the current state of the music industry and his album
coming out next year.
LeAura Luciano: Tell me about your involvement with “Vive tu Musica con 5”
Beto Cuevas: It’s not my field of expertise to be a critic or judge.
Nevertheless, I had a chance to work with “Vive tu Musica con 5”
a few years ago and it was a great experience.
LL: How do you handle giving the critiques?
BC: I try to be constructive with opinions. When I started my career
it was kind of hard for me to face the critics. But in the end, the
best opinions were the critics of my work. When you have people who
tell you that you’re great, it’s a great feeling for your ego but it
doesn’t make you better.
LL: What criteria do you use for judging or evaluating the bands?
BC: It’s a matter of listening and thinking about what the music does
to me. Does the band have a good presence? Is the song good? Is the
voice good? You can tell if the band has its own sound and its own
personality on stage.
LL: How does the current state of the music industry impact up and
coming artists?
BC: The music business has been in constant change ever since this new
generation has been copying it and getting it for free. At the very
core, it’s the same; if you’re a good artist with talent and
originality then there will always be a place for you out there. I try
to be objective, sure new artists don’t sell the same as they used to,
but if you have a certain quality to your work there will always be an
audience for you. A good band, musician or singer will always be that
and that’s not going to change.
LL: Who are some of your favorite artists?
BC: I am constantly looking for new artists. I like a lot of things
and my taste is very eclectic. I wake up every morning listening to
classic piano music. I love rock and roll and good pop. I’m constantly
learning from the past and discovering that Pink Floyd song that I
haven’t heard. I like Air, they are from France they do electronic
music and kind of loungey but it’s still pop. I also listen to Peter
Bjorn, Elton John, Phoenix and The Beatles.
LL: Tell me about the upcoming album.
BC: It’s going to be out in March 2011. Right now, I am writing about
a song a day for the next few more weeks. It’s the first time in my 21
year career that about 80% of it is collaborations. I’ve been writing
with a lot of people, which has been great for me as a songwriter.
After working on so many albums doing everything yourself now it’s
great to be able to sit down and write a song with a 23 year old, it’s
very inspiring. The album is going to have a little bit of the
electronic, rock and possibly even love songs. It’s going to be a very
eclectic album.
Visit www.vivetumusica5.com and watch the top five finalists perform
at the finale concert on September 21.
