2023-09-22 03:56:52
After almost six decades of musical career, Juan Antonio Labra, living legend of Chilean pop, plans his retirement from stages and live performances. A path that began at the age of 5 and that he intends to crown in a big way with one last show in 2024, still without defined coordinates.
“More than tiredness, it is closing a cycle because it has been many years. I started when I was 5 years old and in terms of presentations I didn’t stop until 2020, when the pandemic began. There have been many years of traveling, of staying up late, and in the end one wants to live a calmer life. But I’m going to see that when I have that concert, to see how I feel and also see what people ask of me,” he tells BioBioChile.
These days, the legendary eighties singer presents the songs that have kept him busy in recent years. Is regarding “Longings” (2023), an EP that brought him back in the key of two-mile and danceable pop, where he shines his role as a producer.
“I started by making a model that I had in a folder; I really wanted to release new music, something that identified me more. “I made a compilation of the songs that I had published recently, and I did this work that is very personal, and that to a certain extent reflects what I feel,” she says.
Regarding the title of the EP, “Anhelos,” Labra confesses: “They are personal desires, songs that reflect what I feel as a person. I felt the desire to deliver them to the public,” he says regarding the tracks that he has been amassing for around 2 years.
“Thank God I have been able to have consistency in music. Although I did not make presentations in 2020 due to the pandemic, I have been making songs and arrangements. It’s like therapy for one too, working on it and delivering it.”reflects the voice of hits like “Niña” and “Mueve Move”, who over the years became one of the first artists of mass reach to talk regarding success and mental health.
Juan Antonio Labra: “I think the most valuable thing regarding my career is my compositions; Those don’t look like anything, they are unique. On stage I did things similar to other artists, but what I really value is my creations.”
At the beginning of the month, Labra reappeared on the channel where he debuted on the small screen: TVN. There, in the morning space, she wanted to make a gesture and a ritual. “Felipe Camiroaga really liked my work, and as something symbolic, I wanted to do something new there, show something. ‘Good morning…’ has always been a program that has helped me a lot.”
(Q): Would you like to perform the songs from “Anhelos” live?
(A): The ambition is not the same as when I was younger. I don’t have high expectations in terms of achieving extraordinary things. What moves me is to deliver hope through my songs. I have the idea of doing the concert in 2024, which would perhaps be the closing of a cycle.
(P): Do you project it as a farewell to the stage?
(A): Yes, exactly. Everything will depend on how I feel. The energies are not the same, obviously. But I have the intention of reconnecting with my audience and then I will see if I continue on stage or not. I will continue in music as long as I live. Because composing and making songs can be done at home, but on stage it is a different story. It’s been 60 years of work, and I’m a little exhausted. I’ll see there.
(P): How did you personally experience the covid-19 pandemic?
(A): It was complicated. Because obviously we live off of music and the pandemic was complex, for everyone. I took it with great sadness but with great hope of being able to return at some point. I see that it helped us all to reflect, to reunite with family, to have more contact with loved ones, and in that sense it was not so negative. But at work it was complicated.
(P): Was that when the idea of retirement arose?
(A): It is very likely. Suddenly you don’t realize how much work you’re doing and in periods like this you rethink things a little. It might be a good time, I don’t know. I want to meet my people, be able to give them a concert and then I will see if I have the intention of continuing or putting an end to my career.
(P): For the public, it is difficult not to relate it to the Viña del Mar Festival, where it was presented five times. Would you like to return to Quinta Vergara before your farewell to the stage?
(R): It would be nice, but I think the festival is for artists who are working, new. I was lucky to be at my best at the Festival… As something symbolic, I don’t know. But the organization thinks of other types of artists, of numbers. I think it is very difficult, if not impossible.
(P): Recently it was 50 years since the Coup d’état. With the perspective of time: Do you think his career was harmed by the political context he experienced?
(R): On one occasion, when I traveled to Tokyo to sing my own song, “Live free”, which I now released on “Anhelos” as an album, I received comments regarding the song, because they thought it was a “different type” song, but that it talked regarding living free of hate and that it unified more than anything else. But other than that, I had no problems. I was at Sábado Gigante, the Una Festival, Tuesday the 13th. I had a career where I never got involved in politics, and maybe that’s why I didn’t have a problem.
(P): Do you bring friends from the music world?
(A): In general I always had a good relationship with all my colleagues; It has been something that has represented me as a person, I have always had good vibes. What I always regretted was the departure of Nino Garciawho was a great value, a great musician, who was not motivated by the system of money and money to continue living, which affected me greatly, because I admired him deeply, as a person and as a musician.
(P): In the 80s, your work was intuitively looking at influential pop soloists of the time, such as David Bowie or Michael Jackson, with whom you were even compared. What was the musical awareness that you had regarding your time? 40 years later, in his videos you can see a search that was very far from Chile.
(R): There were programs that constantly showed videos of outside artists, so one had to visualize that work and try to do something personal, but inspired by other musicians. All musicians are inspired by others to do things. I think the most valuable thing regarding my career is my compositions; Those don’t look like anything, they are unique. On stage I did things similar to other artists, but what I really value is my creations, more than the live performances and what I did regarding dancing and situations that were asked of me for different programs.
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#tiredness #closing #cycle
