In this interview spotlight, I chat with Almabar about the music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Hi, My name is Luis Eduardo Jáuregui Aguirre, my alias is AlmaBar and I am from Peru, I live in the city of Ayacucho, a rural region still in economic growth. The music I try to do is of the relaxing and soft type, but at the same time stimulating. If I put a name, it may be said that it is “Downtempo Electronics”, although it could also be classified as Chillout – Ambient (or who knows)
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
There were several factors. In the first place is my love for electronic music since I was a child, especially the Eurodance and the house of the 90’s. On local radios they played Eurodance, which they mistakenly called “Techno”. At that time I was 10 years old and, in a school raffle, I won a basic Casio keyboard with which I started my first lessons to play basic melodies. From there I began to be self-taught. Younger I met MIDI, trackers and started programming some melodies. By then I began to know different subgenres of electronic music, but the ones that caught my attention were those related to the compilations of Cafe del Mar, Buddha Bar and Erotic Lounge. Among so many artists, it was Steve Miller (Afterlife) and George Evelyn (Nightmare on Wax) who influenced me, to the point of wishing with great eagerness to evoke those sound landscapes to which I was transported when listening to his compositions. That’s why I currently make music. Because I want to transform, through sounds and melodies, the tension and pressure of everyday life in moments of peace, relaxation and self-reflection.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
With the last tracks I published (“Moving Upwards” and “Serenísima“) through Soundcloud, I try to reach a greater sound definition and make clear and proper melodic lines. I am aware that I am still growing, but I think that I am getting closer and closer to my goal of creating wide, relaxing and charming sound landscapes. The titles of the tracks also try to express my vision of musical and personal growth (“Moving upwards”) and my mission of sharing tranquility and intimacy through music (“Serenísima”). I also wish, in these months, to update an old musical catalog that was hosted on the Spanish music news portal Hispasonic
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
I think the main challenge is that music that is broadcast on radios or other media, at least in my locality, only seeks to satisfy the immediacy and the need for energy of those who listen, that is, powerful and crunchy rhythms and sounds, to sometimes without the slightest sense, aggressive voices, also without history or context, repetitive and immediate. When I make a track, or better yet, when I listen to some of the songs that I love, like the artists mentioned above, I hear that most people describe it as “boring” and “slow.” I attribute this to the lack of active listening training. It seems to me that we are getting used to not making the minimum effort to pay attention and develop our own vision of a song, I think that this subsequently leads to the decrease or extinction of a musical genre. A second challenge is the lack of dissemination of the independent musical artist. In some cities of my country this does not happen, but at least where I currently reside, there is still no diffusion of independent local artists in the electronic genre. And if there were, it would be more related to EDM, so fashionable today.
Technology helps, without a doubt, to sculpt a personal work. In my case, music software (DAWs, plugins and self-contained studies) have helped me generate sounds that I keep discovering every time. The MIDI protocol greatly helps to record and subsequently retouch a composition. The technology allows to accelerate the work and reduce costs. In the same way, it allows people to approach the work in a more personalized way, just as we now communicate and can share opinions through e-mail.
What was the last song you listened to?
This one: Blackbird Blackbird – Float On (Modest Mouse Cover), I love the simplicity, delicacy and nostalgia that this track conveys to me.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a turntable or a CD player, so I can only appreciate the digital distribution of the songs. I prefer the MP3 in the highest possible quality (320 kbps) or else another format of higher quality such as FLAC.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Bandcamp It is a page with a lot of potential and very honest with the artist. In the medium where I live, Apple has very little market share, but, although Spotify has greater popularity of the three, the cost-benefit ratio does not seem to benefit the artists, but other members of the music industry.An interesting alternative that I have been testing is Choon (Choon.co), it allows streaming in a simple way and the benefits are given through cryptocurrency, but it also has its limitations. At least it is more sincere with the artist.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
First: my Soundcloud page, secondly the Facebook page and finally on the platforms of Bandcamp, Reverbnation and Choon.
Anything else before we sign off?
Just thank you, Joshua, for your interest and for giving me the opportunity to express my thoughts and feelings. Thank you. I hope you have success in your musical projects and in your family (I am also married, I am a university teacher, a psychologist and I have an 11-year-old daughter) and those of your team. A big hug for you.
