Pop ballads like “In the shadow of the angels” and “Te me vas” gave him success in Mexico and Central America 26 years ago. The singer-songwriter spoke with Infobae about that time, his fidelity to romanticism and his reluctance to sing reggaeton
By
< i class=”i-share-btn sms”>
“In the shadow of the angels”, “Breath with breath” and “Princess” These are the themes with which Gustavo Lara conquered audiences in the 90s (Photo: AP Comunicaciones)
Since he made himself known with his first album in the 90s,Gustavo Lara has continued to be active in the world of romantic music, the genre that he faithfully defends with songs that were very popular at the time , such asIn the shadow of angels, Breath by breathandPrincess.
In the At the present time, the musician from Veracruz is reuniting with his audience with a series of concerts called “Acoustic Momentum”, presented at venuesspecific to the country, such as the one that will be presented this May 17 in Mexico City.
In conversation with Infobae México, The artist recalled the years in which his pop ballads positioned him on the charts of Mexico and Latin America and made a Contrast with what sounds today in the media:
“I had the opportunity to enjoy a time that was unmatched, from 96 onwards it was incredible, today I’m singing things that are much more in keeping with who I am, but at the time I really enjoyed those stories, although they didn’t let me participate with my own songs that much”, he said about the romantic themes that, he says, are still valid today and in the taste of the public, despite the explosion of hyper-sexualized rhythms such as reggaeton.
Gustavo Lara celebrated his 50th birthday in 2021 (Photo: Instagram/@glaraoficial)
“How to romance has changed a lot, that happened to me right away, and now the romance is lived totally differently”, he said about the context in which he achieved public recognition 26 years ago.
“There are times, suddenly it makes you feel a bit nostalgic that things are not said as they used to be, or that no matter what it cost for a girl to say yes because you had to lower the moon and the stars, today nothing else with a movement of the hip and saying ‘I wish you, mommy’, with that he already put it together”, he said in reference to the urban genre and its questionable lyrics.
“All generations have had to go through this process and I feel very proud to be from the nineties and that people are still listening to my songs. The Mexican and the Mexican are no longer the same as before, I think they are fighting much more for their rights, sometimes with cause and sometimes without cause. People want to disconnect from their fights, today people live shorter but more intense relationships…”, he reflected on how society and their relationships have changed in recent years.
Since leaving the major labels, Gustavo Lara has independently produced five albums of romantic songs (Photo: Gustavo Lara)
The singer-songwriter is proud to be faithful to his style and not adopt the current trendy fashions in order to gain more fame: “Zapatero to your shoes, I don’t think reggaeton is for everyone who wants to sing it, there are some who can’t be heard very well. I can sing cumbias and salsas because I’m from Veracruz, but reggaeton I think not all of us would be heard well.”
“I’m going to continue singing to love, to heartbreak, a a little more frontal, now without so much poetry, and send a message, you have to go straight to the heart, it is to continue experimenting…I’m already from the old school, and I think contact with people is important”, said the composer who keeps in touch with his fans every Thursday in a live from his account from Instagram.
The composer defends the value of romantic music against other artistic expressions such as the urban genre (Photo: AP Comunicaciones)
Gustavo is grateful to the public, who have supported him even in difficult times , like when the musician thought about retiring after ending his relationship with the big transnational record companies to later start a career as an independent music producer, with his own albums that he has released in recent years.
< p class=”paragraph”>“On some occasions I thought about stopping singing because nothing was happening and the public was the one that brought me out again. It happens that I recorded three albums with BMG Ariola, from there I signed with Sony Music and they froze me, it was the saddest moment, when I felt that they were not giving me my place, respecting it, and that is where I say “what’s up, this is going to end, this is how it all ends?”.
But it was thanks to his fans that today’s 51-year-old man was able to get his career back on track: “Suddenly people started pulling me, they got me a TV show in Monterrey, from there a friend saw me and offered me to put together an album, all of which lined up again”, recalled Gustavo.
Currently, the musician is promoting his album Ocho and in addition to his solo shows, he is also preparing his presentation this May 26 as a guest at the concert at the Metropólitan theater by Ernesto D’Alessio, his colleague in the genre and companion from the 90s.