The Mexican Carlos Rivera is celebrating his anniversary. And Spain is going to be a destination on his 2025 tour as an important part of his career. In March it will pass through Las Palmas (21), Tenerife (22) and Madrid (26). He lived in Madrid and he was acting as Simba in the musical The Lion King between 2011 and 2013. Music ran through his veins since he was a child. He won several musical competitions that made him gain confidence and continue his career. Then, he put the television program in the spotlight The Academy, from Azteca TV. He has combined his career as an actor in musicals with his musical career. But music is always there as a common thread and as a driving force. Oh and also makes an excellent mezcal in Oaxaca, Holy Worm.
What is your relationship with Spain, with Madrid?It has changed my life, it transformed a large part of my career, arriving here. That’s why I love it so much and now that I’m celebrating 20 years I couldn’t miss coming on the tour.
You have collaborated with many classical Spanish musicians, musical legends and with your contemporaries. Does Spanish song have an important place in your heart?I think so. And if I made a list it would be quite extensive in the case of the artists with whom I have collaborated in Spain. I think it’s easier to say who I haven’t collaborated with. But imagine from Raphael, the maestro José Luis Perales, through Miguel Bosé, I have sung with Malú, with Pablo Alborán, with Pablo López Vanessa Martín, with Marta Sánchez, with Chenoa,… And the truth is that I am delighted because I have always felt very loved in Spain. Since I arrived, I always say that I fell into a soft spot, I arrived with a musical that had immense success playing Simba in The Lion King. A million people had seen me.
How important is Mexican music, roots music, to you?Mexican music was very important since I was a child. I started singing mariachi songs, that is The salty Malagueña It was one of the songs he sang the most. When the disk arrived Mexican (2010) was a very good opportunity to honor different genres from my country. Now that I’m launching Skullthe new single, somehow this possibility of sharing music from Mexico again opens up to me. And I would like to make roots music. Although I couldn’t make a regional album, because the regional is very marked towards certain types of songs, maybe I could re-record with mariachi, re-record a bolero, re-record some folklore song not only from Mexico, but from the world (the chacareras from Argentina, I love listening to Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa and Simon Díaz from Venezuela)… But folklore is something that I am passionate about.
Something important in his musical career is that he has also dedicated himself to musical theater, an important part of his career. How have you managed it?Doing theater is not for everyone. You don’t have any filter at all. It’s not that you get tired and put the microphone on people. I remember that I lived to do theater, I couldn’t do anything else. Living in Madrid, I didn’t get to know the city until I left the musical two years later, because I spent my time working in the theater, sometimes in doublets, from Tuesday to Sunday. I did nothing but go to the gym, eat and go to the theater. Those of us who do theater love it too much, and that is why we do it.
I was doing a little theater, a little music until the music was so great that it no longer allowed me to return to the theater. A little while ago I did Joseph the dreamer in Mexico, which was the first musical that Andrew Webber wrote. And the truth is that it was a beautiful experience because I reconnected with something that I am passionate about and that I love, that makes me grow and that makes me return to my roots. It makes me put my feet back on the ground, realizing that there I am just another actor doing a play. I learn a lot and I go back to taking off my name and being a character. Then I return to my music, and I return better than ever, because I bring back the weight of what the tables, the stage, give you.
The greatest of Mexican music, José Alfredo Jiménez, did not play any instrument, like me
What important part does he have in the composition of your songs?I’ve been writing my songs since I was 8 years old, although I didn’t really start recording them until the third album, The would not exist (2013). And it wasn’t easy at all to earn that right to record my own songs. My record company told me you sing, I didn’t even listen to the songs. Because I didn’t play any instrument. The singer-songwriters play and sing. Notice that José Alfredo Jiménez, who is the greatest of Mexican music, he did not play any instrument. They say that he arrived with the mariachi and whistled the melody and then began to sing the lyrics to them. When I heard that story I felt a lot better. I didn’t have the talent to play an instrument, but I had the talent to write, to make melodies, to create harmonies, to say to a piano, play this, to sing to a guitar. I have always been a little behind, sheltered by producers, by arrangers. Skull It was the first song in which I really put myself forward (as a producer) to say how I wanted it to be. It takes work to earn respect and credibility, first as a singer, then as a composer, as an actor in the theater. And now as a producer I feel more confident about being able to make and produce the music that I make because no one knows better than me what I want to do. I always look to propose something new and sometimes it is difficult to have a producer who understands it and says ‘ok, let’s do it’, and for a new recipe to come out.
How do you see the panorama of Latin romantic songs?I believe there is an audience for everyone. Although now the platforms are segmented in a very strong trend. We know that the urban one has dominated the lists for a long time. Now even the Mexican regional, at least in Mexico and the United States, is impressive. For me, everything is valid. In my case, it has been wanting to continue betting consistently on who I am, at least in the lyrics. Note that in music I am not that conservative, in fact if not, I would not make a song like Skullor the previous one that I took out, which was Slandera bachata with Prince Royce. I worry more about the lyrics, that the lyrics always have a meaning, and that they have coherence with what I sing.
What does a project have to have for you to collaborate with it?I’ve said no to many collaborations when the songs don’t represent me. And not because of the music or the genre, but because of the lyrics. And that’s where I think I’ve found an audience that comes to my music, because they still find in my music what they don’t find anywhere else. And I am also very aware that I don’t want to do genres that don’t work for me, there are people who do it a thousand times better than me. In my case, I want to continue making music with content that can reach the heart, that identifies with some experience. I’ve said no to many collaborations when the songs don’t represent me. And not because of the music or the genre, but because of the lyrics. And that’s where I think I’ve found an audience that comes to my music, because they still find in my music what they don’t find anywhere else. And I am also very aware that I don’t want to do genres that don’t work for me, there are people who do it a thousand times better than me. In my case, I want to continue making music with content that can reach the heart, that identifies with some experience.
They sent me the works of what other singers did not want from other composers
He published the album in 2013 The would not exist. What has been one of your biggest challenges in your professional career?I think finding my style was the biggest challenge. The would not exist It was the first album that I really identified with 100%.
Here in Spain, some composer friends told me, ‘an artist called me and asked me for songs like Carlos Rivera’s. Wow’. Imagine. Because they sent me works that other singers didn’t want from other composers. And I remember that it was Franco de Vita, the great Venezuelan composer, who one day asked me, ‘Do you write?’ I told him yes. He listened to my songs and said ‘why aren’t you recording this? You don’t need to ask any composer for songs because you know how to do it. And I wouldn’t tell you if you weren’t good.’ It was he who gave me that security. And I said to myself, ‘I’m going to do it.’ I found something that identified me and people identified with me. And I think that has been the key to why I am still here today after so many years. Because the challenge was overcome, from there I held on, and there we continue.
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