The first time Morat played in Washington DC was in a pupuseria. Four years later, success has led this Colombian band to fill stadiums. At the beginning of 2024, they went on a tour of large venues in several cities in the United States. In June, they began a more ambitious project to perform in stadiums in 19 cities in Spain and Latin America with their tour Before dawn, and many of them have a “sold out” sign hanging.
Formed by Juan Pablo Isaza, Juan Pablo Villamil, and brothers Martín and Simón Vargas, the group has taken a break between concerts to perform at the Hispanic Heritage Foundation awards in Washington DC, where they spoke to EL PAÍS about their concerns, the group’s iconic moments, and the release of their fifth album. Friends since childhood, the four members of the band recognize the dream they are living with the success of their music, which mixes classical genres and instruments with more traditional ones. Working with lifelong friends is what keeps them grounded, despite flying so high.
Ask. They have been friends since they were children, they went to the same school. When did the idea of forming a band come about?
Answer. Juan Pablo Villamil: At school we always tried to get together to play, and in our last year we decided to do it seriously. It was a great risk. We spent the year before entering university seeing what would happen. That’s when we planted the first seeds.
P. Now they fill stadiums, what was the turning point?
R. Simón Vargas: There were several. For example, when we recorded our first serious song and sent it to be mixed professionally. Luckily, Paulina Rubio ended up hearing it and asked us to sing it with her, that was a big turning point. Another moment was when we released How dare you in Spain, which took another turn. We have been fortunate that from time to time we have been presented with moments where our career has taken unexpected turns.
P. A few years ago you played in a pupuseria on the outskirts of Washington, but the size of your audience rules out small venues. How different is it to play in stadiums?
R. Martín Vargas: Everything is very different. When you play in a smaller place, there is a stronger feeling of intimacy, you interact with the audience in a closer way. At the same time, that was the challenge we set ourselves when we decided to do a concert in a stadium: how to make the people in the back row feel the same as the people in the front rows. Obviously, at the production level, it becomes a huge challenge. A stadium is an open place, you can afford to set up catwalks, interact with the audience that is further back.
P. Most of your songs are about love and heartbreak. Where do you get your inspiration from?
R. Juan Pablo Isaza: We like to think of new sources of inspiration, besides love, because love will always be like that infinite source of possibilities and stories. The challenge right now is to see what else we can draw on. We are finishing recording our fifth album and we discovered a new source of inspiration that we didn’t have before and it is the fear of growing up, which is something that has been affecting us quite a bit recently. There are three songs on the new album that touch on this theme. We recently presented one of them at our concert in Madrid, it’s called Before 30We just turned 30 and decided to write a song about how we feel.
P. On the latest album there is one song that stands out among the rest of the tracks, and it is not about love. Kites always fly in August is loaded with symbolism…
R. JPV: It was inevitable to face at some point the fact that we are Colombian artists. We are very proudly Colombian, but we live in a country that has had a very violent history and one is not impervious to those things. This song shows that, where we come from. It is a song that we wanted to write from a hopeful perspective. In Bogotá, above all, and in Colombia in general, there is a tradition that August is the month of kites. And the analogy is very nice because the stronger the wind, the higher the kites fly. The idea of the song is that, although the situation is hard, as a society we have the responsibility to see the glass half full and to all contribute a little so that the nightmare is not eternal.
P. In the process of producing a song, what role does each person play?
R. Simón Vargas: Many of the songs are started by the Juan Pablos; others are composed by us with our producers; others appear as an idea from someone… the configurations have varied a lot. But one of the rules that we try to follow is that the songs go through the filter of the four of us before being finished. We are lucky that Isa -Juan Pablo Isaza- is a producer and that has been key in the evolution of our sound. It is also nice that it can vary, there are songs that have been born intentionally, others by accident and others were going to be for someone else and we ended up singing them ourselves.
P. You have recorded a song in English, do you plan to do it more times?
R. JPI: It was in the context of a collaboration with James TW, an English artist that we really like and we met him in Madrid. We got together in a studio, wrote a song, loved it and decided to release it. What justified us singing in English was his presence. We live in a world where singing in English is less and less of a requirement and the next step for Latin artists. We had always been told that the moment when Latin artists like Shakira and Ricky Martin transcended was when they sang in English. We hope that if something similar happens to us one day it will be in Spanish and we believe that it is increasingly possible.
P. At a time when reggaeton is at the top of Latin music, you are opting for another genre like pop.
R. JPI: Reggaeton opened a giant door through which we are trying to peek with our own music. trend Latin that reggaeton helped so much to establish benefits all of us who sing in Spanish.
MV: We don’t go against the grain just for the sake of going against the grain. We’ve simply been very faithful to what we like to write and what we like to do and the instruments we play, and that, naturally, has been something different. Reggaeton opened doors for many artists, including us.
P. They also want to bring back 80s rock…
R. JPI: Yes. In this industry there are times when something clicks in your head and you try to reorient yourself based on experiences. We had a couple of those experiences recently. One was collaborating with Hombres G, with whom we did a version of Attack of the Crocodile GirlsThey sent us the original tracks of the song and hearing the way they recorded, how the style of music that was made before sounded… it was very inspiring.
P. What music do you like to listen to?
R. SV: Fortunately, the four of us have varied tastes. And they also change in stages. There was a time, starting out, when we listened a lot to Joaquín Sabina. At another time, country It was very powerful. Then, the bands we listened to when we were kids… When you start working in music, you learn to distinguish songs that you may not love, but you know they are good and it is very interesting. Now we listen to a lot of songs from the 80s.
JPI: Yes, Brian Adams… Everything becomes old enough to be considered new by new generations.
P. Although success requires a lot of work, you will have moments of leisure. What hobbies do you have?
R. JV: I like to play paddle tennis.
SV: I have an obsession with ph
otography and yoga.
MV: I love fashion and designing clothes.
JPI: I need a hobbyI really like magic and lately I’ve been riding a bike.
P. On a tour like this, you will have memorable moments or anecdotes that you will not forget…
R. JPI: There are many. From seemingly insignificant things to moments like being about to go out and play in a stadium in Madrid or going to Bogotá and playing for the first time in our city’s stadium with our family.
JV: We also had a very important moment when in Bogotá we were awarded an order of civil merit called the Gran Cruz de Plata. It means a lot to us because it represents our musical career, but it also reflects what we have been able to contribute to the perception of Colombia. We also rode bicycles with the great Colombian cyclist Rigoberto Urán, who came up on stage to sing with us. It was a great moment.
MV: I think we have to be a little aware of this kind of thing and be aware that it’s crazy. Here in Washington, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation had a tour of the White House prepared for us and we met very representative and inspiring people from the Latino community.
P. You have played with many famous singers such as Paulina Rubio, Aitana, Duki, Juanes… Who would you like to collaborate with?
R. JPI: We would love to collaborate with Juanes again, because he has always been a reference for us. There are also many new people that we love, such as Joaquina, Ela Taubert, Rawayana…
P. If you hadn’t been successful with music, what would you have done?
R. SV: I would have been a writer.
MV: I have something to do with design.
JV: I really like physics.
JPI: I would have been a good lawyer.
P. How do you keep your feet on the ground when you’re flying so high?
R. SV: What works is the coincidence of knowing each other since we were so young. When you’re working with lifelong friends, with your family, it’s hard to tell people a different story about who you are. And that’s cool.
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