INTERVIEW: Francisco Calderón M. – PHOTOGRAPHY: Fabiola Inostroza
Fabiola has been a singer since she was a child, she sang in choirs and with her family. This is how he came to the international singing competition and program, The Voice, competing before thousands of viewers and juries as the famous vocalist of the group “La Ley”: “Beto” Cuevas, along with his partner and his son. This is the story of his motivations, his artistic experience and his entire world in singing.
How did you get into the world of singing?
The truth is I had no musical references either in my family or in any part of my closest world. Some of my dad’s friends played the guitar but they were very amateur, like in any family I think. But within the school there were artistic activities where my dad always motivated us to participate and one of them was the choir, and that is where I started singing for the first time. At first he didn’t want to welcome me because I was very, very small. I was in one of the lowest grades, like first grade, and I think they were accepted from third grade onwards, so the director didn’t want to take me but my dad went to complain to the school and arranged for the teacher to give me an audition and finally They welcomed me, they really liked how I sang and that was like my start in singing. Also within my family I sang a lot when visitors came, I started to sing a lot in the town where I lived, in the activities that were done, I sang and those are like my beginnings.
What motivates you to sing? What does singing mean to you?
Singing is what frees me, it’s what fills me, so that’s why I try to sing as much as possible, it’s not for a reason like fame or something monetary either, I simply love to sing and obviously I like it the same way. people listen to me, I like to provoke, I like to make people feel many things when I sing, that is like my goal and I do it because for me it is like the best, I mean it is very pleasant, it fills me. I feel full when I sing .
Have you thought about singing your own songs, writing and composing?
Yes, I have thought about it a lot and I have thought about it too much because in the end it is very difficult for me to specify, because it is not something that I have always done, it is something that I have to impose on myself to be able to do it, and there have been moments in my life when I have I felt inspired and I have written some things but I have not recorded them or published them or anything. If there is a song that I published and dedicated to my little niece named Luna, it is on YouTube and that is the only song I have so far. There are some songs that I have sung that are from other people, that I have only performed, that are original too, but I only have one of my own and I hope at some point I will be motivated to continue making more songs. Yes, it is definitely something I would like to do.
What songs inspire you to sing?
Do you mean themes? If it is thematic, well I think that love is my main motivation, I have always sung love songs and the song I composed is about love too, about love for my niece. I like that theme, I think it suits me, and it seems a little like my style of person, I don’t know, like love will always be a driving force for me.
Why do you choose to interpret and not compose?
Well, it’s not that I choose between performing and not composing. The thing is that it is what I learned since I was little, so it is what I have carried out to this day and it has been difficult for me to incorporate the theme of composition for the same reason because it is not something that has it incorporated, it is something that I have to incorporate, and that I would like, I would love to do it, it’s not that I don’t like it and that I haven’t thought about it.
How did you discover the strengths of your voice?
Did you have a teacher who helped you? Well, the strong points of my voice, I have discovered thanks to my family who are quite critical, they always say to me Fabiola, you do this very well, this not so well, try to strengthen this, my family are great as well as vocalcouch , without studies, but they try and it turns out well. In addition to that I had a choir teacher who was a very good teacher and there I learned a lot about singing even though they were not singing classes as such, I learned a lot because he is a very good teacher named Rene Peñaloza, who studied in La There was Cuba, and in Peru, so orchestral, choral and orchestral director. He was my main teacher in life so far.
How do you take advertising? Do you feel good singing for some brands, singing in jingles or would you like to exploit your artistic side much more?
The truth is that singing jingles is not something that fulfills me, that makes me feel so full. For me, singing live is the best and to provoke, I really like that people feel things when I sing is my main objective, me too, I feel and make others feel.
What is good and bad about singing?
Well, the positive, I think that everyone would like to sing beautifully, it is something very beautiful. The negative, it still has a lot of negative things, for example when you are a person who sings, many times on dates that you could be with your family, many times you are singing somewhere, that is something that I realized was not positive, no It went with me, I didn’t like, for example, spending Christmas singing instead of being with my family, singing on New Year’s Eve instead of being with my family, and finally, I kind of moved away from the more commercial music because it just came up against my important dates to be with my people, and I couldn’t be with them because I had to be singing, those dates were where there was the most work, etc.. etc… So I became a little more alternative, so to speak. I started doing covers, singing for myself, singing for my people and in that way I have felt very fulfilled although I would like to sing more live, in concerts organized by me or in concerts organized by some municipality, things that bring together people who They like to enjoy music, rather than suddenly making dance music for a show or Christmas music for that show. Yes, the positive thing is that it generates income for you but personally it is not what fulfills you.
What are your great references in singing?
The truth is that I haven’t asked myself, but if I put my mind to it now, I’ve always sung a lot of Whitney Houston’s music. I think she’s one of the great provocative voices in history, but there are a lot of them, I just sing a lot of Whitney Houston songs. her because I feel like I identify perhaps with the bell but the truth is that there are many, many, many, many.
Do you have hobbies and other studies besides singing? Have you been able to develop it?
Yes, I have many hobbies, I like to paint, I am a visual artist by profession although I have not carried it out, in other words I have not practiced it. Although I do like it a lot. In addition to that, from time to time I work painting pregnant bellies, doing photo shoots, editing videos, I really like everything that has to do with the visual. Photography, painting, videos.
You are the mother of a son, how can you reconcile the life of a mother with your profession?
I only have a small son who is now turning 2 years old and it is very difficult. I mean, I am a very committed mother to my son, for me, my son is everything, the most, and very little by little I have tried to sing as much as possible, without harming my son’s sleep, without damaging the time with my son, always trying to leave him as a priority. It is difficult but I take it with love, with patience, and I know that at some point everything will be easier and that I will be able to sing again and obviously since I am not looking to be famous or anything like that, just to sing, I know that it is something that I do not like. It’s going to cost later.
How do your children take the fact that you sing in front of more people? Do you feel jealous? Do they also like to sing?
My son still doesn’t sing, he’s little, he’s just learning to talk, and no, of course not, jealous of nothing, absolutely nothing, I still don’t feel like he likes to sing or anything, at the moment he’s only good at talking.
You went to The Voice, how did you get into the contest and how were you chosen?
I saw it on the internet, my mom insisted that I record the video, that I record it, record a video, I was just with my baby, he was 3 months old, just tiny, tiny, my baby and the people at the casting liked it, I think so precisely for that reason, because it caught their attention that I appeared with my baby in the video and nothing, then they called me to do the live audition, I went to the live audition, then they told me that I had qualified for the interview and later I They confirmed that it had been selected. It was all very exciting, especially for my mom, which was like something she had always waited for.
You went to The Voice contest. What does it feel like to be on stage, in front of thousands of spectators, with cameras filming you, with a jury and an audience in the studio, all watching you?
Before going on stage you feel a lot of nerves, a lot of stomach pain, but positive, I was stressed, my baby was small, I hadn’t slept that day. The blind audition, so I was a little nervous about that, that’s what made me most nervous actually, it made it hard for me to enjoy the experience because I was more aware of my son at that time, since he was breastfeeding a lot, so I couldn’t spend whole days there, I always had to be there today: “What time?” Let’s finish because I have to go with my baby? So at that point I was much more worried about him than the contest itself. I was just doing it at that moment with The Voice, because, perhaps if some time had passed before my baby was born I would have enjoyed it to the fullest, I would have stayed late there, sharing with my other colleagues, but on this occasion I was more focused on my baby.
What was your relationship like with your singing partners on The Voice?
I had a good relationship with my colleagues, several of them, I did have some situations that made me a little uncomfortable but nothing out of this world, but in general a good relationship with all my colleagues.
What was your relationship with your fame like?
Did they recognize you? How did your family take it? Practically nothing. Hehe because I don’t feel like I was famous, but there were several people who spoke to me on social networks, to congratulate me, to tell me that I sang very well, that I had something special, several people began to follow me, on social networks, But the truth is that I don’t leave my apartment much, because I work from my apartment. I work as a telephone executive, so I practically don’t go out. I’m going to leave my baby, I go back to the house, and I’m like that all the time, and the garden where my baby goes is super close, so I practically had no contact with other people on the street, only through social networks.
How did you get to know your current partner?
I met him because he was precisely looking for singers, for a music project that was offered for supermarkets, he needed to record, because he had the songs and I provided the voice, and that’s how I met him, one day we got together, we talked, I fell in love with him. well, and finally there was a nice relationship, and we matched.
How does your partner take your fame and recognition, since singing is a very social art?
My partner takes it very well, super natural, because he sings, raps, even does things that are artistic, we are like from the same area, so nothing that happens to me surprises him much. Everything is very similar between the two. And everything was fine, calm, very similar between the two.
Do you have fans? What relationship do you have with them?
Yes, there are many people who claim to be fans of mine, but in the end they are close people, with whom I speak directly, there are a lot of people who talk to me on social networks, to congratulate me, but it doesn’t go beyond that, there is nothing like very fanatic of emi, if not, they like the way I sing, and I wouldn’t call them fans, I would call them people who like the way I sing.
What are your next projects?.
Start composing more songs, record them, make videos, sing live again, with new musical projects, with new bands, because in truth my musical life has always rotated a lot, with different musicians, I don’t think that’s going to change and I don’t think it will change, I like interacting with different people throughout life, meeting new personalities, forming new projects, I need it to be something that is repeated, and enjoying each of those moments.
What would you say to future singers who are just starting out in this art?
It will depend on what they are looking for, because for example I consider myself a very alternative singer, even though I do covers, I am a person who does not aspire to fame because I consider that fame is very negative, it is unnatural, antiorganic, it makes people see reality in a different way, with a perspective that is a little false, a little cruel, very egocentric, so for me singing is something much more humble, calmer, I see it that way, so it will It depends a lot on what that new singer is looking for. If he is looking for fame, I have nothing to advise there, because it is not my world, but if he is a person who is on the same side as me, I tell him to enjoy it, to dare. , don’t be afraid of anything, if people don’t like your style, it doesn’t matter. Because there will always be other people who will like you, and the ideal is to find those people, not try to change because others like you.
Do you think you would like to start a singing and music academy? Would you like to teach how to sing?
If I would like to teach how to sing, it is not my priority, for me singing is the best, more than teaching how to sing, I like to sing, but I have thought about it, the issue is that since I do not have formal music studies, I do not singing, I don’t dare yet, I have taken classes, some very little, with a lot of fear, teaching basically what I know, what I have learned based on my experience, ‘but not based on formal, formal studies of music, so that’s why I haven’t gone any further, I’ve given a couple of classes to a couple of people and nothing more.
What do you think is your legacy in music?
My legacy has to do with the fact that music has to be something that is enjoyed, that is felt, that does not have to have an economic purpose, or fame, music is enjoyed more that way I think, at least For the singer, it is much more rewarding that way, obviously it will always be nicer to have your audience and people who follow you but it does not necessarily have to be massive, it has to only be the people who like your being, your way of being. being, your way of singing, your way of performing, your music, I think that’s it. And my music has a lot of subtlety, feeling, climax, nuances, I believe that that is what my voice has that it gives to other people, that is what I give when I sing, and also seen from the outside, Try to be as organic as possible, don’t force it to please.
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