Adan Jodorowsky – Esencia Solar

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) I’ve done so many different albums with different sounds that I don’t know. [laughs] I’m exploring. I’m not playing just one type of music. On this last album, there are a lot of Peruvian rhythms, Brazilian rhythms and Caribbean rhythms and African, Mexican. I composed this album while traveling a lot. I was traveling in Peru and Yucatan, Mexico. I composed all those songs traveling so you can feel it when you hear the album. It’s very shiny and a vibe full of love and happiness and introspection. I’m exploring a lot the meaning of life and the meaning of being alive in this mysterious world.

Q) What do you find the inspiration for your lyrics and music?

A) I met a woman in my life who changed my way of perceiving life. I’ve always been close to spirituality, but she opened my mind and I needed it. She made me believe in love again and I had a son after that. All this album happened when I was with her. This album is a vision of life, really. It’s very deep for me. I’m talking about being prisoners in the society of having a goal and accomplishing a dream and also love and the beauty of getting old.

Q) Where did the idea for the title of your new album Esencia Solar come from?

A) My name is Adan Jodorowsky now and not anymore Adanowsky. And I’m not wearing any masks anymore or costumes. Well, costumes on stage, but not anymore in life. [laughs] And I needed something more real so it’s talking about my true essence, the light in my essence – the truest part of me. So, that’s why it’s Esencia Solar. Solar essence.

Q) What is your favorite track on the album?

A) Musically, I love the song “Mi Fe.” It’s a ballad. My wife wrote the lyrics. [laughs] We had a little fight. They usually last only five minutes. It’s a five-minute fight always. She went to a café in Paris and I asked her to write the lyrics in this moment. It was exactly what she felt right at that moment and I put it in the song and it was perfect. That’s why the song is so real.

Q) You mentioned that you asked your wife to write lyrics for one song. Do you usually start with music and then pair it to lyrics? What is your process?

A) Usually I always write my own lyrics and my music. But I always start with the music and then the lyrics. Sometimes I’m a human being so I am blocked when writing and need help from another person. When I can’t, I can’t. So, I ask two friends or my wife. She’s a poet so she knows how to write.

Q) You worked with Leon Larregui and Natalia LaFourcade on a couple tracks on this album. How did you come to work together?

A) They are very big in Latin America! They were friends though before anything. It was magic because Leon was living in the home just in front of mine and Natalia was living in the building next to mine. So, we became friends. When I went to Mexico, naturally I asked them if they wanted to sing. Also, I produced two solo albums for Leon.

Q) Speaking of production, how much of your own music do you produce?

A) I am producing my own music. This last album I produced. I was the sound engineer, I mixed it and I did the arrangements. My other albums, too. I produced my other albums.

Q) You are on tour now. Where is your favorite place to perform? Is there a stage where you feel the most comfortable?

A) No, I feel comfortable everywhere. The audience in Mexico is amazing, but when all of the audiences in the world are screaming like you’re a hero it’s very interesting. America is good, too. I had an amazing experience in America. Now I’m on tour and it’s incredible. I’m on tour doing seventeen towns. I was in Washington and New York. I’m going to Los Angeles and Chicago. I’m touring a lot!

Q) What can fans expect from a live Adan Jodorowsky performance?

A) To have an incredible moment of happiness and sometimes I play some funky rhythm guitars. So, you can dance. There is folk music. It’s a very enjoyable show with a lot of good vibes.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) It is what the fans are waiting for. But I’m doing it because I like to be in contact with them. I started with Myspace. [laughs] When I was an unknown artist I created a page on Myspace like I was a big star, but I wasn’t. I put up a lot of pictures like I was selling a lot of albums, but I wasn’t famous at that time. Then, little by little it came true. Now, it’s not my goal anymore to be famous or be successful. What I want to do is a beautiful piece, a beautiful album and a beautiful movie. Enjoy what I’m doing – that’s my goal.

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from hearing this new album?

A) I’m looking for the pureness of the art. For me, success can end tomorrow. Even Johnny Depp is not so famous as he used to be. It’s something that can end. So, if you focus on that you can lose your life. If you focus your attention in success – the actors are in a position where they look to go to the Grammys or the Oscars. It’s superficial.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your music?

A) I want to tell them to please be free. Don’t be so stuck with society and what people tell to us. What they say is not true. Nothing is not true. Even what I say is not true – it’s only one opinion. There are millions and millions of people living on this Earth. The truth doesn’t exist. My truth exists. Your truth exists. But not their truth. Not the global truth.