Cheo & Ulises Hadjis – Dónde

By starrymag | August 6, 2018

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) Honest, weird Latin pop.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) Caetano Veloso, Beatles, Charly García, Yo La tengo, Magnetic Fields, Chabuca Granda, El Medio, and Arto Lindsay

Q) How did you come to work with Cheo on this album?

A) In 2015 we played a few songs together at the Bluenote Jazz Festival. It worked out great! Then, he produced a track I did for an Aterciopelados tribute and was also amazing. He proposed me to tour together so we thought about making a couple of songs to promote the tour that end up being a whole LP!

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Donde.”

A) Cheo had the verse with the music and the lyrics. I came up with the chorus music and we did the lyrics of that part together in New York. It’s about singing for somebody that you don’t know yet, but you miss somehow.

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) It’s a cool romantic track. Also, it has two singers and changes key three times! It’s really stripped down, two-guitar two-voices tracks are not that common nowadays.

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

A) We are apart and we’re singing to the camera, like in a Chatroulette situation.

Q) What was it about the song “Donde” in particular that inspired you to use it for the album title as well?

A) The idea of the search and the absence. At the end of the day, it’s a breakup album.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) I used to. Now, I’m trying to start the song also from the lyrics or maybe the concept. But most of the times I start with the music.

Q) How does your Venezuelan heritage influence your music?

A) I think in Afro-Venezuelan drums and gaita (a Chrismas folklóric style). Tons of chords in gaita! Also, there’s a Venezuelan tradition of “colective art,” like art from the masses. Maybe mine is more personal/ubjective as a response.

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) A lot. I coproduce all my music.

Q) What can fans expect from a live Cheo & Ulises Hadjis performance?

A) An intimate gig with stories, singing and electric guitars.

Q) What songs off your Donde album are you looking forward to performing live?

A) All of them. we perform all the songs.

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to the album as a whole?

A) Great question. An honest point of view of the perks of being a young adult.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) Mmm. I love Ecuador. People there are amazing! And the whole country it’s beautiful. Also, New York and LA. They are both great in different ways. Also, México City and Maracaibo!

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) Caetano Veloso, Rodrigo Amarante, Marcelo Camelo, Bill Frisell or Peter Erskine.

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

A) I’m listening to a compilation of Gaiteros del pillopo (amazing), the new song of Gaby Moreno and Van Dyke Parks and all of the Rufus Wainwright albums. I love his virtuoso, honesty and his queer celebration. Moreno and Parks track it’s so full of information! It’s really the opposite of minimalism and it’s great

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

A) I used to do it in a forced way. Now, I just put whatever I feel, like a book I’m reading or a song I’m learning. It’s the new TV.

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

A) Thanks! I just can’t believe somebody will spend their time listening to something I did! Thanks a lot!