Zoé 

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Mexican Rock Band Zoé Want To Be Heard All Over The World

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Fresh of their 2019 GRAMMY win for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album, we talked to the longtime band about their latest album, Aztlán, their current tour with Metric, diversifying their audience, and more
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Mar 1, 2019 - 10:23 am

For two decades, Zoé has carried a piece of Mexico's modern rock sound across many parts of the world. Their psychedelic, rock en Español, pop, synth sounds have captured fans in areas of the U.S., Latin America and European countries like Spain.

Listening to Zoé is like going through a galactic trip into romantic relationships and self-reflection; the journey entering light and dark moods—just listen to "Love" and "Dead." And it works. The band has maintained and grown a strong fanbase, with over a billion visits on VEVO and two million streams per month worldwide on Spotify. 

Formed in Mexico City in 1997, Zoé boasts some of the best modern songwriting in the Spanish language and a solid marriage of sounds. Even when they opt to go acoustic, they leave what is at the heart of their music: poetic verses, an innovative blend of instruments and frontman Leon Larregui's deep, enchanting voice. 

Over the course of their career, which include six studio albums and collabs with Enrique Bunbury from Spanish iconic rock band Héroes del Silencio, the Mexico City band has garnered GRAMMY nominations and Latin GRAMMY wins, but it is their latest album, Aztlán, produced by Craig Silvey & Phill Vinall, which has won them a GRAMMY for Best Latin Rock Album (their last nomination was in the same category for 2006's Memo Rex Commander Y El Corazón Atómico De La Vía Láctea).

While the group continues to hold their signature sound close, Aztlán takes the band to a mythological place of the past: the birthplace of the Mexica people who would rule the Aztec Empire and would inspire the country's name. The album was intended to be an invitation into their culture and a statement among political and social events happening around the time of its conception.

"It is an invitation to discover the beauty and richness of our culture, and look inward so we can recover that Mexican dignity and pride," Larregui said in a statement. "This reflection to the past is with the hopes that as we reinvent ourselves in the near future we continue to maintain our ‘Mexicanness’ in a globalized world."

The quintet is pushing full-throttle into a globalized music industry where language is no barrier to mainstream success; they recently started a tour with some fellow North Americans: Canadian bands Metric and July Talk. The tour marks the first time the band has hit the road with English-language acts.  

Bassist Ángel Mosqueda spoke to The Recording Academy on a stop in San Antonio, Texas about their tour, what the band's first GRAMMY win means for the band's growth, the socio-political inspiration behind Aztlán, what has kept the band going after so many years, and much more. 

Where were you when you found out about your GRAMMY win?

I was in Mexico. At home. It was Sunday evening ... we have a chat in which we disclose many, many band things ... our manager and people from the office [are also on it]. That's where we, as a band, and all the team realized we won that precious award. 
 
You're Latin GRAMMY winners and now you're also GRAMMY winners. How's that feel?
 
It's great ... we weren't expecting anything because sometimes you're just [doing] other things, and we have been nominated before and didn't win. So, we were like, we're taking it very seriously, of course, but not expecting anything and that feels good, when you're not expecting anything and you win and it's like, "Whoa. Things are happening."
 

 
Aztlán is this mythological place.  What does it mean to you, and why name this album that?
 
Leon [Larregui], who is the singer and who does all the concept and the lyrics of the albums, decided to name it this way. He was considering all that was happening in Mexico [at the time and thought] it was a very good opportunity to name it like that and to think [of] our roots as a nation, etc. ... [At the time] there was an earthquake in Mexico, there was things happening also with migration with the new American president, and many, many [other] things happened. He could see a very good motif and a very good moment to name it like that and to return to our roots, to [reflect.] ... I'm really happy, not just in many aspects of the album, composition-wise, I think we have evolved and the production has evolved and the concept is great. I really love it.
 
As a band, you have so many great songs about love. There's “Camara Lenta,” there's "Love" and now there's "Azul." How do you continue to create songs about love with a fresh perspective after so many years?
 
I think songs are not just coming from Leon's experiences, [even though he writes] almost all the lyrics. He also gets inspired [by] things that happen to the people that surround him ... he also captures stories and things that happen to friends, to family, us as a band ... For example, “Azul” is something that [didn't] exactly happen to him ... They're some other [songs like], "Hielo," which [are inspired by] things that happened to him. So every song has its own story, which makes it very interesting. 
 
You've been a band for 20 years. What is the glue that keeps you together after so long?
 
Very good question. I think it's the music. As long as we continue doing good music. As long as we enjoy [being] in the studio, making good albums, which we put a lot of weight and a lot of emphasis and a lot of value to all the albums, into all the songs—as long as we continue doing good things, doing things that we consider are good for us, I think we're going to stay alive [as a] band.
 
I think we're still alive because of that. I think this last album really corroborates our strength as a band; that we continue doing good things and this album is great and we're very happy and thinking of doing another one in the future. So that's very good for us. We're very happy now and in the near future as a band.
 
Being a GRAMMY winner brings in new eyes and ears to music. I know that you have a lot of fans in the United States, but for people who may not know your music and are discovering it because they see you've won a GRAMMY, what do you want them to know about you as a band?
 
Good question. I think you are right, sometimes we are not thinking that this is the situation, but yeah, you're right. I think with the GRAMMY we are earning more fans, new people that are getting close to the band and they're getting to know the songs, and I think it's a big responsibility. I think, as soon as they hear our music they're gonna get it ...  I think [we] have a very good spectrum of songs, of variety, of production, of instrumentation, of compositions, and I think they're gonna enjoy [all our music.] And I think it's very good that these things are happening now, because as you say, you're right, maybe we're earning more fans. 
 
So how is the tour going? What can fans expect from this one?
 
The tour has been great, we're very happy. We're very happy to tour in the States. I mean, really for us it's a very good experience touring this huge amazing country with all these huge interesting cities. We take it like a very good opportunity to expand our market, to expand our career, of course, because this is a great country [with] great venues. And there is a lot of Latin people as well, now with this tour we have the opportunity to [tour] with Metric ... [We have] music that could be heard in not just in the common market of Latin people. It's music that could be heard anywhere in the world. We have friends all around the world that supports this idea.
 
I think we asked our office some time ago, that it would be great to [tour with Anglo bands] and they started to follow this idea and then suddenly it came to reality ... So in the show there's a very good mixture of Latin and Anglo people, which makes it very very interesting for us. I mean we're really really happy. The tour is going great. There's been great shows and it's a huge tour. I think we're gonna have 25 shows in 40 days or something, which is a very good effort. I think it's a very very good opportunity for us and for all the team.
For more information on Zoé's tour, go to the band's website. 

boy pablo

Photo: Benjamin Hovlandsdal

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Boy Pablo On Growing Up Bicultural & Why Writing About Love Comes Easily To Him

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The Recording Academy caught up with Nicolas Pablo Rivera Muñoz after his set at Corona Capital fest in Guadalajara, where he shared more about his first time in Mexico, growing up bicultural, new music and more
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
May 14, 2019 - 1:15 pm

"How would you feel if I walked up to you one day and ripped your heart out?" sings Nicolas Pablo Rivera Muñoz, a.k.a. boy pablo, the singer/songwriter and musician from Norway whose catchy indie rock is on the rise. "Losing You" is just a taste of his signature blend of upbeat sounds and lyrics expressing the rollercoaster that love is, from heartache to infatuation.

"It's weird 'cause I like to keep my things private, actually. I don't really have the need to share an experience about love," he told the Recording Academy. "But I didn't find anyone with a cool voice ... so, I had to sing my own songs."

Muñoz, who is of Chilean descent, began making music in 2015 and found internet fame roughly two years later via a viral video for one of his earlier singles, "Everytime." Since then, the world has come to know his music through 2018's Soy Pablo EP and 2017's Roy Pablo EP. 

The Recording Academy caught up with Muñoz after his set at Corona Capital fest in Guadalajara, where he shared more about his first time in Mexico, growing up bicultural, new music and more. 

It's your first time in Mexico, how do you feel being here? Is it everything you thought it would be? 

Yes. It feels like home cause it's a Latin American country. So I feel good and the weather's good, and yeah it's fun ... I don't know what I expected, actually. [Laughs.]  'Cause I've heard a lot of weird stuff about Mexico, but it's really a beautiful country.

I heard you speaking Spanish on stage.

Yeah. [Laughs.] My parents are from Chile so I learned Spanish when I was a little kid.

How was your set? 

They gave us a short time, but it was really fun. It was another kind of show 'cause we normally do longer shows, but really fun. We used all our energy in those 30 minutes that they gave us, and it was really fun. And the Mexican crowd was amazing.

How did the name "boy pablo" come about?

[Laughs.] I wanted an artist name with the name "Pablo" in it. And I asked my manager Fabio what could go with "Pablo." I came up with a lot of ideas and nothing was really cool. When I chose the name boy pablo, I really didn't think it was cool. I don't know. But Fabio suggested it.

How does it feel bringing your music to the world now? 

It's kind of a natural thing. When I made music, I thought like, people could like this maybe and then I showed it to my friends and my family and they were like really supportive. They were like, "Yeah, you've got to put it out." And in a strange way, we got famous by a YouTube video. So it's really like social media that made the project this big.

What was your reaction when the video blew up?

Suddenly, one day in October 2017 I was getting a lot of followers on Instagram. I called my manager Fabio and I was like, did you buy followers [for] my account? He was like, what are you talking about? And then I checked a couple of videos, we had a video for "Your Phone" and "Flowers." It was neither of them. Then I checked "Everytime" and suddenly it had like 20,000 views more than the last time I checked, then the next day 100,000 and then 250,000. It was crazy. I didn't know what to think cause it happened so fast. But we're so thankful for that now. 

 
Photo: William Glandberger
 
You mentioned your Chilean parents, but you grew up in Norway. How was that experience for you, and how do your cultures influence your music? 

Well, I'm a chill guy and people in Norway, they don't express feelings at all. That expressing feelings I got from my family, being chill I got from being Norwegian. But yeah, it's really cold [in Norway]. So there's nothing to do, normally. You just hang out at people's houses and it can be boring sometimes. So it was natural for me to make music and yeah, my parents showed me a lot of Latin music when I grew up.

Like what?

Américo. Ráfaga. A lot of like nuevo ola from the '70s. 

I'm Mexican-American. We sometimes refer to our language as "Spanglish." For you is there something you call when you speak Spanish and Norwegian?

Yeah, we mix languages. When I don't remember a word in Spanish cause I don't practice my Spanish so much as I like to, but yeah, we speak NorSpanish? [Laughs.] I don't know.

You write a lot of love songs. What's it like putting your experiences with love out in the world?

It's weird 'cause I like to keep my things private, actually. I don't really have the need to share an experience about love, but I've done that with some songs. But other songs, I actually write it like as a love song, but it can be about anything else. It's just easy for me to write about love, 'cause it's such a common thing to feel.

What came first for you, writing lyrics or playing instruments?

Definitely playing instruments. Actually, before I started boy pablo, I tried to find somebody, anyone that could sing my songs. But I didn't find anyone with a cool voice or that was a good friend or something. So yeah, I had to sing my own songs. The lyrics don't come easy to me. So I use a lot of time to work on those, although they're really simple, [as English is] not my first language.

What's next for you after Corona Capital?

We have a lot of festivals coming up this summer. We have like 25, like all over the world. Like France, Spain, Hungary. We're going to The States as well. And I'm working on new music.

Any more details you can give us?

I'm planning a couple of collaborations. I can't tell with who, but I hope one of those songs will be released soon, before the summer. 

Kimbra On Her First-Ever DJ Set, Writing A Fourth Album & More

ZZ Top

ZZ Top

Photo: Rick Kern/WireImage/Getty Images

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A ZZ Top Musical Is Coming To Las Vegas In 2020

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"'Sharp Dressed Man' is an outrageous, bawdy musical romp about a Lone Star auto mechanic who becomes a modern-day Robin Hood," a press release states
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
May 21, 2019 - 2:04 pm

Texas classic rockers ZZ Top and Caesars Entertainment have teamed up for a new musical featuring the GRAMMY nominees' lively, brash brand of Southern rock, Variety reports. "A Sharp Dressed Man," named after the group's 1983 hit song, will debut in Las Vegas in 2020.

"'Sharp Dressed Man' is an outrageous, bawdy musical romp about a Lone Star auto mechanic who becomes a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing hearts—and car parts—with the help of his merry band of beer drinkers and hell raisers," a press release said.

Variety states that surviving band members Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard are executive producers on the play. The story is written by screenwriter/playwrights Robert Cary and Johnathan Tolins and features classic ZZ Top tracks like "Legs," "La Grange," "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Cheap Sunglasses."

ZZ Top's manager, Carl Stubner, along with film producer Prem Akkaraju are the lead producers, as are several executives of Caesars Entertainment. The company runs several large venues in Sin City, including The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood, two Vegas residency hot spots. The venue for the new musical has not yet been named, nor has the specific show dates.

"The show will utilize the band's music and tremendous energy in a new immersive realm," Stubner told Variety. "Just like ZZ Top, it's all about having a good time at a great party and telling fun stories through their music."

Wayne Coyne Looks Back On 'The Soft Bulletin': "I Wouldn't Want to Be In That State of Mind Ever Again"

Kimbra

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Kimbra On Her First-Ever DJ Set, Writing A Fourth Album & More

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"I have a big love of sound design and really sculpturing music to make you feel something," the GRAMMY-winning singer told the Recording Academy after her set at Corona Capital in Mexico
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
May 13, 2019 - 5:28 pm

GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter Kimbra is the definition of bold. Her sound, encompassing jazz, R&B, pop and rock influences, knows no creative limits—last fall she even joined the Howard Gospel Choir on stage for a performance. 

The New Zealander, who won two GRAMMYs for her duet with Gotye on his 2012 megahit "Somebody That I Used To Know" and released her third album, Primal Heart, in early 2018, recently took her love music and connecting with others to the turntables, playing her first-ever DJ set  in South America. 

Her creative spirit flows outside of music as well. An artist who is as thoughtful about her music as she is about her visuals, she uses costumes and fashion as yet another way to engage with audiences. "When you're listening to music, it's cool if you're also stimulated with your eyes," she told the Recording Academy.

We caught up with Kimbra during her first visit to Mexico at Corona Capital Guadalajara to chat about how she incorporates creativity in different aspects of her music, what it means for her to bring her music to new places, the need for more opportunities for women, what she's working on next and more. 

This is your first time in Mexico. How do you feel being here?

It's crazy. It's such a long time coming. I've heard from so many people about coming to Mexico. I know I've got so many fans from here. The crowds are unbelievable. They're just so crazy ... they just know every word, to every song, which is so crazy to me. Any time I interact with the crowd, they go so crazy. Yeah, it's a really amazing feeling. They're also just super passionate music lovers. I can tell they're really listening to everything. I've met some of the fans out here; They've been following sometimes for 10 years in the music. It's awesome.

The mission of Corona Capital is to bring more international acts to different cities in Mexico. How does it feel for you to come to a city that you've never been to before?

I mean, I make the effort to try as much of the local food and to meet as many of the people and just get a sense of how each place is different. Already, Guadalajara is so different to Mexico City. It's a really amazing opportunity; the places I might never go unless music took me there so it's very exciting. I've wanted to come to Mexico especially for a long time ... I just hear so much about it. Everyone who goes to Mexico comes back just talking about how it is, just such a vibrant culture and such amazing people. Of course, I'm a huge food lover of Mexican [food], so that helps to be able to eat so well over here.

You just did your first DJ set, not so long ago.

Yeah. I did it in Brazil for the first time. That was awesome. It was actually really fun. I've always kind of wanted to give it a try, but never really just dived head first into it. I really enjoy sharing music that I like with people. I did stuff from Arca to Bjork, to Tame Impala. It was very diverse. Yeah, it was just a lot of fun to show a bit of my taste.

You're a singer, a songwriter, and a producer. What does it mean for you to be so involved with your music?

I think it's about getting to give as much of your unique sound across all the different parts of the process. I have a big love of sound design and really sculpturing music to make you feel something. Of course, the lyrics are important, but also the sound of the base that we choose or the particular drummer or the exact synthesizer preset that we use. All of this stuff is important to me. I think it's a way of injecting my personality into the music and giving more to the people who listen to it, rather than just singing and that's it.

A recent study by USC found that women who identify as songwriters and producers are vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts. Do you have any thoughts around that?

Well, in my experience, I think there are plenty of women in this industry or at least involved in the business side of it. You know, I've worked with so many women at both record labels and my tour manager and my crew and certainly so many female musicians that I looked up to. It's just that, in the public sphere in places like festivals, places like ... Yeah, just big headline shows, we're not seeing as much opportunity for females. It's not that they're not there. They are there. They're working, amazing artists, but I think we just need to change our idea of what success is in the public sphere and letting the decisions be made. Letting there be more focus on women in the industry as opposed to saying, they're underrepresented, there's not as many women as men. There are [as many women], it's just that we need to be giving them as many opportunities in production and showing that there are examples of them in the industry higher up, not just on the ground.

You're a lover of fashion. How does that help you express yourself?

Well, it's about how you sit in your body, right? The clothes you wear, the fabrics. It all helps you feel more engaged with, even your skin and just the way you hold yourself. I think the clothes that I wear on stage are part of me, stepping into a persona, an exaggerated version of myself and color and texture has always been exciting to me because it's visually, it's stimulating. When you're listening to music, it's cool if you're also stimulated with your eyes. It helps me to move as well. If I have fabric that I can play with or things that I can interact with on stage, it makes the performance more physical for me, which then makes me more passionate and expressive.

What's next for you after Corona Capital? What are you up to?

Go back to New York. That's where I'm living. I'm about to start LP four. Yeah. Fourth album. Taking some time, off touring and getting back into writing.

Anything you can tell us about your new music?

It's so new. I'm only just starting now. I've been writing at the piano, which is different for me. Usually, I write with a lot of beats and stuff. Now it'll be a bit more, just trying a new instrument, and seeing what happens with that. Yeah. I'm not sure yet, who I'm going to collaborate with or if I'm going to produce myself. I'm still working that out. It's all a big bag of surprises right now. 

Rhye On The Meaning Behind 'Spirit,' Vulnerability In Songwriting & More

Courtesy of Corona Capital Guadalajara 

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Rhye On The Meaning Behind 'Spirit,' Vulnerability In Songwriting & More

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The Recording Academy caught up with the R&B singer/songwriter at Corona Capital in Mexico a day after the release of his latest album
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
May 13, 2019 - 3:24 pm

Canadian singer/songwriter Mike Milosh has won fans all over the world with his mix of R&B, soul, ambient pop and smooth vocals under the moniker Rhye.

Originally a duo with Danish producer/songwriter Robin Hannibal, Rhye initially piqued listeners' interest with the 2013 debut Woman. Despite its positive attention, Milosh made a point not to be the center of Woman's promotion in the media. "We just didn't want to be in the imagery of it because we wanted people to have their own experience with the songs," he told NPR at the time. 

Two albums later, Milosh is back with the newly released Spirit. Dropped on May 10 with little notice as the follow-up to 2018's Blood, Rhye's latest captures his falling back in love with playing the piano, which for him served as a meditation after touring. 

"I'm kind of stoked that I got to do this Spirit record," he told the Recording Academy. "I had the time to put it together after touring and it happened really quickly so I'm just glad that it's out ... it's very nice to have a really positive reception to another record that no one even knew I was going to [release] ... We didn't hype it up for a long time, we just kind of dropped it and were just like, yeah, we've got another record."

The Recording Academy caught up with the singer at Corona Capital in Guadalajara, Mexico to talk about the meaning behind Spirit, how traveling inspires him, the vulnerability behind performing the songs he writes and more.

You're in Mexico for a few performances. What vibe does the audience give you here?

Energy, energy, energy. Happiness. I remember one time I did a really gentle song and this one guy yelled out, "I'm so happy!" And everyone kind of, in a really loving way, laughed at him. And it was actually really sweet. So my experiences in Mexico with the audiences are particularly nice.

You just released your latest album, Spirit. What inspired it?

Well, for me, Spirit became a meditative process with the piano. I did an insane amount of dates last year, and when I got to my last date, I'd been gifted this grand piano—or, I was asked to take care of it. I just started waking up every day and playing, not for any purpose, but just the joy of just kind of meditating through playing piano and then that grew into what the record became. But for me, that's like a really good way to become introspective and that introspection kind of allows you to heal a little bit from the amount of touring and just kind of go through the emotions in a gentle, peaceful way. 

Is there a meaning behind its cover art?

Well, it's my girlfriend, Geneviève. I shot it. I shot the Blood record as well. Blood we shot in Iceland in a glacier lake. She came out, was drying off [and] I shot that. Spirit we shot also in glacier lakes, but in New Zealand. So it's kind of amazing that I've been able to bring Geneviève at the end of tours and then me and her and some friends will have adventures and explore a region like Iceland and New Zealand. It's this beautiful moment for me just to do photography with her. It's part of the adventuring. We're looking for environments that will give us the essence of the record, because I've already made the record at that point and I'm just trying to capture a visual image or a visual component that oozes the sentiment. I think I got to do that in New Zealand.

You're in the middle of playing several shows. You've mentioned healing from touring. What's the touring experience like for you?

I love touring, so I've no complaints about touring. It's just, we did well over 100 dates, which means you're in a lot of planes and you're in a lot of hotels and then not getting sleep because you've got to be up super early. That being said, the shows were incredible and all the places that we got to see were amazing. We got to play places we haven't played before. I'd never played in Hungary before, for example. I got to play a big festival in Hungary, it was really phenomenal. Just going back to Lithuania for the second time was amazing and playing the new festivals in England. I don't know. I'm in a really lucky moment in my life I guess where I get to play these incredible festivals and have really good private shows.

You're also going to play a few dates in Canada soon, including some cities that you've never been to. What does it mean to you to play a city for the first time?

It's exciting, for one. But then there's a little bit of fear there too because I don't know if anyone's even going to show up to the concert, you know? So we always try to do a smaller play and keep it intimate and just try to have a much more connective moment the first time I come to a city. In Canada, it's particularly nice because I am Canadian so it's nice to actually do a full-fledged Canadian tour where I get to play all these cities that I haven't actually touched yet. I haven't had the time in the last like five years to do that just based on tour routing and finances and all that stuff so it's actually nice to actually get to do it.

Does traveling influence your songwriting?

I think so. 100 percent. I'm a big fan of the feeling of having brand-new eyes, looking at something for the first time. You get that a lot when you're traveling because you're in a brand new place, you're not caught in a rhythm or a rut. So traveling, for me, influences my attitude in some way. I have a sound, and I get that, but I feel like I'm constantly looking at things a new I feel.

How does it feel to be able to put your feelings out there to such masses?

That's a huge question. The short answer is it feels really good. The longer answer is, you are always taking a chance that someone's going to come back and, I don't know ... You're easily insulted when you go that vulnerable, so I don't really look at a lot of comments at first until my manager or Geneviève have said that the comments are positive, I guess. Because I don't want that to get into my head. It's a really beautiful thing though, to just find people in the world that want to hear music that is introspective and emotional, and coming from a place of sometimes healing, sometimes going through things, or sometimes elation or joy. The people that like the music I'm making seem to be also in touch with their emotions.

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