VIP No.6 / 2023 Interview with Bella Álvarez

The Andes Mountains have witnessed the birth of great singer-songwriters from their peaks, from south to north, and one who has gradually gained considerable attention is Bella Álvarez, who, after her appearance at the Estéreo Picnic Festival, will debut at the Cordillera Festival. We spoke with her about her music and how her songs inhabit deep and personal stories, born in Medellín.

1. To begin, we'd like to go back to that now distant year of 2019. What was it like for you to start this journey with Hortalizas y Flores (Vegetables and Flowers), your first EP, in a Medellín that was musically witnessing the emergence of movements other than the singer-songwriter tradition?

Well, I'll go back to 2019, the year I dared to release Hortalizas y Flores, and I remember several things. First, I didn't have the perspective that one has now of what's happening musically around them; I wasn't clear about which musical movement I belonged to. I just felt like I was a girl making songs, and my influences were close to me and few in number. In Medellín at that time, what I did know was that there were certain genres that were popular in the city, but I didn't really understand what was happening. For me, it was like the magic of sharing my songs, of embellishing something. I took my songs and sought to embellish them and embellish them even more because of what the lyrics meant to me, the poetry I had stored there. Now that I think about it, it was the most magical part of my entire career.

2. It's also true that after the release of your first album, Canciones para una Casa Chiquita (2021), you've been changing that acoustic sound, as we see in your latest song, "Yo cuidé a tu amor." What has that process of encountering new sounds and adding them to your own been like?

I feel that with Canciones Para Una Casa Chiquita (Songs for a Small House), I was already realizing that what I loved most about making music was exploring myself and creating songs for myself. So, I expanded the format a bit and experimented a lot with my voice, leading to this new album that I've been working on for almost two years. I feel like some of the songs were even written during the Vortalizas (Vegetables) era, and I'm also gathering things I planted in Casa Chiquita. That's where "Yo cuida tu amor" (I Take Care of Your Love) comes from, a song with a power I didn't know how to handle before, so I never dared to include them in any other work or play them live. Back then, I didn't know what to do with so much power, you know? And I was so used to holding my voice very gently. The words in my songs have always been my priority, and they still are, but in this case, when I started working on this album, I realized I wanted to find a new spark for myself because I needed it. I realized that I needed, for myself, a strong candle, a warrior's candle, a brave candle, and this album served that purpose, where "Yo cuide tu amor" (I Guarded Your Love) added to that candle-like sound. I'm still very sincere in my lyrics, but being able to hold them more firmly has made me feel braver.

3. And after this whole process, tell us, what does Bella Álvarez's own music sound like today?

I was recently doing the exercise of listening to my songs, because I'm not someone who listens to my music much. Sometimes I leave words that are there, that haunt me, and it happens that my music sounds like truth to me. I've realized that many people close to me find their own truth in my songs. And it also sounds like peace, tranquility, comfort, companionship. I feel that my music, at least for me, is companionship. It's an embrace. I feel my music is full of stars, intuition, and true phrases. And that's how I feel about my music when I listen to it. I always learn a lot from what I've sung, and that's what my music sounds like to me. I couldn't tell you anything other than what I feel when I listen to myself.

4. Speaking of your arrival at the Cordillera Festival, after performing at the Estéreo Picnic Festival, what does it mean to you to be Latin American?

Well, I feel that everything is connected, and I am Latin American. I am a woman from a region where, perhaps, making music wasn't a very readily available option. But I dared to do it, and I did it, and I do it, and I do it with all the strength I possibly can muster. It's an honor to be at a festival like Cordillera or like Estéreo Picnic was. When I played at FEP, I didn't even grasp what was happening. I was only thinking about my music, but then you think about it in terms of the region, the place where your music is born, the difficulties you may have faced, because I chose to create art and I chose to make music. That music is your career and that art is so important to you every day is very daring, and it's an honor for me to be at the festival as who I am, from where I'm from, as a woman who dared to take the plunge. I think it's amazing that these spaces are suddenly becoming more accessible to all of us artists.

5. Before we finish, we'd like you to tell us: What surprises do you have in store for your future? New music? The Cordillera show? What's coming up in the next few months for Bella Álvarez?

I was in Mexico last year, searching for myself and recording my second album. It includes all the songs I've released recently, like "Yo cuidé a tu amor" (I Take Care of Your Love), "No te vayas nunca" (Never Leave), and "Una pena" (A Sorrow). They all have a very special sound, and I've been very careful about which songs to release so that when the album comes out, it will still be a surprise what we've been working on. Well, Cordillera is coming up, and I'll be performing with my strongest band lineup. I have a really beautiful show planned, and I'm making my dress here at home. There are more concerts coming up too. I've been on a very, very, very big personal musical journey in every sense, and I feel ready to do everything I want to do, so that's what I'll tell you.

6. To finish up, recommend a Colombian artist and a Latin American artist that we should be listening to right now.

And to finish, I'm going to recommend a Latin American artist that I've been listening to all week, by the way, because she came to Colombia recently. It's Rosario Alfonso from Chile. That's my recommendation.

Interview by Jaime Cortés