INTERVIEW

We’re connecting following “Goofy Pt. 2,” – which is a remix of your latest single featuring Sofia Reyes and De La Ghetto. How are you feeling about what you created?

OMG, it was such a great collaboration. It’s really awesome when you find – I mean, they’re so talented – but just great people. Their energy was great. It’s really cool when different voices have chemistry in a song. My label and I were originally looking for a collaborator for the original song, “Goofy,” but we decided to release on our own, and a month later, the label confirmed Sofia and De La Ghetto were going to be part of this release, they really liked the vibe, so I was super excited. I really admire them.

The remix was accompanied by a music video that’s truly a vibrant spectacle.

We did it with Paranoia Productions here in Los Angeles. De La Ghetto couldn’t be part of it, but he filmed in Miami. The video didn’t have a specific storyline, so each moment was its own thing. We wanted random moments with really poppy colors, a fashion editorial look visually, and just fun, a lot of energy. Of course, we all had to get tested for COVID. At first, I was a little scared, but it was good, very well organized. We did it in one day in LA. It was just fun. It felt like family. Sofia had already worked with them before for some of her videos, so that’s when they introduced us to this amazing production team, which in the end, felt like family. They were also from Latin America, so sometimes we spoke in Spanish, and it just felt like home.

You were born with synesthesia. How does it affect your creative process?

It’s funny because I grew up with it and didn’t even know I had it. I started to communicate my ideas or hear things in a very… people wouldn’t understand me. I worked with some French producers, and they wondered how I could see a sound as blue and round. They didn’t understand that. Someone said, maybe you have synesthesia, where you can see colors in numbers or sounds and textures. It affects a lot. When I’m making music, sometimes I’m painting at the same time because, for me, it’s like creating a drawing, a cuadro, a painting, and for example, when I start with chords, the chords or mood is like painting the background of the painting, and then the melody becomes the shapes on top of the background. I start playing with that, and it’s fun. I’ve seen it like that all my life, so for me, it’s normal even though I know it’s not.

From that perspective, how would you describe your song “Goofy”?

There are so many shapes. Bombastic. A lot of round shapes and a lot of triangles. *laughs* It’s fascinating because also each singer – like De La Ghetto has a certain wave in his voice and Sofia as well. Am I making sense? *laughs* Sofia’s textures in the voice are very interesting. They both have different types of textures that help with the rest of the production and colors, and that’s how I see them.

When did you realize you wanted to make music?

I grew up in a very artistic family. My dad used to do commercials, and he’s a jazz pianist. We had a studio next to our house, and I basically grew up there. It was like a playground. In the daytime, when I wasn’t in school, I’d help my dad. Assist him with working some of the interfaces and be like the sound engineer, help with microphones, and just being surrounded by so many people coming in and out. Then at night, I’d sneak out and go there, and it was like a sanctuary where I could improvise, and it was an open space. There were no windows, so I didn’t know if it was daytime or not, and I would go crazy and create.

The beginnings of that affected my whole development cause I started experimenting with a lot of freedom and deciding where to take my voice and the sounds that I like. I did a lot of jazz and bossa nova with my father, but then I started going more into the electronic vibe, and I used to go to parties. I hated clubs, but I would only go if I could jam with the DJ so that I would take my TC-Helicon effect box pedal for my voice and my microphone, and I would improvise with a DJ friend and create songs at that moment for people to dance to at the moment. I love to do that. One of my favorite things is improvising, and that’s really connected to synesthesia as well. What’s happening visually and sonically at the same time, it’s fun.

As your path has developed, you’ve spent a lot of time in Sweden creating music. How has it affected your sound, and how did it lead to your participation in the Avicii tribute concert?

I have a friend that used to live in Costa Rica, and she’s from Sweden. She knew I composed music and sang when I was very young and then I didn’t see her again. I had a band in Costa Rica called Patterns, and it was like nu-disco/dance. She heard it and then called me and told me I should go to Sweden and meet some producers. So I did that. I left everything in Costa Rica and decided to move there for a while. I started composing a lot with Pontus Winnberg; he’s a really well-known producer, he has Miike Snow and Amason, his band in Sweden. He co-wrote and produced Britney Spears’ “Toxic” as part of Bloodshy & Avant. I started composing my first two EPs with him.

I met through the same friend from Sweden, these other amazing people, new producers like Carl Falk, Albin Nedler, and the Snafu label. I’m with them right now, and they’re from Sweden as well. So it was really interesting getting to know so many different artists and producers from Sweden, where I ended up super randomly. Carl was really good friends with Tim (Avicii), and they used to make music together. I think I released a song on my Instagram, “Bang Bang” by Nancy Sinatra, and he heard it. They were looking for a singer to perform “Fades Away” at the concert because I think the original singer, Noonie Bao, couldn’t make it. They asked if I could do the demo, and I honestly didn’t think I would get it, but in the blink of an eye, I’m just on the airplane and going there. It was such an incredible experience with all of his family, friends, and fans. It was just unbelievable.

That was such a huge event, and the arena was so packed, that must’ve been such a crazy experience going from that moment to COVID, where you can’t leave the house.

It happened in December. I think 60,000 people or something. It was really interesting because the entire event was about mental health and of course, being part of that was unbelievable, and then COVID comes, and it’s all about that, mental health, physical health, and just psychologically, it was a very strong shock we all went through. The concert itself was the most amazing experience I ever had. I never met Tim, but wow, he has so many people still that love him. He made such a huge impact with his music and the ideas; he wasn’t scared of being himself and discussing what he was going through in his music. A lot of people identify with that, and he saved a lot of lives with his music.

Since then, you’ve moved to Los Angeles. How have all of these changes affected your sound and the very music you were creating in the studio?

It’s always flowing and mixing, but that’s the artist’s life. It never stops. It’s never a concrete thing. The moment you think, “this is me, this is what I’m doing for the rest of my life,” everything changes. It’s a constant flow, which is great. I love it. I’m actually in Las Vegas right now. I’ve been on a road trip for a while, visiting my mom and aunt. I’m recording from here. After being in Sweden and recording, I decided not to go back to Costa Rica. Sometimes I’ll go there if I want to write, it’s a great place for writing camps. You can literally go into the jungle, rent a nice house, and go there with your friends and then go back to LA to record.

I decided to move to LA because it’s this crazy jungle, and the music industry is big there; a lot is happening that’s not happening in Costa Rica, and you see how people are struggling, making it, and just being creative all the time. I felt that I needed to learn from that and be injected with this energy from other artists and learn a lot about the business side.

“Goofy” follows your latest EP, The Real Pavo, which also came out in 2020. Sonically, it very different. Do you see yourself going in a new direction?

The first two EPs I released and The Real Pavo were made with Pontus Winnberg. There were also songs we made four years ago, and yeah, they’re very different. Making songs with different people changes the vibe and where you want to go. It was a phase, and at the same time, I was also doing a social experiment by painting myself purple in 2018-2019, and that went with the meaning of The Real Pavo EP. It was like a phase, and that social experiment was about going out there and not feeling afraid of exploring your real colors and trying to find yourself, and being honest with yourself. The whole EP has that story behind it.

Meeting Carl and Albin and then making Goofy, we were really inspired by Ace of Bass, 90s reggae-pop, sort of that vintage sound and vibe. I just wanted to do something very different from what I was doing before, which had other colors and vibes. I love anything that has soul, and I felt Goofy had that. It was a good mix of everything, and the people involved were fantastic, so we’ll see. There’s a lot of new songs coming out soon this next year. I love this vibe, but there are still so many things left to discover. That’s the beauty of art; you never stop discovering.

You recently picked up the distinction of being the most-streamed Costa Rican artist. What’s next for you?

I’m just grateful for the team that I have, everyone is just working so hard behind the MishCatt brand, and we’re trying to move forward. Having good music is my main thing and to keep on creating. I have to be honest, I don’t think about being the most streamed artist, but it helps a lot to open new doors for other artists from Costa Rica and elevate the country’s name. There are so many talented people there.

We’re focusing on making more music, music we really feel good with, and giving good messages to the world with the vibe we love and make us feel great. I hope we can start making concerts in 2021, and if it doesn’t happen, we have to reinvent ourselves and still be creative and see what comes next. I feel moments like this, which are very hard for us as a society, with the whole world is changing, is good for art because you allow emotions to marinate, and then suddenly you come up with something. Sometimes going through tough times really helps.

You touched on mental health earlier. After such a long year, how have you taken a step back to keep balanced?

It’s funny because I thought the whole year I would just be creating a lot of music if I couldn’t play live, but then sometimes you’re not going out, you’re not feeding yourself with the outside world that can make you depressed. Honestly, I stopped creating for a while and found myself wanting to listen to music. Definitely, that was helping me a lot. I also created different spaces in my house so I could see my space differently. It’s okay for you to stop for a while to be with yourself. You don’t have to do anything; you can relax and listen to what you need at that moment.