This time on The NAS 10 Questions, we get to know Paul Lopez, a rock artist from Argentina with influences such as Van Halen, Kiss, Steve Vai, and Whitesnake to name a few.
The track “Bailando En El Desdén (Dancing in Disdain)” is featured on NAS Playlists.
Link To New Artist Spotlight Playlists:
https://www.newartistspotlight.org/playlists
1. Tell us a little about where you are from and what you are currently doing.
I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am currently selecting material to start recording and producing by the end of this year, 2025.
2. What inspired you to start playing and making music?
I don’t have an exact answer to this question. I was a kid and I saw a cousin of mine play the drums… And that, combined with having heard the KISS album “Lick It Up” when I was ten, I think “triggered” my love for music… and the fact that I wanted to play an instrument… And the first instrument that caught my attention, yes, was the drums and not the guitar. Maybe that’s why the presence of this instrument stands out a bit in my songs…
Although I personally believe that music chooses us as musicians… Afterwards, it’s up to each person whether they continue or not… In my case, I kept going despite how difficult the road may be…
𝟯. Who are your biggest musical influences? How would you describe your style or genre?
My influences are clearly bands like KISS, VAN HALEN, BON JOVI, MR BIG, EXTREMME, STEVE VAI, WHITESNAKE, There are really many… Mainly in that genre, but as a musician and producer I really like bands that have to do with hard rock (which for me is true rock), as an example of what I say I can mention: PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, PETER GABRIEL MADONNA, INXS, MICHAEL JACKSON, ELO, IRENE CARA, YES… And I could go on mentioning bands and soloists for a whole day without sleeping!
4. What are your goals in the music industry or as an artist?
I don’t have just one goal… Maybe there are several… As an independent producer, it’s always about creating good sound and compositional work for my own material.
For me, music should generate something in the listener… Whether it’s instrumental or contains lyrics, and beyond what a song means to me in and of itself… And for this, it must primarily have a sound appropriate to the song in question… I’m talking about respecting dynamics, to give an example… And as an artist, I would like what most of us want… I think we know what we’re talking about…
5. Tell us about your creative process when you make new music.
Well, this may be a bit chaotic… But not unpleasant… In my case, sometimes a song is born from a guitar riff, or a bass line, or even a drum rhythm pattern, or a melody I heard on a movie soundtrack. What I’m trying to say is that sometimes a melody I hear “generates” another one in my mind, or it could be from an idea for a message I want to convey based on what I’m seeing happening in society at that moment (as is the case with my previous release, “Rocker”). In which the theme would be: what’s happening with rock, or rather, with the people who listen to rock? What seems to have disappeared… Even from the media, which only plays cumbia, or trap, or whatever song is in fashion at the moment (Let’s agree that I live in a country where there is something called “Rock Nacional” (National Rock), which isn’t necessarily literally “rock,” but rather bands that play what I would call Pop-fusion-song, with electric instruments and drums, and I suppose that’s why they call it “rock” (for that reason, I DO NOT consider myself to do what in Argentina they call “National Rock.” I do “ROCK” literally (In Sapnish if you want, but just ROCK), and primarily, with some exceptions, of course, if you take the time to listen to all my material).
Back to the question…
It also happens that there are songs that I started years ago, and they were relegated for some reason… And maybe one day the concretion of that song appears…
And in closing, I have to say that most of the time, the process of composing is finished in the studio, at the time of recording… Maybe this happens, in my case, because it is difficult to be your own director in all the areas that there are at the time of a production… What I say is, I record an idea, I listen to it and maybe I don’t like it, or there is an instrument that is “colliding” with another, or something is “left over” in the course of the song… Or a phrase in the lyrics, Or whatever. Then I make the necessary modifications to make it as good as possible. And this makes it so that perhaps, part of the composition is “touched up…”
“…I personally believe that music chooses us as musicians… Afterwards, it’s up to each person whether they continue or not…”
6. What is your all-time favorite song by another artist and why?
No, there isn’t just one, there are thousands, and they vary over time throughout the year, I say. One day it’s one, and maybe one I heard a year ago comes back… I’m sorry I can’t be precise in this answer… And the reason can be several too, sometimes it’s the lyrics, sometimes it’s the melody. I usually prefer certain songs with a high energy content. But energy appears in songs in different ways, sometimes combining melody with lyrics, sometimes just the melody, or the sound of a riff… it’s very difficult for me to be precise in this answer…
7. What is the best advice you have either given or received in terms of music?
The best advice a drummer gave me many years ago (Ricardo Giles – drummer of “La Torre”, a band that was famous in Argentina many years ago…) and here it goes… : Don’t play or make music for the musicians, they’re not the ones who buy your records… Play for the people…
“Don’t play or make music for the musicians, they’re not the ones who buy your records… Play for the people…”
8. Proudest accomplishment?
Every song I can capture in my mind as I hear it would be one:
Having the opportunity to play with Adrian Barilari (lead singer of Rata Blanca, a renowned Heavy Rock band in Argentina) in three shows, and then having him call me to audition to be his guitarist in one of his bands… (maybe this is the one I’d like to mention, but I don’t think it’s the most important to me).
Although for other reasons, I wasn’t the one who was selected.
9. Just for fun! What’s been your most embarrassing moment so far?
Once, I had a “leaked” photo, that is, something happened to my phone and a certain photo was accidentally sent to a WhatsApp group, and the photo wasn’t suitable for the group… You can imagine what I mean…
𝟭0. Tell us about your lowest and highest points in music so far.
The lowest point is probably when I stopped producing for some external reason…
And, depending on what you might call the “high point,” maybe when I played at a motorcycle festival (luckily for me, this happened several times), where I had about 7,000 people in front of me, although it was with a cover band. From what happened when I got off stage, I don’t think I disappointed anyone…
Thank you all in NAS for this opportunity.
Stream “Bailando En El Desdén (Dancing in Disdain)” now
https://open.spotify.com/track/6sqc2dGmEOV6XaFWseCVRi?si=86GJN3oFSHapCxaBvSK0-g
and follow their socials
www.instagram.com/Paullopezlive_
Please share this post and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Leave a Reply to William Lovitt Cancel reply