In our Tell Me Más Q&A series, we ask some of our favorite Latin artists to share inside information about their lives and habits, revealing everything from their most recent play to the songs that make them tick. This month we headed to Joe’s Pub in the historic East Village to see Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Alex Ferreira take the stage and chat with him about his latest project , fatherhood, and how he balances the two.
Alex Ferreira’s dressing room at Joe’s Pub is small and sparse, without many personal belongings or even instruments. There’s a guitar case to one side, a backpack nearby on a leather chair, and the singer himself sitting sideways in front of the lighted vanity – his signature curls falling in front of his face. It’s a stripped-down environment, entirely fitting given that later in the evening Ferreira will take the stage with just a guitar and a soundboard and take the crowd on a complete journey of love, heartbreak and all the rest. But right now he’s smiling, seemingly in his element: in a back room, in a big city, on the road.
“I love touring. I love going to different countries, meeting different people. It’s such an inspiration to me,” the artist told PS.
As a completely independent artist, Ferreira understands that he is incredibly lucky to be able to make a living from his music. But that often comes with long trips away from home, so it’s good that he loves touring. This current tour has seen him on the move since last year. He has performed throughout Spain and will soon stop in Mexico. His two-night stay in New York crowns the American section which took him to Miami and Puerto Rico. However, having recently become a father, Ferreira admits that he doesn’t have much time to hang out in these places like he used to.
“I want to be with my daughter. I feel like this is a very important time in her life, her first year… the responsibility I have as a father is much greater than that of my artistic life,” he said.
This is all the more true since, in his artistic life, Ferreira is rather well established. Having made waves since 2010 with a singer-songwriter style that incorporates a healthy dose of experimentation and genre-blending, he knows who he is as an artist. And his fans too.
Later in the night, the crowd will swell in unison, singing along with the crooner in a way so natural it seems rehearsed. This is the kind of musician Ferreira is known for. It’s music that can make the room feel small. He’s making jokes one moment, and the next he’s singing with such vulnerability that it’s hard not to be moved.
However, at home, he is still adjusting to his role as a father.
“Everything is new. Every step of the process brings a new challenge. Every step is a learning process and there is no textbook, no university to tell you these things. You learn on the fly,” reflects Ferreira.
One of these challenges? Finding time to write and work on his next album while being a full-time dad.
“Before, I could – and I hate this word, but – I could procrastinate a little bit. Now I can’t,” he says. “If I have an hour to work, I can’t waste time. My creative process is now much more efficient.”
He now views composition as going to the gym. To achieve this, he needs a bit of consistency, dedicating a few hours a day to playing, writing and practicing before he can pick up the pen and compose a song.
But that doesn’t mean that making music has become just another exercise for the seasoned artist. Speaking about his upcoming project, “Versiones Para El Tiempo Y La Distancia Vol. 2,” Ferreira shares that he wants to continue refining the sound he’s created over the past decade while experimenting more by mixing elements of rock, bachata and other genres in one unique experience. We can expect more from his next album.
“In the same way that fatherhood is a process of change, I think my career and my discography can also be seen in this light. I like having a little doubt, not knowing what I’m going to do,” a- he declared. “I also realized that my fans don’t have this bias of, ‘Oh, he’s a singer-songwriter, everything’s going to sound the same.’ People who come to see me know that I am not attached to any genre. The common denominator is my voice. »
Ferreira has an uncanny ability to examine the connections we all share and translate them into poetry. In “Me La Saludan”, he uses sarcasm to express the weight of wounds that have not yet healed. On his new track “De Verdad,” he pleads for love in all its complexity. Love “like a decision”, muses the artist.
The official version of the song is a jazzy and upbeat fusion. But on stage, in the small theater at Joe’s Pub, Ferreira turns it into a touching acoustic ode to the long term – a relationship that is measured not in days or months, but in the moments that make up a life together. Even if you’ve been listening to his music for years, hearing him perform live is an experience. Her voice takes on a quality that doesn’t translate through speakers, it’s more vulnerable, more dimensional and able to not only touch but also bring the audience closer.
It is this ability to tap into emotion, to expose the raw nerves of life with tenderness, while joking on stage, that has led to Ferreira’s enduring success and relevance, even as the industry experiences a independent boom. Silvana Estrada, Daniél, Me Estás Matando, Guitarricadelafuente — these are the darlings of Latin indie music today. Ferreira has worked with many of them. Members of Daniél, Me Estás Matando were part of his group at one point. But when asked about his role or position in the current scene, Ferreira, despite his legacy and achievements, remains humble.
“I never thought of it in terms of a role… for me [Latin music] is like a chain and I think I’m just another link in that chain,” he says. “I think it’s so cool that this music can connect not only with first generation Latinos, but also with the second and third generations, Latinos who don’t even speak Spanish, people who don’t even speak Spanish. For me, it’s a pleasure to be part of it, like a small grain of sand.”
Ferreira is happy to see his friends and the artists who came after him enjoy so much success. But he’s also wary of the direction of the industry as a whole, where everything is moving toward songs created in minutes to achieve virality rather than expression.
This doesn’t mean it’s anti-electronics. Ferreira has often added electronic elements to his music and is a fan of experimental-minded artists like James Blake and Bjork. He’s more concerned with using things like autotuning and AI as a shortcut to artistry rather than as a way to improve it.
“When everything starts to sound the same, when the rhythms are all the same, with the same musical structure, with the same effects and the same melody, I feel like that’s when the machine wins,” he says .
But until then, he’s confident in the process of creating “imperfect art” and offers sage advice to those looking to succeed in music in today’s climate.
“Everyone always wants more than what they have. Don’t fall into that dynamic. Make music because it’s your passion, because you love it, [and] because you can’t live without it. Because as a business model there are better models,” says Ferreira with a wink and a smile.
Read on to learn about Ferreira’s morning ritual, who is her current favorite artist, and her secret to finding peace.
PS: What is your morning ritual?
Ferreira: Coffee and music. If I don’t have my coffee, I’ll have a stroke.
PS: If you had to choose one place to spend the rest of your days, where would it be?
Ferreira: Madrid
PS: Who is your favorite artist at the moment?
Ferreira: Adrianne Lenker.
PS: You have a song called “Sonrisa Valiente”. Who do you think has the bravest smile in your life?
Ferreira: My daughter.
PS: What is your method for finding peace?
Ferreira: Music. Singing it, playing it, listening to it, whatever happens, is therapeutic for me.
PS: Best part of being a father?
Ferreira: Connecting again with my inner child. Tap into that childishness we lose in life.
Miguel Machado is a journalist specializing in the intersection of Latinx identity and culture. He does everything from exclusive interviews with Latin music artists to opinion pieces on issues relevant to the community, personal essays related to his Latinidad, as well as think pieces and features relating to Porto Rico and Puerto Rican culture.
