Interviews

The composer and singer with Nicaraguan roots Carlos Xavier is a very good friend of the house due to his collaboration with the Editor of International Salsa Magazine Eduardo Guilarte and we are extremely pleased to have invited him to this edition and to know him in a more personal way. The artist born in San Francisco talked to us about his musical career, his facet as a composer, his great inspirations, among other relevant topics.

Carlos’ beginnings in music

From a very young age, Carlos was already in close contact with music thanks to his father and older brother, since they always sang, played the radio or listened to records they bought. At home, he listened to all kinds of music in both English and Spanish, but it was not until he was 16 years old that he became really interested in singing in a more serious way. He was not accompanied by a teacher to tell him exactly what to do, so he had to start practicing alone and be guided by what he saw in professional singers like Christian Castro, Luis Miguel and Marc Anthony when it was his turn.

As for his musical debut, in 1999, Carlos ventured to look for an orchestra to sing with once he felt ready to prove his vocal skills on stage in front of a crowd. Then, he found Orquesta Caché, which had just been created and was looking for a singer, a post for which he was finally selected and made his first performance with the group that same year. This concert took place at the well known Café Cocomo and, since then, the artist has not stopped. 

Interest in Latin music

Although Carlos states that he likes English music and has recorded several songs in English, he also clarifies that his focus is and always has been Latin music. He has worked on other people’s projects in which English is the base, but whenever he releases something of his, he always tries to base it on Latin or salsa music and always in Spanish. It’s a matter of preference.

This is partially thanks to his parents, who always made sure that their children had as much contact as possible with their Nicaraguan roots through the rest of his family, music, food and Nicaraguan culture in general.

In addition, most of his family also went to live in the United States, so he always spent time with them, which helped Carlos to know much more about Nicaragua and the way of life in that country. They always instilled in him the pride of being Latino and he still keeps that feeling intact. 

Solo debut

Although Carlos spent many, many years playing with orchestras, he says that becoming a soloist at some point was always his greatest goal. That moment came in 2010 when the singer released his first single as a soloist called ‘’Mientes’’, which was the piece that gave him the confidence to know he could have a solo career and write his own music. 

When we wanted to know the biggest challenges faced by him, he replied that he never thought of his solo career that way, but that he was working for a purpose, drawing inspiration from his greatest idols who had already achieved what he wanted. He simply saw his goal as something he had to achieve at some point, not as a challenge that would make the path more difficult for him. 

Vive Todo Ahora

‘’Vive Todo Ahora’’ was the representation of the dream of Carlos, who always wanted to be able to release an album of the same quality as those of Marc Anthony, La India, and Frankie Negrón. The fact that it was his first album did not mean that the singer was going to let his first album reveal his inexperience in this field, so he hit the deck and contacted producer Efrain Davila. At that time, Davila was working with Victor Manuelle, Marc Anthony and Carlos Vives, so Carlos decided to send him a message and show him his song ‘’Mientes’’ to cover it in salsa. 

The producer responded enthusiastically that he liked the song and accepted the proposal, leading ‘’Mientes’’ to be released as a single in 2014 and the rest of the album was made and released in the same way. Fortunately, Carlos succeeded in including some of Marc Anthony’s musicians such as bassist Ruben Rodriguez, percussionist Luisito Quintero, backing vocalist Guianko Gomez, among others.

His facet as a composer

Another facet that has been of vital importance to Carlos’ growth as an artist has been composition and, of course, he has his own creative process, although it is not extremely complex. He simply sits down at the piano and looks for the most beautiful melody he can think of, but it is a creation that is born from the inside of him.

n the year 2000, together with the Orquesta Caché, he had the opportunity to record a cover in Peru, but he told the members of the group that he wanted to write that song in his own hand and they agreed. That is when he created ‘‘Marchate’’ and it was the material they recorded in the aforementioned country.

Even then Carlos showed that he wanted to be original and follow his own ideas, which he finally achieved thanks to his perseverance.

Clubs where he currently plays

As mentioned above, Carlos worked closely with Eduardo Guilarte at Charley’s LG Club in Los Gatos, California for some time a few years ago. Of that time, Carlos recalls that Guilarte was one of the few people who truly praised him for his talent on stage, which he appreciated today. He mentioned that he always offered him nice words and advice regarding the way the industry works, so he has the best memories of his collaboration with the editor of International Salsa Magazine.

For the time being, he keeps playing at other clubs such as Building 43, Vino Godfather Winery, The Dawn Club, among others.

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