With undeniable musical talent and fine-tuned production served straight up, Hugo Vazquez is an artist that any ambient / instrumental music enthusiast will thoroughly enjoy. The success of his latest awarding-winning work has not gone unnoticed by the critics, with one recently writing: ‘This pensive ambient artwork is conceived around themes of distance and disconnection, and its style much reflects that preoccupation; Vazquez has a genius for rendering the elongated dimension.’ Yet there’s something special about Hugo Vazquez that sets him apart from other ambient / instrumental acts. In a musical generation characterized by manufactured pop acts, Hugo Vazquez's originality and sincerity do more than stand out. They reveal qualities that cannot be engineered in the studio. There’s also an unpretentious realness to this artist out of Madrid and judging by his growing fan base, he may be precisely what the new generation didn't know it was missing. Independent reporter Blake Wright recently caught up with Hugo Vazquez to get an inside look at this exciting new artist and to learn what he has in store for fans this year.
BLAKE: As an artist on the rise, what is one thing you are most excited about and one thing you are most afraid of happening in your career?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: I am excited about the fact the people like to listen to my Music, and I am getting positive feedback about it.
A little afraid about not reaching the point of being able to live from Music. I am also afraid about not controlling my sales, in the sense of not having a transparent/clear data of my real sales & plays.
In that way I am happy with platforms like Spotify, that is making transparent the data/statistics of the plays for artists.
BLAKE: Your song ’Force Awakens’ is receiving a positive listener response on radio. What was your initial reaction when you first heard your song playing on radio?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: Happy to be heard on New Stations and to get new listeners.
BLAKE: What was the inspiration behind your debut radio single?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: I wanted to do a Really Epic intense single, inspired by the music from Game of Thrones (Ramin Djawadi), and orchestral sounds / instrumentals similar in quality to the ones used by John Williams.
BLAKE: It is often said that great art arises from difficult experience. Is there something in your life experience thus far that you would describe as the ‘catalyst’ or ‘fuel’ for your desire to create music?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: Yes, some of my three albums were composed under difficult circumstances, like losing loved people/beings in my life. It was hard, but something positive in the form of Art, of Music was born from this.
BLAKE: How would you characterize yourself as an artist/musician? (Ex. Down-to-earth, serious, fun-loving, complicated…)
HUGO VAZQUEZ: I like to make good songs that people enjoy listening to. I also enjoy my Music. My Music is related to Space, Sci-Fi, Cosmos, Earth, Nature, Spirit, Love.
BLAKE: What has your experience been like working with the other people on your team?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: A great experience...they know how I feel about my music and vice versa. They are good friends.
BLAKE: Did you come from a musical background? Are there other musicians in your family?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: No, but my parents, especially my father, always bought us very good music that we listened to in the family home, in the car while travelling, etc.
BLAKE: What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What do you find most challenging?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: The better thing is to get positive feedback from my listeners and fans, and to know that my music helps them a little to feel better, to be happy, to elevate the soul while listening.
The most challenging is to keep learning more about my work, on a technical level and also musically.
BLAKE: Who are your role models in music?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: Soundtracks & New Age Music/Artists like: Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, Ramin Djawadi, Vangelis, Kitaro, Chris Spheeris & Paul Voudouris etc. Also the Electronic Music from Jean Michel Jarre, which I have listened to since I was a child.
BLAKE: Describe your best or most memorable performance.
HUGO VAZQUEZ: Om Mani Padme Hum was hard to finish because it was the first time I included my voice in a song, Mantra song in this case, and I had to make many changes till the final version.
Regarding my best instrumental songs: Interstellar, Pandora and Prometheus.
BLAKE: What advice would you give to young, aspiring artists out there who are unsure and need guidance?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: I would tell them that if they are happy making music and with the songs they have done, Go Ahead. Of course, you need a minimum of talent & quality in your work to get some recognition.
BLAKE: What's next for you as an artist? Is there a new single in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it?
HUGO VAZQUEZ: Mother Earth, my single released in August 2016, is one of the singles of my next Album whose songs where originally composed around the year 2000, now revised and updated to be included in my next album. This single, Mother Earth is a New Age / Ambient / Electronic style single.
BLAKE: That all sounds quite exciting! Best of luck with your musical creations and I look forward to hearing what comes next.
http://hugo-vazquez.wix.com/hugovazquez
