Celebrity Interview - Carlos Baute - Comments

Carlos Baute

Poster: 01/06/2006

He is considered one of the most handsome men in the world, a multi-faceted entertainer with a hectic international schedule, but he also manages to find time to relax in Marbella - and was happy to speak to our celebrity correspondent, Amparo de la Gama.

An international singer in great demand, Carlos Baute's face has been photographed extensively by leading magazines, he modeled Konrad Muhr's latest avant-garde styles at Barcelona's Gaudi catwalk, drawing attention to his perfect torso, and his concert tour around Spain began last month. And all of this without neglecting his facet as an actor, in the TV series Mis Adorables Vecinos (My Adorable Neighbors - Antena 3), in which he plays a music teacher.

Even though music is your main love, we have seen you modeling like a pro on the catwalk in Barcelona...
Well, thanks for the "pro". I like everything that's related to one's artistic side; in fact, I modeled then later came out with a guitar to sing. Above all else, music is my great love, even though I play around with other things too.

The rapport between you and your guitar is amazing: one day you just slung it around your neck and set your mind on reviving the most traditional Afro-Venezuelan sounds and internationalising them as Latin American rhythms...
It was a challenge to internationalise Afro-Venezuelan music. I was doing folkloric music for six years in my country. I studied Afro-Venezuelan percussion for three years and became immersed in the folklore. I was also dancing traditional dances from there, and I said to myself, in some way I have to show all this to the outside world.

Did you think people in other countries, sitting at home, would understand this fusion which has fascinated you so much?
The truth is you always work with the dream that people are going to listen to your music in their homes, and see things from your perspective, but - of course - you never think you are going to sell so many records. I devote myself to what I do and if the audience rewards me by listening to my music, that makes me be even more devoted. It's the biggest thing that can happen to singers, especially if you also take part in the production and composition of the songs, like I've done in this case, writing some of the songs. The experience has been wonderful.

You are someone who likes to savour all the processes of production. It's like having a baby inside you and seeing it grow...
Yes, when we are creating a record, I like to be present every day, from the moment we start recording the base tracks, with the guitar, the piano and the rest of the instruments, talking about whether I liked it or not, if a chord needs to be changed, considering the record's overall harmony. That way I am able to embody all the ideas I have in my mind. This production is really me.

In your songs there are romantic ballads as well as very upbeat rhythms. Do you identify yourself with one type of music more than the other?
With both. I love to perform and I also try to do so when I'm dancing, something which is very difficult, because you are concentrating on a choreography with the same kind of feeling, but in ballads I suppose you give a little bit more of yourself. When I write, most of it is autobiographical, things that have happened to me, with very down-to-earth lyrics and situations that anyone can live through. On the other hand, in the more rhythmical songs, words are fantasy, what you invent with your own creativity.

It must be wonderful to love you because you seem to be a true romantic. Are the lyrics only from your own experiences or do you also live them through other people's lives?
Yes, I do live love intensively, my wife and everything that happens around me. When you start to write you have to be very sensitive, you have to be open-minded enough to perceive and grab the messages that life sends you. You have to listen to people who are with you and tell you about themselves, and from then on create a song. In my case, nearly everything I sing about in my songs has happened to me, but in some other songs it's about other people's experiences, which are very interesting.

It seems as though children here in Andalucía have already been tapping their feet in their mother's womb, and when I see you dancing on stage you give me the feeling that you were also born knowing how to dance...
You have described it perfectly (laughing). It's like flamenco or sevillanas; I have them in my blood because I have Spanish roots and because in Venezuela parents enroll their kids in flamenco lessons like others take up swimming. I studied sevillanas when I was 14 or 15, in my first musical group, and I recorded my first professional production with this group.

Within this process you can also see a fusion with Caribbean rhythms...
Yes, that was another influence. I grew up close to the beach and there you dance to drums. That's my way of dancing, what I learnt from black people, with the village people, and that's what I want to transmit, that rhythm and flavor that Venezuela has, and many other parts of Latino America. Latinos are always listening to this kind of music, wherever you go, and you learn it from the streets.

Girls go crazy when they see you, but I've read somewhere that you don't like to be considered an idol for young fans...
I do my work and if young girls buy my records for reasons other than for the music itself, even though it's not the ideal situation, I respect them. I respect my fans eight, 10 or 80 years old, because my music has no age. I'm reviving rhythms that have existed in Venezuela for 40 or 50 years. That's not "fans' music". It's true I have a child's face but I don't mind the age of a fan. I admire and respect them, I thank them and love them, because they buy my records and accept what I do.

Is inspiration like a "duende" (a magical, or mystical, feeling) that's always in your mind and doesn't stop until you feed it?
I always have pen and paper near me. Not so long ago, I was sleeping late at night and dreamt that I was writing the words of a song that was so good something made me wake up and write it. It's another way to get ideas, but there are times in which I simply get down to work with a guitarist or a producer and together we come up with the words for a song. In any event, I usually do pre-productions. I prepare a lot of the musical concept beforehand, how the sound's going to be, so that when you record you do it much quicker.

You have settled perfectly in Spain. I suppose you watch Venezuela's situation with concern...
Venezuela is living through a major economical crisis and that doesn't help talent to emerge, but traveling through the country you realise that, without any doubt, talent exits. I've been approached by people who have left me gob-smacked, with my mouth wide open, the way they sing and compose. There's music everywhere. It's like when you go around Sevilla, you go crazy with the amount of talent that's there right in the street.

Those who are living outside, in what way can they help to encourage culture in their own country?
I have a lot of confidence in the music fusions we can create in Venezuela. We have already made great progress since people like Ricky Martin, Carlos Vives and Celia Cruz represented Latin music throughout the world. In my country alone, I have learnt 32 different rhythms, and there are more than 60. Imagine the sum of all the elements from other Latin countries, and what we can do together. For example, a Spanish guitar with a Venezuelan or Cuban drum. Latin music is still going to be talked about for many years to come!

You've earned your success through hard work: singer, model and now as an actor in the TV sitcom Mis Adorables Vecinos...
I play the role of a music teacher in a wealthy neighborhood. I had done small parts before in Spanish TV series, like Destino de Mujer, and I collaborated on Ala Dina! The truth is you work with very funny people and enjoy some really good times.

You seem to be so versatile you had no problem doing a homosexual scene in the series...
The gay thing is something very normal in Spain; they are even getting married. What happened with the kiss is that the scriptwriters wanted to add something current to the story. So they deflowered my mouth (laughing). Just a peck. This is really something I hadn't done before, but no qualms: we had the opportunity and we filmed it. At least I was kissed by somebody I knew, and the good thing about it all is that we didn't have to repeat the scene.

You are so nice that your natural charm gives you a very special aura. I really believe you are a lucky person...
This year has been fantastic for me, a really lucky year. My song Te Regalo was 11 months among the most played songs, and has been used as a download for mobile telephones. Last year we did 53 concerts; this year we have 73 scheduled.

Heartfelt Venezuelans like you and (TV presenter, author and "showman") Boris Izaguirre are the main ambassadors for your country. Do you feel homesick?
I wish I could be a prophet in my country. Some time ago I sang a song which said, "I'm staying in Venezuela because I'm optimistic", but the reality is something else. I still love my country, there's no doubt about that. I am Venezuelan and I won't stop being one wherever I live. In fact, I have a folkloric Venezuelan dance in my show, and during the concert we present some images because, more than what they see of me in the show, I want the whole world to know about my country, its beauty and its people.

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