Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Mauricio Málaga.
Hi Luis Mauricio, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Both my father and my mother are music lovers. But I grew up in the home of the first, along with my grandparents. My dad and grandpa, I think, are a bit of a frustrated artist, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean they lived miserable lives; their family responsibilities were always a priority, something I admire greatly about them. Their artistic expression was always relegated to my grandfather’s background: with the singing, the guitar, and his paintings, my father with his various bands, or his attachment to what, in the eighties, was the punk culture.
Growing up in a limited art environment generated. In short, a strong impact on me, especially since I lived resigned to having to continue the tradition. Dedicate me to anything else and have music as a hobby, which not only happened to me with art but also with my devotion to history and archeology, are professions that, in a country like Peru (the country I come from), one cannot afford to have just like that.
For years, several friends encouraged me to pursue a musical career, especially after a context of unemployment and depression in which, without realizing it, I had composed an entire album. Still, despite having such a large and diverse demographic, Peru has a very small and elitist society. It is quite common that nobody pays attention to your product unless you know the right people. If you make your product transcend by luck or fate, it is most likely that you will fall for it wrong the wrong people and sabotage yourself; thank God, life allowed me to come to the United States to promote my music. Ever since I set foot in this country, I have received praise and support, both from producers and other musicians and people I love. They like my music. I feel very grateful.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The most difficult thing is to run away from those who do not want to see you having the slightest success. That happens quite a lot in small societies like the one in Peru. Making your way through so much malice, envy, and social and political discrimination, is very complicated. ; It also happens that art is perceived as an exercise hijacked by political ideologies. You have to think in a certain way, act in a certain way, give your opinion in a certain way, dress in a certain way, and have a certain lifestyle if you want to prevent them from looking to bring you down. It’s tough to grow up like that, but at the same time, I think it’s an advantage because, as an artist, it forces you to be authentic without trying.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I studied to be a journalist and specialized in photography, even though I dreamed of being an archaeologist and historian. I practiced my profession for several years but given the political and social situation in Peru. This work required an ethical and moral sacrifice that I was no longer willing to carry out. Aside from that, of course, I was affected by the enormous unemployment rate that plagues the country. As an entrepreneur, providing a service like mine, photography, was an arduous and exhausting task due to the lack of respect that clients usually have towards your work in economic terms. I am currently dedicated to music. I recorded an album at the end of 2021 and published it very recently as a product of the Joao band, in which I compose, record, and produce songs. It is being promoted, particularly in the United States. Although I have arrived through social networks to the entire world, it is also through these that you can obtain a physical copy in CD format of this first work through the label InClub Records. For now, I do everything: producer, live performer, every time there are concerts either in South America or here in the United States, marketer, audiovisual producer, investor, among all the efforts that are trying to get ahead as an independent musician requires today.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some changes you expect to see over the next five to ten years?
I’d like to believe that, not long from now. I’m going to start playing so often that I won’t have time to rest and that this will continue like this for the rest of my life; the truth is that I have nowhere else to go, or I will sleep in a car waiting to get to a new concert, or I sleep under a bridge waiting for death.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/joaobandpe
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/joaobandpe?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joaoperuoficial
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/joaobandpe?t=6vUwVukWMbJhfe-cN8BmfQ&s=09
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCDWe_dRlz2hUp05DbVTCfkw
- SoundCloud: No te pierdas Joao en #SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/joao-oficial-904771393?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=1&si=8f7fa8f0cb0343e781bc9b1ef63ce8bd&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
