Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with BORDONADO
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Today I am a music teacher, so I have always been connected to this discipline, this language. I remember being six years old and discovering my father’s mini keyboard (with calculator functions) and starting to pick out melodies by ear from songs I heard.
From then on, I began asking my parents to buy me a piano, or a larger keyboard, one that could play several notes at once (harmony). I remember with great emotion learning to play the song “The Final Countdonw” on my own and having my family recognize the song.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I’ve been playing different instruments my whole life, but at the age of 16, I composed my first song to try and impress and win over a girl at school. All my previous compositions had been purely instrumental. That was the first time I combined lyrics and music, which came from a rather wild teenage period, I suppose like it does for all musicians. I didn’t manage to win over the girl in question, but I learned that music was a superpower for achieving success in love.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
The joy of creating something (composing, playing, singing, recording, mixing, producing, and, if possible, performing live) and seeing others enjoy and connect with it is a pleasure few can truly describe. When I make my music, to express or release something I carry within, I always think of someone who might identify with it.
The lyrics seek an audience that, when singing them, feels a connection because they may have experienced something similar… and that soothes the emotions and liberates the soul.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
It’s difficult because I’m constantly changing my style, experimenting with different registers, and learning about music production (a true art form) with various rhythms and mixes. Although it’s true that my sound, in all styles, has that “Spanish” feel, framed by flamenco and classical guitars. Furthermore, my sound (based on my recording experience) has been described as “retro” by critics on various streaming platforms. Perhaps I’m searching for those artists who, in my youth, influenced my musical life and personal experiences.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
My profession as a music teacher has taught me that MUSIC is a UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, allowing us to express ourselves and feel wonderful things. And feeling is something that characterizes us as a species, so I feel privileged to be able to create my own music and have it heard by anyone around the world.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
My formal musical training focused on piano studies. But I play all the instruments that appear in my songs myself: guitars, keyboards, bass, drums… And I’ve also had to learn to mix and produce digitally, learning specific software for it, such as GarageBand and Reaper (the latter in a more professional way on my second album).
Before even defining what style a song will have, I always start by composing the lyrics (melody) and harmony with guitar and vocals or with piano. The rest comes more easily after that.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Si tuviera que contestar con un solo artista o banda y que haga más estilo indie, me quedaría con ARDE BOGOTÁ.
Aunque en España soy muy fan de FITO Y FITIPALDIS, tienen una música más rock comercial y menos indie, por lo que los de Bogotá lideran más ese estilo, además de ser más conocidos internacionalmente .
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Well, as any film director would say, what songs tell doesn’t always have to be based on real events, haha. Obviously, there’s always something true and personal in every lyric, from every artist, but in the end, it becomes something fantastical or fictional, trying to be commercially viable or reach a wider audience.
My life, with three children and dedicated to providing musical education to thousands of children through my work, gives me more than enough work to find escape in my music.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
Yes, there is something that permeates all my songs, and that is LOVE for my partner, the joy of living, and respect for everyone around us. I’m a particularly positive person, and that always comes through in my songs. And for me, happiness is always found in sharing your life with others, in enjoying every moment, in having sex (why not, it’s not taboo), and in eating well.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Be happy! Music unites people, releases tension, shifts your emotional state, and is the best medicine for humankind. Music has taught me precisely that we cannot live without it. It’s a language of communication that stimulates all the senses and directly affects our mood, teaching us life’s greatest lesson: it’s essential.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Dreaming is easy and free, something that’s becoming increasingly rare these days; you have to pay for everything. But I’m a very down-to-earth person, and I don’t have those aspirations of dreaming about playing in a football stadium alongside the greats… For me, someone who has to do everything myself (cover design, composing, recording, mixing, performing…), it’s already a privilege that people can listen to me anywhere in the world, all thanks to the internet and streaming. I have more monthly listeners from other countries than from my own, and I receive more messages in other languages than in my own. And that was UNTHINKABLE when I started composing, so MY DREAM HAS ALREADY COME TRUE. Doing this interview with you all is keeping me up at night (from happiness).
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Guns N’ Roses with Axl at the helm is mind-blowing, if I think of a band from the past, but now I’d give anything to play with Melendi. His style of music is the closest thing to mine: pop, rock, rumba, and he stirs up passions wherever he sings… and he sings whatever he wants.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
My music is distributed on ALL DIGITAL PLATFORMS, including (something that really amazes me) Instagram and TikTok. You can add any of my tracks to any video.
Spotify:
YouTube:
https://youtube.com/channel/UC43tSUUEQmE4RTsHjHoBiAA?si=kG6ZHVN_UF38Bbcl
Amazon Music:
AppleMusic:
https://music.apple.com/es/artist/bordonado/1711220917
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Well, I think I’m already achieving that future, which involves forming a band of talented musicians to accompany me in live concerts, playing my songs for the public.
Today, I already have that musical group of people who combine my songs with other great hits from other artists. Looking ahead, and as a true dream, I imagine myself performing one of my songs live in front of a large audience, and when I stop singing, the audience continues to sing along…
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
By improving my songs, especially in production and mixing when I record them, without going to a professional studio, I’d like to show that anyone can achieve this and that anything is possible. You have to follow the path that leads you to your personal happiness, and now that my children are older, I can go out and give concerts and sit down to compose and sing, which makes me incredibly happy.
I think all musicians go through different stages where we fall in love with music and struggle with it. And when you’re reconciled with music, that’s when you can truly be happy.
