Cande y Paulo are Cande Buasso and Paulo Carrizo. Like many of the great love affairs, the scenes of this unusual partnership were sewn long before the couple went to work on ‘Barro Tal Vez’, the achingly intense but minimalist Argentine rock classic that went viral on YouTube amassing over 12 million views. San Juan – a city of 120,000 nestled in the Tulúm valley with a stunning desert landscape – has no major record labels but is home to a thriving independent music scene: a giant family, Cande calls it, preserving a kind of “village life”. Incredibly, the pair first met when she was fifteen, a restlessly creative child who had told her mother at four that she fully intended to be famous. Paulo, a multi-instrumentalist and arranger equally at home in classical and rock music (his latest album with The Paulo Carrizo Trio combines flamenco and jazz) gave Cande some piano lessons. For several years Paulo’s work as a keyboardist took him into the mainstream rock scene in Buenos Aires, before he returned to San Juan to find his former pupil, who is self-taught in opera and jazz, rapidly mastering a unique combination of vocals and double bass. The couple argue about pretty much everything – apart from their music, which allows them an almost telepathic communication of notes and space. DMCWORLD check in with the sup on the eve of the release of their self-titled debut album, through the iconic Decca Records…
Thank you so much for chatting with DMCWORLD today! Firstly, can you tell us how Cande y Paulo began and what has been your story so far?
Thanks so much for having us. We have known each other for years and played together a number of times during that time but we really became a duo when Cande started playing double bass. That is when we started committing to each other musically and to the music that we always knew we wanted to make. From there things just started happening that led to today.
How do you feel the Coronavirus pandemic has affected the music scene in Argentina? And with yourselves as artists personally?
Cande: I think it goes for everyone to say that it has been a time of a lot of reflecting but equally I musicians are always prepared for the unexpected even though this might have been really unexpected (laughs).
Paulo: Right now we are at home in San Juan (Argentina), working a lot and enjoying being close to our family and friends. We have been travelling a lot the past years between London, Barcelona and LA so some time to be still is not that bad.
What was it about the track ‘Tuyo’ (originally by Rodrigo Amarante) that you were initially drawn to and made you want to make it your own?
Tuyo is about desire which can mean a lot of things to anyone as we all have desire/ s and so everyone can relate to it. Whether it be a famous theme tune or something that represents what one feels or where you come from. This song in particular is quite special because whilst it speaks of profound and abstract notions it is the simplest of compositions. It was really difficult to arrange a song that is so self-contained so we decided not to watch the series until we had finished recording it. We were worried it would shift our attention away from the song. Once we finished though we did watch the series which we loved.
‘Tuyo’ is such a moving and magical piece, will there be a visual accompaniment soon?
Yes we are getting close to revealing it. We filmed here at home with close friends and are very excited to share it. We believe when you see it you will learn a lot about where we come from, the peace that surrounds us form the arid climate, desert landscape and incredible expanse… Together we always like to remind ourselves where we come from, our grandparents and theirs before them. Their journey to this land, the work that brought them here, and all those things that create that unique Argentine experience that is such a strange yet ever present reality. It’s something we share with all of Central and South America and something we hope we honour in our version of this composition by Rodrigo Amarante.
Whilst we love the idea of experiencing new places e always want to have San Juan present… We are proud of where we come from. A lot of people feel they need to leave this city in order to achieve anything as it is so remote, so far from the action but times have changed and for us everything started here. Everything right down to the earth.
Since signing with Decca Records last year, how has it felt bringing your music into the world under such a prestigious label?
Ever since the beginning they have been so respectful of our vision, our ideas, the sound and concepts we wanted to develop and supported us fully. Long may it continue and we hope they feel the same way.
Do you feel latin music is represented enough in the music industry? What do you feel needs to change?
We can only speak of our own experience. Our path is to créate very simple yet deep music and to that end, Jazz and our minimalistic sound are the right recipes. We were extremely lucky to work with an incredible producer, Larry Klein, who helped us along the way. He understood what we were trying to achieve and gave us everythign we needed to do so. Maybe meeting someone as special as Larry is what is needed.
Being from a country where music is so intertwined within its history, are there any particular Argentinian artists you have taken inspiration from in the past? And are there any other modern Argentinian artists that we should be listening to?
We grew up listening to so many different types of music. From international rock to all the jazz greats. Of course we also listened to a lot of Argentine music, the likes of Charly Garcia, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Astor Piazzolla and Dino Saluzi to name a few. Those are really the ones you need to get to know.
We have had the absolute pleasure of having an exclusive listen to your upcoming debut album – how do you feel it represents Cande y Paulo’s sound in comparison to your previous releases?
It represents the complete unity of the sound and the concept we wanted to achieve. Had these two ingredients not worked as they do, we would never have been able to approach these songs which are by such different writers. In that way we feel we have achieved what we set out to do.
Finally to round things off, with the album coming soon, what else does 2021 have in store for you?
We really hope we will be able to perform live and collaborate with other artists from different countries and cultures. We have some interesting things to announce soon but in the meantime we will continue to work on our sound and we are currently working on our own original material… We are a work in progress, always leaning, always growing.
*****
