Interview with music artist Maruco
Today on our Hot Seat we have a talented artist and producer Maruco with us. Let’s have a chat with him.
Twist Online : First of all please introduce yourself to our readers.
Maruco : Hi, I am Maruco. I am a new reggaeton artist and producer from Costa Rica based out of Seattle, WA (for now).
Twist Online : Who or what inspired you to get into music industry?
Maruco : I’ve always had the passion to create music. I’ve actually been in the industry for a long time already but I started as support for other people’s projects when I was about 13 years old. It wasn’t until about 2015 that I decided to start making my own content. As a child I listened to a wide range of genres since both of my parents come from families of musicians. My biggest inspiration is my father who would always sing and play the guitar when I was growing up. That made me want to learn to play instruments. I actually didn’t really sing until I was about 17 because I was too shy to do it. I started experimenting in the music industry a bit more seriously with a synth pop project I started in 2017 that later became an R&B project. The project was called “Northern Nomads” and I sang in English. In 2018, I felt the need to go back to my roots and make music in Spanish. When I started producing reggaeton it felt natural. It hit home for me.
Twist Online : Tell us about your recently released debut song, “Lo Confieso”?
Maruco : I was at home just playing around with sounds. It was the beginning of summer and I thought making a song that sounded tropical and happy would go with the vibe for this summer. I come from a tropical country so I was just thinking about the beach in Costa Rica as I was writing it. I started by making what I call “a vibe” which is a few bars with what would be the chorus and I built the structure and arrangements from there. It must have taken me like 10 minutes to come up with the lyrics. It felt natural and it was ready for mixing pretty quick so I decided to make it my debut.
Twist Online : What kind of response have you received from the release?
Maruco : It’s been really great. I found out the next day after the release that my song was featured on an editorial Spotify playlist called “New Music Friday Latin” and my song was among 63 other songs with people who are really big in the industry. Spotify gets about 20 thousand songs per day so I have no idea how my song ended up there. That got me a lot of traction. Now over 63 different countries have streamed my song. I get messages from people from all over, especially Latin America, saying they loved my song. It was also great to go to a couple local latin nights and seeing people already singing my song and dancing to it. It was also funny to see people dancing to my song next to me who have literally no clue it was me who wrote it. I have never had this kind of response so quick with any other project. It feels like I found my niche.
Twist Online : What’s your favorite music genre?
Maruco : This is a really though Twist Online to Maruco. I don’t think I have an absolute favorite. I listen to everything and one of my hobbies is to curate playlists. I have super random playlists with a bunch of different genres. For example, I have anything from 90s and 00s Eurotechno/Dance to Classic Boleros. It really just depends on my mood. It’s a great thing because I learn so much from each genre that I can apply to my own production.
Twist Online : What’s the best part of being a music artist?
Maruco : Music is the heart of life. It’s always there for you when you need it. I always try to imagine movies without music and they seem so dead. I’m not looking for fame but to me, the most important thing in life is people and the fact that I can connect through my music with people in countries I would have never imagined is really amazing. It’s like “oh man there is someone in Latvia or Malaysia listening to my music right now.” We speak completely different languages but we can connect through a vibe or the feeling that the music provides. In that moment we all speak the same language: the language of music.
Twist Online : Have you set some goals to achieve?
Maruco : Of course. I am always looking to grow as an artist and as a producer. I want to make it to the top. I know I have what it takes and my goal is to play in the big leagues of reggaeton. The sky is the limit. My ultimate goal is to make music people enjoy. What my fans think definitely matters to me. I want to be able to travel and meet a lot of people with my music. I know talent alone won’t take me there. You have to have the work ethic and really want it for it to happen. That way when the opportunities come, you’re ready. The worst thing that could happen is for an opportunity to present itself and not be ready for it. You never know when you’ll get another one.
Twist Online : Are you working on any new projects?
Maruco : I have about 6-7 songs in my pocket right now that I will be releasing as singles each month. In my opinion, when you are a small artist like me, people won’t listen to a full length album. Nobody has the attention span for that anymore unless you are a big artist with superfans who are very dedicated to your work. I’m not there yet. My goal is to build a solid portfolio and a fan base in the next few months.
