Boy Pablo in Lima: the ‘centennials’ also dance | CHRONICLE

With all due respect to two of today’s most powerful musical trends, such as urban and k-pop, it’s good to know that there are still young people who bet on guitars and drums. And that there is a legion of even more young admirers like the one dragged by the Norwegian-Chilean boy paulwho appeared last night in Lima.

There was no actual pogo at the Arena Peru show, but there was plenty of desire. And jumping and screaming and a lot of joy. It was necessary for some concert rituals to begin to be recovered in these parts: from the simple fact that beers and choripanes are finally being sold, to seeing the endearing image of mothers accompanying their sons and daughters to see their favorite artist, a boy like them.

Because Boy Pablo is 23 years old, but he began to become famous at 17. The son of Chilean parents who migrated to Norway after the Pinochet dictatorship, Nicolás Pablo Muñoz (that’s his name) was trained in Europe, studied music, and at a very young age began to win fans through YouTube, Reddit and other networks. social.

“When I’m in Chile I feel super Norwegian because I am a little whiter and because I speak Spanish a little worse than the others. But when I’m in Norway I feel very Chilean, because I’m darker than those from there and I know how to speak Spanish and all that.”, Nicolás tells us hours before his concert, when he receives us at his hotel in Miraflores. He has slept a few hours, due to the logical excursions of his tour.

Is it a problem to be divided between these two very different cultures? “I don’t see it as much of a problem –answer back–. It’s just like a weird feeling, because you never feel European or South American”.

—And what does it feel like to be a football fan and that neither Norway nor Chile go to the World Cup?

— (Laughs) It’s just that they’re both very bad, yes… Peru has done very well, but I think I’ll have to support England.

After the presentation of the Peruvian Clara Yolks as opening act, Boy Pablo goes on stage with his four members: Nicolás himself as vocalist and leader; guitarist Gabriel Muñoz (“I’ve known him since we were kids. We used to go to church together,” says Nicolás); Judah, on bass; and drummer Esteban (“who is my older brother and my manager”, he explains). They start with the songs “I Hope She Loves Me Back” and “hey girl”enough to hook the public quickly.

After a few more songs, another very popular one arrives, “Feeling Lonely”, a song so simple that it tells the story of a young man who has lost his dog and his phone. Perhaps that is where the success of the Boy Pablo project passes: the closeness to youth concerns and problems, which are not less important because they seem light.

We also asked him if he feels comfortable with the ‘bedroom pop’ label that some critics attribute to him. Does he really make his music in his room? “It’s actually like a mix –it states–, because everything I have released I have created in my room, but I have also worked on it in the studio. So it’s not 100% bedroom pop. Now more than ever my music is made in the studio. I understand that people say that it is bedroom pop, but in my opinion the term is not so exact.”.

Influenced by projects as dissimilar as The Beatles, Tyler the Creator or Los Iracundos, Nicolás/Boy Pablo he takes his phone out of his pocket and opens Spotify to show off the latest he’s been listening to: the new Wallows album, the new PUP album. Also some Paul Cherry and COIN.

How to best describe your music? It may not be too innovative or sophisticated, but in its relaxation it keeps a spirit that is quite empathic with the new generations. When he plays “Sick Feeling”, to the fury of his followers, he is dedicating it to the PlayStation that he had to abandon; and when she interprets “mustache”, she refers to the mustache that still hasn’t grown on his hairless face.

Approaching the end of the concert, “Everytime”, “Losing You”, and the two happiest of the night are played, “Wachito Rico” and “Dance, Baby!”, that confirm that the ‘centennials’ also dance. The closing song is “La novela”, a song released only a few months ago and Boy Pablo’s first collaboration with Cuco, another icon of his generation and of a similar family constitution: an American son of Mexican parents.

“We made ‘La novela’ thinking about the songs we listened to when we were little, the ones our parents listened to. So it was natural to write it in Spanish. It was what came to mind. A very romantic thing, like from the 60s“, bill.

And it is true that the issue also seems to be a vindication of these wachitos of latin blood that begin to break it out of its boundaries. And that sweep away the classic and sometimes hateful image of the ‘rockstar’, that stereotype is now outdated. The times they Are a changing.

Main photo credit: Francisco Medina/Veltrac Music

BOY PABLO SETLIST IN LIMA

1. I Hope She Loves Me Back

2. hey girl

3.Leave Me Alone!

4.wtf

5.imreallytiredthisdaysucks

6.Feeling Lonely

7.honey

8. Sick Feeling

9.Ready/Problems

10. rest up

11.tkm

12. mustache

13.Everytime

14. Losing You

15. Wachito Rico

16. Dance, Baby!

17. The novel