“In the system we are in, men become the best father in the world with the lift of a finger”

Maybe Alexander and Maria Laura don’t sing punk, but you can scream with the force that comes from your lyrics. The couple has been in business for 14 years, and in that time the melody and harmony of the music they produce has managed to occupy a privileged space among artists in the region. “Madre Padre Marte’, her fourth album, is the result of her experience after welcoming her first daughter. Under their lulling voices, the lyrics discuss gender roles in parenthood, the transience of time, and even the environmental crisis.

To present this project, the Peruvian duo will perform a concert at the Gran Teatro Nacional this Saturday, April 1. Among the invited artists are Milena Warthon, La Lá, Renata Flores, Adrián Bello and Yorka. In conversation with El Comercio, the artists talk about the difficulties they experienced after becoming parents, their admiration for Milena Warthon, and her upcoming permanent move to Spain.

—There is a constant sweetness and harmony that characterizes your songs. Is it a seal that starts from your personality?

Alejandro Rivas: We have sought harmony over time. At the beginning we were allergic when they told us: Oh, how sweet! How cute! But we have realized that yes, being soft is part of us. That does not mean that our lyrics should also be “sweet and loving”, we can have very hard, real and visceral lyrics. We have very frontal songs where we show frustration, but wrapped in a musical aesthetic that seeks beauty and harmony, so it even works in a subliminal way. “Sana Sana” which may have a children’s title like “sana, sana, cola de rana”, but the song is talking about the environmental crisis, it is saying: “sana, if she doesn’t heal today, there will be no tomorrow ”. It’s super apocalyptic.

—The song you mention is part of his latest album. How was the experience of producing it with the work that comes with being new parents?

Alexander: we start [a producir] the fourth album from the moment our daughter was born, so the process has been like six years. It is the one that has taken us the longest, although we were releasing songs as singles. In this time the music industry has changed a lot, now it’s more common to release songs instead of records, so we went with that.

Maria Laura Bustamante: Regarding our songwriting dynamics, it has changed completely. Now we do it separately because we take turns taking care of our daughter, so we can concentrate and focus. Although now the dynamic is changing again since she [su hija] he goes to school. In fact, thanks to that possibility we already have material for a fifth album.

—Templates such as “Dear man from Peru” emerged from that period. [y “Algo tiene que estar mal”]who speak openly about gender inequality in raising a child.

Maria Laura: Yes. For me, becoming a mother was something that completely changed my perspective. For the first time I realized the differences in parenting. In general, the role of a mother is to put herself at the service of her family and forget about her profession, to lose herself as a human; I didn’t want that, but it was happening to me. Professionally, I saw how Alejandro was developing as a music producer while I was more involved with my daughter. While I didn’t regret focusing on my daughter, I did ask him to give me half the time he had to even our situation.

Alexander: I never tried to defend myself, I knew that the songs were dedicated to me, but I understood where the feeling came from. For me everything was easier, I had never felt so attractive than when I went for a walk with my daughter in a kangaroo. It was very easy to be cute because In the system we’re in, men become the best father in the world with the flick of a finger..

“I exchange my salary for hours of sleep, for every moment that I have lost […] I want to be someone who inspires and breathes, I go with my soul on fire to recover my life.

Alexander and Maria Laura, excerpt from “Something has to be wrong”.

—What is it that drives you to sing about your personal experiences instead of more generic or universal themes?

Alexander: I think that the way we compose music has never depended on who is going to listen to us or how they are going to receive it, moreover, when we think about the emotions of the public is when we feel that it doesn’t work. I doubt a love song [repleta] clichés, really connect with someone. Originality is something that María Laura and I always look for, it is what motivates us to make music. We have 14 years of career, and as we get older we are more free and we care less about how the public will receive our music; not out of disrespect, but because we really do what we want to do, we don’t feel obligated. We pride ourselves on not being complacent about our fans.

—But they are interested in reaching younger audiences. In this return to Peru, the inclusion of new artists such as Milena Warthon or Renata Flores stands out.

Alexander: There is something very vital in the generations that are just coming out, since they present themselves in a super transparent way before their audience, it is an almost family relationship. For that reason we admire the work of young musicians like Adrián Bello, Renata Flores and especially Milena Warthon. I remember that there was a binge on the way to a festival in Huancayo, and while we were stressed, she was dancing in the middle of the road to upload it to TikTok. She has also spoken out regarding the social conflict in Peru, and that excites and moves us. Now that we are parents, we would like our daughter to be able to express what she thinks and defend her ideals in the future.

—They have not given many shows in our country since they settled in Mexico two years ago. How has your stay there helped you grow artistically?

Alexander: Mexico is like Peru, but on steroids. Culturally very similar, but bigger. There are artists from Latin America, Europe and Asia. Thanks to our stay we have had incredible opportunities. For example, we opened a US tour for Grammy winner Silvana Estrada. We also opened for Calexico in Europe, and thanks to them we did our own tour there. It was beautiful, we managed to have contacts on that continent and we returned a second time the same year (2022). From that experience we are now moving to Spain at the end of May. It is beautiful to see how endless doors have been opened.

—Is there a special emotion that inspires you in this return to Peru?

Maria Laura: This tour excites us because we will be back in the country. Our project was born there, and the public not only comes because they found you on Spotify, but because they saw us ten or twelve years ago when we played in pizzerias or bars. So there is a relationship that is more family than anything else.