“There are artists who are not made for crowds”: Andrea Echeverri talks about her participation in the Equal Festival

From the difference, Spotify decided to celebrate equality. Hand in hand with some of the most important singers in Colombian music, the reproduction platform decided to open a space to honor the existence of all women and the role that each of them plays in the community, not only artistic but social. In other words, and as Andrea Echeverri told Infobae Colombia, in “there are many women doing very cool things, you have to listen to them, don't you?” . The vocalist of the national rock band, Aterciopelados, is part of the list of chosen for the celebration of diversity, and dedicated a space in her agenda to talk to this portal about the relevance of this meeting.

It's irreverent, disruptive, 'out of the mold'. She is proud of the steps she took to travel the path she has today among the most recognized and remembered artists in the country. His style, so unique, not only for singing, but also for dressing and performing live, means that they do not have one like it, which he is infinitely proud of. It is not the most popular now, she says, nor is it the one that sells the most, she believes, but outside of her imagination, for Colombians, her existence is legendary.

“The event of this 27th is very important for me because it gives me the opportunity to meet again with musicians I don't usually play with. I think it's nice because this is like a wake-up call to the fact that you don't necessarily have to read the 'best seller', I've never been the 'best seller'. They may be good, but they are so 'best seller', to me, it lowers my grade. I want it as something more exclusive, right? It's nice to encourage that, for people to investigate, to read more, not to be hearing what ten million other people are hearing. That is important so that there are niches, so that there are more proposals, that they are more interesting artists, that they are not so commercial, I don't know, that seems very nice to me,” argued the performer of 'Bolero Falaz'.

For Andrea, finding such moments for the discovery of artists outside the mass vision is not that complicated, on the contrary, it is a constant process of education dedicated to audiences that could become consumers of music outside the popular spectrum. In his concept, Colombians may have something of a 'monoculture' because, he emphasizes, in other countries niche artistic movements tend to be more important than they are here, on national territory.

“It's like, 'well, batteries! ' , specialize. Ask yourself, 'do I really like that bestseller? ' If you like it, perfect, but, if it's a no, well, you have to go deeper, look for things you really like. It's very cool because there are artists who are not made for crowds, but for a much more exclusive group of people with much better taste,” Andrea says as she laughs.

According to a USC Annenberg study, highlighted by Spotify, today, “only one in five artists on the charts is a woman.” Andrea, together with the other 12 artists invited by that music reproduction platform to be part of Equal, adds 3.4 million monthly listeners on the platform.

Being a woman in this competitive industry has shown Andrea the way in which even art is not saved from machismo and the patriarchal system with which she fights so much, but, at the same time, it has allowed her to see how women, on a daily basis, struggle to make this space equal and respectful for all. The meaning of being a woman in the music that Echeverri has adopted has not changed much over the years, as the singer told Infobae.

“It hasn't changed much, you know? When I started to get on stage, I had already read Simone de Beauvoir, and I had loved that thing that the heels, the long nails and the corset that tight all they do is that I dive has to walk more slowly, breathe less and use his hands for less things. I'm not going for that one, I like to be comfortable, but, if I don't go for the stereotype and hypersexualization, then I had to invent something else. I built a new aesthetic, which is still feminine, but that says' no 'to what the other 90% of girls do. I have been stubborn since college,” she commented, again, with laughter. It was not difficult for Andrea to generate a new concept and, thanks to her knowledge of art, she began to make her own colorful and light-filled costumes (for some rare and extravagant ones).

'Look at the essence, not appearances', is what Echeverri has been singing over the years in his song 'the case', however, and although it is still supported by that philosophy of life, he believes it is a joke today, in a world where appearing to be something, or seen in a certain way, seems to be the paramount thing.

For Andrea, understanding what is happening with music today is not easy. It goes beyond a simple analysis, in the end, like any art, it accompanies the evolution of society and highlights its most conjunctural points.

“Look, the most terrible thing is that the music is so powerful that now that everyone comes out saying 'oh, sex is super easy and light, and nothing happens here. Marica, people believe. It's a horrible thing. Every time we take it a step further, elegance has been lost, they lost everything. They lost the mystery, and that is what saddens me the most. I remember, as a child, I saw my mother and she said, 'what a beautiful woman', and she was super dressed. Beauty was something other than explicitly sexual, there was a lot of mystery and elegance. All day long what we hear is 'I want to be a dog and blah', slugs like that. It must be said that it is not violated, that it is respected, that sex is divine but that it has profound consequences and that it must be treated from intimacy. Yes or what?” , he concluded.

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