After a hiatus from the music industry, Carlos Vives is making his return with a new album and a refreshed point of view.
"I didn't understand a lot of things, Vives said about his hiatus. "I clearly didn't understand the changes that were happening in the industry. Like the change in contracts. We thought we could keep working, but it wasn't what happened for us at that moment,"
"Then we didn't succeed in reconnecting with the industry immediately. These were rough times for me. But as a true artist I didn't stop working. I worked many years in Colombia on projects, I worked for other artists. I wrote songs and produced records. I even wrote a musical for children."
Vives participated in a panel at the Latin Billboard Conference at the JW Marriott Marquis on Tuesday, the same day his latest studio album, "Corazon Profundo" hit stores.
During the 45 minute chat, Vives discussed why he chose that title for his album, how the evolution of the music industry took him by surprise, and one of the most important people in his life: his father.
When the opportunity to record a new album arose, he made the decision to record new songs instead of using unrecorded music he had composed throughout the years.
"When Sony gave me the opportunity to do another album, I knew I had to dig into the deepest of my heart and tell those stories, play those rhythms, and what came from the deepest of what I see in people. I worked every day writing songs. I began to look at songs I had written before. Many had been left in the studio here in Miami. But in the end, I felt the need to do an album that was more authentic and relative to the now, not just fill it with songs that had been left here and there."
Vives returned to work in his native Santa Marta where he says he finds tranquility and so he could also be closer to his ill father, the man he credits with getting his musical career started.
"My father was a doctor and all his friends were mucisians. This was during a time when bolero was king. When the weekends would come around they would get together to enjoy music. One would play guitar and so on. When he realized I liked music, he would record it and play it for his friends and they all thought I had a unique sound. My father would take that recording everywhere. When his friend said, 'He is going to be a singer.' all I could think was there were no singers in my family. I wanted to be a doctor, but in a way I am a doctor since music heals the soul."
