Name: Camilo Lara aka Mexican Institute of Sound

Nationality: Mexican
Current event: Mexican Institute of Sound will play at the Jazz Café in Camden on  Wednesday 25th September 2024. Buy tickets here.
Recommendations: Book : Roberto Bolaño 2666; The art of Mexican artist Gabriel Kuri

If you enjoyed this Mexican Institute of Sound interview and would like to know more, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, twitter, Soundcloud, and Facebook. 
 


Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I would say community. I always felt my community is the pulse of society.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

Its very unusual that I start with an idea of the finished work.

I build my music as a collage. So whatever is on my plate I play with

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

No, but usually songs written in certain period of time respond to similar ideas, thoughts and issues I'm thinking about.

I can tell when a song was written by listening to the lyrics.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

To write music is a muscle. So for me, its not about inspiration. You have to become better at it, and do it a lot.

I start working very early. Most of my songs have been done in a morning period.

What do you start with? And, to quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Music. Chorus. Then the rest.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

Sometimes lyrics keep changing until I decide to finish the whole project. Sometimes I put placeholders until I feel confident about what I'm saying

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

Simple ideas that cover universal ideas.

I focus on very particular things. The more concrete and personal, the more universal.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Sometimes I set up rules. I remember when I was in Jamaica, I was about to record with Toots from Toots and the Maythals and I had a song that stated with the word “NO.” He looked and me and told me he never used that word in a song.

I realized it's important to keep positive energy when songwriting

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

Yes. Always take the detour. It's more fun.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Not at all. Creation is a day to day thing. Especially when you are a film composer or a producer. You need to write a lot of music. It's no so precious. You have to create a lot of music.

For me, it is similar to people making chairs or building houses. There is an element of art, but you have to really care about the making.  

When you're in the studio to record a piece, how important is the actual performance and the moment of performing the song still in an age where so much can be “done and fixed in post?“

It's the most important thing. Humanity.

If you want to fix everything in post, you erase most of the DNA of the performance

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

I put all songs from a period in a drawer. Later I check which one had more of the elixir I was looking for.

Even recording a solo song is usually a collaborative process. Tell me about the importance of trust between the participants, personal relationships between musicians and engineers and the freedom to perform and try things – rather than gear, technique or “chops” - for creating a great song.

I like to collaborate to find the unique voice of the guest.

Each one of us is a very particular flavor. So it's always great to add a flavor you are familiar with, or you love.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?  

In my case, it is embedded. Never do demos. I just do the final thing. Production is not a separate process.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

Not really.

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

I guess music is just the reflection of the creator's mind. So there is not much to understand. It just is.

There is no manual of creation. I like to think art is the fingerprint of our soul  

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Art is mundane. There is art in making a cup of tea.