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Ricky Martin: Unplugged was the way to go
By Ramiro Burr | August 3, 2007
By RAMIRO BURR
Pop star Ricky Martin says that there are times in music, when less can be more. Case in point, Martin’s latest CD.DVD, “Ricky Martin: MTV Unplugged.” According to Martin, he was more than ready to go unplugged. “I believe that at this point of my life, it’s exactly what I needed. This is my gratification,” he said in a recent interview. “For the last couple of years, my tours were all about the big concerts, the big venues and massive productions.
Then, after spending some time, literally, in silence, I’ve had the opportunity to take another glance at what my sounds were like, six, seven, eight years ago. And I believe it was very important for me to re-invent some of those sounds. Sounds that I love. Sounds that are a very important part of my career.
After the superheated years when he broke through worldwide with the mega-smash “Livin’ the Vida Loca,” Martin said he took some time off to recharge. He said the “Ricky Martin: MTV Unplugged” was another way he reconnected with who he is. By going acoustic, he found new tones and colors in familiar songs. For example?
“If you talk about ‘Asignatura Pendiente,’ it’s a song that if you listen to the original version, there’s a massive orchestra behind it,” he said. “The way I did it on the ‘Unplugged’ was just the piano, and the cello, and me. If you listen to ‘La Bomba,’ percussive-wise, we’ve created a completely different groove.”
Martin said going acoustic is simply one more facet of a true international artist. The experience of traveling around the world can open a lot of doors to many musical styles.
“It’s about one not getting bored, and making the best out of presenting the new vision towards music. Since 1998, up until today, we’ve been able to travel. We’ve been able to exchange ideas with many musicians from all over the world, and the influences create an impact on you. And let’s just use it.”
“Two years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Brazil and just spend time in Bahía, literally, with percussionists. And the amount of rhythms that came to my knowledge was just amazing, so I just used them this time. So there you have ‘La Bomba’ and you have a ballad. That’s the way it goes.”
And on other songs, Martin and his group completely reworked the tunes, producing, in turn, “Volveras.”
“When we talk about taking the arrangement to another level, we created a whole different approach on the musical bridge. Instead of the piano, we focused it on the strings. It was about having fun. There were no limitations on the creative process. I went to my band and I said, ‘What do you think about this? Where do you think we should take it?’ There were no titles in this creative process. You are the celloist. You want to be the producer, bring it on.”
So, is it too early to talk about the next album?
I have no idea, bro. I don’t think I even want to go there. I believe that I’m going to go out on the road now, and whatever I’m going to be presenting on my next album is what I’m going to get out of this tour.
I have a couple of songs that I’ve written already, but arrangement-wise, I believe it’s going to be more world music.
Last November, Martin was recognized as the 2006 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year at a special star-studded tribute dinner and concert. Martin was chosen for his accomplishments as a world-renowned entertainer, consummate performer and passionate humanitarian.
Martin said he became interested in the issue when he visited India a few years ago.
“I went to India, and I don’t know if I should say ‘donated my time,’ but I started working for this orphanage and rescuing girls from the streets, bringing them into this home,” he said. “I started educating myself. ‘What would have happened to the girls if an organization like this didn’t exist?’ And that’s when child pornography and child prostitution came to my life and I started literally educating myself about this.
“I was just freaking out, because this is so massive, and people don’t know about this. Why don’t we know about this? Because it’s organized crime. And everything is done under the radar. Everything that I did philanthropically before I created the People for Children Project within my foundation, I did very discreetly, because some people out there…said, ‘Ricky, you’re doing this because you want the attention of the press’.”
But after some time of working quietly, Martin was persuaded to go public.
“Everything that I did, I did in silence and it felt really good. Until I talked to some activists and even some victims of this issue. They said, ‘Dude, we need your voice.’ One of the guys said, ‘I’ve been working on this for 10 years, and no one is listening. If you start screaming out loud what’s going on, at least people will start talking about it and people will bring the subject to the dinner table.’ And after that, we can go to the leaders and start petitioning and bringing options to the table of things that could help.”
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