MEXICO CITY (AP) - Despite growing up in a famous family dedicated to regional Mexican music, Camila Fernández tried and did not rest until she found her own voice.
The daughter of Alejandro Fernández and granddaughter of Vicente Fernández had her support to delve into all kinds of genres, but despite the support and advice of these two greats of music, the process was long and at the same time illustrator for the 22-year-old singer-songwriter. .
"It was like trying different snows to see which was my favorite, I was with all musical styles until I was in a Brazilian ensemble singing in Portuguese, I was in a gospel where it was Christian music and even in Christian churches I saw myself singing", Fernández said in a recent video call with The Associated Press from Mexico. "And I was left with me, mine, mine, is soul, blues, R&B."
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Fernández has a powerful mezzo-soprano voice that goes very well with these genres. His most recent single is "You Got Used", a song composed by Fernández with Daniel Sobrino and Alice Stone that talks about people who, trusting in love, end up with nothing.
"Like the dog with the two cakes, he wanted with one person, he wanted with another and in the end he didn't get any," said Fernández. "We were laughing at the song and then the song came out."
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Fernández did not change the release date, but he did cancel the filming plans for his video, so at the moment only the video with the lyrics is available.
"I feel that it is perfect right now with the quarantine of 'You got used to it' because you can hear it when you are bathing, when you are cooking, when you are eating," he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR2971KD-Ls
One of the main pieces of advice his family gave him, he says, was to seek authenticity. She began to study violin as a child, followed by the guitar, piano, and even saxophone. Over the years Fernández studied at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, although in that case he focused on studying music business.
"It was more because my dad had asked me for a career and then I got the best music university and I took his degree," he said.
What he does share with his father and grandfather is a propensity for heartbreak issues.
"It makes it easier for me to write sad songs than happy ones," he said. "I reflected that my grandfather and my dad lived it singing to heartbreak and not so much to love, I think maybe it was for that and then I liked blues, jazz, I liked all that as heartbreaking and maybe it was for that reason "
But she knows that she is not alone in that taste for pain: "People are masochists, they like to suffer, they like the songs of suffering, I have noticed this in all my dad's concerts," she said.
For his eventual debut album, after his EP "Mío" and the song "Bueno Fuera", he hopes to include heartbreaking ballads but also more danceable songs. For now, he has his grandfather's approval for "You got used to it."
"Yesterday my grandfather marked me and said 'hey I heard your song, I really liked it,'" she said excitedly. "My dad loves it too."
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Fernández is going through quarantine with his parents and siblings, including his twin America, in Mexico in a location that he did not reveal, although he did share some of the activities they are doing: "I really like reading, I really like playing backgammon, I I like to cook with everyone, I like to have ideas and also play video games with everyone, ”he said. "We have made cookies too."
What is out of his plans is to party. Fernández asked young people like her to avoid temptation. "They are not asking us for anything out of the ordinary," he said. "We are suffering from a virus that can be controlled only by staying at home, which is the simplest thing in the world. If you want to save yourself and others, stay at home, they are not asking you for anything else, you can have your virtual parties, it is very easy and hilarious too. Take care, take good care of yourself and your family and stay at home. "