Gaby Moreno, Grammy for best Latin pop album: “My goal was to be an international artist”

“What?! What?!” Gaby Moreno exclaimed as she walked excitedly, smiling and fixing one of the straps of her dress through the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles to receive her first Grammy.

She had a Latin Grammy (2013) for best new artist.

But the one she picked up on February 4 as best Latin pop album for

X Mí

was the consecration for an artist who always knew that music was her thing.

"Sorry Sorry.

“I’m having an out-of-body experience,” were her first words into the microphone.

“My mom and sister have flown from Guatemala to be here with me.

“This was an acoustic album that I made last year with songs that are very dear to me from previous albums,” she said, after thanking her work team.

And she ended up dedicating the award to her country.

That day, on the same stage where Miley Cyrus and Tracy Chapman shone and where Taylor Swift triumphed—once again—Moreno performed with the Mexican singer-songwriter David Aguilar one of the songs from the album with which he won the Grammy,

Luna de Xelajú,

a Guatemalan waltz composed in the 1940s. Gaby Moreno (42 years old) is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter and producer who has lived in the United States for 23 years.

She came to that country when she was 19 with the dream of becoming an artist and she achieved it.

Since she was two years old she sang the songs that her mother, Lucy Bonilla, listened to, who was the first to discover her talent.

She put her in singing classes with the late teacher Marina Prado, and when she was 10 years old, Gaby opened a concert for the Puerto Rican singer, Ricky Martín.

For someone who is so clear about what he wants, choosing the songs that make up the album with which he won the Grammy was easy.

“It wasn't difficult to choose them, I just started listening to all my albums and said: 'I definitely want to record this one.

Ah!

And this one too'.

I made my list and went to the studio.

In the end, only six songs from my previous albums made it onto the album because the seventh is from

Luna de Xelajú,

which is the

cover

,” Moreno says in a telephone interview with EL PAÍS.

Destination: LA

Moreno grew up listening to and singing zarzuelas that were played in his house.

His mother tells her that, when she was 2 years old, at every family or friend gathering she would climb up on the tables and say: 'Ladies and gentlemen: Gaby is going to sing.'

So they were children's songs.

But between the ages of 5 and 6, her mother, who was a television announcer and presenter, heard her sing one of the zarzuelas and was surprised that the voice was similar to that of the artist who performed it and that is why she decided to put her in classes. singing in Guatemala City.

“Marinita Prado introduced me to the classical genre.

I was singing arias and zarzuelas, but at age 13 I discovered the

blues,

so I decided not to take those classes anymore and I came to Los Angeles to take singing classes for two months,” she recalls.

Her talent and her opportunities went hand in hand for Gaby Moreno, who from her school days began writing her own songs and at 16 years old she took classes with Seth Riggs, who was a teacher of Michael Jackson and Steve Wonder. .

After finishing school in Guatemala, she chose to return to Los Angeles to fulfill her artistic dream and learn more about blues, soul and jazz, the genres that inspired her.

She auditioned for Warner Brothers and signed a contract for her first album

Still the Unknown,

which came out in 2008. “I was signed by a record label, by Warner in the United States, and that was a great opportunity for me.

I was barely 18 years old.

I feel that they are opportunities that are given by being in the right place and because that was my goal, that was my goal, to be an international artist,” she says.

So at the age of 19 he moved to that country and entered the Musicians Institute in Hollywood California, where he studied music theory and learned to play guitar.

Shortly after his graduation, he signed another record deal with EPIC/Sony.

“I feel that being here at the Musician Institute helped me in terms of connections.

There I met those who were part of my first band.

I knew that here, in Los Angeles, I was going to find my niche, and that's how it happened, I quickly made some contacts that were crucial for my life,” he says.

The Latin princess

After leaving the Music Institute, his career continued to rise.

In 2006, she won the prestigious John Lennon songwriting contest in the Latin song category with a song she wrote alongside other artists.

Her first Latin Grammy came in 2013. Gaby's voice, lyrics and compositions have made it to television series and movies.

In 2017, for example, she performed the main theme of Disney's

Elena of Avalor

and also provided the voice in English and Spanish of Marlena, the first Latina princess and main character of this Disney Junior series.

She also co-wrote the theme song for the NBC television series

Parks and Recreation

, as well as the song

Why Are You Leaving?

of

Puss in Boots,

and composed all the music for the film Language Lessons, among others.

She recorded the song

Fueste tú

with her compatriot, Ricardo Arjona, which made her famous in her country.

In her career, Gaby Moreno has released eight albums, she has accumulated four Grammy nominations and five more Latin Grammy nominations.

Outside of music, she was named by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as a Goodwill Ambassador and released an album composed of 10 songs that cover different topics related to children's rights that were performed by children, Guatemalan girls and adolescents.

The dreams continue

Gaby Moreno and El David Aguilar during their presentation at the 66th GRAMMY Awards.Leon Bennett (Getty Images)

The volume

1 of

X Mí,

with which he won the Grammy,

It is the first of a project that the artist says will continue, since her idea is to release volumes every two or three years where she can present acoustic versions of her songs until she has no more left.

Apart from his personal project, he participates in a collective with several artists from Latin America with whom they have a WhatsApp group in which they share music.

About seven years ago they released an album called

Notas de Voz

, where they recorded themselves singing from their cell phones.

They also planned to record songs while they were in the shower, but that was put on hold.

“I have always liked being part of projects, of collaborations.

In fact, I have a side project from more than 10 years ago with two of my best friends called

The Sound Birds

,” she said.

With them he plays music from the 30s and 40s, but they also compose and tour.

When he is not in the studio or on stage, Moreno likes to go for walks with his dog.

She enjoys cooking, meeting friends and going for tea.

Reading, watching movies and doing Pilates are his other favorite hobbies.

“I have a very quiet, very normal life.

Always trying to be very at peace, very happy and grateful for life,” she said.

He is not one to listen to music on digital platforms because he prefers to play vinyl records.

The artists he listens to the most at the moment are Tim Bernardes, Silvia Pérez Cruz, Silvana Estrada and Lau Noah.

He confesses that he would like to sing alongside Caetano Veloso, Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney.

After winning the Grammy, he released his recent album

Dusk

and began a tour.

In May she will give a concert in Guatemala, which makes her very happy, but she announced that Oscar Isaac, with whom she sang the

Luna cover of Xelajú

during a famous show in the United States, will not be able to accompany her.

Of course, she promised that the show she will give in her country will be “very special.”

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