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Juanes prepares to launch "La Vida" tour
03/04/2008 12:00 PM, AP
Andrew Selsky
It was a few months ago, Juanes recalls, when his oldest daughter, Luna, wondered why people stop him to take his picture, ask for his autograph, or simply call out his name as if they were good friends. "Papi?" the 4-year-old asked him, "Who are you?" It's a question that Latin America's biggest rock star asked himself in the time that he wrote and recorded his newest album, "La Vida Es Un Ratico," or "Life Is a Moment." With the launch this week of his concert tour, Juanes says everything is different from his last tour in 2006 — especially himself. "Everything is new because I'm a different person now," Juanes says before his band's private rehearsal concert in Coral Gables. "I have grown up as a person, probably through the different experiences, at some point through the pain actually, and also through the happiness." It has been a roller-coaster time for the 35-year-old Colombian performer. His 2004 "Mi Sangre" album, with its phenomenally successful hit "La Camisa Negra," only increased Juan Esteban Aristizabal's global celebrity. In addition to collecting critical accolades (he has more than enough Latin Grammys to set up a bowling lane), his "Mi Sangre" tour covered 31 countries and four continents — unprecedented for a Latin artist. With "La Vida," his fourth solo collection, he's now sold more than 9 million albums worldwide — more than anyone else in rock en Espanol. He also raised his profile as a peace ambassador, performing as part of the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony and before the European Parliament to raise money for an anti-landmine foundation in Colombia. But at the same time, Juanes saw his name in tabloid headlines for the breakup of his marriage to Colombian model Karen Martinez, and then for their reconciliation. Even his decision to cut off his long mane of hair in favor of a shorter shag generated news flashes in the Latin celebrity world. Yet through it all, Juanes presents himself as a normal working father of two kids who happens to sing for a living, just as he explained to his daughter. Some people are doctors, or police officers, he said: "I'm a singer and people know me because they hear my songs on the radio." He asks for no luxuries as he sits down for an interview, grabbing a bottle of water as he takes his place in a folding chair in a press room at the University of Miami's BankUnited Center. His basic black T-shirt and jeans are the same sort he'll wear on stage later that night. He speaks softly and asks permission when he feels the need to switch into Spanish. Performing this night before a small, invited audience, the band's song list is impressive in its richness: More than 20 songs in the main set, opening with the hugely popular "A Dios Le Pido" and ending with "La Camisa Negra." The pace moves from his signature rock blended with Colombia's folk rhythms to slower ballads, including a moving, pared down version of "Suenos" — his prayer for an end to Colombia's guerrilla violence. The new material touches on Juanes' private turmoil, such as in the title song of "La Vida Es Un Ratico" — "May everything change, but not love/Our family matters most, now I know." The separation from his wife was trying, but inspiring, he says: "It was really hard because I was passing through this really difficult situation, but music gives me a cure. I took all that energy that I have inside of me and transform those energies into positive things, into melodies. ... Music has always been a salvation for me because it gives me the possibility to express, to pull out all that I have there, and heal those wounds." Healing the wounds of his homeland also inspired Juanes, who wrote most of "La Vida" in Colombia. He believes his country is building enough public momentum to push for a negotiated end to the violence that has plagued it for decades. The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is a peasant-based force that arose to demand agrarian reform and more equal distribution of wealth. It controls a large portion of southern Colombia, finances its operations mainly through cocaine trafficking, and kidnaps for political and financial ends. "I don't believe that we'll solve it with military methods," he says. "The FARC is never going to take control of the country, and for 50 years, the government hasn't been able to get rid of the FARC. ... Because if you're the FARC and I'm the government, you have your pride and I have mine. We could waste our lives like that. ... But, if we wish for peace, well, that would be good to create it in some way, no?" Juanes was born in Medellin and he came of age in 1980s and '90s, he says, "a very hard time for Colombia." Images of war's toll are reflected in the "La Vida" tour, with one song, the melancholic "Minas Piedras," set to portraits of people who've lost limbs to land-mines. Juanes hopes that his message of political awareness will inspire his listeners to act. Though he cannot vote in the United States, he has partnered with Rock the Vote to encourage young Americans to register. "Part of building a democracy is that the young people become more conscious of their role. ... I would love it if all of the Latinos who come to our concerts who could register would do it and vote." The last two years have brought much to Juanes' life — personal and professional success. But the singer says there is still much to achieve. "For me, I see each day, well, as a dream, a dream like tomorrow, a dream with a past," he says. "For me, to see my daughters growing is a very important dream and keeps me wanting to live, making music touring. ... Yes, I say there is still much to do." ___ On the Net: http://www.juanes.net
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