Meet Juan Luqui

Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Luqui.

Juan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in the centre of Buenos Aires, the capital and biggest city in Argentina. It is basically a concrete jungle, though a very beautiful, inspiring and exciting one. In that sense, LA feels like home. I am and have always been, passionately curious about stuff. Anything really, from the creation of the universe to art, spirituality, sports, you name it…

My earliest passion was math; I used to play math games in the car, and remember counting and rearranging phone numbers, or number sequences. I ventured painting and some other hobbies, but when I stumbled with music (through the guitar) at age seven that was it – I stopped searching and became completely obsessed. I played guitar and had some teachers but was basically self-taught. I didn’t have the patience for classes, I always want more!

When I was 13, my parents sent me to the conservatory, so I was doing school 7am-5pm and conservatory until 9 pm, three times a week. This only lasted for a year or so, but it laid a solid foundation for what was coming later, and it was at this time that I discovered composition.

As a teenager, I had all sorts of groups; rock, progressive metal, jazz, blues, funk – both covers and original music I wrote. Playing and writing were my only interests in life, and so after high school, I decided to audition for Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA). Luckily I got a full scholarship to study film scoring, and just like that, I was gone.

After two intense years, I graduated, and in 2015 I moved to Los Angeles. Again the universe aligned itself, and I was able to contact the legendary Argentinean composer & producer Gustavo Santaolalla, one of the biggest musical names in the history of Latin American music, and a real artist whom I admire deeply. He was kind enough to give me a chance to prove myself and work with him and his partner and collaborator, another industry legend, mix engineer & producer Anibal Kerpel.

The rest is history – they have opened doors for me that I’ve never even dreamt of… I am deeply grateful and still trying to find ways to thank them! I am happy to call them my mentors, my friends, and a part of my LA family.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been rough, definitely.

The obstacles for me lie mostly beneath the surface; they are internal processes, behaviors, reactions and thinking patterns that limit our ability to express ourselves as we truly are. Growing as an artist is about embracing those issues, imperfections, and insecurities, and having the courage to show them to the world, knowing that if it is truly sincere, someone will relate to it and be touched by what you are saying.

There have been of course external things; being away from home, from your family, finding new friends in a different culture, handling the pressure of the industry, learning to let go of control. The list could go infinitely probably! Yet, I like to focus more on the things that are happening, that are growing and by doing that the darkness is balanced.

The more I reflect on it, the more I come to the conclusion that without sacrifice there’s little to be achieved, so I accept all challenges as a part of this duality.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
At this moment I’m doing a wide variety of things, all music related. I think my work can be split into two, though the ramifications are huge and they keep growing and growing. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with everything, but by doing it patiently and persistently, everything keeps moving forward.

One side of the coin is my expression as a freelance musical artist. At this moment I’m writing two original albums; one is my second solo album, which will be instrumental, guitar-based. The other one is a soul-pop duo project with singer-songwriter Olivia Diehl called Peonte. We released two singles in the last couple of months and are working hard on finishing our first album for July/August.

As a producer, I’m working on a couple of albums for Argentinean and LA-based artists, they are all friends, people I respect and enjoy collaborating with; some of them are Santiago Vidal, Rodrigo Crespo and Josefina Silveyra. I also compose scores for Films, TV, and Advertising, with clients ranging from Toyota, Cartoon Network, Hyatt, to independent and international feature films.

I believe it is important to be engaged only in projects you feel certain and happy about, in this way one can let go of everything and enjoy more the process. Last but not least I’m creating a chamber opera from scratch with the amazing writer Jesus Allende. The other side of the coin is my work for Santaolalla and Kerpel.

These are big, big projects and I assist in many different ways; recording engineer, additional music, orchestrating, playing guitars… even going on tour worldwide! Some of the main projects we’re involved in are the Sony PlayStation video game The Last of Us 2, Narcos (Netflix), a documentary on Larry Flynt, any many more I’m not allowed to say!

I think as artists we should not limit our creativity to one category or genre, or even artistic expression. Right now everything I’m doing is music related, but I’m looking forward to expanding that limit. Branching nurtures creativity as what you explore in one field can teach you something that you can apply to other areas… and if not, at least it keeps me excited and enjoying!

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Clarity. Life will have its ups and downs, emotions and thoughts are unstable, money comes and goes, everything in life is fluctuating to its own beat. As long as one has things crystal clear nothing can disturb you or mislead you.

Clarity goes hand in hand with honesty; honesty in what you have, what you are, what you want, but also in what you don’t have, what you are not, and what you don’t want.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.juanluquimusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juanluquimusic/

Image Credit:
Olivia Diehl, Alejandra Palacios

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