Today we’d like to introduce you to Ximena Vasquez.
Ximena, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Well, I started singing when I was 18 years old, I started a little late. I wasn’t sure if I could sing but a musician friend told me I was good and since then I started a little funk band called Planeta Aceituna with him. We weren’t good at all but we had a lot of fun together. We uploaded a video singing to a joss stone tune, “While u r looking for sugar” and it started to get a lot of attention from really good musicians from here, and thats when I started playing with more musicians and learning a lot from them and thinking about singing a little more seriously. I started playing at little and big gigs and a producer here called David Chang asked me if I wanted to do my own music and thats when I started composing and finding out that I really liked what I was doing. So when I was 19, I started recording my first ep. All English songs, with all my soul, rnb and hiphop influences.
My first ep was called MIDNIGHTS and it has a lot of love in it, it has a ft with HOPE on it, called BOY (I DONT KNOW). It was amazing making my own music and showing it to the world. That was in 2016. In 2018, I went to Australia to sing at a cruise there, it was one of the most fun and learning experience. Really crazy too. A lot of partying and alcohol. But I had a blast! I came back to Perú in 2019 to start to find new sounds, thats when I started composing new songs, In 2020, my new song came out, it was called LIFE and it was really different from my ep midnights, it has an indie/lofi sound to it and people loved it a lot, I made a music video for it in quarantine. I loved this song so much, still do. It’s my favourite since then! Then I did a collab with Peruvian rapper Giru MAd fleiva, exploring new sounds like moombathton and urban. I just love exploring music in all its form and having fun with it as much as I can. And yeah! I’m doing music till now!! I’m collaborating with lots of artists and my next songs are gonna be entirely in Spanish 🙂
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all. If you don’t have a strong mind and are too sensitive like I am, it’s very difficult to stop comparing yourself to others. So hard to not be hard on yourself and when I started singing everybody in Peru told me I was awesome and so I found myself singing for others and not me, trying to prove that I was that “awesome” singer and I was a “great” musician whatever that means. It was so hard to look for compliments when I didn’t need them really. It made me a prisoner of making people like me. Not only that but I found myself drinking a lot to not have those feelings of inferiority, I drank before and after singing. I messed up gigs for being so drunk, it made me feel really low at times and made me wonder why. Those feelings man, of wanting to be like is the worst way to spend your life. I know that now, I still struggle but I know what’s important now. What I do struggle now is keeping up with the trends like TikTok, I hate that cause we are musicians we have to do all this shit hahaha I mean its ok that people do it I envy their facility to do it, I don’t have the charisma to do it and as an independent artist its something that “I need” to do to promote music, and social media it’s not something I love.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well, I make music and love singing. My influences are so different from each other, I LOVE dangelo but I love foster the people too and the strokes, I love Lauryn Hill and Dony but I LOVE arctic monkeys and sza and I think everything comes out when I compose my music. I love everything that touches my soul.
I have an ep called midnights (2016),
In 2018, I started a side RNB project with my best friend called Hela Freya. We have three singles until now, she does her own music as I do mine and we always come back to this project, I guess cause we love each other and the music me make together. Our most known song its “Time” you can find it everywhere.
In 2020, I presented a new single called “LIFE” and a collab called “MIND GAMES”.
What I’m most proud of is everything I’ve been through, all the lows that made me stronger. And actually being able to compose my own music and show it to the world. Going to a cruise ship to sing from Peru to Australia alone, can’t believe it happen. I’m just proud of everything, it makes me feel better.
What sets me apart, I guess it’s my singing ability and maybe my melodies, the melodies I choose. I just know when something works and doesn’t.
What’s next?
Yeah! I’m excited about the future. I’m composing in full Spanish. I have three songs on the way. and I just can’t wait. I’m planning to take out songs, one by one and just concentrating on the music that makes me happy. And everything will come if it has too. I’m so excited for the music thats coming.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ditto.fm/ximena-vasquez
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ximenasoul/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ximenasoul
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6NCjFTaGqWekO2h38lk5w
Image Credits:
Gabriela Sanchez Solis IG: @gabsmsaso
