INTERVIEW: Barzo travels to ‘Paradise’
Photo: Barzo’s new collaboration with Debi Nova is the single “Paradise.” Photo courtesy of Criteria Entertainment / Provided with permission.
Barzo is a music producer who has earned industry credibility for his many collaborations. He’s worked with the likes of the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Sergio Mendes and Ricky Martin, among others.
His latest project is the single “Paradise” with singer-songwriter Debi Nova. Barzo, who comes from Costa Rica, couples Nova’s voice with synthesizers and congas to create a unique sound.
This is not their first collaboration: Barzo and Nova also worked together in 2017 on “Gran Ciudad,” which was part of Nova’s Latin Grammy-nominated album of the same name. For “Paradise,” listeners can download the single or check out the music video.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox spoke with Barzo, whose real name is Bartosz Brenes. Here’s what he had to say:
On how he started working with Nova …
“I met Debi Nova about four years ago in a concert we did in Costa Rica, and since then we exchanged contact [information]. And we’ve been in touch, and we started working on a series of songs. The first one that was released was called ‘Gran Ciudad,’ which was actually the main single from her last album, which was a nominated for a Latin Grammy. And then ‘Paradise’ is the second song from this series of tracks that we worked together, and this one we released it as a collaboration between my project, which is Barzo, and her project, Debi Nova.”
On how ‘Paradise’ came to be …
“What I really love about it is seeing how these different universes collide and mix together. You can definitely [hear] the electronic influence from my career, from what I’ve been working for the past 10 years or so, and you can also feel that pop influence that Debi has been also working on for even longer than I have. So that’s what I really love about this track. We reached the sound that is in between both universes that probably would have never been possible for her to do it on her own or me to do it on my own.”
On how the mechanics of the actual recording process …
“I worked on the composition of the instrumental track in Costa Rica, and Debi is currently living in Los Angeles. I sent her the track. She sent me a demo, so we sent back and forth a few ideas. There were actually some different changes through the internet, so, for example, she suggested a completely new bridge for the song, which we ended up changing to that bridge. And so it was really interesting from two different countries only through internet we worked on this song, and then she did the recording of the vocals in Los Angeles in her home studio. We did the final mixing and mastering here in Costa Rica in my studio.”
On his contributions to the music video …
“I think the music video was always part of the plan to amplify the message and try to captivate the audience not only with the music but also with a very interesting visual. I had seen a few videos by this collective, this crew called .nine studio. They had previously worked on some video clips for some pretty important Costa Rican bands, such as 424 or Voodoo. They’ve done some really impressive visual effects and animation.
“I really love their style, so we got in touch with them. We started working with them a few months ago — first with the visuals for our live shows — and we sat down with this idea of ‘Paradise.’ They ended up proposing a somewhat different idea from what we had initially suggested. I just fell in love with their vision, what they had imagined, what they had envisioned for this sound. We basically gave a green light to go with their idea. We filmed on a green screen here in Costa Rica while Debi was down here on a trip, and then they later used these filmings on green screen to animate our bodies, our movements, the different shapes that are part of the music video.”
On his new projects and collaborations …
“I’m actually working right now on a series of new releases that are going to be out in 2019, so up next I’m going to be releasing a collaboration with Gary Nesta Pine. He was the ex-vocalist for the Wailers, and he also sang with Bob Sinclair on a huge hit called ‘Love Generation.’ So we’ve got this reggae collaboration coming soon. After that, I’m also going to be publishing another single with Costa Rican rapper Nakury, with whom I’ve been working for quite a while on the production of her last album.
“This is all building up to an album that I’ll be publishing next year [2019] that is going to be filled with different collaborations in English, in Spanish with mixing different genres and mixing different influences, which is basically what Barzo is all about, basically showcasing a huge variety of sound, influences and genres.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Barzo’s new single is “Paradise,” a collaboration with Debi Nova. Click here for more information.
