2023-04-26 03:12:07
With a spatula
Venezuelan Álex Martínez has captivated audiences with his unusual ability to play the harp in musical genres outside of his comfort zone. With that talent, he managed to transcend borders and received recognition from emblematic groups worldwide that catapulted him beyond what his dreams could ever idealize.
With a 21-year career in music, The artist revealed to La Patilla all the details of how dedication and extravagance can go hand in hand to achieve fame and capture the attention of a prestigious rock band: Metallica.
By: Luis Eduardo Martinez | lapatilla.com
Martínez, 37, is originally from Barquisimeto. His passion for music began thanks to his cousin, who he worked at the Vicente Emilio Sojo Conservatory and led him to discover art. Although he began to study the guitar, his love for the sound of the llano prompted him to change instruments and choose the harp as his main means of expression.
“From a very young age, llanera music was always heard in my house. So, the moment I saw the harp, it was moving me to those memories that I had since I was little with the llanera music that was always heard in my house and the instrument caught my attention, to the point that I began to study it and I changed the guitar for he”he explained.
After studying at the Conservatory, Álex moved away from the academic side and focused on his training as a folk harp player. Traveling and performing in different parts of the world became a priority for him, and decided to emigrate to the United States in search of new opportunities.
“It is something that fills us musicians, traveling”said.
The origin of the “jorockpo”
It was in the United States where the unexpected connection with Metallica occurred, but a couple of years after going viral with a homemade cover of ‘Nothing else matters’considered by many a hymn to rock.
“I do covers of everything, of any musical genre. One day, a cousin, aware of what I’m doing, tells me: ‘hey, have you played rock?’ and I said: ‘no, the truth is that no’. I asked him something that was super famous and he told me this Metallica song. And of course, it’s not just that it’s something famous, but that it looks good on the harp. When I studied it, I made the adaptation, because that is the problem, that one has to adapt the instrument; When I did it, I saw that it turned out really well”.
As if that were not enough, this man from Barquisimeto challenged himself even more when interpreting the song to two harpsan unusual technique among harpists and that was practically originated by Álex in a moment of leisure.
“I was annoyed in those days and now there are people in Mexico, Colombia, Russia, the United States, many countries, doing it, but not exactly doing it, like trying, because it’s not that easy. People sometimes say: ‘no, but it’s just the same thing’. No, honestly, it’s not the same. And right now it gives me great satisfaction to see a Russian artist, who is classical, with two Russian harps doing things like that. That what one has done has reached many people”.
A talent that went viral
Soon, the home video of his “rocker” interpretation and from his home in Venezuela got thousands of viewsspread like wildfire and went viral out of nowhere.
“I went viral and I didn’t know what to do, whether to make a band. It was super strange all because it was not something common (…) It was super crazy because people were more surprised to see me with two harps or to see me playing rock, and from that day on it was a total change in my career”.
However, the viralization of his cover was unfortunate because three days later the mega blackout occurred in Venezuela, which left the country in the dark for a week. But that didn’t turn off the spotlight on him, and just one ‘like’ was enough to change the course of his life.
“When Metallica gave it a ‘like’ of course I was very happy, because imagine, it’s a super famous band. It is like an acknowledgment of the madness, in quotes, that he was doing. Because many people called me crazy, that I was damaging folklore. Until then it was only a ‘like’ because I only had the video in my house. So I decided to make my rock album and I also said: ‘I’m going to make a video of this’”.
Two years passed, and finally the long-awaited video was given. That audiovisual material was the boost his career neededand the precise and well-crafted production played a key role in getting it to the right people.
“I made a really incredible video, because I took a location in the state of Lara, in Sanare, called La Hundición de Yay and the site is an impressive place. So, the video went super well. There were many things, playing rock with two harps, the location, the band, there was a dance partner.
Álex added that a series of factors were decisive for Metallica to pay attention to their material again and they chose to use their video as part of the collection of the 40th anniversary of the American band.
“Things happen because they have to happen, the blackout came, the pandemic, and I didn’t know that the year I launched the professional video was the year they were celebrating four decades of experience. In other words, if I had gone to Peru in 2019, I took the video and nothing happened because they weren’t celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band then. I just released my video and it coincided with the fact that I won an award in California, and I really don’t know if they saw me through social networks or they saw me for that award, because they were in California, but they did and they told me verbatim : ‘your video is killer and we want it on the 40th anniversary’”.
This is how the production maintained a series of contacts to confirm the authorship of their video and sign a contract to transfer their image and remain in posterity. by being published in The Coda Collection, an Amazon Prime project that is responsible for collecting films and concerts by prestigious bands.
The significance of a “like”
Not even in the best of dreams, Álex ever imagined that the band would see his video and unless it would be taken into account for a prestigious production that would be shared worldwide.
This recognition opened the door to unexpected levels, even to obtain legal documents that allow him to stay in the United States. His career took a dizzying leap and now, dedicated entirely to rock, he looks back on what he’s achieved.
“For people I am another at this moment. I am another person for the public. I say: ‘how incredible it is, that from one day to the next, life can change you, and the way people see you now. What happens is that I am also the only Venezuelan in something of Metallica, in the entire history of Venezuela and of Metallica. I am the only Venezuelan who is in something with them, so imagine, I am the national pride for the rockers of Venezuela.”he mentioned.
For Martínez to achieve everything he achieved, He faced a series of challenges that put his skills to the test and it was not an easy task to show what he was capable of.to finally harmonize each element and find the perfect sound that identifies the genre.
“The biggest challenge is for you to be able to play what a guitar does, which has effects, which has distortion, to make it an instrument that can’t (…) you can do it with the distortion effect, but I don’t do it, I do it the most typical, to put it in a way, possible, but the difficult thing is that it sounds like that”.
A career on the rise
The musician also spoke about the importance of using rock as a springboard to reach other cultures and promote Venezuelan music.. “I have been playing in the United States, playing joropo and several times they have told me to shut up. They don’t like the joropo, because they don’t know that. So I’m just making music that other people like and I put some of my own into it.”narrowed.
The Venezuelan has had the opportunity to showcase his talent in countries like United States, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and is even preparing for a presentation in Italy. However, she has also experienced funny moments in his performances.
“I went to Mexico at a time when it was kind of cold and I was wearing my jacket, and in the car we were driving, I say: ‘hand me the jacket’, and the one who accompanied me says: ‘don’t go saying that because it means something else. Say coat or jacket, but don’t say jacket’. That’s like masturbating there. So, to the presentation in the theater. I open with a joropo, because they love joropo over there, and it’s too hot, and I say: ‘good night, excuse me, I’m going to take off my jacket.’ When I say that, the whole theater starts laughing uproariously, and that was one of the weirdest things that ever happened to me.”
The evolution of the genre
Álex is a musician who, with his llanera harp, is taking Venezuelan music to other borders, by demonstrating that genre fusion can be a powerful tool to transcend and evolve.
“Many people told me that I was damaging folklore, but now how many people with that anniversary of Metallica are hearing a llanera harp worldwide, are seeing a joropo dance partner and listening to joropo. Many people are now getting to know the joropo. And it’s the only way that music doesn’t stagnate, doesn’t die, because you have to evolve. All genres have been like this. The mariachi is a genre that was played with the harp and now there are not even harps in the mariachi, now it is trumpet and violin, because it evolved, because they needed to reach other people, other people and that is how it transcended”.
Álex is a person who does not settle for a single success. With his passion for music and his ability to create innovative arrangements, the artist plans to continue surprising his thousands of fans. R.revealed his plans for this 2023, and it seems that success will continue to smile on this talented musician.
With his next video, Martínez promised a unique musical experience. His version of ‘Toxicity’ by System of a Down, with a touch of joropo, was recorded in Barinas, in the middle of the Venezuelan plain, and included the participation of an additional musician playing the maracas. This project promises to be even more surprising than his interpretation of Metallica, since he has also been recognized by this group on other occasions.
“That band has already published a cover that I also made at home four times on their networks, as well as that of Metallica. I’ve gone more viral with that than with Metallica’s. I am currently viral in Peru, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, because I was published there a couple of weeks ago and the Toxicity home video has 4 million views and has been shared by 270,000 people, a crazy thing”.
Álex Martínez is an inspiration for all those who pursue their dreams with perseverance. His music has managed to cross borders and touch the hearts of thousands of people. As he said: “Music is a universal language, and it is something that unites people”. And with his talent, this Venezuelan builds a legacy that he hopes will take the heat of the plain to unimaginable places.
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