According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, one of the meanings of the word amphibian is “It is said of an animal: That it can live vaguely on land or submerged in water”. But, occasionally, a remix of this word is used to refer to the group of people who were born in the middle of the analog era and, over time and the advent of the Internet, also made a foot in the digital world.

In other words, a person, when speaking in musical terms, handles both the acoustic (or unplugged) world and the electric (and binary) world.

Lara Artesi, alias Lara 91k (“This is my Instagram username”), from now on, the simple Lara, although she can be proud of being a digital native, has the tools and customs of someone back then, without that means apostasy in the 21st century.

Namely: a long album, competent for good listening in a row (“I listen to the whole album, I like it, I’m from discman culture”) in these times of playlists and singles.

The title of that album is As usual. And his musical education includes not only standard hip hop (Tyler The Creator, Frank Ocean, Drake, Kanye West) but also Massive Attack CD, Molotov, Tupac, Al Green soul and national rock.

Unlike her contemporaries, Lara has the beginnings of bands in her history, some with international projection (Coral Casino), to sing solo with her. guitar and tracksand then return to having a combo of musicians who was with him (unlike contemporaries who went from being soloists and being alone until, after being successful, continuing to have support groups).

And he has a legitimate ambition to make music more and more popular outside of labels (e.g., city music) and classifications.

The first steps

Lara’s story had an important landmark in 2002, when she was ten years old. The crisis Argentina was experiencing at the time prompted her parents to leave their home in Buenos Aires in Villa Luro to live in Pinamar, and work in a separate that the family had in that town on the Atlantic Coast.

“On some notes I said I was born in Pinamar… confused!”, He said laughing in his apartment in Buenos Aires. And it gives clues about what it was like to live as a child by the sea: “Growing up there was incredible. I met some amazing friends. Before I was in Pinamar I had artistic flashes, but being in a town where nothing happens, one invented everything ”.

And he added: “I was in the bedroom all day with the guitar, from there I made bands with my friends, and we went out to the beach to listen to music in the car. I also had full interaction with nature. , skateboarding, surfing, reggae, and many local punk bands. All of that re -marked me ”.

After high school, Lara went to the Capital to study photography, but she immediately realized that music was her thing. Along with a drummer’s girlfriend, he had the group Slow B. Later, with a friend, they formed Lara Clauss, and under this name they released an album by indie label from La Plata, with quite folkie sounds.

“That contact was made to me by Percii from Un Planeta, which is a very cool band from La Plata, and it’s crazy because of him I made the whole last album. That’s where I wanted to change. It was 2009, and I already downloaded Ableton, because I want to make more music on the computer ”.

Here’s an important moment: “At that moment another kid from La Plata, called Karne Palta and makes clothes, invited me to play on a date, and he had nothing set up. Recently “I met Roque (Ferrari), my friend from Coral Casino, and I asked him for help, since he’s a beatmaker. We got together and the first day we already made two songs”, he recalls.

The stage with Coral Casino

“Roque is the only person who made music who listened to the same music as me. Not just hip hop, but a lot more indie stuff like Blood Orange. That’s a lot, because he can’t share it with anyone. And we tried to sound in a way that never worked out for us, because our own thing came out ”, he said laughing.

Lara and Roque’s relationship is growing stronger. The name, without a doubt, is a mash up of two Babasónicos songs: Caraza Coral Y casino perfumeeither. “We had a hard time finding a name, because we wanted something that anyone in any country could name. We were brainstorming and I think Roque found it. Of course, Babasónicos is one of my favorite Argentine bands”, he points out.

He also considers as a compliment that some of his current clips were inadvertently influenced by the first videos of Lanús taboos (the karting in You are for meor the F100 pick up plus feminine aesthetics on the road to pair of models). “I really like the world of videos: I’m very involved with it, and I feel like the Babasónicos always have a similar position, like everything they show in their clips is their ideas and they are represented. Now there are a lot of formula ”, he said.

A great tour and the ending

Several presentations resulted in a trip and a recording to Mexico (Far awayinstead of $ lytherin 2015) for Coral Casino. That fact, ironically, is somehow the beginning of the end of Roque and Lara’s group.

According to Lara, “Coral Casino is a project designed to go everywhere, because it’s very hard for us to understand it. That’s why we had a lot of interaction outside of the media. In 2017, there was a kid named Teen Flirt from Mexico, a DJ and producer, with a label called Finesse Records. “

That contact was key: “He really liked one of our songs, he did a remix and when he came to Argentina with Jesse Báez, he met us and suggested taking us there. We presented the album in 2018, and that’s where we started to break up. I started to have songs left over because they didn’t represent him and vice versa, “he says.

What followed was an important moment: “Gradually I began to gain strength and open up, but not with the desire to destroy, because Coral Casino could come back at any time, and I adore Roque. It leaves a project based and its transition, and start at the beginning.

suddenly solo

Gradually, Lara began on her path as a soloist. And then a few singles (DNI, Tell Him with Karne Avocado and giving to you beside Cazzu Y tsiteamong others), saw the light this year As usual. Twenty tracks were condensed into just over 45 minutes in length, with five separators that didn’t even last a minute.

As usualbeyond collaboration (James was motorized, Duki, saramacara, paco is loving and more) along with implicit awards (tracks such as Rihanna, that you already know; Y Town Limitsreferring to the mythical nightclub located at the entrance of Villa Gesell), is suitable for the track and for continuous listening, and that is its biggest merit in this era of single songs rather than “long plays”.

“I’ve always wanted to make an album like this”, said Lara. “Now I’m in that moment to see what I’m going to edit next. I’m thinking about putting on singles, wanting to play with it a little bit, and warming up the brain. Singles have the pressure of a hit , of putting money into the video, there are many things that indicate a hope that it will work well or that people will understand it. On the other hand, on the album I allowed myself to be really me ”, his approval.

Record with Santi Motorized

Lara calmly but surely plans her future, while praising Santiago Motorizado: “I’m an absolute fan of his voice and his lyrics. We met at a party. And there, in the confidence that alcohol gives, I suggested collaborate on this song. Santi is humble and interested in all things music. Everything is very beautiful, very organic and good friendships remain. “

An act with Duki

“We’ve known each other,” he said, “since 2017. From that moment on, there was a feat pending, and we didn’t do it. After a long time we ran into each other on Ca7riel’s birthday, at the end of 2020. He wanted me to be on his album, and I told him ‘I’ll give you a song, but if you give me a song’. That’s why”,

what is to come

“Today, there are many shows in different provinces. I will also be going to Quilmes Rock. On the other hand, I have a lot of videos of my adolescence in Pinamar, and I want to make a semi-experimental film with it. And I am with the project of editing my diaries, which I have been writing since 2003. They are things parallel to music ”.

And there is always a very clear position at all levels, which does not have to be explicit. “I write women songs. And a lot of women come up to me and say ‘I’m glad you’re on the scene’ and blah. And I write them from my need to write. I don’t think so. to change something.In fact, in quarantine, the issue of abortion, of feminism, is very strong.

“Obviously I’ve been a feminist since I was born, I don’t have to clarify it. It happened to me that many times I was asked, and I felt uncomfortable, like I lacked data. I know there are many women out there fighting, changing things, and I feel like I’m losing, because I’m obviously mega in favor of all those proposals. bubble, but in some sense I know I’ve contributed, “he said convinced, as always. , as usual.

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