Nico Cotton, the anonymous producer and hero nominated for 17 Gardel Awards

When it comes to talking about the Gardel Awards 2022, that will be delivered on Tuesday 23 at night at the Movistar Arenathe statistic on the most nominated artist immediately arrives, with more chances to win many statuettes and the coveted Gardel de Oro.

This season, the musician with the most nominations is Wos, with 8. Thunder follows, with 7. Then come Tiago PZK and Abel Pintos with 6. Further back, Tini, María Becerra and Ca7riel each have 5 nominations. Knowing Russia and La K’onga compete in 4 categories, and those with 2 nominations are Nathy Peluso, Dillom, Bizarrap and Nicki Nicole.

However there is an almost anonymous “multi-candidate”, listed in 17 nominations. is approx Nico Cotton, 33, producer and mixing technician who has worked on the records of Wos, Ca7riel, Knowing Russia, Nicki Nicole and Juan Ingaramo.

“Something similar had already happened to me – says Nico – in the online edition of 2020, when they started to include more candidates in some areas, and not just four. That time there were 22, but the number is anecdotal”.

He quickly adds: “The nominations are for the artists. I only contribute that percentage of creativity and love to the project on some albums, so that’s why I’m involved.”

Throughout his career, Nico He has also worked with figures such as Cazzu, Tiago PZK, Louta, Zoe Gotusso, Chita, Axel and Los Nocheros..

“It was like word of mouth”

-Your name started ringing a lot with the new pop and urban music litter. How was the initial transition, where you worked with Axel and transitioned to this new sound?

-I have worked for many years with another musical genre, perhaps very much meant to be broadcast on the radio. With Axel we made two albums and for us it went quite well; one won the Gardel de Oro, but at some point the relationship broke and I started producing low-budget projects, like Lucas & The Woods. Then Juan Ingaramo appeared, played it and we made the album best sellerthat opened the door for me to the alternative.

– Did Louta, Wos and Nicki come in from there?

-Yup. It was like word of mouth, even though I went to Knowing Russia because I wanted to produce it. For me urban has always been something more alternative, but over time I have learned, thanks to artists like Cazzu. It took me to Puerto Rico, where we made a record, immersed myself in that culture and understood it a lot more. All those productions have placed me in another place, where I can do alternative-urban-pop and even rock or folklore.

-Have you imagined the international projection that all the artists you produced had?

– More than imagining it, I began to see it. Those early hits of Duki, Cazzu and Khea were something new for everyone. It is as if they open a key and start driving it here and in other countries. And it happens not only with urban, but also with Knowing Russia, which has struck in Mexico.

-Do you prefer to work to release a single or to make an album?

-It depends on the project. For example, with Knowing Russia, I like to make a record with a concept designed to be heard from start to finish. But it’s also great to be single, because it gives you the freedom to do one thing one day and another later. Paulo Londra, for example, came up with a very rock song and then a reggaeton. And everything is fine. Music has been deconstructed, just like society. Before there was nothing like doing feats, and now it’s done all the time.

-With Mateo we made two Knowing Russia albums and we will definitely do a third. But there are artists who make a song with one producer, the next with another, and then maybe go back to the first one. As a producer, I have learned to let go. I understand that an artist cannot marry a single producer, even if it is only painful and you want to participate in a project that interests you.

“Give songs a 3D”

-Is your forte only production? Because in many hits you appear as a co-author. And do the mixes too.

-In these named songs I am not so much an author, but yes, I am a composer and I do the mixes, which is a work that is not very well known. This is where the finishing touches are given to the songs to give them a 3D and make them thrilling.

But I think my strong point is the production, which often goes hand in hand with the composition. In the urban genre, the composition goes hand in hand with the rhythm, so sometimes you present a rhythm and the singer is inspired to write a text and a melody.

-How does the perfect listening to a song happen in the studio and also on the mobile phone?

-The recording studio, when done right, is a super faithful representation of the entire spectrum of sound frequencies. But we must not stop thinking that people listen to it on their cell phone, on a bluetooth speaker or in the car. That’s why, when it comes to mixing or producing a song, these are places I pay a lot of attention to. You also need to be prepared to see how it sounds in a club, with a lot of bass.

-30-40 years ago, many technicians checked how a song or record sounded on an AM radio in a car.

-Yup. In the history of music that has always been controlled. In fact, I still use some Yamaha NC-10 speakers that were all the rage decades ago, to check out how they sounded on standard speakers in a home. There were also small square speakers called Auratone, which had a lot of midrange frequencies and mimicked the sound of a television or radio.

Ping Pong candidates

-You are nominated for the Wos albums. What was it like working with him?

-Good! As for Wos, Nicki and Ca7riel, which are the three projects I participated in the mix, it’s a great job because you have great producers, for example Facu Yalve and Tomy Sainz. They give you something that is very well recorded and the challenge is to improve it by 10-15%, add something and highlight a few things.

-And with Knowing Russia?

-That was more like a producer. The direction it was a great job old school, a fairly organic album, without editing or autotune. If there was an imperfection when we played live, we left it.

– Stay Juan Ingaramo.

-It is in the Quartet category, something I did not imagine! I produced a song that was a merengue, and it was a challenge because I had never produced that music. Luckily I had a merengue keyboard player and Javier Ponzá for the wind arrangements, but the challenge was to make it sound modern and current. It took me hours but it turned out great.

what’s coming

-Tell me about your current projects.

– There are a few that I can’t count, but what’s coming up is a folklore album with La Sole. She called me to produce something, perhaps thinking I would offer her a more pop sound, and I told her I would like to produce a folklore album for her. Maybe I changed her plan a little bit, but she was shocked because she didn’t expect it and it’s the music she loves. We are in the middle of the recording and we are very happy with how she is doing.

I am also working with María Becerra in a completely different genre and a song called Automatic.

And I keep doing things with Cazzu, Juan Ingaramo and Knowing Russia. With some artists I am already like a musical partner, but it is also good that each artist follows his path and the search for her. And if they call me, I’ll always be there.

-Finally, who would you like to work with?

I live in two worlds. On the one hand, I live in a more pop world, so I’d like to do a song with Bad Bunny or J. Balvin. I would also like to work with a great band like Coldplay, or produce a national classic like Fito Páez, Andrés Calamaro or Divididos. What I like most is being able to work on the music and surprise myself with what is happening and appearing.

All 17 nominations

• Production of the Year: The Direction – Getting to know Russia (production and mixing)
• Best Rock Artist Album: The Direction – Knowing Russia (Production and Mixing)
• Album of the Year: Dark Ecstasy – WOS (mix), El Disko – Ca7riel (mix) and Part of me – Nicki Nicole (mix)
• Song of the year: I was late – Getting to know Russia (production and mixing)
• Best Alternative Pop Album: La Batalla – Juan Ingaramo (Production and Mixing)
• Recording Engineering: Dark Ecstasy – WOS (mix) and El Disko – Ca7riel (mix)
• Best Alternative Rock Album: Dark Ecstasy – WOS (Mix)
• Choice Rock Song: Get Better – WOS (Mix)
• Best Urban Music Album: El Disko – Ca7riel (mix) and Parte de mi – Nicki Nicole (mix)
• Best Urban Music Song: Changing Your Skin – WOS ft. Nicki Nicole (mix)
• Best Urban Music Collaboration: Changing Your Skin – WOS ft. Nicki Nicole (mix)
• Best Concept Album: El Disko – Ca7riel (Mix)
• Best Quartet Song: The Mambo Phenomenon – Juan Ingaramo (production)

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