Diandra Interviews Centavrvs: We Are One
If there is one difference I notice between newer artists and older ones, in their reactions to this pandemic, is that the latter are calmer. While we are all scared, something about age, or rather going from being apart of a family to making your own one, pushes you to be strong. It teaches you that the tears are what you save for rare, special occasion: not the laughs and the “thank you’s.” Moreover, it forces you to be resilient and understand pain is something you carry but you don’t feed. Centavrvs have always been a band that speak that speaks against social justice, but as I spoke to Paco Martinez, it became clearer that the pandemic has made their music feel even more important.
Diandra: How are you?
Paco: We are working. Some days are more inspiring than others, but we try to keep our peace. We are trying to understand what is happening to us and try to learn new things. I am spending a lot of time in my garden and learning how to cook new meals.
Centavrvs – Ángel Tropical
Diandra: “Somos Uno” feels like it is especially pertinent to these times.
Paco: It has been four years since we released that record, and it is crazy to see how it is still relevant. At the time, we were singing to Mexico and the corruption of government happening in that year. At the time, 43 students had been disappeared by the police, which was something super crushing and confounding to country. How could they be ended like that? Apparently, humanity does not advance. We still commit the same errors, and, in that, people are still saying what they want and need from the world, from the powerful. We had just begun to do a new record when Covid had occurred.
Diandra: How was that record different?
Paco: We love to do concepts, and just exploring where our feelings and the vibes go. We leave it up to what happens in terms of our style, and whether or not we sing to love or society. It comes from our heart, which is why w sing to everything.
Right now, we are all so sensitive. We are all doing new things and experiencing heartbreaks we have never known. We always left dystopian futures for the future, but it feels like we have entered that future.
Centavrvs – Debilidad (Video Oficial)
Diandra: What do you feel has been the worst thing in witnessing this pandemic?
Paco: It is all just super sad. Not just the death, but a lot of people are going hungry and experiencing homelessness and for the very first time in their life. They never could have imagined their life would take such a devastating turn, and, in Mexico, we have a saying, “We don’t want to die of Covid, but we really don’t want to die of hunger.” So, for many, it feels like that is the choice and it is so sad.
Diandra: How do you think it will change music?
Paco: Well, we don’t have the life we thought we would have or even the one we knew. The arts have always been a way of empowering and enlightening people. I think now, more than ever, people are appreciating what we have, including a good song. You can’t avoid feeling a sense of gratitude for the little you have, especially in the face of so much loss. I don’t think we will ever come back from this the same, and you can tell with how many are reassessing their life. I think, just in that, what we sing to and what music we choose to create, even how, will be transformed.
Centavrvs – Volar Muy Alto
Diandra: Do you think that, in some ways, your music is predictive because it really does speak to the times, even though it came out years ago?
Paco: I think so. The arts are anchored in feelings, and are focused on transforming people’s energies and memories into something concrete. It helps people find their voice, and our mission, as a band, is to listen to music as much as to create it. We have to listen to our people and the sonic influences happening around us, as well as the social ones. So, it does become predictive because you are listening, and, in that, you can tell what is coming just by being open to what people are feeling.
Centavrvs – Volar Muy Alto
Diandra: That level of empathy and awareness must have really made you grow.
Paco: I feel like in singing to feelings you grow. Moreover, I think you just learn because you are fascinated. I have been moved by music since I was a child, and it has been my eternal companion. In giving me joy, I have used her to give joy to others. So as the years pass, I am constantly looking for more old music. I truly believe the best music has already been done. Music will always be about emotions and society’s handling of them, but I believe music, itself, has already given its best.
