Diandra Interviews Francisca Valenzuela: Finding Your Fortaleza

For Francisca Valenzuela, her latest album, La Fortaleza, was a personal process of rebirth that became a hit record and emblem for a changing society within her beloved Chile. In our interview, even she was surprised at the kismet and slight predictiveness her record captured in being the virtuous tale of someone redefining what strength means to herself as her nation would do, as well. With our interview just at the cusp of this global crisis, it is a riveting read that captures an artist whom is not just talented but intuitive.

Diandra: What are things about yourself you were able to love through this record?

Francisca: What a great question! Listening to the album, now, I see a lot of growth and strength and vulnerability and sensuality. In each song, I see myself in a different light in the world each song proposes. They show me that I have so many dimensions and I can live and own all of them, especially on stage. Even the dark ones, they illustrate moments that were hard, and I am able to see that I have let them go. It’s nice to know I have moved on and that was a moment in the past and it is not today.

Francisca Valenzuela – Flotando (Video Oficial)

Diandra: It must be so nice, as an artist, to have a discography that is a scrapbook of sorts.

Francisca: 100% It is totally a scrapbook. It is like looking at yourself at another time and you see yourself in other clothes and you were this old and you think to yourself, “What was I thinking?” (she laughs) It is, basically, that: the decisions you make in that moment and who you are in that moment. You connect it through time and you outgrow that decision and, sometimes, it makes sense and, sometimes, it doesn’t and it is okay.

Diandra: With your song “Heroe,” would you call yourself a hero, and do you see that term is more human than superhuman?

Francisca: I think we are all heroic. (she laughs) The fact that we wake up everyday and choose to continue is pretty heroic: no matter what we are going through. I don’t see it as something  exceptional, but something that is, surprisingly, mundane. It is the choice to keep going in your life: no matter what the situation you overcome. I feel a connection to that song for the specific time and space it was written and how I overcame a moment I had to overcome. Yet, I think is is an honor to sing to human resilience, which never ceases to amaze me.

Diandra: It is funny! When I look at history, I think to myself: we are so stupid and strong. Look at us, we are so violent, yet we keep going on and being resilient.

Francisca: I know! I know! It is so beautiful and at the same time so “What?!”

Francisca Valenzuela feat. Elsa y Elmar – Ya no se trata de ti (Acústico en vivo)

Diandra: It is a testament to our duality, which is something that I felt in your record. It goes into really dark spaces with such a lightness.

Francisca: I agree! I, definitely, like to navigate in that duality. I tend to have that duality present to make things celebratory and vivacious and silly, while having moments that are dark and somber. When I make a record or live set, I have a maximal/ minimal approach, and I love how that, naturally, comes through and I have embraced it. I think that is human and apart of the dimensions we have. I used to really get down on myself that I couldn’t be an artist with a set image or genre: that I was so changing. But, now, I love it and I see it represents how we all are so versatile in every way. I connect and really feel the dark and lighter moments and I combine them to make something that is yummy to listen to but also emotional and like a story.

Diandra: I feel like you have grown a lot from he record and  let go of comparisons. Do you feel the record pushed you to do that or the moment, itself?

Francisca: Mmmmm! It is so lovely talking to you because this is reflective in the album. It was a moment, like a photo, and the album reflects that growth. I think I was committed to grow in a positive way. It was always a struggle, but the difference was commitment, especially as an artist, to embrace what makes sense to me and let go of the doubt and insecurity. The process of taking and owning my Life journey, for the past few years, has helped me to embrace my artistry and make it more freely and fluidly.

Diandra: Your music, in listening, is very playful and progressive. Do you feel that to push those qualities you have to be light-hearted?

Francisca: It is cool that you see that because we operate sub-consciously; so, I am not really aware of what I am doing. I just love being a musician from Chile to the world. If I don’t operate that way then it would be more difficult. I do think, at the same time, I am not doing heart surgery. Being a musician is a luxury, and I am not taking away the value of molding and making culture. Yet,  knowing what is important has kept me clear to keep moving and going in this industry, as well.

Diandra: Well, musicians can be surgeons of the soul.

Francisca: That is beautiful!

Diandra: And I think that its not by chance that this record came out when Chile was going through its own reflections and transformations. How do you see then the common ground between an individual, like yourself, finding healing and a nation?

Francisca: I think there is a commonality, especially in the concept of this album in having strength. You are only as strong as the community that lifts you up and keep you together. I think being strong as an individual and the being strong as a society goes hand in hand. It is a virtuous relationship that is to be protected and is sacred. I think what is happening in Chile, with its revolutions, has to do with building a society and asking yourself what spell have we been under> It is about building a fortress and an identity, as well, and thinking to yourself “What is strong?” and changing the paradigm, both individually and collectively, on what it means to be strong so to include more vulnerability and let go of these patriarchal notions.

Diandra: I think it was cool that you worked on this album a year before, and it comes out when Chile begins this revolution of sorts. Talk about ‘knowing” without KNOWING! Being able to pick up that change in the air before it even changed.

Francisca: I think it is really interesting to see how we are connected in this sense. We are all thinking these same ideas like, there is this unconscious intelligence, too. It is is silent and quiet and building. It makes me excited. Before, wit my earlier songs, like “Buen Soldado,” people would complain and make me wonder, “Am I being this hysterical female,” and it excites me to be apart of a generation that is changing the paradigm and how we talk about each other and to each other. We are shifting the paradigm as a community and living with our eyes open and having a more empathetic drive.

Francisca Valenzuela – Por Qué Me Lo Hiciste? (Live A Capella)

Diandra: I love your answers. You just elevate answers to a place where I feel even my questions are elevated.

Francisca: Thank you for these yummy questions.

Diandra: Ultimately, do you feel your music and this industry has taught you to love better?

Francisca: What a profound question! I don’t think it is the industry, specifically, as much as life. We all live in such an emotional way and to work has to do with emotions. We connect from and emotional and visceral place. To embrace that and understand that and squeeze that and value has the potential to activate your art and is really beautiful. That has been a learning experience for me.

Francisca Valenzuela – Nunca Quise Herirte (Audio Oficial)

Don’t miss Francisca’s playlists for this Quarantine. For More Information On Francisca Valenzuela And To Buy La Fortaleza Click Here.