Diandra Interviews Pantera Blue: The Blue Panther “Esta Hot”

When I heard Pantera Blue’s “Esta Hot,” I was like, “Yes, it is!” The track is 100% caliente, and can turn your quarantine into a perreo. Yet, though she may sing to fantasies, in truth, 2020 has been a year of total, quiet transformation. Raised as a classical pianist, by a family of classical pianists, Pantera Blue may have been on a musical track but it was not the one she wanted. Classical music can be very rigid and technical, while Pop music can be what you want it to be. In our interview, she discusses the struggles of being an artist, in comparison, to the freedoms it gives you as a person.

Diandra: How has 2020 changed you?

Pantera Blue: I think it has made official that you have to go digital. If you are not on social media or are not active in it, then it is impossible as an artist. It is really a hit of reality to artists but also to our future. But, on the other side, I made so much music in this lockdown. I have been searching for me in my music, and it was bad for awhile because, for 2 months, I had Covid and it was really bad. I could not even leave my bed. Now, I’m cooking and I’m starting back up again.

Diandra: How is “Esta Hot” a preview of the music you have made in quarantine?

Pantera Blue: I think it is a sound of “searching.” It is very much about the moment for the moment. I think that the songs I have made in quarantine like, “Esta Hot,” are all about power and chaining your perspective on life to feel more powerful as yourself. My dream is that my music reaches so many people and it empowers them. I want them to enjoy it. While some songs are sad and others are happy, they all transmit a message of simplifying your life to pick up your power.

Diandra: What made you change your sound?

Pantera Blue: It started a year ago. Then, the pandemic came and I made it official by releasing songs in the summer and starting social media accounts. The pandemic was like a cherry on a cake I was already baking. I was already inspired, but it solidified it because I decided on my name. I had always made paintings of panthers, and I was painting a blue one and I said, “That is it!”

I feel like the pandemic split people between those that got depressed and those that advanced and really started doing what they had always wanted. I was lucky to fall into the latter because I was working so much and really not listening or taking enough time for my music. It gave me purpose. I left my job for Pantera Blue, but I am so much happier. I can’t buy myself many things, but I am living out my creativity. When I was little, I was so anxious. Desperate to live how I am living now. I just thought, “If I don’t try now, then I will be miserable forever!”

Diandra: So what is the difference between performing as a classical pianist versus as Pantera Blue?

Pantera Blue: When you are a classical artist, it is very formal. You have to salute the people, and it is very much about protocol. I want freedom on stage. I want to do what I want.I’m excited to perform as Pantera Blue because I want to make my performance an experience. I want people to feel it in the moment, where as a classical artist you have to wait for a clap. I don’t want repression. You can scream and dance my entire show!

Diandra: If Pantera Blue was a character in a film, which actress would you want to play her?

Pantera Blue: Catherine Zeta-Jones! I am obsessed with her, especially in the movie Chicago. She has a way of playing powerful and vulnerable that I think is what is Pantera Blue; someone who is strong even when down. She is just so sexy, which I love. It is so feminine and powerful. I like women that refuse to let men make them small, even if they are facing off with 70 sexists. One confident woman is more more powerful then 20 guys put together.

Diandra: How do you see music? Like a lover, friend, or adviser?

Pantera Blue: Like a lover! 100% Music has always inspired a feeling in me that I have never felt in any other art form. It is a magic that sweeps me off of my feet. It is like, “Wow!” A friend or adviser can guide or protect you, but music seduces you. It has taught me to believe in myself and be dominant. Before, when I played classical music, I was at the feet of composers. Now I am making what I want.

Diandra: How do you define “dominance?”

Pantera Blue: I think, for me, what I lacked years ago was freedom. To dominate over yourself and what you want is to not be obsessed with people’s criticism and being so technical. I need to give that message to people; a belief in yourself and how you can be more than what others think. So, for me, Pantera Blue, and dominance, means liberation. Through her, I have let go of how I was taught. Moreover, a panther is symbolic of elegance and strength, while blue is sad and intimate. I wanted a symbol that was strong but mysterious and soft.