Raul Malo

Raul Malo
a.k.a. Raul Martinez Malo

RAUL MALO: YESTERDAY AND TODAY
The Mavericks have provided country music with the most exhilarating gust of fresh air in the past decade. Over the course of four acclaimed and eclectic albums, the Nashville-by-way-of-Miami quartet, fronted by powerhouse crooner Raul Malo, has unfailingly delivered memorable, expressive songs and scintillating musicianship. Now Malo, who can belt with the best of 'em on up-tempo numbers or set his soaring, muscular baritone to a heartbreaking love ballad, has stepped away to cut his first solo album, with Los Lobos' Steve Berlin. Today gives free rein to his increasing fascination with Latin music -- a fascination that comes naturally, given Malo's Cuban-American heritage -- balancing four Spanish-language numbers with big band-style swing tunes and beautiful torch songs. While preparing for his first solo tour, Malo took time out to discuss Today's genesis and reflect on his place in today's music scene with Barnes & Noble.com's David McGee.

Barnes & Noble.com: Let's get the obvious question out of the way. What does this solo album mean vis-à-vis the Mavericks?

Raul Malo: Well, let's see...I'm trying to figure out the best way to answer that. The Mavericks will always be a group. I think it might be a little shortsighted on my part if I were to say we would never make another record again. But as for right now, we're definitely not going to be doing anything anytime soon. I'm focusing on this record and several other projects I'm going to be working on. [For] Mavericks fans, this record's not going to surprise in any way. But the truth of it is I don't think the Mavericks could do this kind of record. So it was important for me to break out on my own and establish my own identity. Part of the reason for putting four Spanish songs on there is that maybe in the next year or so I'll do a complete Spanish album.

B&N.com: Thinking back on the Mavericks' albums, it's easy to hear the Latin influence becoming more pronounced over time. So your solo album seems a logical progression from the last Mavericks album, 1998's Trampoline, and your work with Los Super Seven on Canto.

RM: It certainly seems natural to me, and I've been wanting to do this for a while. And you're right, this is a funkier, more Latin extension of Trampoline. This is delving further into my roots and into the music I want to be making right now. I've been working on these songs for the past couple of years, but between Trampoline and working on Los Super Seven, that was the catalyst for this record.

B&N.com: How did Today come together?

RM: Getting to work with Steve Berlin on Los Super Seven was really the final impetus -- that was the missing link&. Steve Berlin and Alberto Salas, my co-producers on this, really added a lot to the record and to my music. The way they hear things -- their musical knowledge, the way they approach the recording process -- was great for me. I found myself more often than not just listening to what they were saying, which was really different for me because I've always been the guy in charge, always been the one to tell musicians what to play and what not to play. Getting to work with these guys and the great cast of musicians they assembled for the record, I found myself shutting up most of the time and just sticking to what I can do, which is sing. I know I've got them beat on that.

B&N.com: Is there anything you'd been listening to that influenced the direction you wanted to go in on Today?

RM: Nothing in particular. I knew when we were going to make this record that it was going to be kind of a hybrid record, because it's not a Latin music record; it's certainly a Latin-influenced record. It's not a country record by any means. I think this record conjures up a lot of different images, and it's indicative of the kind of stuff I like to listen to on a regular basis, and the music that's influenced me throughout the years. These songs are songs that I've written -- we're not interpreting covers here, or doing a remakes album, with the exception of "It Takes Two to Tango," which was done more for the fun factor and to get to work with my good friend Shelby Lynne. To me it doesn't seem unnatural or strange in any way, because I've always loved all kinds of music.

B&N.com: Do you hear anything on this album that sounds country to you? I don't think I do.

RM: No. There's nothing in there that sounds country to me, and it's not supposed to sound country. If I'd have wanted to make a country record I'd have made another Mavericks record, you know. So the whole point of this is to spread your wings and try other things artistically.

B&N.com: You mentioned Shelby Lynne, and that is indeed an unbelievable duet. After listening to her I had to take a cold shower, you know what I'm sayin'?

RM: Oh, I know, man. She is...oh, she's the best.

B&N.com: How did she come to be on the record?

RM: We were discussing the possibilities of a duet. Obviously you start thinking who you want to work with, and I just kept going back to her. I just love her to death, and she's an old pal. I'm kind of following in her footsteps in a way. She's been on the inside and the outside of Nashville, and I know the feeling. But on top of all that she's also a great friend. And what can I say? She's one of the best damn singers on the planet.

B&N.com: Did she nail it right off the bat?

RM: Yeah! We did it live, it took maybe all of two takes. It's imperfect, it's got little rubs here and there, but I love stuff like that. It's very natural sounding, and nobody does that. In this day and age, especially in the studio world, it's so easy to perfect everything that when you start doing that, it takes the humanity out of the records. It takes a lot of balls on singers' parts and musicians' parts to leave imperfections in there. To me that's what makes those records. My favorite records, all of them had flaws in them, but who cares?

B&N.com: Certainly in the category of daring moves would be to cut not one but four songs in Spanish. Did the label or your co-producers ever whisper in your ear that maybe you want to rethink that number in light of commercial considerations?

RM: I think there's always concerns about that. They had said they wanted three, initially, and to their credit when I said, "Guys, I have one more I really want to put on there that's a personal statement from me as a writer, as a singer" -- that song is "Ocho Versos," which is kind of a different kind of song for me. The label has been just great. The label helped pick the songs; they helped set the order of the songs -- they've been involved from the beginning. This is a new adventure for me, so I don't quite know what's in store or the way I should approach things. I know my musical instincts, but after that I don't know the business instincts or why we should do things. So I trust them to tell me.

B&N.com: On a philosophical note, there is a strain of Latin artists dating back to the '40s who have crossed over to American pop mainstream success. Obviously there's an artist such as Marc Anthony now, who works more in a Latin rock mode while keeping a foot in tradition. Do you see yourself in that line as a musical artist?

RM: You know what? If that's my place, I'd be happy with that. Again, it goes back to my musical influences that come out in my own music. I'm not pretending to be a Latin artist in any way, nor would I attempt to step on Marc Anthony's mantle, or Celia Cruz's mantle. I would never do that. I have borrowed from them, and have been influenced by Latin music, but I've also been influenced by a lot of other music.

October 23, 2001