Today, we’d like to introduce you to El Cuartito Sessions.
El Cuartito Sessions, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In May 2023, piano player and producer Nehemias Orellana decided to rally musicians to create a project that highlighted making content in a streamlined form that made everyone involved overcome a very well-known issue for musicians and creatives – overthinking.
He brought four friends into a small room – his home studio, with the idea of creating new musical ideas and covers that turned into original compositions. Eventually, the goal was to include different singers every week, allowing them to have short clips for social media content and bringing eyes to the newly formed project.
The idea worked, but there was a need for a bigger vision that could lead to more opportunities, so the efforts shifted to making a YouTube channel that highlighted full songs and interactions between the band and the artists that come in every week. That’s how El Cuartito Sessions was born.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The creation of a project like this has given each member a perspective on so many different aspects of production. From proper recording, direction of photography, and even a public relations perspective, every part of the team has embraced their knowledge and learned new techniques to keep El Cuartito running smoothly.
In the beginning, we struggled to rearrange the music we were playing. It took a long time to make changes so that it would be different enough, but that’s an ongoing process, like our videography, which keeps getting better thanks to Nico García. We always find ourselves checking for things to upgrade or practicing on the musical side.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
We are an artistic collective that features a band rearranging new and classic beloved songs with a different singer every week to be published on our YouTube page and social media. We started this project a year ago to put something out consistently; it has evolved into a full production with mixing engineers, producers, and a video team.
During this time, we’ve been able to connect with incredible singers and musicians, both local and international, who have allowed us to create great versions of songs we love while challenging ourselves as musicians, connecting people with artists who are coming up in the music industry, and foster a community that supports each other.
We record everything live, everyone playing together, which is something not as common in music as it used to be, and we establish a connection with singers that allows them to feel comfortable in our space. But most of all, we guarantee a light atmosphere with cool people who want to put their best out there.
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.
Most of what we’ve tried to do stems from risk-taking and curiosity. One could even argue that the project itself is a risk that needs to be taken. Using these gut feelings has made us learn so much, and it is immensely rewarding to see development. Sometimes, it can stem from wanting to separate ourselves from other proposals that have a similar output as we do, but it’s still always worth the effort.
Our biggest risk has been putting ourselves out there and learning to deal with the feedback and reception of a weekly video for relatively different audiences every time. As creatives, the time we put into our endeavor is extremely precious but not always received how we would envision, so being open, allowing ourselves to do our best, and staying consistent are the only things that can allow us to make bold decisions and embrace change.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elcuartitosessions/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@elcuartitosessions
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@elcuartitosessions
Image Credits
El Cuartito Sessions
