In March 2020, a few days after the pandemic changed everything, Alan Tejeda was in Córdoba, prior to a new tour of Mexico with Paulo Londra, his lifelong friend and artist whom he seconded as DJ and animator.
He came from a hectic couple of years to be part of the crew of the star of the moment, the man from Córdoba who catapulted himself into the world from the San Salvador neighborhood and became the most listened to Argentine singer. All with just 20 years and in the middle of a legal tangle that today sows doubts about the near future of his career.
Change of plans
Tejeda was the protagonist of that movie in real time. From trips, meetings with fans, shows at festivals and venues across the continent (and also in Europe), tours, hotels and all that that entails. However, less than a year ago, all of that was cut off and other needs began to take more prominence on his head.
“As much as I was closely linked to the urban genre for being Paulo’s DJ and having parties and everything, I was not so happy with the fact that I played music from other artists like, I don’t know, Daddy Yankee or Don Omar. I wanted my music to play. Singing I am a disaster and electronics always connected me to a different level ”, he says today about the origins of Five or Five, his brand new project as a DJ.
“Although I continue with Paulo and the Lions with Flow, who are my brothers in life and I don’t change them for anything in the world, it was more of an internal process of mine to also seek my musical happiness. This debut is very special for all that it represents ”, he comments on the first session he stars in with this new pseudonym.
The particularity of the record is that Tejeda is playing in the middle of a forest in Villa Berna, Calamuchita. With an ambitious staging, the DJ offers a one hour and twenty minute set in which he shows much of the music that will be part of his next live sets. In addition, the video and Tejeda himself are part of the project Empathy Through Music o ETM Project, audiovisual and social development focused on the protection of natural resources and care of the environment.
“All this was born with the fires,” explains Tejeda. “My brother’s house in Tanti was very close to being affected. That mobilized me a lot. I wanted to do something about it and didn’t know how. One day we got together with Florencia (Pedregosa) and we chatted about it. We started throwing out ideas and ETM emerged, which is a monster that is growing more and more ”, he says about this project that seeks to raise awareness of natural heritage with live music sessions in natural settings.
The first, in Villa Berna, was carried out by a group of 15 people who settled for two days to shape the surprising audiovisual. The idea is to replicate the experience at least three more times showing other locations and other problems.
“It’s a mix of things that we like and things that concern us,” explains Pedregosa, Tejeda’s creative partner at ETM. “We all know what happened but we didn’t want to show destruction and death. We try to find a way around it so that the message is one of awareness but also positive ”, he says about this first record generated with the contribution of volunteers, something that will also be explored in future editions through camps.
In parallel
“My idea is to play, go on tour and everything, respecting the times when I have a show with Paulo and looking for the balance between both things,” explains Tejeda about this new path that formally begins as Five or Five.
“I want to do sessions, bring up topics. I already have several tracks ongoing, some collaborations. I want to unite the two worlds in which I am and generate an intermediate point by making electronic songs with urban artists ”, he synthesizes.
“All this time in quarantine helped me to be super prepared. On a musical and production level I grew a lot. Now whatever comes, I’m ready for anything, “he adds enthusiastically.
-Do you apply any of your experience as part of Paulo Londra’s team?
-When working for so long with a super professional team, doing shows like the Lollapalooza or the Hipódromo (in Palermo), I applied the law of the sponge. I absorbed everything and the truth is that I get a lot of things out of all that. One understands that there is a team, that this is for something and that each person is fundamental. The two worlds intersect. I was lucky to have always had a friend close to him who is an artist worldwide and I saw his entire process and how everything happened from the artistic point of view. That helps me and nourishes me a lot for what I do. I try to apply everything I have seen and witnessed.
– At some point did the fact of being “Paulo Londra’s DJ” weigh on you?
-I try to take it well. Being related like this, far from causing me something bad, makes me proud. Also living up to the circumstances in which one played is not for everyone. That brought a lot of good things. Also, people give me a lot of love, the messages are not lacking, the support is unconditional. Now I am trying to generate my project, my themes, so whoever wants to join, join.
-What do you think of Paulo’s conflict with Big Ligas and his difficulty in releasing new music?
-As a listener of him I hope he will release music soon. He is an incredible artist and what he does, how he does it and his way of being, represents me a lot. I look forward to him putting out music and God endorsing justice. We, meanwhile, do things well.
-You had a very inward year. How is 2021 coming?
-I have had a couple of opportunities to play but I am very focused on my project. In my mind, my goals are to record sets and release songs. I’m very focused on that, on making music and enjoying the process. With ETM hopefully we can do six more sessions, to continue developing the theme of camp, that they are not just musical sets but an experience. We would like to be the hotbed of many artists who are very talented and do not have the possibility to work on projects of this type.
