Baltamusic

novelas, keurig, and vegas!

2010-11-23T01:16:00.000-08:00

lots of great news for the end of the year.

gloria trevi's "esa hembra es mala" debuts at #3 (itunes mexico) & #31 (itunes usa) charts
gloria trevi's "esa hembra es mala" is the theme for the novela teresa (univision)
dulce maria's album "extranjera" debuts at #1 in mexico

the grammys were so much fun! i'd like to thank my wonderful family for their support (flying all the way to vegas) and especially my dad who helped me win BIG at the slot machines in vegas!

the first of december i arrive at monterrey to start pre-production for los claxons.

the fifteenth of december is my 3rd year wedding anniversary! how time flies!

to top it off, we got a keurig coffee machine!

next year I am switching my baltamusic.com page to spanish.

hasta luego.

fall time is tea time (is grammy time)

2010-10-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

thanks to everyone who called, e-mailed, texted, twittered, etc.. about the grammy nomination... it feels great when you're surrounded by people that believe in you and help you push forward... sadly the latin grammys will be held in vegas this year so it may be difficult to enjoy :)

although it may seem like the music industry is quiet from the outside... i can tell you there's a lot of cool shit going down...great songs that are being written and albums just dying to be released...

i recently went on a tea shopping binge and bought many different assorted teas to help me get through those long nights in the studio and to improve my concentration...has it worked? i'm not sure:

-chamomile
-honey vanilla chamomile
-anise chamomile
-green
-mint
-green mint
-mango peach
-yerba mate

etc.....and then there's a tea I have called "bedtime story" and one even called "envious flowers"!

i bought a ukulele in seattle and a snare drum.

jannette chao came to miami to song-write and to start production on her new album, she is truly gifted as a lyricist and as a musician, but she's not what you call a "pig-out" buddy...for that I signed up jeronimo sada who came to also begin work on his album which should be coming out late next year. he's also trying to put a small scrach in what has been etched onto the "latin-pop" arrangement stone.

lastly i am working on an ultra top-secret project in my free time that i am thrilled about....vegas here we come!

songwriting pie

2010-07-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

don't get me wrong i have done intense songwriting weeks before (maybe like 2 or 3)...but this was the first one that I was to host at my studio...so i thought the best way to focus on songwriting was to stock up and prepare on the non-musical side. here's what I bought:

- napkins
- gasoline
- hand sanitizer
- 1 huge jar of cashew mix (almonds sabotaged by 3rd day)
- 30 bags of chips
- 2 liters coke
- basic cookies
- 4 boxes of fig newtons (we almost ran out of those!)
- 4 gallons grape juice (gone by 2nd day)
- 2 pounds of grapes (also gone)
- 24 pack of starbucks mocha (1 left)
- 1 bagel
- cream cheese
- 24 pack of XX (destroyed)

- 32 pack of water (almost untouched)

- 24 pack of toilet paper

when the 4 gallons of grape juice were gone, i realize that i not only failed kalimba as a friend, but as a studio...either way we came up winning with the songs. chama (kalimba's guitarist) had a major blast and ripped a couple or 1.5 amazing guitar solos per song written...we celebrated at the end of the week at el mercadito here in miami (best mexican food ever. <--period).

Mexico DF Songwriting Trip #2

2010-06-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

i was pretty hungry...

this last trip to mexico df was just as amazing as the first one...kind of like disneyland (once you get there you don't want to leave). i arrived at the airport and zipped to the sony offices for my first writing session with julio from reik. And we had some freaking tacos that just hit the spot. then I went to this new mall they have over there called antara and had tea with dani blau and alejandra alberti, then had some pizza and wrote a great song! got home at about 3 am..

4 hours later...

i arrived 40 minutes early to my writing session at 8am...so i had some morning tacos! my first session was with a veteran pro argentine-mexican manu moreno (there was unfortunately no food). we barely finished the song in time and so I headed to westwood at 2pm to write with miss sofi mayen...luckily they saved the day and brought us some chips and cookies. I headed home to sleep for a couple and then at 10pm - I headed for my last session with pablo latapi (not the famous anchorman - his son) who will be releasing his solo album soon... my cousin attempted to make some quesadillas at 3am and they all got stuck to the frying pan, but we managed to save a few and they were actually pretty good.

4 hours later...

the next morning i arrived early again (i was still trying to calculate mexico traffic - which is impossible) and maru gomez from sony had bought everyone pastries! they were awesome and we barely left any for xuan long from try casete, with whom I wrote a great song that morning. at around 2pm maru drove me to write with kalimba for his upcoming album. at around 5pm i headed to jose luis ortega's house to write. he's in a band called rio roma which should be coming out later this year. then I headed to my temporary home at 11pm where john rhose from rhose was waiting for me to write. we had some pig skin and mangos and it was too heavy a dinner to sleep correctly.

4 hours later..

my last morning was with jannette chao and it was a crazy writing session, but crazy good of course. she made me awesome toast! then she had to leave for the airport...so i decided to have some sushi and then head to universal music for a quick meeting (no food here). my last meeting was with axel dupeyron - an up and coming bro-ducer...and too soon before I knew it...TACOS with my cousin and a double dulce de leche flan to finish off beautifully!

a really special thanks to the vidal family and maru and david at sony/atv publishing mexico for putting up with me throughout my stay!

allergy-free spring

2010-04-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

yeah right. i've been keeping busy with my upcoming album "baltacoustic" which should be availabe in a month or so:

los claxons finally have a release date for their album (May 25th, 2010)

dulce maria's album will also be available in may through universal. i have a track on there called "vacaciones" that i wrote with alih jey.

i will update this page soon with other upcoming projects. i promise i will update more often. thanks for visiting and be sure to leave comments...be them good or bad!

holiday half-hiatus + upcoming projects.

2010-02-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

i really tried to stop working on the holidays (even cooked some gourmet meals and created fondue), but it was to no use and i ended up writing a bunch of tracks in the studio...i'm talking a good amount (which was later reduced to a handful)and even had some time to work on some personal projects, which hopefully will be ready for your consumption later on this year.

i co-wrote a couple of songs for nicolas mayorca's debut album on EMI..available on March 17. if you like pop and rock mixed together (i know it's a weird concept!) check him out definetly.

songwriting in DF

2009-11-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

here's a funny story... the other night me and songwriter alih jey finish writing this song called "vacaciones" (vacations)...and that very night I actually take a vacation ..to the hospital! I was emergency roomed and intensive-cared for about 5 hours and stayed for 4 days. my gall bladder is out and i feel lighter and better. now on to my songwriting trip to mexico DF.

Dulce Maria
the first two days I wrote with this ex-RBD vocalist. she has an overflow of ideas running through her head and we tried to put em out and organize them on paper, and then on to some songs. song topics were thrown around like footballs throughout the session...words were rhymed and sushi was had. it was an amazing and one-of-a-kind experience. i also had the fortune to visit studio 105 in mexico which is, in one word, "homey". great vibe and personnel. the third day I also wrote for Dulce Maria's project with Angela Davalos and Monica Velez, which are both great songwriters in their own style. the songs, words and lyrics flowed like wine at a wedding in Canaan. the last day consisted of writing with Marcela De La Garza (a soulful songwriter and artist from Monterrey) and Sofi Mayen who...in a few months from now, you will be accepting as your new DF pop-rock queen. now I have to get back to work!

songwriting bonanza

2009-10-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

ximena sariñana: 4 songs mostly just "finishing" some awesome ideas that she came up with. los angeles. the food was always great, the studio (westlake studios assisted by antonio resendiz) was awesome and accommodating. ximena is truly remarkable as an artist and a great friend! best of luck to her on her upcoming album.

chenoa: 1 song, wrote it back in the day with ale alberti and mauricio gasca...with gasca producing the track...it's called Me Caes Tan Bien. it has already been released in Spain, but no release dates available for US or Mexico.

jeremias: for his upcoming 3rd album... this guy's got his own lyrical thing going on i don't even set one pinky-toe in there when writing with him. the food's always great when I write with him too for some reason..

balta: i wrote with myself...the food was ok.

video game music: for the first time ever, i wrote some instrumental music with help from Greg Byers, an amazing cellist and bassist. i loved the experience, and hopefully my music will be on a game console!

claxation termination

2009-08-24T08:56:00.001-07:00

an amazing band made up of 5 amazing people. each with a different creativity and different views of music coming together for pop goodness. you bet we compromised. we fought. we laughed. we had spicy tacos. we cried. (in that order i think...) i think in the end nobody really had an idea of how it was going to sound, but that was a good thing.

being away from home for a whole month affected my head (and my stomach) in a weird way, but i really didn't notice until i was getting off the plane here in miami. el cielo studios is the best studio environment that i have ever worked in. gino orona, the in-house engineer is great to work alongside with, and the equipment and facility is first class. 7-time grammy award winner javier garza engineered and mixed the project to perfection. still not impressed?

their songwriting will blow your pop socks off. watch out.

1,001 nights with 0das

2009-07-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

seriously...this project took more time than anyone would have wanted...but that's how serious we were about the music. the guys at 0das are one my local favorites here in the soflo scene (that's south florida for all you outsiders). they're bolivian and i felt bolivian around them and so did ethan. ethan carlson is the producer i worked with on this project. he's full of great ideas and auditory discipline, couldn't have done it without him.

0das is about pop rock. but listening to it will remind you to what rock was supposed to be. insane ideas, guitar solos, fun, following your heart, and sticking together. great job guys...we finally finished!

the two sides of alejandra alberti

2009-06-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

the songs were written. the clock ticked. the deadlines were met. the musicians and engineers brilliant. and whatever crazy ideas that were trapped inside alejandra's head were successfully transfered into what has become "vueltas". it's the first time i've done an album split into 2 different genres, and it was definitely a creative test and journey. after listening to it the whole way through, i have to say everybody that worked on it gave it their all, and left their dent on the album...a nice dent of course.

Welcome to Baltamusic!

2009-05-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

thanks for visiting the site...this blog will serve as a great starting point to everything baltamusic has to offer!