In our Tell Me Más Q&A/feature series, we ask some of our favorite Latin American celebrities to share the inside scoop on their lives and some of the ways they prioritize their mental health. This month, we spoke to Colombian rising star Elsa and Elmar about avoiding burnout, protecting her mental health, and how it all played into the making of her latest album, PALACIO.
Elsa Margarita Carvajal is no stranger to success. The Latin American Grammy-nominated singer, better known by her stage name Elsa y Elmar, has been making waves in the music scene for over a decade. But with her latest album, PALACIO, out on August 30 and on the cusp of her biggest tour to date, Carvajal is poised to reach a whole new level. Getting to this level once meant spending years on the indie circuit and playing solo bars trying to connect with people who had never heard of him. And even though the days of the unknown indie artist are behind her, the singer admits that the pressure remains. Carvajal says pressure can be both good and bad. On the one hand, it can encourage artists to achieve bigger and better things, reaching the level previously achieved by their idols.
But on the other hand, the constant pressure to achieve more and compare yourself to your peers or those who came before can be harmful from a mental health perspective. The singer says that sometimes she was in a constant state of work, thinking about what else she could do. This forced her to take a much-needed break to recharge after her latest album, Ya No Somos Los Mismos. However, in the intervening two years, the singer-songwriter has learned valuable lessons about self-care, knowing when to be “on” and when to take time for herself. what she’s going to do next, Carvajal was able to recover from burnout with her new disc “PALACIO”. The album is the first from her new label, Elmar Presenta, and tackles the various challenges that many of us face on a daily basis. In a recent interview, she sat down with PS to talk about mental health and creative pressure, as well as dive into some of the sentiment behind the project.
PS: You are about to perform at your biggest venue ever. How does it feel to get to this point in your career?
Elsa and Elmar: You know, it’s really interesting because the odds were against me. I’m not from a generation of pop women like Belenova, Juliet Venegasand Natalie Lafourcade. And I’m not an urban artist either. I’m an artist that people I’ve worked with from day one have said, “I don’t know where you fit in. I don’t know how to explain (your sound) whether you’re independent. or alternative.”
PS: What are some things that might surprise people about being a professional musician?
Elsa and Elmara: It is physically and mentally demanding and requires a lot of patience. . . I feel like I’m always on.
PS: How have you learned to balance the pressure to be creative with the need to switch off and indulge in self-care?
Elsa and Elmar: I try to make the most of the periods when I feel most creative and produce as many ideas, songs and videos as I can because I know there will be a dry spell at any moment. But I also try to take advantage of the times when I’m not feeling so creative and not stress, trusting that the creativity will return.
PS: What were some of the factors that led to your two-year hiatus?
Elsa and Elmar: I was tired of bureaucracy, of expectations, of working with big labels, of chasing the carrot. I decided that if I was going to chase a carrot, it was going to be my carrot.
PS: The album is filled with songs that deal with real life issues. But perhaps the song that has garnered the most attention so far is “Entre Las Piernas,” a song that celebrates menstruation. What inspired you to tackle a subject that is still considered taboo by some?
Elsa and Elmara: To be honest, this topic didn’t really occur to me as worthy of a song until one day it just occurred to me that half the population of the planet bleeds once a month. And even today in 2024, it’s a topic that’s still taboo, that still worries people, and we shouldn’t talk about it… and I just thought, ‘There’s been thousands of love songs written and none have been written about this very common topic. ? “
PS: In another album highlight, you get an incredible sense of the “mini heartbreak” that occurs when “Visto” is read, a uniquely digital problem that the singer manages to make feel timeless. Why would you think something as simple as ignoring via text could be so painful?
Elsa and Elmára: Apparently there are good reasons why people don’t read. . . but what I’m talking about in the song is when you’re vulnerable with someone and they leave you reading, and it’s horrible because they don’t understand why the other side of the conversation, instead of communicating what they feel, removes the possibility of communication and leaves you with a mountain of questions and self-doubt.
P.S. Finally, for those who might be going through what you’ve been through these past two years—the heartbreak, the pressure, the procrastination—can you give any advice on how you kept yourself centered?
Elsa and Elmar: One day I was listening to a little chat and (I heard something) that I thought was very beautiful. If a problem has a solution, it is not a problem. And if it doesn’t have a solution, it’s not a problem.
Whether it’s her interviews or her work, Carvajal’s vulnerability comes across effortlessly. And yet she also understands that vulnerability is a challenge for many of us today. But if she’s learned anything in the last two years, it’s that in order to make room for love, work or anything else, we must first make room for ourselves, a place for ourselves in our “PALACIO”.
“PALACIO” will drop on August 30th.
Miguel Machado is a journalist with expertise in the intersection of Latino identity and culture. He does everything from exclusive interviews with Latin music artists to opinion pieces on societal issues, personal essays related to his Latinidad, and think pieces and features on Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican culture.
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