RICKY MARTIN
WITH HITS LIKE “LIVIN’ LA VIDA LOCA” AND “MARIA,” RICKY MARTIN BECAME THE KING OF LATIN POP. NOW, MARTIN RETURNS WITH TWO EPS: PAUSA AND PLAY, WHICH HE RECORDED WHILE IN QUARANTINE WITH HIS FAMILY IN LOS ANGELES.
Since the late-90s, Ricky Martin has been a mainstay on everyone’s party soundtrack. With his dashing looks and unabashed appetite for celebration, he has an undeniable staying power capable of filling up stadiums around the globe year after year. But with the world on pause, he’s taken a new approach to his music. In his latest EP, «Pausa, he’s joined by collaborators like Sting and Bad Bunny, and presents a more pared down sound. Martin fills us in on his time in insolation with his husband and four children, why he insists on getting dressed everyday, and when he might be ready to hit Play» again.
Zachary Weiss: You’re at home in Los Angeles with your family.
Ricky Martin: I’m spending quarantine with my four kids and my husband. My mother was also here. She came to visit the kids and she was not allowed to go back home. I’m also fortunate to have my assistant and my nanny with us. We have been friends for a very long time, so I have a great support system. We have no time to be sad in any way, shape or form. We have four kids that we need to give a sense of security. It’s been very interesting, but very beautiful at the same time.
ZW: You have a new album coming out, but it’s split into two parts.
RM: My music is very influenced by Africa and the Caribbean so there’s a lot of dancing and the atmosphere tends to lean towards more an electric, carnival type of thing, but that’s not where the world is at right now or where I feel like I am at this point. So I chose to separate this album into two, the first EP is called Pausa or “pause” in English. The next one will be called Play. I started recording this album nine months ago, but beautiful things happened while we were in lockdown and I really do feel like I got the chance to take a pause, so the honesty, the pain, the vulnerability that we’re all going through while the world has been changing, I think, comes out in these songs.
ZW: There are some great collaborators on this album.
RM: To be honest, it’s a lot of friends. We have Carla Morrison, Bad Bunny, Pedro Capó, and Sting, who I started working with when the lockdown started. I just reached out because I really needed to know how my friends were doing and to make a long story short, three or four days later, we were in our studios recording the parts. Sting was in London and I was in L.A.
ZW: And you collaborated with your husband, Jwan Yosef too.
RM: Yes! He’s a conceptual artist and of course we have to take pictures. He understands simplicity and I wanted everything to be simple, so the cover for Pausa is just my torso in front of a wall, because that’s where we are. It doesn’t matter who you are. We are all standing in front of this wall that is not letting us go anywhere. It’s time for reflection and I think it was important to tell the world that we need to find that introspective atmosphere for us to really fight our demons. I have to say it’s been fascinating because even though it’s very easy to get seduced by all this madness, I’ve seen the light. I’ve seen the light in the sense that I think it’s a perfect time for us to change and leave behind everything that was heavy, and focus on a new way of living.
ZW: When will you be ready to release the second half of this album, the Play portion?
RM: We’re thinking around November, which will give me some time to work on some mixes and maybe make another song. I don’t want to say that the album is already recorded because the creative process is not over until it’s over. A perfect example of this is “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” which was born when we were already mixing my album in 1999. So that’s where we are with Play. I think we may still be locked down in October or November, but it’s important to just bring that other side of life, in general. We need it.
“THE HONESTY, THE PAIN, THE VULNERABILITY THAT WE’RE ALL GOING THROUGH WHILE THE WORLD HAS BEEN CHANGING, I THINK, COMES OUT IN THESE SONGS.”
ZW: Will touring be apart of the plan, if it’s allowed?
RM: Absolutely. I’ve been touring since I was 12 years old and when this all started, the level of anxiety reached unknown territories for me because the information we had at the time was telling me ‘You’re never going to be able to see 20,000 people in front of you, performing on stage, ever again.’ So I was very anxious, and I started creating. I think that’s my defense mechanism as an artist. I’ve chosen this route to be optimistic and dream, so if we can do a tour, it’s going to be about celebration. Obviously I don’t know when this is going to happen, but I’m sure people are going to want to dance. It’s about liberation. It’s cathartic.
ZW: Acting is another big part of your creative repertoire and I loved your role in
The Assassination of Gianni Versace. RM: I love acting. I was 15 years old the first time I was on set, but music took me on a different route. I worked with Ryan Murphy when we filmed an episode of Glee, so it became a bucket list item to work with him again and when he picked up the phone and reached out about the Versace story, I was ready. So of course I want to go back to acting, but I also want to produce. Right now I’m working on a very important story from Latin America that I think needs to be told and it will probably take me four or five years to finish, so I can’t say much, but I want to, with a lot of respect, just immerse myself in this fascinating world of film and continue to learn.
ZW: Has it been a challenge to juggle these creative pursuits with parenting in quarantine?
RM: It has been challenging, but at the same time it hasn’t. We are in Los Angeles, our home is spacious, we’re healthy, so I try to keep my feet on the ground and maintain a larger perspective of the world and practice gratitude. I do think that just this time in silence has been amazing for my family, not just for the bonding time, but more than anything to see what needs to stay behind and create a new constitution for life. Every day I ask questions to my family, like, «How are you feeling today?” You cannot answer ‘good,’ because good is not a feeling. So that kind of exercise has been very healthy.
ZW: Have you started socializing with any friends?
RM: One of the things that we were advised to do is to find a family that was following the same quarantine rules as us, so we have found friends that are willing to come here to the house with social distance, because I think it’s extremely important to socialize for our mental health. We can’t be alone as human beings. We need company.
ZW: Would we recognize any of the names of any of these friends?
RM: I was able to share some time the other day with Edgar Ramirez, and it really was all about sharing. We talked about how we’re coping and how to share our experiences with others to make a difference, and then we listened to music and pretended it was 2019 again.
ZW: Do you have nights at home when you dress up? You must have an impressive wardrobe.
RM: I did get a large tattoo on my right leg by an artist I really respect, from my toes to my knee, so I’ve been using flip flops, but otherwise I make sure that I walk out of my room everyday wearing clothes, no pajamas and I make the kids do it too. It’s part of the rituals that help us have mental balance. It’s little things, little details like that which make a difference. But even in lockdown I’ve worn crazy Lavin jackets and other great pieces. I mean, everybody’s telling me, ‘Where are you going?’ and I might look ridiculous, because I’m not going anywhere, but whatever. I love fashion. I’m an artist, so I feel like I can do this.
ZW: Lastly, what are you most looking forward to?
RM: The second they open the doors I will be out there. I want to give my father a hug and travel and see friends and then I want to book my tour. Until then, I think it’s very important to make an effort every day by saying: «What will I leave behind and what do I want in my life that I need to create from now?»
“I’VE SEEN THE LIGHT IN THE SENSE THAT I THINK IT’S A PERFECT TIME FOR US TO CHANGE AND LEAVE BEHIND EVERYTHING THAT WAS HEAVY, AND FOCUS ON A NEW WAY OF LIVING.”