Juan Wauters Reaches To Break Down the Wall Between Artist and Audience
☆ By Cathleen Kerrigan ☆
STARTING OUT WITH JUST A SIMPLE CONCEPT — Juan Wauters had the idea to write with other people, perform with his peers, and see what happened. “I wanted to see how that would affect my songwriting,” he said. “And it definitely did — because the music came out really crazy.” Collaborations with artists including Homeshake, Mac DeMarco, Nick Hakim and Benamin, David Aguliar, and others took his sound in several new directions. But when COVID struck, he had to reassess his plans. “I had to rethink how to make [the album] … so during the lockdown, I would listen to the songs a lot, and I would goof around the studio.”
Real Life Situations — released on Captured Tracks today — ended up becoming a beautifully developed showcase of Wauters’ change and growth as an artist. Though the impact of the pandemic on Juan’s record was huge, it was not necessarily negative. “In some way, [it later] started finding a cohesive shape,” he said. “Luckily, this time around, I didn't have to rush. It was a slow, slow process.”
However, despite such growth, Wauters wasn’t always set on becoming the singer-songwriter he is today. When he was younger, Wauters originally wanted to become a math teacher and has been using his spare time over the past year to reconnect with his love of math. “I always wanted to be in contact with the youth to show them how maths could improve their livelihood and their life,” he elaborated. “Because that was shown to me, and I wanted to pass that on. Then I found [that], through music, I could do some kind of social work as well. I feel like I could bring some kind of a positive outlook to life through music also.”
Wauters insists that a mathematician/musician is not as unusual a crossover as it sounds. “Well, back in classical music — like Beethoven back — those people were mathematicians also,” he explained. “I started liking music actually through math. I liked math first in school and when I discovered music, I was like, ‘Oh, this is very much like math — the music theory.’ But then I deviated from music theory and mostly concentrated on making music that had to do with my expression away from the theory.”
With his easy rhymes and rhythms, and sweet, unaffected voice, much of Wauters’ music is buoyant, fun, and joyful. His last two albums La Onda de Juan Pablo and Introducing Juan Pablo have a mix of that liveliness interspersed with more introspective and thoughtful songs. These two aspects are on full show in Real Life Situations, with some fun, light songs between some darker, thought-provoking audio clips and snippets. “I am a very introspective person,” Wauters said. “I like to record people's conversations in public places for fun, you know, aside from music. And then I type it down … We were exposed to a lot of violence during last summer in New York — I thought it would make sense to put [some of that] in the album.”
Through his sincere lyrics and the audience interaction in his live shows, Wauters seems to continually reach to break down the wall between artist and audience. He has always made music for his own personal pleasure, but found that other people seemed to have a liking for his songs, too. “Since then, I’ve been finding ways to understand how I would like to present myself in public,” he explained. “The show only happens when there's people in the audience. If there's no one in the audience, the show won't happen. It's quite a simple idea, but it's true. So they might have something to say, or they might have something they might want to do while you're out there just trying to break the boundaries.”
There’s no front or pretence to his act — Wauters always goes up on stage as he is.“Sometimes I wish I had created a persona, just to protect my personal life, [but] that's the only way I like doing it. I definitely do my thing on stage.”
Juan believes the music he’s made so far has been a loyal representation of who he is as a person. And that — more than anything — gives him the satisfaction of “success.” “If I continue playing music for a long time and continue doing the albums the way I want to, and I buy myself a house and a piece of land somewhere, I think I’ll have made it then,” he said. “I'm where I think I want to be … I feel like I have succeeded because I made the album I wanted.”
Before COVID, Wauters had the instant gratification of live support at a show, which made him feel that what he does is “important to the world — at least to them.” But his inner validation is what truly keeps him centered, grounded, and happy. “I think that comes after I validate myself as an artist, because when I validate myself as an artist, they do.”
So far, Wauters has been rolling with the punches in the music scene. He’s made albums for personal pleasure that he’s happy to share with the world. “I have a constant impulse to make music and write my life through those songs. And I like to travel and experience new cultures. I like to see myself represented in the world and everybody else, while making music has made me be in touch with a lot of people. And through that, I've been able to understand that there isn't much of a difference between all of us. It's definitely been a trip. I will not stop, because I have that impulse.”
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