Music has the power to transcend and inspire, it has the power to influence and motivate, it has the magic of flight and it has the mechanism for movement. Have you ever heard a song that took you back twenty years, to that time you were with your friends/your partner/in your car? Those songs resonate for years because you made a connection with it. It had a hook, a lyric or a story that you would fall asleep with, hoping to remember it in the morning, so you could purchase it later in the day. Those songs have a legacy and a life, long after they fall off the top 10 charts. Today’s hits will continue to resonate with us twenty years from now, and I know that the music by artist Altur Santos will be part of it.
Robert Arturo Mejia Santos, known professionally as Altur Santos – is a Dominican Reggaeton Singer and songwriter from Dominican Republic. His aim is to write positive uplifting music that encourages people to work toward their dreams. His latest track spells it all out in Solita. It was inspired by a close friend of his going through a breakup. He wanted her to know that she deserves better and to keep moving forward. Altur Santos – is what you put on the stereo after a bad day at work, a mental breakdown or just bad news. His music is better than a band-aid, an Advil or any crutch that you might reach for to take your pain away. Once you are able to fill your prescription for Altur Santos music, the sooner you’ll find your nirvana!
Here is the link. You can thank me later!
https://open.spotify.com/artist/022RWmmEi2RWjL5RsOPOqR
I had the incredible and unique experience of speaking with Altur about Solita and what it means to him. It was very enlightening.
HNM “Your new song Solita is in Spanish. Could you translate what the song is about?”
ALTUR “It’s about a girl that gets her heart broken after a bad experience with her boyfriend. I’m telling her that she deserves better and reminding her that she’s worth it. I had a friend come over that was very broken – I felt the pain and the energy and I went to the studio, created the song and released it the same day.”
HNM “What was her response like after you told her you created a song about her experience?”
ALTUR “She loved the song (laughing). I released it just for fun, but everybody loved it and went crazy for it.”
HNM “As a Spanish performer, where do you find most of your audience/listeners?”
ALTUR “In the beginning I used to play saxophone and would perform in many countries, so my audience is all over the world. I grew up in the Dominican, so that’s where my biggest audience is.”
HNM “How welcoming has Toronto been to you since arriving?”
ALTUR “Everybody here is really loving the music. I wasn’t expecting them to because it’s not a Latin country. For some reason, everyone is supporting my music and the Latin community here is helping to post my music – it’s already been reposted over 200 times since it came out. People are messaging me every day about the video from all over the world and even from Mexico, it’s been going crazy. I’ve even had so many opportunities open up and it’s been heard by some very important people in the music industry.”
HNM “I’ve read that you enjoy making positive, feel good music to encourage people to work toward their dreams. Have you had someone in your own life that has encouraged you to follow your dream as a music artist?”
ALTUR “Yes, my entire family are musicians and my mom used to perform all over the world. She used to play with Mexican and Columbian bands. Even my godfather and cousin played trumpet and saxophone and at the age of 11 I went to the academy and loved playing the saxophone, I used to play the trumpet before because my mom used to play it. My instrument is the saxophone though and I still play it.”
HNM “Do you play any other instruments?”
ALTUR “Yes, I play clarinet, flute, piano, percussion and I’m also an assistant studio engineer, I make my own music, I build my own beats and do my own master mixing – I also create my own music videos. Since I was a little kid, I was curious and I liked to know everything, so without realizing it I became a little nerd. I like to do it properly or I won’t do it, and I always feel like nobody can do the work like I want it, so I needed to learn everything – then I don’t have to ask anyone to help me do it. There’s much more opportunity here and back in the Dominican, people don’t believe in you unless you have money or an outlet. It’s really hard coming from the bottom up. I had to sell ice-cream on the street and fix electronics to feed my family and go to school and learn saxophone to be a musician.”
HNM “Your mom must be very proud of you. How does she feel about your career?”
ALTUR “My mom is no longer here. She got into a bad addiction because my godfather died and she got into drugs, went into the hospital and we couldn’t save her… but I know my mom wanted me to be a musician because that’s who I am, that’s what I wake up for – it’s everything I do, it’s everything I talk about. It’s what I actually love and it will be in my life forever.”
I felt bad for Altur’s loss of his mother and had expressed my condolences to the young man. He told me ‘we’re all going to die one day and that we have a responsibility to learn about life and enjoy it.’
HNM “Have you collaborated with artists in the past and would you want to collaborate in the future?”
ALTUR “I have collaborated with a few famous Dominican artists but nobody outside my country. I would love to collaborate with Ozuna and Nadi Yak and Nikki One someday – this is the goal and hopefully god will give me the opportunity someday.”
HNM “Where did you record Solita?”
ALTUR “I do everything by myself – I used to have a studio in Kitchener but I moved to Toronto and rented another studio. The guy is like family and there’s a lot of people that go there, so he told me to run it and just pay him monthly, so it’s my own studio – New Generation, Team 24/7, shout out to the homeys.”
HNM “Are there plans for an English version of Solita?”
ALTUR “I have a friend named Victoria and she’s an amazing talented artist. We have been working together and we have 2 songs. I see a lot of talent and she is very dedicated, so we’ve created 2 songs and one of them was Solita. We’re not sure when we’re going to release the other song yet but there will be an English version of Solita coming out.”
HNM “When did you first start creating your own music?”
ALTUR “Realistically, I didn’t start taking it that seriously until 3 years ago. Since I was 14, I was working with artists and helped record 5 artists myself. Many of them have gone onto being successful but I never thought of doing it myself. Everybody wanted to use my voice on their tracks and they’ve been telling me for more than 6 years that I sounded good, so I made my first song at my workplace. I made a video and everybody loved it, they went crazy and that’s when people started to identify me as an artist.”
HNM “I’ve seen your last music video with the white Ferrari and the pretty women in bikinis. Is it difficult to audition for a music video?”
ALTUR “It’s very hard because of the Covid virus but the 2 women that were in the video are friends of mine from Columbia and they’re all supporting me. I don’t have a team for making my music but I have a team that supports me. My manager, my friends – they’re always doing so much for me, especially my brother Allan. They make sure that everything is set and ready to go. It’s been getting a lot of love.”
HNM “Are you living the dream?”
ALTUR “I’m living it bro. I’m a pretty spiritual artist, so I believe in god so much and am so grateful for every little thing that happens in my career. I don’t really care about making it, I care about making it with my friends and I try to enjoy every moment of my journey. When I make it, I want to be able to say that I worked every day but enjoyed my work and I love what I do. I can pretty much say that I’m living the dream right now (laughing) because my manager is making sure that I’m ok and always making music, that my heart is in the right place and my money is in the right place.”
HNM “What would you tell other young music artists?”
ALTUR “I would tell them that all artists need to have discipline, they need to have patience and they need to work really hard. Nobody is going to do it for you, you have to do it yourself. As soon as you believe in yourself, you can achieve a lot of things in your career. There are so many talented artists out there but have a victim mentality and think that someone’s going to discover them but if you are an artist, you have to put your music out there and work harder than the others. Keep it up, keep working hard, keep believing and don’t give up.”
Switching Gears…
HNM “You only have 3 methods of transportation to travel 50 miles. You have a boat, a motorcycle and a hot-air balloon… which one do you choose?”
ALTUR “50 miles… a motorcycle (laughing). Which one would you choose?”
HNM “Probably the boat because I love water. I’ve already been in a hot-air balloon and I highly recommend it.”
ALTUR “Now I want to try a hot-air balloon but I’d like to fly over Italy.”
I’ve met many music artists and I see a sparkle and shine in the ones that are in it for the passion, the love and the people. Altur Santos has that sparkle and shine with a fine polish.