Lucas Lowsinger, composer and producer, emerges as one of the great promises of Argentine funk with the release of I want to see youhis recent single that combines the groove of the genre with a love confession. Coming from a musical family and co-director of the AfroSound ChoirLucas fuses influences ranging from gospel to soul, while proudly reaffirming his Afro-Argentine identity. His artistic proposal is nourished by a deep respect for black music and a spiritual connection that he seeks to transmit through each performance. With a renewed aesthetic that incorporates elements of African culture and an upcoming EP that will explore funk, R&B and neo-soul, Low consolidates itself as a reference in the local scene, projecting its message of pride, authenticity and roots to the world.
You come from a musical family, what is that experience like?
Working as a family making music is a shared creative process. Sometimes there is like a telepathy. There are arrangements and things that one person comes up with and the other sings. The AfroSound Choir was my mother’s idea and she made it happen. We have been doing gospel for 13 years.
What was your first contact with music?
I remember that my mother had many cassettes and CDs of Jamiroquai, The Fugeesthere were a couple of influences there. Also, when I was at my grandmother’s house playing in my world, there was a neighbor across the street, everyone hated him, he had a giant vinyl collection. All jazz. The guy opened the windows and played jazz at full volume. I was in front, playing with my dolls, and I listened to all that. I realized more, when I lived with a jazz pianist, that the guy played something and I already knew where he was going to resolve, where he was going to stress, how he was going to continue musically. My neighbor burned my head (laughs).
And when you started choosing, what music did you listen to?
Michael Jackson in full. Because there was a VHS in my house of a live show, and it blew my mind. The guy danced everything, sang everything, the band was impressive, the staging couldn’t be believed. And that’s it. I stayed with that.
You were part of several musical projects. What do you feel each of those contributed to you on this journey?
I think each one has their own particular seasoning. Vinyl Key gave me a lot of stage presence, Afromama made me realize that it wasn’t so much rap per se that I liked because I listened to G-Funk, so there was already funk in the middle and I began to know what funk was in full. Then AfroSound helps you fully with vocal arrangements, Living Soul was also more orchestral arrangements, more pipe arrangements and things like that, then it starts to build up like an uncontrollable monster, but the point is to dose it.
As co-director of the AfroSound Choir, what can you tell us about that experience where music functions as a channel for something bigger?
We call God, but each person has their God, there are people who believe in energy, there are people who believe in any other God, polytheists, there is no problem, at the end of the day we all agree that there is a superior force , it can be the universe too, call it what you want. But there is always that superior thing that can be channeled through music, dance, art, in an inexplicable way and that ends up spreading good vibes among the public.
Before your new release we could see you collaborating with PALO in You can’t avoid it. How did that connection happen?
The truth is that working with PALO was beautiful, she is a genius, very talented. I felt very free to be able to write my part and collaborate on the production as well. I would love to do some more topics in the future.
What can you tell us about your new release? I want Vertand?
I want to see you It is an ultra dedicated song for that special person to whom you don’t dare to say anything, that’s why the video is about two co-workers who love each other but don’t dare to say it, until something happens. It’s a confession of love while maintaining a funky vibe.
We also see another side of you, production.
In the vast majority of songs, when composing and everything, I have the keyboard glued to my fingers, because the melody is inspired based on that. Sometimes I also take Julito’s (Julio Rubio, guitarist of the band) guitar and start playing. Luckily with the Syskon team (my production company) we work fully and they maintain a work pace that flows naturally. Because that worried me at first. I am a person who encasca a lot. When I’m producing I go 1,000 miles per hour and sometimes it’s happened to me on other teams that I don’t stop at that pace. Chris and John from Syskon work flat out, at a mile an hour too. In a matter of four months or so, we recorded eight songs. It’s a skull file.
So much more music is coming…
The idea is to release one more single and then put together an EP. It’s going to have a funk tinge, obviously. More neosoulero in some things. But, yes, it will have a little bit of everything. Always being faithful to black music, maintaining the essence.
In these new appearances we see a change in aesthetics as well, you are seen wearing traditional African clothing. Why is this?
I like to play with the subconscious. You have to read between the lines and you will find a plus. I like to wear those clothes more than anything, also to show that you have to be proud of what you are, no matter how much it is denied here, it is said that we do not exist. It’s not like that. We all come from somewhere, we came in different boats, but here we are, it’s not that we left. We are still here to show that we are proud of who we are.
What are your expectations for what’s next?
Popularize Argentine funk, R&B, Soul. And, why not, tour Latin America. I would like it very much. And who tells you that we can’t go to the United States too? I want to go around everywhere, where I can and where I can’t too. There I go first.
They recently participated with the AfroSound Choir in the DIAFAR Solidarity Night. How was that experience?
Yes, the truth was it was a beautiful night. We always feel well received by all the people at DIAFAR. They always make us feel at home, that’s the truth. Always a lot of good vibes and, above all, the message. Create a space where we can share together and be ourselves. Proud of who we are. Afro-Argentines.
*Afro-Argentine artist and anti-racist activist from DIAFAR.
