Jean Paul Santa Maria He spoke with La República after starting his career as a soloist. Since the release of ‘Por qué te vas’, together with the International Orchestra, the singer explains under what terms he left the group led by Christian Domínguez. He also talks about his reconciliation with his wife Romina Gachoy and the promise that Andrés Hurtado made to him about being the head of his own orchestra. In this note, we tell you all the details.
YOU CAN SEE: Jean Paul Santa María defends himself and reveals what really happened to Mariella Zanetti: “Remember!”
−What is next for Jean Paul Santa María now that you have started your career as a soloist?
−Now I am focused on my main objective. It is to position what southern cumbia is a little stronger, because in the national industry the only genre that is more widespread is cumbia. Although there are reference people such as Farik Grippa, Álvaro Rod, Daniela Darcourt, who are in the world of salsa, are rare. The best known in cumbia we have, forget it, countless groups of groups, male and female singers who are dedicated to the cumbia genre and above all what is positioned is northern cumbia, right? So, my main objective is to promote more southern cumbia, which is what I like the most. I also sing northern cumbia, but I want to promote southern cumbia, that is my first objective as far as music is concerned.
− Your followers have been surprised but also happy that you are playing in the cumbia genre, since you started in rock and ballads.
−I learned when I ventured into cumbia years ago, specifically in the Candela Orchestra. I came from making rock, ballads and even urban at some point; And when I came to this, it was, that is, going to war without knowing how to use a weapon, right? So I learned as I went. I trained on the stage and I remember they told me: ‘study’. At first, they were things that I didn’t fully understand, like when your dad tells you as a child ‘when I’m older, you’ll remember me’, or when your mom or dad tells you ‘when you’re a father or mother you’ll understand the things that I have passed through you. So, I had to learn on the court.
For southern cumbia, I have followed the same; soak it in as I told you… I consider that Los Ronisch are an important root of what music is in Bolivia, but I also have other references such as ‘Euforia’, ‘Los Capos’, ‘Histeria’. I am very immersed in general right now in what southern cumbia is. I have been asked many times: ‘Hey, you are doing this because it is a marketing issue, for a commercial issue’, others tell me: ‘Hey, how clever in southern cumbia, this is the business.’ The truth is that I never did it for marketing or money reasons.
YOU CAN SEE: He will compete with Christian Domínguez! Jean Paul announces his own orchestra, directed by Andrés Hurtado
−You recently recorded ‘Por qué te vas’ with the International Orchestra
−When I joined the Great Orchestra, the song ‘Por qué te vas’ is the one that, thank God, has been very popular and I recorded it with Pedro Loli. I was the annoying one there saying ‘hey, let’s do southern cumbia’. I remember that as a joke they told me ‘when you have your orchestra, there you will do your southern cumbia that you like so much’. And he looks, because of things in life, in the end it ends up being this: alone and effectively doing what I like, which is southern cumbia. I think that with the song ‘Why are you leaving’ it has been demonstrated that the Peruvian public is open to listening to other proposals.
−When you say that with cumbia you learned along the way, which orchestra do you consider to have been your school?
−I was in two (Candela Orchestra and International Orchestra) and both have been a school for me. Candela was obviously the base because when I joined Candela I had never done cumbia before, but no joke, I wasn’t very familiar with cumbia either. Now I have become a consumer of cumbia, especially southern cumbia, but not before, there was no way. So, with Orquesta Candela I learn to understand a little more about what the mystique, the magic, the feeling, the ‘bobo’ of what cumbia is.
−How do you join Orquesta Candela if you were not familiar with cumbia?
−I was carving a path in urban music and so on in other things as well. At the same time, we had a business with Romina (Gachoy), which was a modeling school. At that school we invited different people for an inauguration and one of the people who came through a mutual friend was Víctor Yaipén (son), I met him there. We talked for a while and I just showed him a song that he had brought up and he liked it. He told me: ‘Wouldn’t you like to sing cumbia?’ He caught me cold, it wasn’t in my plans.
At the time I felt committed to not reject a good opportunity, because it was not in my plans, I said ‘no cumbia, I’m not in cumbia’. On the other hand, also compromised by the fact that it is a great opportunity to generate income, right? And to be able to be doing something that really gives me the solvency I needed at that moment. So, it caught me cold, as I told you, but it was those moments in which you have to respond to the moment. I told him it was fine. A few days later, I met at his house, I met his family, Don Víctor Yaipén, his brothers, Jean Carlos, Donald, from ‘Virtual Sound’, and well, we arrived at something nice.
YOU CAN SEE: Jean Paul Santa María breaks down after leaving Gran Orquesta, led by Christian Domínguez: “Sad”
− Then you joined ‘Gran Orquesta’. Your departure was abrupt, how did that happen?
− Just when we were coming up with all this topic (‘Why are you leaving’) that was in full fury, something happened that was public with Christian (the infidelity to Pamela Franco) that made me have to step aside. For my peace of mind to begin with, because thanks to God, thanks to the people who love me, who have supported me but without also detracting from the effort that I have made personally, in being a correct person in my family, in my work. So, when I talked to Christian about it, I told him ‘no, brother, this was so difficult for me that now people are saying that I’m a pimp, that things like that happen on the bus.’
He was a very gentleman, he knew how to understand me in the best way and he knew how to really understand everyone, because at the time this obviously shocked the entire orchestra, the entire team, the entire company, and his position was complete understanding. And I left on the best terms, the truth is I met with him, with the owner, we talked and to this day a very good relationship is maintained.
−You had only a few months in the orchestra
−Of course. I was about 7 or 8 months old and we had just brought up the topic. I was with all the focus, there was not even a press, television, or radio campaign. Nothing was done with the topic, it was just brought up and well, what I did on TikTok was take my little step, every day I uploaded a video, there with the dance, dance, dance, even I said ‘brother, I think I’m going overboard’, but hey, you have to do it. If you don’t promote your product, no one will promote it.
Then I realized that people liked that little step at concerts; then I started to raise the topic by the hip step. So little by little I was positioning it and today I am literally doing my tours on that topic.
YOU CAN SEE: Does Christian Domínguez regret having hired Jean Paul Santa María? This is what the cumbiambero said
−And now you’re going on tour outside of Lima
− I will be in a complete show with my own orchestra for the first time, also in Arequipa. My mother will be present, I am bringing her on a trip because she lives in Colombia. Although she is from Lima, she has family roots in Arequipa, so she feels more Arequipa than Lima. She will be happy to be with her family and for me it will be the first time my mom sees me sing live. She hasn’t seen me with Candela or the Grand Orchestra, so for me it’s very exciting.
It is also the first time that Romina is going to see me live. She heard me sing many times, but not with an orchestra, she never went to see me with the Great Orchestra or with Candela.
− What state is your marriage with Romina Gachoy in after your recent reconciliation?
−Every day that passes, every second and I’m not trying to sound poetic, but I believe, I truly believe, every second that passes, is a relationship in which the solid foundations are: love, respect, trust, fidelity and everything that there must be. It doesn’t mean it’s perfect, I Romina I have a lot of differences, because of the kids, because we are going to eat, or where we are going, but the nice thing is knowing how to make those differences come to fruition and that is what will solidify the relationship.
− Have you considered a renewal of vows?
−We are married in a civil ceremony, what a renewal we would like, because getting married in a church, that is what we are missing. It’s in our plans, we don’t have a specific date because now, as we have both discussed, we are focused on generating money, we only want that, generate, generate, generate. We want to reach an age and be calm.
− Andrés Hurtado promised that you would be the leader of your own orchestra, did he keep his promise?
− We have moved forward with the issue of defining what the repertoire is going to be like. We are working on that, we are moving forward. Slowly, but surely as they say. We’re going forward. We are doing the things that need to be done and if things come together, great, right? And at the same time I am focusing on what I do, that is, on growing.