“I am not one of those who can go away for three months and not return home”: Fonseca talks about life on tour having a family, fame and his love for Ecuador

For Juan Fernando Fonseca, artistically known as Fonseca, Performing in Ecuador is like “playing at home”. She had her first international concert in Quito in 2005, and since then she has carried Ecuador “in her heart”. The seven-time Latin Grammy-winning singer-songwriter will perform again in the country tonight (January 26) and tomorrow (January 27), in Quito and Guayaquil, respectivelyas part of his tour Traveling Tour, with which he celebrates 20 years of career in the music industry.

Fonseca spoke with this newspaper about how she balances a life full of travel with having a family, her children’s musical aptitudesthe conception of one of the songs of his last album, Travelerand what his interactions with his fans have been like throughout his career.

Fonseca changes the dates of his concerts in Ecuador for next year

When you had your first international concert in Quito, did you imagine that you would achieve the success you have achieved?

Well, I dreamed it, I dreamed it. There is something very beautiful, and it is that That first concert was in a place next to the Rumiñahui Coliseum, in Quito, and now being there celebrating is very special. Since I was a child I dreamed of all these things that are happening, and that is the great pride I have: having risked pursuing my dreams and fulfilling them.

How do you find the balance between traveling all the time and having a family?

That is a balance that you have to have and that you have to find if you have a family (…). I am not one of those who can leave for three months and not return home. The balance is found by always being in touch. Technology now allows it: FaceTime, calls, photos… I am always sharing with my children and my wife about the places I amEven if it’s long journeys to go home, even if it’s for a couple of nights, well, you have to do it.

Have any of your children shown musical aptitudes?

Yes, all three like it. Perhaps Agustín, the youngest, is like the one most connected to the theme of music. But all three like it.

And what does Augustine like?

He likes to sing. Well, she’s 4 years old, and she’s still there kind of searching for the topic. But he likes the drums.

Was there a moment early in your career when you said, “This is serious”?

The moment I wrote my first song, at 12 years old. I remember that for me that was a very important moment, because it was realizing that I could create. That changed my life. I felt a connection and a rootedness with what I do to this day.

The song What happened to us, from his latest album, has a different tone from the rest of the songs on the LP. Where did the idea for this song come from?

What happened to us is a song I wrote with Juan Galeano, singer of a Colombian band called Diamante Eléctrico. We met with Juan in the middle of the pandemic, on FaceTime or Zoom, I don’t remember.

We started to talk a little about those loves that surely in a pandemic, being from afar, cooled down and suddenly ended. We considered many situations and talked, like any other conversation, about how each one of us was experiencing the pandemic. From that conversation was born to write that song. “What happened to us?” It is a very painful question between a couple, as if to say: “What we had, the magic, the love, the desire…, where was it?”

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How do you deal with fame? Do you feel that there are situations in which the fans overstep the artists?

Honestly, I’ve been very lucky in that. People are always very affectionate and very respectful. Obviously there will be times when one is not in the mood for one thing or the other; but, at the end of the day, I always appreciate a lot when someone approaches. I know that, for anyone, the fact of approaching and asking for a photo or anything, well, you also have to be emboldened to do it. The fact that they admire my music and that they follow it, that they want to share a word with me, and I mean it from the heart, not out of diplomacy, is something I really appreciate.

Tickets for Fonseca’s concerts, on January 26 and 27 in Quito and Guayaquil, are available on the Ticketshow website and in physical points of sale in Riocentro, Paseo San Francisco and Mall El Jardín, in Quito; and Riocentro Ceibos and Entre Ríos, in Guayaquil. Tickets cost the following: $35 (VIP), $65 (Fan), $95 (Output Box) and $135 (Fonseca Box). (AND)