It’s been ten years since Oscar Lopez put out his last solo album , now through a connection made in Penticton, and a little basement studio recording, Lopez is set to have the official release party of his latest album Apasionado, at the Shatford Centre Feb. 21.
It was an unlikely start to the solo venture from Lopez, who met local music teacher Justin Glibbery when he moved to the area in 2010.
“We ended up at some point jamming and playing with each other very informally,” Glibbery said.
The two ended up talking about the fact that Lopez hadn’t put out his own album in years.
“I met my brother in soul Justin Glibbery and he put the little bud in me,” Lopez said. “It was beautiful to be able to get back on the horse.” Who added he wasn’t resting on his laurels as a musician, recording as part of the group TRIFECTA with Rik Emmett and the guitarist known only as Pavlo.
“I said just go record a CD. Go do it. But he didn’t want to do it like he did in the past, it was very rushed,” Glibbery said.
Lopez had recorded solo projects with a studio in Chicago that had to be recorded, mixed and mastered within two weeks.
“He didn’t really like that experience at all,” Glibbery said. “I said you don’t have to do it like that you can chip away at it somewhere.”
That somewhere became Glibbery’s basement studio.
“I said I don’t have the best gear or studio around, but I have a few good mics and a good pre-amp. You’ve got a good guitar, you’re a good player so let’s just try one song and see what happens, you can throw it away if you don’t like it,’” Glibbery said.
With no by-the-hour fees, no clock ticking and no next band waiting to use the studio, Lopez and Glibbery were able to work on the album in a laid back environment.
One song “mushroomed into the CD very quickly because the venue in my house is very relaxed and our families are now good friends,” Glibbery said. “That’s what made this possible in a nutshell.”
“We worked together like brothers and It was a terrific creation for us in his studio having some wine, having a good time,” Lopez said. “It’s great, absolutely amazing to be able to do a project again with the music that I love and have been doing for such a long time.”
The work environment on this album is a far cry from the last time Lopez worked on a solo album, where recording studios cost him around $50,000.
While his time in the Okanagan was short, he impacted the lives of many in the music community who were involved in the album.
Local musicians were brought in to record including Michael Treadway on percussion, Stefan Bienz on bass, Tavis Weir on guitar Liz Lupton on violin, Stan Sabourin on the saxophone and Aidan Mayes who lends her voice to the album.
The Naramata Choir provided their vocals during the recording as well.
Most of the local artists featured on the album will be joining Lopez and Glibbery on a jam-packed stage during the performance at the CD release party.
“I met great people, had an incredible time and made tremendous memories. I’m not saying this because I want to look like a good guy, I’m saying from my heart. I have great memories and I keep in touch with everyone,” Lopez said. “If I was somewhere else, I would still be here saying I haven’t recorded anything yet.”
The experience was mutually beneficial for Glibbery, who had yet to work with this style of music on the recording end.
“You can’t call it Flamenco, you can’t call it Spanish music. It’s not that it’s everything. He’s got influence from blues and throws the odd Elvis look in there sometimes, stuff you would not expect” Glibbery said. “I liked that and he’s got an energy unlike anyone else I’ve ever worked with.”
A fitting energy for Apasionado, which translates to passionate or enthusiastic in Spanish.
Lopez has since returned to Calgary where most of his family is located, but he is excited to come and reunite with the music community in the Okanagan.
“Things are meant to be. We were living there, it was beautiful and that’s why I recorded the album there, the circumstances were right there,” Lopez said.
The Okanagan left its impact on Lopez, who wrote four different songs about the area including Road to the Blue House, about the house he and his wife had in Naramata.
For more information and to purchase Apasionado visit www.oscar-lopez.myshopify.com.
