An Interview with Raul Midón

WFUV Radio's John Platt returns to host Landmark's Fabulous Folk Series that begins Saturday, October 25th with singer, songwriter and guitarist Raul Midón.  The Fabulous Folk Series is sponsored by Greenberg Traurig and WFUV Radio.

NYC-based Raul Midón has released two acclaimed albums: State of Mind in 2005 and A World within a World in 2007. Here is an excerpt of Raul’s December 11, 2007 conversation with John Platt on his Sunday Breakfast program. (The full interview appears in the Archives on www.WFUV.org.)

John Platt (JP): What was growing up in New Mexico like?

Raul Midón (RM): I grew up in a rural part of New Mexico which allows for lot of time on your hands. A lot of time to have serenity. I take that on the road with me.

JP: You sang backup for Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin while you were a studio musician in Miami. What do you think you learned from that?

RM: I learned that there is a difference being a professional musician and being an artist. As a professional musician you have to be rough and ready for anything, all different styles. Being an Artist is finding out what your thing is. I realized that that’s what I wanted to do. This culminated when I was touring with Shakira. I realized that I had to go to New York and be an artist.

JP: Did New York have an effect on the types of songs you were doing?

RM: More than anything, once I was here, I had to pay the rent and so there was a sense of urgency. Also, the pace of New York has an effect. I realized, I’m here and I’ve got to do this.

JP: Who are your “Angels” and “Inspirations”?

RM: Arif Mardin, in terms of artistic cooperation. He produced my first album. When you come to New York, you see what a great big world there is out there. When a person like Arif affirmed my music while others tried to water it down. Arif was the first person who recognized I had something original or unique to say. He’s always been about the music first. It’s amazing how much music has been marketed before it’s made.

Artistic inspirations come from the ethnic music of different places, the folk music of Argentina, and people like Paul Simon. He has the vision to incorporate different ethnic music, but it is still him... The music is so interesting. Brilliant lyrics and the music is so interesting. Same way I think about Sting. The music is really important, not just the words. I don’t do the same solo as it is on the record, because to me that is boring.

JP: You’ve mentioned Donny Hathaway in addition to Stevie Wonder, both with real positive messages. Is that something you want to model yourself on?

RM: In some ways, but you have to talk about the bad things too or the music is too shallow. In the end we have to hope. We have to look at the half full cup not just the half empty cup.

JP: Stevie Wonder, who appeared on your first album, has a very visual sense in his lyrics (i.e. Apple of My Eye). How do you compensate for your blindness with the imagery that you use?

RM: I try to deal with my experience as blind man. In the song “More than I know” I consciously used metaphors. To take a look at the world as me. You come up with something a little unorthodox. All about the feel, the touch and the sound. Not visual.

JP: Where do you find your answers?

RM: In a lot of things, there is no such thing as finding all the answers. We were born curious. There are different answers to different questions.

JP: Why did you call the album, A World within a World?

RM: My world, from my imagination and based on a song from my dreams. I had a series of vivid dreams when I was 3 or 4 years old with Argentinean rhythms called Tempderianas. They would project feelings.

John Platt again will host Raul Midón as the Fabulous Folk Series kicks off on October 25th at Landmark on Main Street. Purchase your tickets by calling the box office at 516-767-6444  or on-line by clicking here to purchase tickets to see Raul Midón. Call the box office to find out how you can save money by buying all four Fabulous Folk shows at once.