A b2b interview between Orieta Chrem and Giselle Angeles (Fragmatista) on their recent video collaboration for ANFIBIO

How are you doing and how excited are you that this piece of work is coming out?

Orieta: Hello! Thanks for having us as part of your wonderful platform. I’m really excited to release this song and video because it is the first time we both are collaborating together and we are very happy with the result.

Giselle: Indeed, it has been very exciting to be part of making the video.Orieta is a very talented artist and her music inspires and moves us all. I also am very happy about this 



How did the collaboration happen and did you know each other before?

Giselle: Yes, it all started in quarantine, I wrote to Orieta and said that I love her music. I told her about a project that I had in mind with another friend and that was the moment we began to collaborate together on different projects.

Orieta: I think we heard about each other’s works before, but it wasn’t until last year that we physically met for the first time. Fragmatista was living in New York for some time. We met during a music event AMPLIFY (Mutek) in Lima where she was playing some visulas. Since then we’ve started talking more and sharing ideas. We have another project involving visuals and sound therapy and sound healing but this is still in process of investigation. In the meantime I had this song coming out on In-Correcto so I asked her if she would do the music video.



How was the collaborative process? Was there first the music and then the video or first the video and the music?

Giselle: For this video it was music first.  It was great to create from music, in fact. Orieta sent me the song and told me what that song represented for her and that she would like these characters to mutate and transform in an abstract way. I used 3d, Vfx and some parts of the video are in sync with the music.

Orieta: Yeah, I knew the name and more or less the concept of the song, but we came up with the whole idea in a collaborative process.



You both have made other videos before this. How is this one different from the others you made and what makes it special?

Giselle: I have previously worked with other musicians, yes. My first video was for a band from California about 4 years ago. The musicians gave me the possibility to direct and produce the video creatively. I believe that each project is special, listening to different genres, as each artist has a unique universe, is something that never ceases to surprise and inspire me. With Orieta it was beautiful to collaborate. The song gave me instant inspiration. I love the song. I think the story behind ANFIBIO represents what we are all going through in these times and what the pandemic has caused us to do. The story is something that connects us all in a certain part of our lives. The subject of the continuous mutation and transformation of these amphibians is an abstract representation of how humanity is changing or adapting to an uncertain world.

Orieta: I enjoy making videos and creating the concept behind them. Music is very visual to me and creating these soundscapes completes the life of the track. Each song has its own story and feeling so all the videos are very different also. I have worked with different Peruvian visual artists and get to know a little more of their world and vision.

On this occasion I had the pleasure to work with Fragmatista, I loved her work before we started working together. In this case, the 3d environment was essential, so creating and transforming the animals was also an interesting and fun part.

Is there a story behind the Axolotl in the video?

Orieta: Yes. Amphibians were the first animal vertebrates in adapting to a semi-terrestrial life. Also, unlike the rest of vertebrates, they are distinguished by suffering a transformation during development (metamorphosis). The video and the song makes reference to adaptability and transformation that we (the beings of this planet) require to live off the best way this new era that has already started. At the beginning of the video an axolotl is seen inside of a bubble, representing its limitations and possible fears, and then he releases himself from that barrier and transforms and adapts to the new environment.

What are the Latin influences in this particular piece?

Orieta: It’s a tropical dembow beat inspired and composed at the end of “Limeñan” summer. It has this dark and mysterious starting but then it transforms and evolves into a more tropical sensual melody with more light.

What made you produce this album and how is your relationship to your sound identity?

I started the track in a very different way than how I usually start them…. I had a lot of beatbox samples from some artists like Grizzy and HOBBIT, beatboxers from Mexico, and UK respectively. Basically, I started constructing all the drums with beatbox samples. The result came very organically and the process was also fun. I love contradiction in music like dark atmospheres or drums with luminous melodies floating on top. This particular track had lots of fun constructing the drums with the beatbox samples.

Do you think it is important to make those collaborations?

Orieta: Music has always been a bridge that connects me with many different things in life… like people, cultures, places, emotions, etc. Collabs are essential in my work, I really enjoy the process of meeting people deeply through the process of working together.



Tell us a bit about the work with the label.

Orieta: I met Gregorio while he worked on another label ‘Onda Mundial’. He then invited me to participate in this beautiful compilation from his label, “In-Correcto”. With lots of cool Latino American producers. I really like the work of In-Correcto, discovering and showing all kinds of Latin American vibes to the world.

Learn more about Giselle Angeles

Listen more from Orieta Chrem on Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Facebook | Instagram