Sebastian Krys was standing at the crossroads of chaos and calm.
The madness brought by Hurricane Wilma to his hometown of Miami forced him to slow his work schedule, taking his family to the movies instead of working in the recording studio, which was, like most of Miami last week, without electricity.
“The gas line looks 3 or 4 miles long out here,” Krys said standing outside a theater complex near his home in west Broward County. “There hasn’t been any electricity for so many people for so long, and you don’t realize how much you rely on it until it’s taken away.”
The rest is needed. Krys’ production slate has been hectic lately – having produced Grammy Award-winning work for Shakira, Marc Anthony, Carlos Vives, Gloria Estefan and Thalia – but now is the time for reflection and, hopefully, celebration.
For the third time in four years, Krys is nominated for the producer-of-the-year honor at this week’s Latin Grammy Awards. This year’s sixth-annual event, which will air at 7 p.m. Thursday night on Univision (KCEC), shows the ceremony coming into its own and finding its place in the diverse world of Latin music.
“The point of the academy is to really try and shine the light on the work that is outstanding out there,” said Krys, 35, who is widely respected for his work on such hits as Obie Bermudez’s “Antes,” Carlos Vives’ “Como Tu” and Luis Fonsi’s “Nada Es Para Siempre.” “It’s great that there’s a night where people can see the diversity within Latin culture and Latin music, because it’s as diverse or more diverse than any other culture or music.
“You can buy five Latin CDs and see that the only thing they have in common is the language and nothing else, which makes it a lot more diverse than the American Grammys.”
In Krys’ view of the Latin music industry, there are countless types of musicians making a go at it. But the most important are the ones he calls real artists.
“There’s Latin music everywhere that has been getting more attention commercially,” said Krys. “But I’m glad things have gotten a lot more oriented toward real artists, the people who are writing their own songs and playing their own instruments and thinking their own thoughts – as opposed to manufactured ones.
“It’s great that the industry has embraced those real artists, artists like Juanes, and the Latin Grammys, in a lot of ways, have helped expose people to those artists. When Juanes was nominated that first year, he didn’t have a lot of sales. But after that, a lot of people took notice, and deservedly so.”
Radio is and always has been a sticking point for Latin music in the U.S. While there’s reason to celebrate this year with the rise of reggaeton, it’s a tepid celebration. The reggaeton revolution in North America was largely created by behemoth Clear Channel Radio, in another money-making venture, this one aimed at the Latino dollar.
“Anytime I see anything new hit the mainstream, I read it that people are hungry for things that are new and different,” said Krys of reggaeton, a bilingual music relying equally on dance and hip-hop with a Latin bent as heard in Denver on MEGA 95.7. “When you see a guy like (reggaeton hit-maker) Daddy Yankee hit, everybody goes nuts and tries to find the next Daddy Yankee. But you have to give people like Daddy Yankee their due respect and say, ‘He’s special and getting his due attention.’ And then move on and do something new.
“Unfortunately the way radio is now … having one or two entities have so much power over what people hear is dangerous.”
Krys grew up listening to The Ramones. And he sees creativity in Latin music the world over that reminds him of the seminal punk band’s sound in the ’70s. Now it’s the academy’s turn, he said, to reward those far from our shores.
“Last year the number of nominations from Brazil, from lesser known acts like Kevin Johansen, was so great,” Krys said. “And that’s a key thing. As an academy, we have to diversify even more, making it less U.S.-centric … But some of the nominations – Bebe (a Spanish alternative rocker who leads this year with five noms) being nominated the way she is – prove that, while this is an academy in its early stages, its sixth show, it’s getting the right idea.”
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
