Joaquin Berrios

José Joaquín Berrios Corvalán (born November 6, 1967 in Santiago, Chile), is a Chilean–American musician, composer, singer, guitar player, piano player and record producer. He grew up in Santiago, Chile and flew the country in 1992 to study composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He graduated in 1995 Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in film scoring, and received his Diploma from honorary degree recipients James Taylor and Natalie Cole. In Boston, he formed the alternative Spanish Rock band, Sofia, with Mexican guitarist Joshua Sonntag, bassist Rafols Morales and drummer Raul Ramirez, both from Puerto Rico. After signing with New York-based record label Big Sur Music, they recorded their debut album, Sofia.[1] Produced by Chilean record producer Alvaro Riveros, tracked at Ochoa Studios in Puerto Rico, mixed at The Hit Factory in New York and mastered by Howie Weinberg also in New York. Though this album was never released or distributed, Big Sur Records produced a video for "Tres Palabras", a medley with sections from Osvaldo Farrés original "Tres Palabras" and "Amar y Vivir" for Consuelo Velazquez. The video got medium to heavy rotation in MTV Latino and in The Box.

The whole band moved to Miami, Florida in 1997 where they played and toured extensively in Florida, Cancun and Guadalajara[2] Mexico for three years before dissolving in 2000.

Berrios moved back to Chile where he wrote, performed and produced his first solo career album SOLO.[3] SOLO, is a conceptual work with some progressive rock tints, and influences from Pink Floyd.[4] The album was distributed in Chile by Big Sur Records,[5] now based there, where it was favorably received by the alternative and progressive music community.[6][7]

The same year, Berrios composed, thru a series of improvisations, Ancestros Piano Music Vol. 1.[8] The album made of 13 tracks was dedicated to all of his grandparents: Haydee Rigazzi, Adolfo Berrios, Hernan Corvalan and Isabel Montenegro.

He came back to Miami, Florida, in 2001, where he formed the band, La Flotabanda, with friends from the local band Tereso; Juan Manuel Rozas on lead guitar and Alejo Rozas on drums, and with Gaston Zukowsky from the band The Gardy's on bass. He produced and recorded with former bandmate Rafols Morales, their La Flotabanda[9] at Yellow Wings Studios in Miami.

In 2008, Berrios and his wife Micaela Rozas established KZK RECORDS LLC,[10] a record label, web design, music production and audio post company. At KZK's recording studio, Berrios produced local artist such as Eric Wagner and Tremends[11] Sofia who recorded their second album, Embrujo[12] and developed The Perro Grande Project,[13] a rock ensemble with local musicians. In 2016, after a long musical hiatus, he created In the Garden of Eve, a ten-song album with brass and woodwind arrangements. Drums were performed by Phoenix Rivera, saxophone by Michael Sinisgalli, and lead/back female vocals by Joana Hughes Cooper. Berrios wrote, produced, arranged, performed (guitars, bass, piano and vocals), recorded and mixed the album. In the Garden of Eve was mastered by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering Studios.[14] The video for the first single "Crash",[15] was recorded at America filmworks in Miami. It features Argentinian dancer, Andrea Leggieri and singer Joana Hughes.

Early life

Berrios is the oldest brother of Pablo Antonio Berrios Corvalán; an architect and web programmer who lives in Barcelona, Spain. They were both born in Santiago de Chile, 1967 and 1969 respectively from Jose Joaquin Berrios Rigazzi and Ana Maria Corvalan Montenegro. Both parents are economists. While their father Joaquin, who worked for a long time for LAN Chile to later focus on the private sector, Mother Ana, worked in education, for both the chilean government and UNESCO.

Both children were raised Roman Catholic and went to SSCC Manquehue from kindergarten to high school. However, Berrios never went through the process of confirmation and openly disliked the opulent lifestyle of the Vatican, while professing the word of Christ to the poor. His views on the matter, can clearly be heard in the lyrics for the song "Bubble" in his album SOLO. His first connection with music was probably through his mother singing. She was a usual performer on family reunions singing traditional Chilean folk songs. Since early childhood, there was a piano in his home, the same piano where his mother Ana and her sister Gloria, learned in their family home as children in Talca Chile. Also, father Joaquin, always improvised on piano after work, when the whole family were at home, fueling improvisational skills on his eldest son.

In 1985, Berrios grabbed the Spanish guitar and influenced by Cuban Silvio Rodriguez commenced writing political songs. Not long after that and while listening to the then upcoming bands Metallica and Slayer, together with childhood friends Cristian Gomez, Rafael Alfaro and Hugo, they formed the band Track, where he was the lead singer. A heavy metal act, performing in the few places available during Pinochet's dictatorship. They played at "Sammy's Shop" and the now also gone "Manuel Plaza" Gym in Nuñoa's Plaza egaña.

Soon after, the band morphed into Rapsodia, a more pop oriented group where Berrios played the lead guitar. The band gained airplay in the north of Chile with the song "Desierto" and made a video for Universidad de Chile television; nowadays called Chilevision. Then the band morphed again in 1987 to a trio named Vos, getting airplay and TV appearances with the song "Take Me Home". During Pinochet's dictatorship's decades, the number of music school were very limited, almost non-existent. Berrios started to study with Roberto Lecaros, one of the few musicians and educators that did not leave the country against all odds and political repression. He also was in 1990 part of the first generation of students under the conduction of Maestro Guillermo Rifo in "La escuela Moderna de Musica".

In 1988, Berrios suffered a car accident in the town of Constitucion where nobody got hurt, but changed his life. He decided to redeem himself through the study of piano and leave behind all social life. He grabbed "The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises" method and played regularly six hours every day of technique for two years. After the daily dose of exercises he began writing music that formed the basis for his first complete work, "Big Bang... Boom".[16] By the end of 1991 he recorded this conceptual 14 minutes piece at "Sala Master" Universidad de Chile studios, and used it to apply for a scholarship and acceptance in to Berklee College of Music.

Personal life

Berrios is married to Micaela Rozas, daughter of Eduardo Rozas,[17] a television and film producer and actress, Coni Vera.[18] Micaela is an artist and designer born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They first met in "La Kaza Zirkuz" in 1998. Micaela is the younger sister of Juan Manuel Rozas and Alejo Rozas, both members of the Band Tereso at the time, and Tremends as of today. Though they met in 1998, they only became a couple in 2001 when both returned to Miami, Florida. Micaela was travelling through US and Mexico and Joaquin was in Chile recording SOLO. They married in 2007, after living together for six years. The ceremony was officiated by friend, brother and brother in law, Juan Manuel Rozas. They have been together ever since and have two daughters, Matilda Chloe (born in 2008) and Roma Belle (born in 2014).

Kaza Zirkuz

La Kaza Zirkuz, was an spontaneous reunion of local artists in Miami Beach in 1998. Under the same roof were reunited musicians, film makers, painters and sculptors. The basis for such a reunion, were the bands, Sofia and Tereso. Both rock acts populated the alternative local scene playing many days a week in local bars Roses, South Beach Pub,[19][20] Churchill's pub and Tobacco Road among many others. Their friends, mostly artists from Argentina, Cuba and Chile, were united in a year of communion, creation and daily "asados".

Discography
  • Big Bang... Boom (1991)
  • Sofia (1997)
  • Sofia Live SB Pub (1998)
  • Solo (2001)
  • Ancestros_Piano Music Vol. 1 (2001)
  • Flotabanda (2001)
  • Sofia live at KZK (2008)
  • In the Garden of Eve (2016)

References
  1. "SOFIA FULL ALBUM - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. "SOFIA EN GUADALAJARA "LOBO" - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  3. "Joaquin Berrios_SOLO_ Full Album - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  4. Keko Peralta C. "Translation: "...The Music that Joaquin Berrios develops in his debut album is coiled between the conceptuality of Pink Floyd, King Crimson's experimentation and emotions of the early days of David Bowie."". Rockaxis.com.
  6. "La Música Emol". Web.archive.org. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  7. Illezca, Damian. "Rockaxis | Plataforma de contenidos y servicios". Rockaxis.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  8. "Joaquin Berrios_PIANO MUSIC VOL 1 ANCESTORS - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  9. "FLOTABANDA FULL ALBUM - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  10. "KZK Records | Sounds Good". Kzkrecords.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  11. "The Tremends recording "Right Time" - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  12. "SOFIA EMBRUJO FULL ALBUM - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  13. "Joaquin Berrios_SLEEP_THE PERRO GRANDE PROJECT_EP - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  14. "Welcome To Brian Lucey's Magic Garden Mastering". Magicgardenmastering.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  15. "Joaquin Berrios_CRASH - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  16. "Joaquin Berrios_Big Bang…Boom!! - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  17. "Eduardo Rozas". IMDb.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  18. "Cunny Vera". IMDb.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  19. "SOFIA LIVE 99 cents Show South Beach Pub 1998 - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  20. "TERESO LIVE at 99 cents KAZA ZIRKUZ Show South Beach Pub 1998 - YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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