Iâm telling you right now: Itâs the best time to hop on the Loyal Lobos train. She is still in the stage of her career- the âI actually canât believe this is happening to meâ stage and itâs so good and it feels so good to know youâll be there for her the whole journey up. Thereâs nothing better than being the âI remember when her first album came outâ kind of fan. Remember when Kehlani dropped âYou Should Be Here,â some of you donât, but I watched the come-up of Kehlani and itâs an exciting, special thing listening to her music now, 5 years later, because I know where she came from and I believed in her and she made it and now she is a symbol of hope. Loyal Lobosâ humble excitement about this new chapter in her life is everything you need right now.
Andrea Silva, professionally known as Loyal Lobos hails from BogotĂĄ, Colombia. She left for Los Angeles after high school to get away from the oppressive, slut-shaming culture. Her new album has dropped and itâs an eclectic bilingual symphony of vibes. We got talk to the 26-year-old indie-pop singer-songwriter about what it was like leaving her country, finding family in LA, and what the three-year process of writing this album was like.
This album was a long time coming for you. Almost three years. How does it feel having the whole thing out in the world now?
The release of this album has been very crazy for me. Thereâs been a bunch of complete opposite emotions that Iâve felt and. canât decide which one is the most real one. Itâs very new to me to experience an album release and specially of a project that took longer than usual but I think overall Iâm glad. (I think)
Is there a particular song on the album that means the most to you? Or that you had a particular easy or hard time finishing?
âSpring â17â is one of my favorites. I just love the chords since I wrote them and also is one of the most fun songs to play live because of how energetic the instrumental sections are. I think one of the hardest for me to write was âWhatever It Isâ because it took me some time to digest the sounds and still feel like the song was me. And probably the easiest was âSofĂaâ because we tracked it live with no click and it was the most simple and organic one to produce.
Your song âSi Te Portas Mal (Be Bad)â is inspired by the pain you carried from being slut-shamed growing up? Do you have any advice to other girls who are going through the same thing?
I mean itâs hard to give advice to someone whoâs thirteen because the work feels so fragile and so quiche it callouses on you at that age, so I know a lot of the things that Iâve realized now, I wouldnât have understood at that age. But people are probably smarter than I was then, so honestly I would say: donât give a fuck and always protect your value, people that come after you are often the ones that are the most uncomfortable with themselves so donât let that become contagious.
Was there a specific experience growing up in Colombia that made you think âyeah this is it I need to get out of hereâ? And are there experiences you really miss about living there?
It mostly was music. I wanted to move somewhere and start living my own life. I think the mysoginistic space that I felt I was in was a huge factor. Not because the entire country is mysoginistic, there are some really inspiring movements that defend the value of women happening back home, but for me and in my circle I felt like I needed a break. But I miss my home every day, I miss the warmth of the people in my country, the culture, the food, the landscape. Specially since the pandemic hit Iâve been very home sick.
Whatâs your favourite thing about living in LA?
I think my favorite thing about LA is that itâs built by people from so many different places and somehow there’s been (with some people) a mutual understanding of respecting each otherâs backgrounds and allowing our selves and each other to be whatever we want. Most people come here with big dreams and you feel that. Then the downside of that is that there is also a lot of disappointment and pressure to succeed in the air.
Do you have any family in LA or is everyone still in Columbia? Have you been able to create a chosen family here? How has that been?
I moved here alone, so all my family is away but I do feel that Iâve built a family here and most of the people I collaborate with are like family to me. I really donât do well with new spaces specially when itâs about networking and whoâs cooler, so I really value and protect the people that are kind and real with me and I love working with them.
What was the last concert you attended?
Iâve spent 5 minutes thinking about it and I canât remember đ
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photos / Night (white background) & Sydney Yatco (green background)
story / Vogue Giambri