Ben Carrillo is an up-and-coming artist whose talent and unique approach to music-making have landed him an audience of hundreds of thousands of people across the Americas. The Guatemalan-American singer fuses pop with elements of reggae and even hip-hop at times, creating melodies that are smooth and chill. Weâve had the greatest pleasure of interviewing Ben Carrillo about his most recent release âZoom Zoomâ and much more!
Congrats on âZoom Zoomâ! What a âtemazoâ! Can you give us more details about the song? What is it about? What does it mean to you? And what was the inspiration behind it?
âZoom Zoomâ is all about the good vibes and being around people that you love. I am a fan of reggae and driving and I wanted to make a song about those long drives I take down the PCH on my way to my favorite beach in Malibu.
You recently attended the Billboard Latin Music Week! Tell us about that experience? Did you get the chance to meet any of your idols?
It was amazing to be around all these people and realize that I am not that far away from being nominated. I met some amazing artists there and got to share some beautiful moments with the new generation of latin artists.
Letâs talk about the boy from Guatemala! How do you feel about achieving your dreams? Looking back at your journey? What were some of the biggest difficulties you had to face?
Lately I have been telling myself that I already won, I have a lot of ambition and that has kept me on the way to success but coming from poverty and having to move out here at the age of 15 escaping my reality was not easy so I keep reminding myself that I already achieved my dreams by pursuing my passion and taking care of all my 3 siblings back home.
Youâve lived between Guatemala, the United States, and Colombia. We hear the fusion of cultures in your music! How do you manage to incorporate different genres of music together? Where do you see yourself living in the future?
Sometimes it feels like a higher power put me in all these different places to understand different cultures and music. Back in Guatemala I listened to acoustic music and reggaeton, when I was in High school in Texas I got introduced to Hip Hop & Country music and In Colombia the love for latin Urban music came back into my life. It is in my blood, not really having one identity makes my music so unique. I would love to live in Europe or Asia, probably Korea or Japan.
Nirvana came out recently. Youâve collaborated with Ana Bejarano and Harlan Silverman on this one. How did you decide to work with them? How was the EP developed?
My approach to this EP was to create a body of work where I tapped into different genres like reggae, cumbia, rock & rap. Very experimental. Harlan Silverman produced all of the EP. Ana didn’t work on this project but she did work on ZOOM ZOOM with me.
You co-directed the music video for âZoom Zoomâ with Alejandra Hinojosa. How did you come up with the idea of the clip? Do you see yourself directing more music videos in the future?
Until now I have directed most of my videos, I do like collaborating with other directors as well like Alejandra. Directing is probably one of my favorite things about being an artist. I would love to direct videos for other artists and even movies.
You transmit genuine feelings and vibes with your music that instantly pulls in the listener! To what do you attribute your authentic sound? And do you write your songs from your own personal experiences?
I think authenticity comes from being real, and that’s who Ben Carrillo is, real. The lyrics are raw and honest from personal stories or stories I’ve heard from strangers or loved ones.
What should fans expect from you in the coming months? Will we have any new music videos coming out soon? Or new songs? What about collaborations?
A Lot of new music, I got two big collaborations on the way and forsure more visuals. Lately we have been working in silence to prepare for our 2023 take over!
