'Love After Music' on Netflix: A look at the life and music of Argentine rock legend Fito Paez
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It is frequently claimed that there are outstanding musicians who leave an indelible mark on people, and then there are a handful of singers who go beyond those industry standards in ways that are difficult to put into words. Fito Paez, real name Rodolfo Paez valos, is one of those incredible geniuses. One of Argentina's finest artists and a leading star of Latin American rock, the singer's nearly 40-year career will be presented in an upcoming Netflix biographical series.
The Netflix series 'Love After Music' will follow Fito Paez through thirty years of genius, tragedy, successes, failures, excesses, and loves, as well as his musical journey with some of the greatest rock icons. Gaspar Offenhenden plays Fito Paez as a child, and Ivos Hochman plays the adult musician, singer-songwriter, composer, and film director. Mandarina Contenidos' Juan Pablo Kolodziej and Mariano Chihade produced the limited series.
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'Troubadour of Argentine rock'
Known as the 'Troubadour of Argentine rock', Paez's classics include ‘El amor después del amor’, ‘Al lado del camino’, and ‘Brillante sobre el Mic’. Brought up by his grandmother, great-aunt, and father, Paez started playing piano at a very young age. His experience playing the instrument in Rosario eventually led to his enormous international success. He started out as a keyboardist in the Argentine Trova Rosarina rock scene. By 1978, he was performing solo in pubs and eventually evolved into a Latin-pop legend.
Paez's first solo album, ‘Del '63’, was released in 1984 and was promoted first in his hometown, but later earned attention in Buenos Aires. In 1987, the artist's ‘Ciudad de Pobres Corazone' marked a dark, political turn in his work as it was dedicated to his aunt and grandmother, who were assassinated in Rosario. In 1990, he released ‘Tercert Mundo', which explored Latin American cultural influences and the harsh world of poverty and exploitation. His success peaked with his 1992 album 'El Amor Después del Amor'. The album sold over 750,000 copies, and when Paez headed on tour to promote it, he found himself playing to sold-out 40,000-strong crowds.
One of Paez's accomplishments was to capitalize on the assets of an international label to create music that, while moving and being produced within an internationalization process, used that process to demonstrate the richness of Argentina's folklore - or, to put it another way, to effectively relay an Argentine way of comprehending music to a global audience.
Inspiration behind ‘El Amor Despues del Amor’
During an interview with GRAMMYs in 2021, Paez was asked about his inspiration behind the 1992 album ‘El Amor Después del Amor'. He said, “I was ending a long relationship of several years with Fabiana Cantilo, a great Argentine singer/songwriter, and, today, a soul sister. I was starting a relationship with Cecilia Roth, with whom I had a son, Martín, who is now 21. We were together for 11 years. I was initiating a bond that was going to be very important, I knew it. It seems to me that this emotional transfer of that situation was the engine that started everything. And, of course, having a person like Cecelia around was also very important. When there is a muse, many seduction mechanisms are activated. Luckily, musical or artistic ones are also activated. That seems to me was the inspiration for the whole album, plus the obvious growth that I was having as a musician, as an artist.”
Was 'El Amor Despues del Amor' Fito Paez’s biggest hit?
Fito Paez has stated that he does not consider the album to be his greatest success. Rather, he feels lucky that he was introduced to Phil Ramone at the time - one of the greatest music producers in history and a close friend. He went on to say that Ramone was a “teacher to me in the sense that I could see how a producer really works, what is the task one should perform. I saw his generous heart, his extramusical research on what he had to record.”
Paez continued, “I remember how a producer does the task of the producer. The only thing a producer has to do, and I saw that clearly with him, is to prepare the ground for the artist to be free on the battlefield, absolutely free. Phil taught me freedom, in a sense. That is my memory of Phil: as one of the great people I crossed paths with in music.”
'I will always be curious'
If you're wondering what Fito Paez is up to currently, the most likely answer is working. He once mentioned in an interview that he will always be curious about what he doesn't know musically and go after it. In 2020, he released 'Gente en La Calle', a song with a Steely Dan feel on which he worked with Argentine pop star Lali Esposito. In 2021, he was presented with the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Paez's most recent albums include 2022's ‘The Golden Light’, as well as ‘Los Aos Salvajes’ and ‘Futurologa Arlt’.
The Argentine rockstar released an album titled ‘La Conquista del Espacio’ in 2020, when the world was on lockdown. Asked in an interview with Billboard what was he thinking while making the album, Fito said 'La Conquista del Espacio' was about reconfirming that he still wanted to be in the world, "That I still had the desire to be here, generating concerts and music and doing things that —I wouldn’t say if the right term is, 'for the common good', as politicians say—but there’s a little bit of that. Because as artists we are incomplete if we don’t have other people’s ears, attention, and critique."
Fito Paez headlined the Via del Mar International Song Festival in February as part of his 2023 tour 'El Amor 30 Aos Después del Amor', which commemorates the 30th anniversary of the seminal album 'El Amor Después del Amor'. He demonstrated greater rock riffs on a mustard-colored Gibson guitar during the performance of 'Ciudad de Pobres Corazones', boasting his instrument versatility.
‘Love After Music’ will stream on Netflix from April 26.
