To this day, somewhere just over 1,250 micro-genres of popular music have been named. They’ve played a huge role in helping to describe and classify different albums and songs, and in doing so, have allowed both listeners and musicians to easily identify and categorize their preferred musical styles.

Renowned sound engineer, Josué Catalán, has experience with mixing and mastering music from a multitude of genres. This versatile experience has aided in Catalán’s growth as an artist, which in recent years has contributed to the success of two major hit singles: Pegadito a Mi Piel and Cuando La Historia Cambie, both released in 2017. Furthermore, due to his vast practice, Catalán’s been able to isolate a few of his favorite genres to work within, too.

“I have two favorite genres of music,” Catalán informed, “POP and Jazz. I love how each one represents a world on its own, and I learn a lot every time I get to work on a POP or Jazz production.”

The song Pegadito a Mi Piel, which Catalán mixed and mastered, is a song that falls within one of the sound engineer’s two favored genres: POP. Sung by Chilean POP artist Dani Ilabel and produced by Max Donoso and Manuel Burgos, Pegadito a Mi Piel translates to “Close to my skin,” and is a song of romance. It took Catalán a total of just three days to have the final product complete and ready to be delivered to TVN (Televisión Nacional de Chile) Records, the well-known label the single was signed by.

“The main challenge while mixing and mastering this particular song was finding a certain attitude to give the sound that could make it stand out from the typical romantic ballad,” Catalán explained. “I tried to impart some character by adding subtle distortion and delivered nuances that made the sound be forward and dynamic.”

Part of what makes Catalán so uniquely brilliant when it comes to his work is his fearlessness when it comes to taking risks with sound. Anyone can learn how to engineer, but it takes a truly exceptional kind of person, one who’s willing to gamble the possibility of failure, to obtain the attention-seeking type of success Catalán has proved himself more than capable of attaining. Producer Donoso supported this thought, stating, “Josué’s the person you go to because you know he’ll make your music sound better. Not only is he the kind of engineer that knows how to translate engineering into music, which makes him so easy to work with, but he’s also not afraid of taking musical/engineering risks. His mixes tend to bring an edge to projects that helps them to stand out among the ever-crowded universe of music productions.”

Such success also goes hand in hand with working amongst a team of talented individuals, who also happen to deeply care about professionalism and camaraderie within the workplace. Not only have Catalán, Donoso, and Ilabel worked as a unit on Pegadito a Mi Piel, but they’ve also collaborated on several tracks and albums together. “When you work with talented people who also care about teamwork, work ethics, and human relationships, it’s hard not to learn and see yourself grow. Working with Max has showed me that big challenges must be taken step by step and that nothing is impossible in terms of dreams and vision. He taught me to value simple things in music; an honest song will resonate better with the audience, and actually, that’s something one can even relate to life,” Catalán elaborated.

While Pegadito a Mi Piel was the first of songs that Catalán mixed and mastered to be aired on national television, it certainly wasn’t the last. In fact, some of the most notorious tracks the trio has worked on together have been featured on multiple shows of the main Chilean TV channel, TVN. It was, however, Pegadito a Mi Piel’s great success which opened new doors for young singer Ilabel. Not only was the single used as the main soundtrack for the 2017 soap opera La Colombiana starring Felipe Braun, Elizabeth Minotta, and María José Illanes, but it was also named one of the 50 most viral songs in Chile on Spotify for two weeks, ultimately reaching second place on the list.

In simple terms, as Catalán puts it, “A successful song can position an artist so that he or she can spark interest of the label or producers that are managing the artist.” And, this is exactly what the finished product Pegadito a Mi Piel did.

Currently, there is another Ilabel single that will also be mixed and mastered by Catalán in the works. While an official release date is still to be determined, one can remain on the lookout for the song as it is set to be titled Cuenta Conmigo (Count on Me). Ilabel’s latest single that was mixed and mastered by Catalán, Eres Mi Otra Mitad (You Are My Better Half), was released quite recently, and has been airing on TV for about three months now.

Branching out some from the familiar and favorited territory of the POP music genre, Catalán contributed to yet another hit single this past year: The Country-Rock single Cuando La Historia Cambie sung by the famed Jano Letelier.

Cuando La Historia Cambie is a powerful song that speaks of the injustice and wracked government system in Chile. Elaborating on the subject he’s quite familiar with, Catalán explained, “Chile, because of the military dictatorship in the 70-80s, is one of the most “Neoliberal” countries in the world. Everything is private and the system encourages social and economic inequality. People have to wait six months to get an appointment with a doctor in the public system. Meanwhile, the private hospitals are like luxury hotels and are very expensive. Also, people are retiring with pensions not greater than 10% of their former income, and this is a system managed by private companies. And these are just a few examples of what is going on within the country.”

The compelling and fresh production of Cuando La Historia Cambie was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Catalán, and has been transmitted by several online radio stations, including as the Todos Junto Radio, as well as FM radios such as Radio Futuro, one of the largest Rock and Blues radio stations in all of Chile.

“The first time I heard Cuando LA Historia Cambie on Radio Futuro, I felt so proud and excited and was full of adrenaline. I am proud of having worked on delivering the powerful message of the song to tons of people through one of the biggest radio stations in the country,” Catalán reminisced.

Contributing to the overall production of the single was drummer Arturo Salinas, bass player Sebastian Cordova, and studio assistant Nicolas Moris.

Prior to entering the recording studio, the team had prepared the songs and all ideas, resulting in a smooth process of production.  The band was recorded live with all musicians playing at the same time, and the final mix of the song was listened to repeatedly until Catalán and Letelier were certain they’d achieved a flawless sound.

“Josue’s preparation, responsibility, good hearing, and good will to work makes him very good at what he does,” Letelier commented. Catalán’s great ear for sound quality and comprehensive talent for engineering was also noticed by several radio listeners; After Cuando La Historia Cambie first aired on a radio show, Catalán instantly received praising comments comparing the sound quality of Letelier’s song to various others of the same style that were aired among his on the station that day. Adding to her previous words, Letelier concluded, “When working with him, you can see that he is happy doing what he loves and puts his positive energy into the projects.”

Presently, Catalán has mixed two additional Jano Letelier singles that are set to be released in early 2018, along with an entire album that should see the light by mid 2018. “The new album is a fresh view of Chilean music based mainly on blues and rock. It serves as an example of the talent that we have in Chile and will bring many different topics to the table in a very honest and powerful way,” Catalán shared. “Jano’s vision of Chilean music is very unique yet very representative of the national scene. The whole process of working with him has been very educative.”

For more information on Josué Catalán, please visit: www.josuecatalan.com
To listen to Pegadito a Mi Piel, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-SzcAHUHek
To listen to Cuando La Historia Cambie, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6E3mIjDZBw