Francisca Valenzuela

SHORT BIO

Chilean songstress, performer, activist and pianist Francisca Valenzuela, is a force of nature. She has been at the forefront of indie music and conversations that give visibility to female voices, for which she created "Ruidosa" and Ruidosa Radio, supporting female voices across all disciplines.

"Adentro", her most recent album, expands the already applauded honesty that Francisca deposits in her creations, now from a much more personal and vulnerable perspective, where her own experiences weave a map of pain and healing.

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FULL BIO

Chilean American singer-songwriter, Francisca Valenzuela has a great talent for narrating both the intimate and the collective. She is a precious gem that began to shine since she was a child, with her first song written at the age of 13. Over time, she has become one of the most important artists in Latin America, part of a new generation of empowered storytellers in her craft who even involves her own community in creating. We are witnessing a singer who uses the passage of time to her advantage, who never stops learning, exploring, or growing.

She burst onto the Chilean music scene during a period where being a pop artist still meant facing a list of prejudices, especially if the one attempting such feat was a woman. At the age of 19, she released the single "Peces," marking the beginning of an interesting and consistent career characterized by confessional pop songs accompanied by her piano. In June 2007, her debut album "Muérdete la lengua" was released, produced in collaboration with Mauricio and Francisco Durán, from Los Bunkers. This is perhaps her most rooted work in the cultural movement of female rage, influenced by icons of the 90s such as Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, and in the Latin spectrum, Julieta Venegas. Her debut had a refreshing character and quickly became a classic within popular music made in Chile.

Her first album reflects the early sonic influences that shaped her as an artist and her beginnings as a lyricist, "Buen Soldado" (2011) revealing an exploration of new territories. We can clearly see a passionate and evolving artist: synthesizers ("Yo lo busco"), dance ("Quiero verte más"), and new musical genres ("Mujer modelo," "Esta soy yo") blend with her pop foundation. Her lyrical composition is also in a process of exploration: the self is no longer the main speaker in her songs; she ventures to write from other perspectives. "Los poderosos" and "Muérdete la Lengua" already suggested this, addressing those who hold power but don't use it to contribute to a better world, in "Buen Soldado" there is "Salvador," inspired by the figure of Salvador Allende, alluding to magnetic and poetic leadership. "I think he embodied that poetic utopianism that Martin Luther King had in his time," she said in an interview at the time. Or "Entrevista," about the whirlwind of work-life in the new century. These exercises showed from the beginning that we were in front of a composer with her eyes focused both inward and outward.

It is very interesting to observe the passing of time in the career of an artist like Francisca. One could say that she is very generous precisely because her processes of growth, curiosity, and experience are exposed in her works. In 2014, she released "Tajo Abierto," nominated for the Latin Grammy in 2015, her third studio album confirming that she is an artist connected to her contemporaneity but also to her own experience as a mature woman. In this album, Francisca takes us from the first track to the dance floor ("Prenderemos fuego al cielo"), speaks to us about desire ("Estremecer"), celebrates identity and all the dignity it entails ("Insulto"), and fully explores electronic sounds ("Catedral"). She also worked collaboratively on the production with Vicente Sanfuentes, Áureo Baqueiro, Jesse Rogg, and Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio.

In 2016, we got to know another dimension of the artist as an activist, founder, and manager of Ruidosa, initially a feminist interdisciplinary festival that later became a platform that brings together, promotes, and celebrates the cultural production of women artists. In 2017, Ruidosa published a research report on the participation of women musicians in Latin American festivals, showing that 78.1% of the artists who performed in the region in 2017 were men or all-male bands. This study, which had a follow-up in 2018, served as the basis for the "Mercedes Sosa" bill presented in the Argentine Congress, demanding a 30% female participation in festivals, series, and annual live music programming.

In 2020, her fourth album, "La Fortaleza," was released, featuring four of her previously released singles: "Tómame," "Ya no se trata de ti" (both music videos directed by the artist herself), "Héroe," "Al final del mundo" (featuring Claudio Parra from Los Jaivas), and "Flotando." This work explicitly showcases the feminist reflections of the artist that had already appeared in her previous works. But it is also an album that contains both light and shadow. It reflects the reconciliation with oneself when it feels like one will be forever marked by a dark experience ("Ya no se trata de ti") and the celebration of a healthy and luminous love ("Flotando"). There is a raw introspection in "Ansiedad (Peleo con las sombras)," and perhaps one of the best music videos of her entire career with "La Fortaleza." To create it, the artist called on her audience through social media to collectively construct the meaning of strength. Over 1,600 people responded: images of people of different gender identities expressing love, women embracing motherhood, individuals of all ages, some recovering from illnesses, families gathered around a meal, people visiting mountains, the sea, embracing their pets, dancing cueca, embracing others. The video, released in July 2020, during one of the most challenging moments of the pandemic, went from being a promotional tool to becoming an artifact of companionship and resistance for a community.

At the end of 2021, Francisca began to share her new songs, which emerged as lights after turbulent times on a global scale ("Castillo de Cristal," "Último Baile," "Salú," and "Hola Impostora"), until her fifth album, "Vida tan bonita," was released in May 2022. The album features eleven songs written by Valenzuela, with collaboration from Claudia Brant on some tracks, musical production by Sebastian Krys with Ali Stone, and mixing engineering by Daniel Galindo. What all these songs, each with their own world, have in common is that even when addressing conflicts or difficult situations, they contain sparks of hope and a desire to live life. "Vida tan bonita" is a project where the composer dedicated pure light. In December 2022, she released a new version of "Salú" as part of her latest album, in collaboration with Los Auténticos Decadentes. The wind instruments and ska from the legendary Argentine band are present and complement the bright pop of the original single.

During 2022, Francisca embarked on a tour that took her to the United States, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, while also preparing for her next album, "Adentro," which she describes as her most intimate, raw, and confessional work. This new project portrays the loss of a relationship, the subsequent mourning, and the delirious experience of rediscovering oneself and venturing back into the world. That's what growing up is like: vulnerable, fragile, confused, curious, infatuated, doubtful, and guilty.