Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ale Lista. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ale, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I think from my childhood and my parents, my dad taught me the value of your word, and the core values you shouldn’t break.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My experience and relationship with music date from my early years. Having an Italian background I grew up surrounded by instruments (guitars, harmonicas, bandoneons etc.) when turned 9 years old I began to collect cassettes of my favorite music, that turned into CDs around the year 93/94 and then started to study music a few years later.
When turned 18 years old due to life circumstances, agreed to live several months in Miami where I began music production classes, after a few weeks produced my first song, a situation that without knowing it would change my life, the experience captivated me.
When returned to Argentina, began to study sound engineering and post-production of audio professionally. During the last years of my career established a great relationship with a teacher who worked with many bands that I admired, he inducted me to this fantastic world, as his assistant my first show in the professional era was, in the Luna Park stadium.
After that things were going fast, started in CM (Cronica Musical, something like the MTV studios but in Argentina) began to work there to forge my first steps in the music scene, during my time there i remember several artists with whom I had the pleasure of working like Luciano Pereyra among others, shows with Catupecu Machu (band that I admired) and the fresh years of Carajo (ex ANIMAL) during that time many renowned bands have happened that do not come to mind because the pace of work and learning was very intense.
Followed by that, started in a audio production company focused in the show business (social and corporate) on the side also began to work in a TV channel as a sound engineer, doing several tv shows (sports, politics, news)
In 2005 began my recording studio steps in the mythical Estudio del Abasto, Alvaro Villagra (Studio owner) was truly a teacher for me, his guide and knowledge would guide me for the rest of my career, at the studio all the albums I had listened when teenager and collected had been recorded; during my magical two years in the studio did not stop recording, learning, improving myself, accomplished many of my musical dreams recording with almost all the bands I used to be fan (Los Piojos, Bersuit, Attaque 77, Todos tus muertos etc)
In 2007 turned into a happy father and took my life with more calm, next stop was in a well renowned and top production company in Palermo, Buenos Aires my duties were focused in a general production of bands (artistic and technical) tour manager, touring the country and several bordering countries , working a ton of projects and customizing bands for several and celebrity clients.
It was a time quite linked to Ideas del Sur (Marcelo Tinelli) where by people in common I would meet Martin Bossi, he asked me to join him as his audio engineer and technical head.
between other activities still have in my memory a seminar I gave at the University of Palermo related to high end event production, I think there is something published on the web.
My career resume linked to the Estudio del Abasto until 2012 representing the studio and recording live in stadiums and throughout the country touring, with the mobile studio of Abasto many dvds and live albums of acclaimed national and international bands have been recorded during this time.
On the side of this joined several bands and projects to work as a mix engineer, mastering and artistic production.
One that I remember fondly is Vitreaux since the band calls me for my work in the Abasto and because they wanted to have a Rocker audio and I was known just for that, it happened that his guitarist had been to high school with me and he remembered that during that time together I told him that wanted to be a producer and that would produce a his record in the future, curiously we had made it a reality, since they hired me to do the artistic production and mix engineer for their band album “Vivo en tiempos muertos ”
During the 2008 I had the great honor of being called by Alberto (Tatu) Estela
(Gustavo Santaolalla / Anibal Kerpel) to be part of the recording of Café del Los Maestros at the Teatro Colon, a unique and unrepeatable experience, since for many of the musicians (several creators of the genre) that would be his last concert, Mariano Mores, Virginia Luque, Leopoldo Federico, Horacio Salgan among other icons of tango.
Years later would be linked to several other projects as a sound engineer with artists such as Bajofondo (Santaolalla) Terraplen (Santaolalla) Lisandro Aristimunio, La Mosca, Los Autenticos Decadentes (to name a few)
Next stop: theater and the mythical Corrientes St. (something like the Argentine broadway) after several productions in which I was involved, I had the pleasure of work with Martin Bossi with whom I had been working for several years as their personal sound engineer and technical head, with Martin I toured to the country and several countries doing tours and several presentations, were very intense years next to him, since his name and his figure had exploded in the country for a character that he did on television, so we were very requested all the time.
Continued linked to theater, working in the Broadway theater, ND Ateneo, Astros among others.
Simultaneously continued my career linked to the same industry but this time representing large audio brands, Digico, Genelec, Beyer Dynamic, Xilica, B & C, Powersoft as technical advisor and trainer and teaching audio engineers with the use of new technologies.
During this time received a call from the government of the city of Buenos Aires to join a program as an Audio engineer teacher, this program was developed to generate new jobs and train new technicians.
Years later, received a phone call from a well renowned south Florida audio engineer, this call was very special for me.
Although the brand and property was new in the city, wasn’t for me since I had collaborated on several occasions in Faena Buenos Aires.
From the first moment the magic and surroundings captivated me, the hotel and the district is a cultural gem.
Started as a sound engineer and soon after I had all the audio areas under my supervision, I remember one of my first encounters with Alan Faena he pulled me aside and told me “I want you to be part of this Journey because I believe in your potential and want you to take a leading role here”
We started with a project of two weekly bands, at the time of taking the position and taking care of all the programming of bands and djs for the district took those 2 bands to 12 monthly bands, then 21 and today I could say that we are in the 35 bands and Dj’s in the rotation.
We have a lot of art/ music and cultural activities happening at the same time, from the theater performances with a stable show to several presentations of renowned artists, all the areas of the district are truly special and unique, from the Living Room, Saxony bar, Theater, Forum, Casa Faena.
When started to introduce more artists our vision was to help promote culture and music in the city and help the band scene grow, I was tired of hearing people tell me that in Miami there were no bands, that it was a city of djs, that is why I tirelessly dedicate myself to visit many parts of the city (some not very showy so to speak) to find talents, then many of those bands were modified, produced and improved making use of my experience as a music producer.
During the first part many of these bands were custom for the theme of the night, since I noticed that the people who came was different every night and basically the vibe was different, so that the same band every night or the same DJ all nights would not work, we had to keep betting and growing the local talent, that’s why I continue tirelessly searching and searching, (in fact I do it even today)
An amazing an epic space is Saxony bar that beyond having a scene of very strong
Djs little by little we were introducing another concept adding pop ups performances, to create a unique vibe during the night of Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Today after almost 10 years I could say that much of that vision has been fulfilled, many colleagues tell me how the demand has grown since many of the locals around want to use what they call the Faena Format, personally I’m proud, but in the other hand it shows me that we have to continue creating and betting to generate the evolution of that format, I think it could not have been achieved if wasn’t for the freedom and support i had to create and try new things both in the creative area and production as well technical, I think these three areas must work as one to reach and achieve outstanding results.
Currently 100% focused to my personal growth personal and professional,
Involved in several music project abroad and local as well, Constantly traveling and exploring new cultures, and developing new concepts and projects for clients that trust in my vision for their venues.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Integrity, organized, talent, passion
My advice is to be focused and persistent on their goals, if you have that the rest will come by their self.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The knowledge to handle my freedom and sense of been responsible for my actions
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alelista__/
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVk2mhFYBbE
