At age 13, Alejandro Aramburu realized that he wanted to perform. He went out to the streets of Lima, Peru and started busking during the summer. With his eyes closed, he began to sing, getting lost in the music. When he opened his eyes hundreds of people had stopped to listen to him play. Since that summer, performing has been his passion, which led him to study at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. He is now making a name for himself in Los Angeles as a junior majoring in popular music performance at USC Thornton.
Growing up in Peru, Alejandro was a shy kid who felt uncomfortable speaking up and usually sat alone at school. Through music, he found his voice, transforming him into a captivating performer playing for audiences of thousands. He began his musical career singing for a choir with his older sister.
“I actually started playing guitar and classical music when I was eight. Then I started to write songs, trying to sing for talent shows and at school. Since my older sister was studying opera, I just wanted to do whatever she did. Eventually, people started to come up to me like, ‘You’re not that bad!’” said Alejandro. “When I started busking, I used the money I earned from playing on the streets to buy my first microphone and speaker. Then I started getting brand offers because hundreds of people would see me, and gained a following.”
To pursue his dreams he made the emotional decision to follow his sister to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, leaving behind his friends and family. At the prestigious arts high school, he studied under mentors like Andrew Dost, who called him a “supernova” when he performed.
Applying to USC on a whim, he was accepted into the popular music program, becoming one of five vocalists selected. At USC, Alejandro has had the opportunity to perform at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, produce with Grammy-nominated artists like Manuel Garrido-Lecca and Justin Moshkevich, and has amassed over 200,000 followers across his social media platforms.
“Working with Alejandro is a unique experience, one of those that as a producer you experience three or four times throughout your career,” said Manuel Garrido-Lecca, Alejandro’s producer. “I say this because working on his music and developing his great talent I find myself constantly breaking new ground, proposing new ideas and different concepts that, in reality, are discovering a path for a completely new musical scene.”
During his sophomore year, Alejandro formed a band that rehearses and performs with him during his gigs. Finn Vora, the band’s music director, is also the lead guitarist and a fellow sophomore popular music performance major. “He’s a fantastic performer, shows with him are always fun since there’s so much high energy from the crowd, there’s a great connection there,” shared Vora. “The L.A. Times Festival of Books was a big crowd, big stage, it was a lot of fun. There was such great energy and I remember thinking ‘This is great,’ since then we’ve been working on doing more shows,” said Vora.
In addition to pop artists like Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson, Alejandro gets most of his inspiration from Latine performers like Luis Miguel and Pedro Suárez-Vértiz. Showmanship is something Alejandro tries to capture while he performs, inspired by Latine superstars to create a captivating experience as he hypes up the crowd. All of his songs are self-written and co-produced, his most streamed song “Pringao” was written in 10 minutes.
“I’m releasing my own music, and in Spanish. It didn’t happen all of a sudden, I’ve been building myself up. I would say Alejandro as an artist is a passionate young man. I want to make music from my experiences that people can relate to, and I’ve been writing songs ever since I first wrote a song for a girl when I was 12 years old. All of my music is honest, I think my main skill aside from singing and playing the guitar is really just performing,” said Alejandro.
At age 20, Alejandro has already created a reputation for being a versatile artist. From his start in classical to his pivot towards pop rock, he now explores blues and funk at Thornton. Yet he still feels there are many genres for him to explore. After performing a cover of “Rebelión” by Joe Arroyo and La Verdad at USC, his comments became flooded with fans wanting more, fueling his inspiration for putting Latine pop on the map.
“Peruvians are really passionate about what we do. But, there haven’t really been any really big artists from Peru. I am really inspired by Peruvian music and I am always connected to my roots,” said Alejandro. “I got the chance to perform the Peruvian national anthem which was the biggest audience I’ve had, it was a crazy experience. I got so much recognition and support, and I really want to do events like that more often because I feel proud representing Peru and being seen as my country.”
Alejandro’s newest single “Quien Es Ella” is now available on all streaming platforms, with more releases coming out early next year and a possible album in the works.
“‘Quien Es Ella’ is actually the second song I ever wrote, a really colorful pop-rock song. It’s a true story, beginning to end, about this girl I met. I’ve written over 200 songs now and never thought to release it, but a producer encouraged me, and it’s really important because it feels like I’m going back to my childhood with this song,” said Alejandro.