Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada Releases New Solo Track, “Afuera”

Life is a strange, strange thing. For instance: paradoxes. You would think that the more you know about something, the simpler it gets. But the reality is, the more you know about something, the more complexities you see in it. The more extravagant and anomalous it can feel. For evidence of this, see: guitarist Adrian Quesada.

The Oscar-nominated Quesada has seemingly done it all when it comes to music. From playing with Prince to co-founding the Black Pumas, he is a stalwart in the art form. And yet, he still feels as if he’s honing his sound, polishing the details of his style and learning more and more about his six-string instrument.

We caught up with Quesada to ask him about his musical past, his new album and the new dreamy track he’s released today, “Afuera,” featuring Ed Maverick.

VICE: What do you love about the guitar—what does it do for you, your mind and your life as a creative person?

Adrian Quesada: Guitar was my first instrument, so it rally was the first medium I had for expressing myself. The more I’ve been playing the easier it is to express something through it. But the flip side of that is that there is so much muscle memory that comes with me playing it that sometimes I need to switch to another instrument, particularly keys, to pick up a guitar and get a new idea out.  

VICE: You’ve worked on many outstanding projects throughout your career. I wanted to ask about some more recent successes—where were you and what was your reaction when you found out about your Oscar nomination? And what has your work in the Black Pumas taught you about yourself as an artist?

AQ: I was dropping off my daughter at school when I found out about the Oscar nomination. I honestly thought it would be later in the day given it was on the west coast and two hours behind me in Austin, which is central time, so I was completely unprepared. I didn’t even really look at the time it would be announced—I just figured it would be later in the afternoon. I had to pull over off the side of the road to field all the congratulatory texts and collect myself for a bit.

My work with Black Pumas has taught me to not be afraid of trying anything, as I had previous reservations about trying soul music before that project, even though it seemed like something I should be doing.

VICE: You also used to play guitar for Prince. Do you have a favorite Prince story?

AQ: There were so many stories with Prince as every moment around him now seems surreal and totally epic. What I remember the most that a lot of people don’t really think about when telling Prince stories is what a dry and dark sense of humor he had. He was really funny and loved to control the room with some humor, in addition to his musical control he always had.  

VICE: What was the genesis of your new LP, Boleros Psicodélicos II, and more specifically, the new track out today, “Afuera”?

AQ: Boleros Psicodélicos II really came out of some leftover demos from Vol. 1, and the opportunity to have an amazing live band in the studio to help me kick start it. The first album was done during the pandemic so it was recorded completely remotely with no one ever in the same room. It was important for me to be able to capture the music as live as possible as the starting point for it all. We did a handful of live shows to promote the first one and I had the live band stay in town for a couple of days to record some instrumentals which forced me to finish a lot of loose ideas I had laying around uncompleted.

“Afuera” was based on an idea I had that wasn’t specifically for this album that I played for Ed Maverick and he liked. I went down to Delicias, Chihuahua, in Mexico where he lives and we posted up in his studio for a couple of days trying to come up with some music mostly from scratch. “Afuera” was something I had sort of begun but being in the same room with Ed and seeing how creative he is on every instrument really brought it to life. Even though it isn’t technically a “bolero” it seemed to have sentiment that really fit in with the rest of the album.  

VICE: You’re helping to bring Latin music even more into the American mainstream, how does this make you feel?

AQ: The older I get I am starting to feel a sense of responsibility for bridging musical genres and language barriers for people. I grew up in a border town so I was in between two cultures, two countries, and two languages and I try to show people how much more we all have in common through music—hopefully breaking down some barriers or at least turning people who may have never shown interest in Latin music on to something cool.  

VICE: What do you love most about who you are as an artist, today?

AQ: I feel like I am getting to a point where it is easier to express the ideas I have in my head, either because I can now say it on an instrument or because I have an incredible network of friends and collaborators who can help me bring things to life. I have also finally embraced the concept of having a sort of message behind most of what you do. In addition, being able to freely navigate between “Latin” music and other kinds of genres and have people accept it all is a great feeling. 

Photo by Jackie Lee Young / Via Shore Fire