Gustavo Santaolalla: Crafting the Soundtrack of a Latino Generation

Legendary music producer Gustavo Santaolalla has crafted the soundtrack to Rock En Español, producing career-defining albums for Café Tacvba, Molotov, Juanes, and many more. He is one of only three composers to win consecutive Academy Awards for Best Original Score for Brokeback Mountain and Babel. In our wide-ranging conversation, Gustavo shares his philosophical views on art, humanity, the spiritual connection he finds in music, and the state of the creative industry today. We begin with how Gustavo’s hard-knock life in 1960s Argentina led to an explosion of boundary-pushing creativity still felt in music today.

Episode Key Quotes:

"The album 'Arcoiris' is a blueprint of my career. In that album, you're going to find the music for the movies, the songs, the production tricks."

"It's creativity, art, and music that moves you in any art. It's what keeps us sane."

"In the next 20 years, we're going to have to make big decisions and big changes or this can go away, really."

Highly Relevant Playlist
The Last Of Us - Gustavo Santaolalla
Eres - Cafe Tacvuba
Frijolero - Molotov