Meet Zerquera Eduanis | Musician, guitarist and composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zerquera Eduanis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zerquera, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
It was obvious to me. Music is the joy of my life. Music is everything:
it’s the only thing that really makes me happy, distracts me, and in
the saddest days it has opened many doors for me to feel alive and
escape.

For my first original song, I was lucky that a young person asked me to do an artistic and musical collaboration for his high school project. Everything happened very quickly. We wrote the lyrics for “Inspiration,” and I wrote a melody. “Inspiration” was born between two continents. Thanks to her and the enthusiasm of many people who supported me, we opened our YouTube channel. A few months later, we put it on Spotify. Ever since then I have enjoyed composing. It was the beginning of a beautiful musical and artistic journey.

Then I wrote and composed “Madre, la patria mía”. My uncle, who
lives in New Zealand with musicians, played with me. This song is a
Danzon, a musical genre created in Cuba in the process of national
transculturation and meeting of our own idiosyncratic style in the year
1879. It combines several voices and instruments. This music is
spontaneous and allows improvisation and rhythm changes. I
dreamed of writing this kind of music. I was looking forward to my
friends’ impressions and they wanted to dance. I was happy in these
difficult times. We needed comfort. The lyrics are a prayer to Our Lady
of Cobre to protect the world. Also, my illustrator friend, Wright
Salisbury, did a beautiful rendering for the video. The musicians
from New Zealand that I work with did a very good job. It is a
beautiful international artistic and musical collaboration. We were
able to continue these collaborations with Claudine Merino and
Monica Antonie for the other songs like “la Libélula” and “A mi
pueblo”.

My last composition “Nostalgia” is more personal, only on the guitar.
This period, which may have come to an end, violently tore our
relations apart. All that was left was nostalgia. Deniz Baykan made
a very nice animation.

I think new projects that will undoubtedly be written will surprise people because they are ancestral and have joyful rhythms to dance to.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

Nothing distinguishes me from other musicians. We play, compose music.  Most important is the passion we have for our art.  In Cuba, music is the soul of the country.  It is everywhere.  The musicians are very numerous, and there is a very great competition.  The most important thing is that music lives and takes us away from the turpitudes of life and it succeeds in creating moments of happiness that bring people together and allow us to sing and dance together. These happy memories will remain in our hearts and protect us from all misfortunes. Thanks to networking, I have met musicians from multiple geographical and musical horizons; This way people can open up to the world without wanting war and all the other misfortunes.  Let’s stop comparing ourselves. Let’s play music and create beautiful artistic works.

Since 2019, I have been excited every time I posted a new video on
YouTube with a new original song or cover.  I looked forward to the
reactions. An Argentinian told me that when he walks his dog, he
sings the chorus of “Sueños par recordar”. I was so happy. In
addition, his dog nodded his head while listening to this song.

Since childhood I have been playing guitar and Cuban percussion. I
benefitted from the opportunity that Fidel Castro created at the time with
the Schools of Art Instructors to be masters of the different branches
of the arts, and I graduated from this school as a music teacher.
Then I worked for five years in schools teaching new generations
the art of music.

Then, for seven years, I was thrilled to play every night in a magical
place and share this Cuban music that I love so much.  In addition, I
have always wanted through my covers to share Cuban music and
local musicians like Rafael Saroza so that their musical heritage
does not die.  I wanted to pay homage to him through the video
“Guitarra mià”.’

Four years ago, someone who loved my voice and my songs
created a nice project with people all over the world. Before a song
was released, I sent it to them exclusively. Music is sharing, the gift
of self. These people pushed me, followed me and helped me.
Thanks to them, I continue international artistic and musical
collaborations. During the Covid period, I was able to compose my
first album, helping to overcome my insecurities.

My story is that of a Cuban musician who overcame his fears and
managed to compose. I never thought that composing would give
me such happiness, such energy.  Someone on social media said
my music was sunny.  I think it is a very nice compliment:  it
represents well what I want to convey of the warmth of Cuba.  I will
continue in this uncertain world. We must fight to make the world
better and especially to save the planet. My song “Nuestro hogar”
says that wars are useless and destroy everything.  Nature is so
beautiful. It is my second passion. Let’s protect our only home, the earth.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I would invite my friend to visit my village Trinidad. I wrote a song about this place so dear to my heart, “A mi Pueblo”, which evokes this walk-in time, total immersion in the tranquility of a luminescent and colorful place. First of all, I would show him around the city with its colorful and cobbled streets, its colonial houses, the church, the parks and the various museums. We would climb to the top of the Cantero Tower:  from up there we could admire the city between the sea and the San Ingenios Valley. The city is full of attractions:  it takes three days to visit and savor it. We will stop to drink a coffee produced in the region. Then in the evening, we would taste the Canchànchara, this famous local cocktail of the same name made with honey, lemon and rum. Then we would taste a typical Cuban dish carne de cerdo asada with beer or Yuca con mojo at El Barraçon. In the evening, we would go to La Trova to listen to Cuban music, drink a mojito and especially dance salsa. My grandfather, who has recently died, played in this mythical place. The next day, we would rest at the beach of Ancon in the translucent and warm waters in order to gain strength to go to the Topes de Collantes waterfall, a long and strenuous walk in dense and luxuriant vegetation. The effort would repay us with a magnificent spectacle which would await us when we arrived. We would bathe in the cool waters. In the evening, we would have a beer at el Vista Gourmet.

The next day we would travel by train to the sugar cane plantations in the San Ingenios Valley. In the evening, we would have dinner at Guitarra mia and we would listen to music at the Casa de la Musica. Finally, on the last day, we would go to the river, a small bucolic walk, far from the tourists. We would savor this freshness. In the evening, we would go to the Cave, an unusual place, to dance until dawn.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
All my fans WhatsApp who help me a lot. 4 years of collaboration.

Website: https://eduaniszerquera.wixsite.com/website

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eduaniszerqueraguitarist/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EduanisZ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eduaniszerquera90

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiF0YRy3RfwmWjVZLHkFSUQ

Other: spotify : https://open.spotify.com/artist/1FOaRsvAm9I2s8CCgQg0bQ?si=gl_veigoRluQnurQSKthAA&nd=1 soundcloud : https://soundcloud.com/eduanis-zerquera Deezer : https://www.deezer.com/fr/artist/87596962?utm_campaign=clipboard-generic&utm_source=user_sharing&utm_medium=desktop&utm_content=artist-87596962&deferredFl=1

Image Credits
Drawing Deniz Altay Baykan Drawing Claudine Merino Drawing Wright Salisbury Drawing Monica Antonie