Pra! is a rising star of electromusic pop music. The band is composed of two people: Jota Fierro and Alice Zymelka, a married couple who share a great passion for music and poetry. They met eight years ago in Beijing, China. “It was a crush at first sight”, Juan José said. He has a Master in International Relations from Ecuador and Alice, Polish-German from Bochum, Germany, graduated in Business Economy and worked in the automotive industry. She is currently working as Social Media Manager for Victor Delfin. Today they live and work in Lima, Peru.
Music is always present in their lives. From their social networks (@pra_band on Instagram and Facebook) one can see the complicity, love, and respect that their travels and adventures denote. “Music wasn’t the reason we met, but over time it strengthened our relationship and gave us many joyful moments together”, Alice told us. They write their lyrics looking for the sounds that identify them. “This is a hobby that has changed our lives”, they said.
Their first single “The One” is an electropop ballad that was recorded on the rooftop of his apartment in Quito, Ecuador. It was broadcast on three different radio channels in October 2019: Radio La Unica, Blue Radio, and Cafe88Cuenca in Ecuador. Their entire repertoire is in English except for the piece “Fugaz” that is in Spanish. All the songs such as “Slomo”, or “Louder” are available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) and on their YouTube channel. Very soon, they will launch a new song entitled “Believe me” in Lima.
What does the name of your group PRA! mean?
PRA! doesn’t really have a specific meaning, it is more an expression that we use for each other in our relationship, as if calling each other honey, dear or something similar. Like “Hey Pra!”, “Pra! Let’s go” … When we decided to form our musical hobby into a serious idea, the question came up on how we would name our “band”. We wanted to give it a personal touch and meaning and so we named our music project Pra!
You are a couple not only professionally, but also in your private life. Did music connect you? Where did you meet?
No, although music was always a very important aspect for both of us, in our lives, it wasn’t the reason we met, but over time it strengthened our relationship and brought us many joyful moments together. We met in 2014 in Beijing, China, where we were both working. The first time Juan saw me was the day after Halloween, in 2013, in a picture of me in my Zombie Costume and he fell in love. However, our first date was in June 2014, the day after my birthday.
How would you describe your music? What is your target audience?
Our songs mainly have an electropop music style but recently Juan started to play the Guitar and we are writing a few acoustic love songs as well, mainly in English and one song in Spanish as well. Our music doesn’t aim for a specific audience, we love to share our passion in music and love it even more if others like it and enjoy it as well – and honestly, just the thought of other people enjoying our music gives us goosebumps and is such a wonderful feeling!
How is your band organized? Who writes the lyrics and who the music?
Juan is definitely the engine of our band, he is the one that always finds the energy to create new songs in the music program or with the guitar and to write new lyrics – I am the voice and sometimes I help with the lyrics a bit. Juan was also the one that had the idea to record our songs in a studio. He said from the beginning that our song will be played on the radio, and he was right about that.
How long have you been playing together? Where your music is available?
Our musical path started in Beijing, where we visited Karaoke Houses at least twice a week (you can rent a room and come with just your partner, friend, or even alone). Juan then started to create music in an app on his phone, writing the lyrics and I gave my voice to the projects. We exchanged the phone for an IPad in 2017 in Ecuador and felt comfortable enough to go to a studio and record our first song in 2019. Our music is available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). We have a YouTube channel where we uploaded a few homemade music videos (The One was shot during the pandemic on our rooftop terrace in Quito, Ecuador, for example).
What are your biggest successes and dreams for the future?
We would love to continue and to share our music with as many people as we can, that would make us the happiest. We never imagined for example that our song “The One” would have been played on three different radio stations in Ecuador and that newspapers and magazines in Ecuador and Germany would write the story of Pra! A small sequence of our song Louder was even shown on German TV – those are things we could never imagine would happen and of which we are very proud.
What are you working on right now, here, in Lima?
We are working on a few acoustic songs. We just finished a new song that we named “Believe me” and are thinking of recording it professionally in a studio here in Lima. Besides that, we are working on a new electropop song.
Written by Joanna Longawa
Photos: Pra’s archive / Andy Reveli / Kenhyi Aranda Cardenas
Anastasia
Great article! I found it very interesting! I would rather see that picture of Alice in the zombie costume:-)