the rocker who doesn’t like trap

If that saying is true that the fruit never falls far from the tree, Wayra Iglesias is a clear example in this rock family story. The daughter of Tete, the roadrunner bassist of La Renga, and Silvina Cendón, drummer of Q ‘Acelga?, she has been listening to music since she was in her mother’s belly. He grew up among recitals, rehearsal rooms and sound checks: His destiny was on stage.

Wayra (in Quechua it means “wind”) is from Parque Avellaneda, she is 20 years old and Since he was 8 he has been studying singing, piano and dance. All his life he prepared for this, but he never felt it was his time. Only in 2022, at 18, did she jump into the pool and participate in the reality show The Argentine Voice, singing a song by Lali, with her in front as a jury, along with Montaner, La Sole, Mau and Ricky. “It was the most nervous moment I was in my life,” she remembers.

She didn’t pass the test, but she took a lesson from them: she had to let go more, be herself, find her way. And there he began to create an album with his own songs, on the path of blues, soul and rock, the genres he has always loved. She developed the habit of composing with the piano every day and wrote 100 songs.

Its headlights today are Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin, three women with extraordinary voices. But his musical education comes from before. “When I was a girl I rehearsed Q’ Acelga? In the garage at home, I would do homework and listen to them playing the stick. They used to annoy me… I wanted to be with them! And on Sundays, I remember that my dad would wake us up with a compilation of Creedence. Most of my favorite bands are the ones he used to make me listen to on vacation on the road, like the Stones, Creedence and Pappo. “I have vintage tastes.”

-How did your first songs appear?

-When I was little, with my best friend, we made La Renga melodies and changed the lyrics. I showed them to my old man and he told me “but that’s The Trial of the Goose (laughs). When I was a teenager I became a fan of Adele and Ariana Grande.. I liked many things in English and I wanted to sing in my language. My grandmother came to see me at singing shows and she didn’t understand the lyrics. I wanted to make a song so that my grandmother would understand it.

-There I began to get closer to the songs of Fabiana Cantilo and Celeste Carballo. I remember listening to Celeste’s version of Desconfío and thinking “Look how she made the song her own.” My first songs were bad, all square ballads. It didn’t work out for me, I wanted to make blues like them. Only with the help of my producers (the musicians of Ella es Tan Cargosa) was I able to find the style.

-What was it like growing up between La Renga recitals?

-When I became more aware of the magnitude they had, I looked at all the people and couldn’t believe it. A person came who had my dad tattooed on his arm and I thought “What a flash.”. Now it doesn’t surprise me so much, the truth is that I would get it tattooed too. There are people who knew the country through the band. My vacation places were where La Renga played. That familiar and friendly way they handle themselves is beautiful. They are all my family, I call them all “uncle.”

-Did your vision as a spectator change?

-Of boys, They set up a little balcony for my brothers and me above the stage, and when we grew up, they made a place for us in the field or stalls.. When I grew up, I started getting into the audience, we ran away, we went to the field to do some songs, and we came back. When I go to see La Renga I am another fan.

-What was it like supporting them on the Racing field last month?

-It was crazy. I can’t understand how calm she was. You saw that opening acts are a complicated thing: you sing in front of people who didn’t come to see you. Well, here I felt super supported, they were very respectful of me. I felt very confident in what we had to find with the band. I was able to enjoy it and my nerves didn’t get the better of me.

-How did you feel beforehand?

-We spent all day testing sound. I told my friends: “Guys, arrive early, come listen to me” (laughs). Before leaving, José Palazzo (producer of La Renga) came and told me “Look who came to see you,” and Skay and la Negra Poli appeared. Poli grabbed my cheeks and looked at me. Beautiful!

Wayra has four songs uploaded on the platforms (Huir, There is no forever, This game, To forget you) and in May she releases a full album, with production by Juano Romero and Tano Baccega, from Ella es Tan Cargosa. “I love records, my dream is to have my own vinyl,” she enthuses. “I like the concept of the album; It is the tangible closure of all the work you did. If it’s on Spotify, that’s fine, but I want to play it.”

She sang as a guest in shows by Viejas Locas, Jóvenes Pordioseros and Pier. She did a performance on Lucille in which she ended up doing 2 + 2 = 3 of La Renga with her dad and her uncle Tank her. “Chizzo told me: ‘I don’t like that you sing this song, because you are a little princess, and this song is for a crazy person: you have to sing other things.’ And I told him: ‘But it’s a great song!’”

Last year he had his debut at Cosquín Rock and this 2024 edition he returns for more (he promises a Winehouse cover mixed with his songs). “For me, playing live is always a great plan,” she thinks. “There are failures all the time, everything is delayed, technical problems appear, your microphone doesn’t work. A show is never going to be perfect: you have to learn to live with it without it affecting your performance.”

-Your generation is much more focused on urban music, how do you get along with trap?

-I feel very far from the whole modern wave. The lyrics bother me, I feel that today the song has been lost as a way of saying something. I don’t see much message in the topics now. You can make music to dance to without being so vulgar, finding a more poetic way. From the titles you see a lot of poverty.

-Do you rescue any artist?

-Wos. I really like how she writes, I went to see it and everything. I also love Thunder.

-Are you a “weirdo” within your group of friends?

-I made rock friends, but friends my age don’t listen to the same music as me. I took them to see Viejas Locas, I made them visit places like Makena and La Reina. I don’t go to bowling alleys. Fachi (Viejas Locas) is like an uncle to me, I’ve known him since I was little. At El Teatro de Flores I sang I like you a lot with them. I re-value that space that the bands that invite me give me. I also have good vibes with Eli Suárez, from Los Gardelitos, and Ale Kurz, from El Bordo. Everyone likes the fact that it’s someone young who isn’t doing trap: maybe that’s the rebellion today, right?

When it comes to dreaming, Wayra fantasizes a feat with Celeste Carballo or La Mississippi. But she also thinks of Marilina Bertoldi and Airbag to open the spectrum. She knows that the blues is something more niche and she is in no rush, she wants to make a career step by step, gradually. “I don’t want to have dinner for breakfast,” she reasons.

And he gives a final reflection: “They tell me a lot about ‘you’re following in your dad’s footsteps’, and I don’t see it that way. I’m making my own path. Yes, I have incredible support and advisors, and a very friendly context. When I started, I wanted to separate myself from the matter, I didn’t want them to think that I wanted to get hung up on it. But, At some point, you’re always the ‘son of’, so now I hug him and I love that.”.