2023-07-15 11:27:00
“The truth is that it is still hard for us to believe what is happening,” launch Rubén “Keso” Pavón and Eugenia Quevedo almost in unison, who arrive at the VOS newsroom on a cold July afternoon, one of the few free days they have for these days in which they have become a true sensation of the most popular music in Córdoba.
Despite the cold and rain, the night before the duo at the head of La Banda de superos had burst the ticket office and the track of La Morocha, a ritual that is repeated every Monday at the Maipú avenue disco. Yes, the Mondays that “are not for everyone”, as can be read on its large billboard with six or seven dances a week. It is that LBC and Euge Quevedo, as they have been known for almost a year and a half, are the group of the moment in the local cuartetero circuit.
This Saturday, LBC will be celebrating no less than 28 years of history with a very special in the Super Sports. But less than two years ago the direction of the band, historically led by “Kesito” and with a mostly male audience, took a 180 degree turn that no one saw coming. Nor themselves.
When women were beginning to show that they could finally break through with their own proposals in a world of the quartet always marked by men, despite the fact that one of their mentors was the mythical Leonor Marzano, a certain Euge Quevedo burst in and revolutionized everything.
In an industry where it seemed like everything was made up, LBC’s boldness changed the landscape. “At first no one had faith in us, but we did something new”, they both agree while having a cup of tea to recover their throats, always required by the rigorous series of playing from Wednesday to Monday. It is their moment and they know it.
How Euge Quevedo entered LBC: the story
Although the first collaboration happened in 2019 with the song You knew how to do me wrong, it was not until the summer of 2022 when Euge finally joined LBC. Between them, they rebuild those comings and goings, with the pandemic in the middle.
“That first collaboration was something new. A woman singing with La Banda de Carlitos, no one expected it, really”, recalls her, who at that time had been living in Buenos Aires for several years and was making her way in the cumbia circuit with two recorded albums and with Outstanding television appearances such as La voz Argentina and ShowMatch. Likewise, something was missing to make the big leap.
“Since 2015 we have been wanting to record a song with a female singer. And finally it happened years later with Euge”, Pavón interrupts. “It’s the only thing we can find and it’s the cheapest,” he concludes with the humor that characterizes him. “Now I’m expensive,” the “Muela” retorts mischievously, as she was nicknamed since she joined the band, making a joke with a characteristic of her teeth.
Of course, that spontaneous chemistry is one of the keys to the success of this unexpected duo, since it is the same attitude that they carry on stage in each dance and that attracted the public like a true magnet. In addition to the evident vocal counterpoint and the musical addition that the singer provided, on those nights there are scenes of all kinds, almost as if they were a comedy duo. “We could go to Carlos Paz this summer”, Euge challenges the “Keso” with a laugh at some point during the talk.
“Now I’m expensive,” Eugenia Quevedo humorously tells the “Keso” pavón” when telling the story of her joining LBC (Javier Ferreyra/La Voz)
“Although we were not very clear about what could happen, it was something very nice and it looked like it would continue to grow. First it was that recording and then I sang at a dance… I remember it as a very strong moment. All cell phones were turned on and everything lit up. Something was happening. Everyone was wondering who is this girl? Then the pandemic came and it was cut off, although it allowed us to grow personally ”, recalls Quevedo, who in 2020 was the mother of Helena, his first daughter.
–How was that moment of returning to Córdoba? Surely a kind of leap into the abyss, with a lifetime armed in Buenos Aires.
–Eugenia Quevedo: Honestly, I didn’t think about it much, because it started happening. I started coming to some presentations that at that time were more of a dinner show format. At the beginning it was weird, people went but it didn’t explode. Then we recorded Supera and everything changed.
–Kesito Pavón: We were testing. And at first the man from Cordoba looks at you to see what you are going to do. We’re kind of gross in that sense. When it began to fill up, I had no choice but to make a proposal to Euge (laughs).
Moving, maternity and rage
“I’m calling you because I want to know if you want to be part of La Banda de Carlitos,” Euge says between laughs that Pavón told him in January 2022. “I’ll confirm,” I replied and took a few days to think about it. It wasn’t that easy. At that time, I was coming and going from Buenos Aires to work with my band there. My baby was born, it was a complicated decision. But I sent myself At first I came to sing from Friday to Monday and came back. I think that when they announced me as part of the band, a boom was generated”, details the singer. In March of that year, they were already “closing doors” at all the dances.
–At that moment your name is added to that of the band. How did you make that decision and what was it like to join such a male band?
–Kesito: They began to ask when they hired us, do they come with the Euge? Although we put the photo with his face… they asked the same. So we said “you have to put your name”. It was difficult for a woman to enter, even for logistical reasons. It was a band of many men. But we adapted because Euge made it easy.
–Eugenia: I always had that ease of having a good deal with men. Since girl. And now I fit in well, I fuck with them, I’m a mocker. We had a great time.
–All of this is undoubtedly seen on stage. There is great chemistry. How are they working it out?
–Kesito: It’s all spontaneous really. There is nothing armed. It was born there and we had a lot of fun. And on top of that, we think very similarly about many things.
–Eugenia: We feel identified. When it comes to fucking, we go the same way. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t have worked. In fact, many people tell us that there are songs that work because it’s us.
Kesito Pavón and Eugenia Quevedo, perfect chemistry. “When it comes to fucking, we go the same way. If it weren’t like that, it wouldn’t have worked, they say. (Javier Ferreyra/La Voz)
–Precisely, how do you choose the topics to do together?
–Kesito: We work well on duo songs. Supera didn’t suit us at first, for example. We rehearsed a lot and the truth is that she made my head hurt. It was in La Morocha, I remember. We record live because it is what we like the most and because of the energy that is generated. LBC always recorded live.
–Eugenia: It is trying to do the best for that issue. Because if it’s a matter of skills…
–Kesito: Then I have to leave the band (laughs).
–Keso, recently you said on the networks that they would notify you if someone was going to cover the latest Bizarrap and you, Euge, covered Shakira’s. Is there a little run with that?
–Eugenia: People ask us for the versions. It is so. As soon as a song comes out, they start to label us all. With Shakira’s it was abuse. It seemed to me that it was like a hymn for women and it came out good.
–Kesito: They send everything to Euge now, nothing to me. I go to the dance and I take 50 photos, she takes 500. Everything better be fine, it’s her time.
women’s moment
“We have been waiting a long time for this to happen in the quartet”, says Eugenia regarding the great appearance of female singers in the genre. Although it is true that it is still missing, the presence of artists like Magui Olave or Vanesa Velázquez (Banda Mix) modified the billboards full of men. In the middle, Pavón also rescues what was done previously by Gata Noelia or by Lore Jiménez.
But in the case of LBC and Euge Quevedo, the explosion was much greater. Women and families took over the dances, especially in the rest of the province, where the phenomenon is impressive. I don’t know if there is an explanation. It was the moment. And everyone’s work makes it expand a little more. There are already many girls who are encouraged and say: ‘If they could, I could too’. That is key. The quartet was the last style that gave women the place we deserved”, sums up Quevedo.
Thinking back, he remembers that several years ago he had many proposals, but they never came to fruition. “I had no other support than that of my parents and no financial back. That’s why I had to go to Buenos Aires. It was more common to see a woman singing cumbia there than one in Córdoba cuarteto. Unfortunately it was like that. And ultimately my idea was to work on what I liked. It ended up being like a training school all that time. I learned a lot”, points out the artist. “Less to sing”, throw “el Keso” to instantly get solemnity out of it.
Euge Quevedo unwittingly became a female reference in the quartet with LBC. “We women have been waiting for this to happen for a long time,” she says (Javier Ferreyra/La Voz)
–Euge, tell me about your childhood. You were born in Saint Louis. Did you listen to the quartet, did you go to dances?
–Eugenia: My mom had me in San Luis because she is from there and she wanted to be close to her mom. The same thing happened to me when my baby was born, with the difference that it was a pandemic. I grew up in the Altamira neighborhood, going to dances and listening to La Mona. I remember that my first cassette was Bum Bum, I danced to it to full and rewound it with the pencil.
–Kesito: While Eugenia rewound the cassette, LBC started. Look how crazy, I started singing with Dieguito Olmos, who lives in the Altamira neighborhood, a couple of blocks from her house.
–Eugenia: And my dad knows Dieguito when he was little, because they made music with his dad. My dad is a singer, his name is Jorge Quevedo, but he is not Toro Quevedo (laughs). Everyone asks me and him too. My dad is still active, he does events for older people. He is in that. Sometimes we are going to put up with it. He has always made music and a lot of quartet. I grew up with it and learned to sing with him, he was my “teacher”. He accompanied me on the guitar or the piano. “Not everything is sung the same”, he told me. He is very low profile. He is always there, although he rarely goes to dances. My mom would be making disasters. I would like him to be there, but I would be embarrassed asking for trades and all that (laughs). He was a character.
–And from now on? How do they look?
–Kesito: Eugenia continues to sing and I act as an assistant (laughs). The truth is that we are in the pure present. Enjoying a lot. Until December we do not have free dates. The truth is that we never imagined this.
–Eugenia: Because of how everything happened, with the vertigo that we come from, we didn’t even think about projecting. Just enjoying and working.
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