EXCLUSIVE: Anthony De La Torre Talks Debut EP, Lana Condor Collaboration and More

If you watched Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 and you remember the young Jack Sparrow scene, that was actor and musician Anthony De La Torre who portrayed the young Sparrow. Torre is also a talented musician who just released his debut EP titled Find Me. The EP includes songs such as “Raining in London,” which features Lana Condor from To All The Boys P.S. I Still Love You. ECHO had the chance to talk with Torre about his EP and more.

Photo Credit: Will Heffernan

How are you doing?

I am doing fantastic, I got my family here. We are going to my girlfriend’s movie premiere tonight, which we’re so happy and excited for.

How did you get started in music?

I got started because of my brother. He was a singer in the family, I kind of sang in the shower growing up but he has a phenomenal voice, way better than me, my sister too, they’re both ridiculously talented, I got the leftovers that god was dishing out. My brother had a little mini recording studio during high school, so we’d kind of go in there and goof around.

Speaking of which, you have a song with Lana called “Raining in London,” what was it like creating the song with her?

So Lana loves singing and nobody really knows that or knew that before this, so it’s been so exciting for me to create this opportunity for us to collaborate and it just made sense because she loves singing and we’re together every single day and I’ve been working on the EP for about a year now, so it made sense for us to do a song together.

Photo Credit: Will Heffernan

You’re releasing your debut EP Find Me on the 19th, what was the creative process behind that and how did you come up with the title?

The title, as pretentious as it sounds, it was a message to myself because in almost, everything artistically I’ve tried to do, I’ve always been a people pleaser and I’ve always done that my entire life and when you’re a people pleaser, you don’t really think about what you actually want and how you want to go about doing that. For me, this EP was the first time that I had complete creative freedom doing it independently and also doing it with my best friend. Find Me was a better way to call it VS “What the hell do you want to do with life Anthony?”

Photo Credit: Will Heffernan

Is there an overall theme to your EP?

I think there’s less of an overall theme and more like six mini stories. They’re not related, but they still do sort of live in the same world.

How would describe the sound?

I think the best way to describe it in term of genre is retro-R&B-jungle-pop, somewhere in that universe.

Do you have a favorite song off it?

My favorite song off the EP is “Thick.” It means the most to me, every time I listen to that song, it takes me right back to where I was when I wrote it and I have a big emotional attachment and connection to that song.

Photo Credit: Will Heffernan

Being Cuban, have you used influence from your culture in your music?

So for this specific EP I didn’t really use Latin elements, but that is why I’m so excited for my next project that I’m already working on right now, it is going to have Latin elements in it and it’s going to have some of my Cuban roots in there.

How do you feel releasing your EP and having your music be heard by the whole world?

It’s absolutely terrifying, while also being super exciting, kind of like a rollercoaster.

You’re also into acting, what was your first love? Music or acting?

You know, I’ve always loved both, I really have, for as long as I can remember, I was like five years old and my mom was taking me to nursing homes to sing and dance to salsa music, so I’ve always been into music. I fell in love with acting because of Jim Carrey, I watched Ace Ventura, I think in the fourth grade and then I actually wrote to him and he sent me back a signed head shot and I still have that on my wall by my bedside. I think both have been something I’ve been interested in for sure.

Do you find that music and acting kind of compliment each other?

Sure, I think they both definitely are related.

What was it like filming Pirates of the Caribbean?

That was ridiculous, the best experience ever. It was really cool because Johnny Depp and Jim Carrey are both the reasons why I wanted to act in the first place and I fell in love with Johnny Depp in the first place because of the Jack Sparrow character, so to get to do that, also to have Johnny Depp watch you play the younger version of Jack Sparrow, it was incredible.

What are some goals you want to finish for 2020?

That is a fantastic question, I’m so focused on this EP release that I forget that life will continue after it comes out. I hope to just continue to make and continue the process I had with this EP, which is to make what I wanted to make and make it in an enjoyable process, because it’s so easy to get caught up and to think you have to sacrifice your own piece of mind, to try to make something great and that can be the case but does not always have to be the case, so whatever the next thing is for me I want it to be something that is sustainable, mentally. To keep peace is my goal for 2020.

What is one quote in life you heard that you want to ECHO out to fans?

My buddy just sent me a quote and I’m going to paraphrase the hell out of it, because it’s a long quote but it’s a beautiful quote by Kobe Bryant that he said “You can take your focus off the destination and you learn to enjoy the process, you’ll find something even better than the destination.”

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