Marel Alemany has a deep sense of how his Afro, Latin and Caribbean backgrounds have influenced his present day sense of self. Yet as a person who connects with multiple generations and with people from various backgrounds, what we appreciate most is his proclamation of “I am from Planet Earth” which sets the tone for this interview from the very beginning. After years of unconsciously expressing his heritage in his work, Marel shares how he is leaning into it intentionally now….representing his voice and values through his work as a director, producer, and singer/songwriter across music, film, and children’s media. Marel’s influence on documenting is vast and for that we couldn’t be more grateful. It’s a conversation filled with passion, creativity and pure joy for music, lyrics, dancing and more!
About Marel Alemany: Constantly seeking to unravel his musical influences, Marel embarks on a new journey with each song. Tropical and autochthonous rhythms from the Caribbean are mixed in his music, with lyrics that tell stories and a hint of nostalgia that recalls the soul of the 60s and 70s. It is impossible to define his music without fear of falling short.
Although he has been on stage since he was very young (there are stories of a five-year-old boy throwing his jacket into the audience after performing a song by legendary Spanish singer Rafael), his musical career officially began when he won, in 2003, the first prize in the prestigious Casa de Teatro writing and music awards, for the pop category.
From then on, he became a regular on the bohemian scene in Santo Domingo. In 2006 he released his first album De Papel, with which he garnered several "number one" hits on local radio stations and was nominated for the Casandra awards (current Soberano awards). In 2009, he decided to pay homage to his roots and make a salsa-influenced album, Carne. With Carne, he succeeded in Argentina and Peru, reaching first place in several popular lists. He played in Altos de Chavón with Eros Ramazotti and with Juan Luis Guerra in Buenos Aires. After publishing several singles recently, including Tu Guerra y La mía (2017) and Navegaré (2019), he has just released his third production, Salir al Sol, where he mixes all his musical influences. From pop to folk, Marel once again makes it clear that he enjoys the fusion of rhythms and that his lyrics will always be committed.
Marel is also a multi-skilled filmmaker and writer because what he longs for the most is creativity. An accomplished producer of advertising commercials, he has been working in Children's Media for the last 2 years, trying to mix his musical talent with his recent parenthood and his filmmaker skills. This has driven him to move to Canada, where he is a composer, writer and producer for the Story Planet Podcast and runs the Spanish YouTube Channel for little kids Tope Tope. www.marelalemany.com
