ACL Interview: Chuwi Brings Tropical Fusion to International Stages

Chuwi, the Caribbean-pop fusion project of siblings Lorén (main vocals), Willy (bass, vocals), and Wester (piano, vocals) Aldarondo and family friend Adrián López (percussion, “thing doer on stage”), was on a steady track to becoming a beloved indie act – this summer, they’ve jumped the rails, poised for international stardom. 

It all started when the vibrant, genre-blending quartet joined international sensation and fellow Puerto Rican Bad Bunny for his song “WELTiTA.” The collaboration kicked off global attention for the Isabela-based band that blends traditional Latin rhythms, Lorén’s sumptuous vocals, and reflective lyricism with electrified pop production. The friends and co-composers traveled to Austin this March to play South by Southwest and shortly after secured a spot playing all 30 sold-out nights of Bad Bunny’s historic San Juan residency. 

The Chronicle chatted with the busy band on Sept. 19, hours after the release of their latest single, “Falta Algo,” and two weeks ahead of their largest festival performance yet on ACL’s BMI stage on Sunday, Oct. 5.

Austin Chronicle: Y’all just put out a single today. Tell me more about that.
 Is that part of a larger project? 

Lorén Aldarondo: Yes, that is our first single for our upcoming album. We haven’t spoiled yet what the title of the album is yet or the date, but we’re hoping to release it before the year ends.

AC: What kind of sonic and lyrical inspirations are you pulling from for this album?

Adrián López: Sonically, we’re following the storyline we’ve started since our first EP Pan, and then the second one, Tierra. We’re pulling a lot from Cuban music in this one, all the Caribbean genres. And lyrically, whatever we feel like, whatever we’re feeling at the moment, and [we’re] trying to kind of give closure to all the topics that we’ve covered in our previous releases. 


AC: I know you’ve been explicit in other interviews about not being an activist band. But your songs, to me, speak on a personal level to politically informed experiences of life. I’m curious how you think about that and how it feels to be performing in the United States right now.

Wester Aldarondo: We always try to write about things that we’re feeling in the moment. I don’t think we’re ever thinking in the moment, ‘Oh, we want to talk about this social issue.’ It’s more like, ‘How does this make me feel?’
 Then it can be interpreted like a bigger social thing.

Playing the United States right now, it feels very interesting because we’ve played in certain venues where there’s people of all colors, all races, and you can see how people might not understand what we’re saying because of the language barrier, but they understand what the music is portray[ing]. I’ve seen that happen and that’s been very, very interesting. It’s always shocking to see. 


AC: 2025 has been a really big year for your music. How does it feel to be gaining more of that international attention? 


López: That’s a difficult question. Since we just lead our lives normally, we have to choose to see it. We have to choose to go online and see the numbers, see the engagement. Because otherwise it’s very easy to keep living like we normally do, because that’s life.
 But it’s been really, very insane.

AC: I read that y’all are keeping your day-to-day jobs. Is that still true and how are you finding that balance? 


Lorén: Well, for the residency, we had to quit them. And we’re freaking out. We’re four members in a band: some of us have cars to pay, rent to pay, just the basic groceries. We decided to take the risk with the complications and schedule and having to be all weekend in the residency. And if in a year this doesn’t go anywhere, we’re not ashamed to go back to the jobs. But we’ve decided to take this risk and hopefully it pans out, and if it doesn’t, it’s been a really fun ride.

AC: Very smart to already have a humble approach. And this next question is a little bit contrary to that: Are there any dreams or milestones that you’re hoping to achieve in this next year?

Wester: Putting out this album. I’m gonna be really happy when I don’t have to think about it anymore, in the best way possible. 
Also, being able to perform those songs, both being able to start working on the arrangement of how we’re going to perform them live, but also, actually doing shows with those songs. I’m really, really excited for that. 

Lorén: Before even Bad Bunny reached out to us, we had a very clear idea of where we wanted to go with the album. We were heading in a clear direction, so the international exposure has been incredible, but it’s also distracted us from our main dream. We have a lot of things we want to say that we have said in that album. We’re excited to release it and for the world to hear it.

AC: What, if anything, feels different about performing at a festival versus performing a normal show?

Wester: It’s a different dynamic. You gotta kind of ease into the set a little bit more and kind of convince people, and hopefully by the time you’re finishing your set, everybody’s joining together.

Lorén: Even though everyone’s staring at you, you have to commit to the performance or you won’t convince them. So it’s going to be a lot of putting [out] energy.

López: Festivals are awesome. Getting on stage and seeing the massive crowd is crazy. 

Lorén: Yeah, but we’re excited. We’re up for the challenge. 

AC: Who are you excited to see at ACL? 

Willy Aldarondo: The Strokes. 

Lorén: Everyone, honestly, I want to give everyone a chance, even the names I don’t necessarily recognize. I’m actually really excited to go listen as well. 


AC: Now that this will be your second time coming to Austin, is there anything you did last time that you want to do again or anything you want to see, do, or try? 

All: Eat!

Willy: We’re gonna eat brisket.

Lorén: We’re big foodies and we really enjoyed Austin’s food scene. We really did. We’re ready to eat.

Chuwi plays Sunday, Oct. 5, at 3:15pm on the BMI stage.

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