THE MAKING OF "FUERTE"
In October of 2020, Burn The Boats was released - the first Sperrets EP. The content of that record was largely a by-product of my family moving out of the city into a more rural, unincorporated area - just around the corner from an elementary school called "Fuerte".
Earlier that Spring, we all found ourselves sequestered indoors - trying to reinvent ourselves in a pandemic. My family was no different. For most folks, 2020 was a year of extreme change and upheaval. No routine went unscathed and everything was subject to adjustment.
In 2020, I was a Dad with two elementary school kids and a middle schooler. While my kids were fortunate enough to have access to technology for distance learning, my heart weighed heavy on the new isolation and further reliance on screens that were needed for education, socialization and human contact.
I also felt for the teachers that were doing their best to hold everything together, while interacting with screens of kids - a transient combination of video, sound, and oftentimes blank, black squares with muted microphones. Humans are resilient, but everyone has a breaking point.
The school motto at Fuerte is to "Be More Fuerte" and (at the very least) it was a rally cry to get up every day and try our best... even when we didn't feel like it. It's the small things that burrow in and create change over time. Be a little more... It's really the most you can ask of anyone on any given day - regardless of individual circumstances.
The video for Gasmask was shot and released in Oct/Nov of 2020. My daughter starred in the video and the playground sequence at the end was shot at Fuerte - her new elementary school.
The video circulated and I was approached by one of the teachers at Fuerte who suggested I try and write a song encapsulating the sentiment of 2020. That was a tall order and definitely not something I was comfortable with - but I was flattered by the request and the seed was planted.
Fast forward… Andrew and I were struggling through what would become the Glimmer EP. At a graduation ceremony in June of 2021, there was a commencement speech given by one of the Fuerte teachers. The commencement reflected on all of the challenges that were noted over the last 18+ months and ultimately came back to a simple idea about how we should treat each other as humans. The speech ended with a quote by A.J. Palacio from the book "Wonder" that reads:
"What I want to impart on you today is an understanding of the value of that simple thing called kindness… In the future you make for yourselves, anything is possible. If every single person in this room made it a rule that wherever you are, whenever you can, you will try to act a little kinder than is necessary."
It was an alignment of time/place/space and I was physically impacted by this message. I wiped away tears for the remainder of the ceremony. I felt like way too many folks had forgotten how to be kind, how word choices really matter and how all we can ask of each other is to simply be kinder - to be a little more.
I went home, wrote lyrics and moved a laptop/microphone into a closet with enough space to play guitar. It came in at 2 minutes and 29 seconds, but felt just right. The version recorded on that day was released on the Glimmer EP on August 12, 2021.
In 2022, Fuerte was the most listened to song in the Sperrets catalog. Listen to Fuerte here on your streaming platform of choice.
Fuerte / Lyrics
can't be late
it'll signify defeat if i'm not on my way
won't let it get to me, i'll sit up straight
and be a little more...
to redefine
to find a space, a place where we can all be kind
it matters what you say and how you say it
so be a little more...
tell me why you're always shining
because the screens around me smell like dying
be my lighthouse, my steady state
and i can wait to be a little more
to be a little more...