The day after delivering an electrifying performance at SummerStage in Central Park as part of their participation in the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York City, Morat reflected on its present and its past during the first panel of the day on Thursday morning (July 10).
“It’s kind of a dream to come here. I think we all grew up with many references to things that happened here, and it’s a very magical experience,” Juan Pablo Villamil, the Colombian band’s lead vocalist, said about their fully packed concert the night before. He added that it’s all part of their “growth strategy” to “expand an audience that I also think is very real, which is all of Latin culture in the U.S. For us, it’s a new challenge that excites us greatly.”
Moderated by Billboard’s Jessica Roiz, the conversation took the band — made up of childhood friends Simón and Martín Vargas, Juan Pablo Isaza, and Villamil — down memory lane. They recalled how Alejandro Fernández opened doors for them in Mexico through their duet “Sé Que Te Duele” and how Camilo, who surprised fans during the band’s concert on Wednesday night by stepping out to perform their new hit together “Me Toca a Mí,” finally recorded with them.
Morat released their fifth studio album, Ya Es Mañana, in May 2025, following their first stadium tour across Latin America and arena tour in the U.S. last year. They are currently on the road with their Asuntos Pendientes Tour, which includes stops in territories they couldn’t visit before.
During the LAMC conversation, they also discussed their collaborations with Paulina Rubio and Feid. All four collaborations mentioned made it onto Billboard charts. Here’s what they shared:
“Mi Nuevo Vicio,” Paulina Rubio feat. Morat (2015)
“This song was the first one we recorded with a commercial intention, and the story has two pretty funny parts. The first is that the recording process was complicated at the time; our parents were a bit reluctant to give us money to record the song, especially because the budget we needed was quite high. What we did to finish paying for the song was throw something called ‘Demolition Party.’ It was held at Isaza’s grandparents’ house, which was about to be demolished. The concept of the party was: ‘Come, pay for a ticket, but you can trash the house.’ At 1 a.m., the police showed up,” recounted Juan Pablo Villamil, making people laugh.
“Sé Que Te Duele,” Alejandro Fernández feat. Morat (2017)
“This song marked a very particular moment for the band, which was when I joined in 2017. Alejandro was looking for songs for his album, and there were several songs that Morat had already written. The story is that one of Alejandro’s daughters basically told him, ‘Dad, there’s a group my school friends are starting to listen to — they’re these Colombians called Morat.’ Alejandro listened to us. Eventually, the song was released. But, true story, my first trip with these guys was on December 29, 2016 — we went to Puerto Vallarta to shoot a video with this man. It was crazy. This song undoubtedly opened the doors to Mexico for us in a big way, and it was incredible,” said Martín Vargas.
“Salir Con Vida,” Morat & Feid (2022)
“This is one of the most daring experiments we’ve done in recent years. I think a collaboration between us and Feid was one of the least predictable moves for the group. On our fourth album, Si Ayer Fuera Hoy, we got it into our heads that all the collaborations we did had to be disruptive — we made a song with Duki, we made one with Feid. And here’s a funny story: When we were waiting for Feid to record, we had no idea what he would do; we were like, ‘This guy could say anything — what will he come up with?’ I thought he might go further because he sent us a video saying, ‘Well Morat, are you ready for your first song with a Parental Advisory warning?’ But then he sent us this track, and wow, it was incredible,” shared Juan Pablo Isaza.
“Me Toca A Mí,” Morat & Camilo (2025)
“This song is special for many reasons. First, it’s part of Ya Es Mañana (meaning: It’s Already Tomorrow), which is like a slogan in our minds — we want to be the band we’ve always wanted to be. The song itself fits into this idea. But beyond that, having Camilo on it! He has been orbiting our lives in one way or another for some time, and we’d been looking for a project that made sense for us to collaborate on. When this song came up, we thought it was perfect to call him because even though it’s not his usual style, we felt it was a song where he’d fit in. When he sent us his vocals and everything he had worked on, it was so impressive — 10 out of 10. And performing it live [together last night]? Incredible”, said Simón Vargas.
