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Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted before the onset of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
When Mon Laferte’s breakout hit "Tu Falta de Querer" shot her to fame in 2015, she became a household name, recognized for her belting vocals and pin-up style. She kept the hits flowing on follow-up album 2017’s La Trenza, which featured the Latin GRAMMY-winning hit "Amárrame," but soon grew tired of the image and sound tied to her success. "I don't want to be 50 years old and still be wearing the red flower and gloves. I get bored," she told the Spanish press in 2018.
With the release of her latest album, Autopoética, Laferte has taken huge strides to explore her artistry — just like she predicted. "To maintain a persona and stretch out that initial success over the years feels like a caricature of one's self," she tells GRAMMY.com, wearing an oversized denim jacket, her hair styled long and straight — no flowers in sight. "I have this rebellious spirit. I don't want to stay in my comfort zone. I always want to be a better artist, to see how far I can go, and how much I can do, even if I make mistakes."
Autopoética is a radical turn from her breakout material, replacing brassy Latin pop with computer-generated beats and synths. It earned her multiple Latin GRAMMY nominations, and took home the golden gramophone for Best Alternative Music Album at the 25th Annual Latin GRAMMYs. At the 2025 GRAMMYs, Autopoética is nominated for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album.
Read more: 2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Nominations List
The album was inspired by the word autopoiesis, which was coined by Chilean biologist Humberto Maturana to describe life’s cellular ability to regenerate (like a wound healing). Laferte used the frenzy of a booming bassline and the infiniteness of a drum loop to capture the ethos of renewal — resulting in the thudding techno of the titular song "Autopoiética."
Trip-hop-infused album opener "Tenochtitlán" explores the concept on a spiritual level, delving into humanity’s cyclical desire to tear people down only to raise them again. A reflection of Laferte’s tumultuous personal journey, the song is interwoven with a biblical allegory; in its music video, Laferte is stoned and pinned to a cross.
For those drawn to her heartfelt instrumental ballads, Autopoética may be jarring. "There’s people who love it and those who hate it," reflects Laferte. "There is always a fear. I have people that follow my music, but sometimes to take paths like this you can lose those people. But at the end of the day, I think, nothing is too important. They are just songs."
Since the album’s release, Laferte has embarked on a world tour with stops across Latin America, the U.S. and Europe. In July, she released the Netflix documentary Mon Laferte, Te Amo which tracks her rise to fame, from humble Chilean roots, navigating hardships, abuse, heartbreak and self-destruction on the way.
Mon Laferte spoke with GRAMMY.com about her nominated album and documentary, and the ways rebellion has shaped her career.
You published a playlist of songs that inspired Autopoética — I never expected to hear UK experimental DJ Aphex Twin and Puerto Rican salsa singer Eddie Santiago on the same playlist
I find it all logical! [Laughs.] I don’t find it so opposing, they are in the same universe!
You also include some very niche artists with only a couple hundred followers on Spotify, like techno act, Gut Nose. Have you been finding inspiration in underground nightclubs?
I am always listening to music. You can go to discos to find inspiration, but now everything is online — you follow someone on Instagram, and you can listen to everything that plays at a Berlin disco, for example, just through Insta.
Autopoética explores many genres, sometimes even the same song. For example, "40 y MM" begins as trip-hop and ends in salsa. How did you compose it?
Many things can happen in a song. A life happens in a song. People aren’t just black, white, pink — but we pass through a palette of colours in a single day, or hours, or a conversation!
The song is about being 40, and turning 40 isn’t easy. I feel a bit of everything. There are days when I feel incredible; other days I wake up and think I’ve got a muffin top, I’m an old woman.
The song tells me where it wants to go, and I felt like it had to explode into something more Latin. It ends with positive energy, as I generally feel better than bad! It’s okay to be 40.
"Mew Shiny" is one of the slower, most introverted tracks on the album. You sing in English and Spanish… about being a Pokemon?
Mew Shiny is a rare Pokemon. My partner plays Pokemon all the time — or at least he used to before he became a dad.
We forgot we were a couple when our child was born. We were just mom and dad. I tried to do things so he saw me; I dressed up, he did things too, but it didn't work. The song is shouting, "I’m a Mew Shiny" — I’m a hard specimen to find! I'm here for you, and you’re not seeing me. \
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The Spanglish was also natural, some things sounded prettier in English. "I’m here" is prettier than saying "aqui estoy."
Regarding parenthood, your Netflix documentary Mon Laferte, Te Amo was released in 2024. It explores a transformative period in your life, from touring during pregnancy, to the moment you welcomed your son. Did this experience of motherhood inspire you to create the documentary?
Honestly, no. It wasn’t even my idea to do a documentary; they just began to film me, and I started to open my heart and it began to take form.
It’s a hard watch, and incredibly intimate. For the first time, you talk publicly about abuse, grooming, harassment, and heartbreak. How did you feel about releasing it?
Nervous. Being short of breath, like having vertigo. But, I have to think I’ve said it now, it’s not that important, I’m not that important. No worries.
I feel that I understand more about your songs now having watched the documentary. Do you think the relationship with your fans will change, given they know more about your life?
I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re totally right. Like "Tu Falta De Querer," which is my most popular song and also my most controversial song. People say, "Why do you have to suffer so much and beg for love?"; well now you can understand a bit more of the context of my life. Which isn’t just a heartbreak, but all the context of my childhood.
Everyone is a universe, full of contrasts and contradictions. I’m excited that people will better understand the context of my songwriting and why I write my songs the way I do.
Some of your biggest hits are referred to as musica cebolla, "onion music" — songs to cry to. This genre tends to be associated with heightened drama and stage performance, but watching the documentary, you can see that pain comes from a genuine place.
Yes. I grew up listening to that music; it was like the soundtrack of my life. My reality was quite painful at times.
So, it’s not just about aesthetic choices. Now, even though I’m removed from that pain, but it’s also because I’m in love with that music; it’s part of my DNA as a woman and an artist. It’s rooted in real experiences — it's not just about aesthetics.
In your documentary, you said performing live is to die and live a bit at each concert. Do you experience a catharsis onstage when performing songs so tied to your past pain?
These are the contradictions of being an artist. I enjoy the stage. Yes, some nights are very heavy, when I connect to the emotion of when I wrote that song. Out of nowhere, I feel pain.
But those are the risks of being a songwriter. "A Crying Diamond" is one that I always find hard to sing live. Or "Pa' Dónde Se Fue" which is about my father [who left the family when Mon was a child] which is still an unfinished topic in my therapy. I still find that one I find hard.
From an absent father to an abusive relationship with an older man, and a toxic start in your music career — your upbringing in Chile was tough. You left for Mexico nearly twenty years ago, where you still live today. But you still have a very close relationship with your home country. Is that hard for you?
The people who I love are still in Chile. My sister, my nieces, my mother. I’ve healed a lot with my mother, especially since becoming a mother myself. I see her as a woman who had to raise me with many difficulties, alone, in a complicated economic situation. Even my father — now I have a good relationship with him.
Why did you call the documentary "Te Amo" ("I Love You") when it reveals that many people have hurt you? How did you manage to focus on love above all else?
Fortunately, I took control of myself, and my mental health. I have done a lot of therapy. I’ve spoken about it with people, so I have taken away the weight of being a victim and simply a woman who has lived certain circumstances. Parents that weren’t in their best moments, that were too young.
Abuse, well, there’s no explanation for abusing a minor. But … therapy. I’m still getting over things, I still can’t freely talk about these things. I still feel guilt, I don’t know why, thinking that being a girl made me somehow responsible for what was happening.
But, yes, I have found love, I’ve learned to love myself. Since my child was born, I have understood love differently. I love him more every day. He has taught me a lot about what real love is.
This brings me back to your new album — I caught the Autopoética tour live in Santiago, Chile. There was so much love in the room! How has the tour been for you?
During the first shows I did it was very impactful to see how people see the album fit with my other albums. But now, people are singing all the words to the songs. My audience is intelligent, I can’t underestimate them.
It wasn’t an easy album, and I like that. I like the challenge. I’m quite self-critical, sometimes I put out an album and a year later I don’t like it. But this is still an album that I listen to and say, this decision was good! I still like it!