Today we’d like to introduce you to Pedro Fumero / FUTURA.

Hi Pedro, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

My story is a story of endless curiosity and discovery. I am coming from this small group of islands in the Atlantic that geographically belongs to Africa, administratively to Europe, and culturally to Hispanoamérica. Born and raised in the South of the island of Tenerife in the small paradise of El Valle de San Lorenzo (Arona).
Among the few certainties I have ever had, it was this strong need for exploration beyond my small but gorgeous coastline. I was an avid reader, but was music the one that made me truly fly intergalactic? Maybe it was the cosmopolitan nature of my environment. Maybe the almost perfect balance between tradition and progress… Maybe it was the welcoming nature of my fellow Canarians… The case is that I was so lucky to be exposed to so much that it seems almost unavoidable that, at an early age, I found myself working in a local radio station.
Besides the commercial Radio Formula, little did I know I had the chance to work in locally produced spaces that today I know were FREE FORM RADIO.
Just imagine for a second, hours of unbelievable music overlooking the Atlantic with some of the most pristine skies one can find… Yes, I know! …. It is a place I go often to in my mind when I need to recover faith in humanity.
Unfortunately, I witnessed the long and painful death of Radio. It was heartbreaking, and it was followed by many years of confusion and rootlessness.
I became an explorer of other creative roads, but the radio/music bug never went away. Many years later, in this distant and vast land that I call home now, I happen to discuss with another wanderer the awful music palette at a continental level.
The seed of Radio Futura was planted among friends and some imported beer….
I may have approached my local and community-oriented, non-commercial, and listener-supported WFMU radio around 2021. An oasis of diversity and strict human knowledge interaction. One of the last standing testaments to freedom in communications left in the US… Finally, in 2022 we got the official welcome!…. The concept was quite wide in the beginning, but soon enough I became aware of the extremely poor and segregated representation of Latin music, not only in the US but also in the world. So we did hold an important meeting (me and myself) and decided: that I would zero in on Latin music exclusively in the scope that I had the chance to grow up with…. That would be, including Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, and America (all of it), without subtitles.
The history of the Latin culture is a history of division and blood, but the music is probably the single thing that will unite and remind us of all we have in common thanks to a great and ancestral culture.
There is a beautiful feeling to tell new generations about an entire heritage they have been denied.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

The main problem will always be to monetize the project…. Just to simply find an outlet willing to take RADIO FUTURA as it matures and takes shape…There are so many things we could be doing, like producing albums, festivals, etc. … At this point, I will only ask the audience to think twice about the way they spend their hard-earned money.
All I would like to say is that people seem eager to spend money on ever-growing companies that are good at limiting choices and cutting on quality. Companies located far from your community and their priorities. I want to bring this forward because projects like Radio Futura or the whole WFMU concept depend on support for survival. We will never play commercials or have to please sponsors on anyone’s dime. For us, your contribution only reinforces our commitment to keep FREE FORM alive with the only objective of enriching the lives of anyone we get in contact with.
We are as local as it gets and never try to sell you anything…. Please support your community!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

This project is still growing, and it will be really hard to top how proud I am about it. Wherever it goes in the future, I only hope it stays on the path of unity, freedom, and community. Our culture has been divided and perverted for so long that I need to believe this grain of sand could transform into a seed that spreads all around the globe.
I do not intend to be recognized or aspire to any notoriety. My creative journey is full of turns that got me to this exact moment. All I can say is that I am a happy man with beautiful people around me. What else is there??? For real!!??

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?

Only one:
The actual terrible sickness seems least related to a virus and closer to the rampant expansion of greed, selfishness, and stupidity.
If there is a second one, it could be (in the words of the brilliant American writer Kurt Vonnegut):” No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.”…

Pricing:

• free

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/F1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radiofuturawfmu?igsh=MWJ3d2ozYzg2NHR5ZQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@radiofuturawfmu?si=D110B5oI435pYxO6

Image Credits

Vanessa Tamarit Photo