We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jimena Arroyo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jimena below.

Jimena, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The journey of an artist is never easy; there are so many ups and downs along the way! However, winning a car in a TV singing competition in my homeland, Argentina, was a moment I’ll never forget, and I could say my professional singing career started there at the age of 19. Auditioning for pop bands and reality shows brought both highs and lows in my twenties, so I decided to join a famous cover band, where I met my current husband, and became a touring singer for over a decade. I did all that while studying Literature and Translation in college. During that time, I also had seven children’s books published through a prestigious publishing house in Buenos Aires, allowing me to explore more creative outlets. Yet, music is what I have always loved the most, and after becoming a mom, I decided to stop touring and focused on writing original songs by teaming up with amazing producers worldwide.

I was lucky to be nominated for and win several international independent music awards. The icing on the cake was having a video of one of my performances shared by the legendary Ann Wilson from Heart on her Instagram stories. She’s always been my inspiration, so it was a great validation for me in times when self-doubt struck.

I’m currently releasing songs as an independent artist. On February 14th, my latest single drops. It’s called “Run Away With Me,” and it was produced by the mega-talented CJ Teffner.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Jimena Arroyo, and I am a singer-songwriter, author, and sworn translator from Buenos Aires, Argentina. For over ten years, I pursued a career as a touring singer, but currently, I’m a recording artist, topliner, and translator, with a passion for crafting original songs.

While I enjoyed connecting with the audience in live performances, my focus has shifted since becoming a mom. These days, I prefer contributing session vocals from my studio and participating in sync projects for various agencies and libraries.

Additionally, I am a topliner, which involves crafting melodies and writing lyrics atop someone else’s instrumental track. I absolutely love this creative process, as it allows me to explore and push my creativity to the limit, adapting to the complexity of different instrumentals. With hundreds of toplines under my belt, I am proficient in creating melodies and lyrics across a wide range of genres.

Finally, I also specialize in translating lyrics for fellow artists, enabling them to access the Hispanic music market. I believe that what sets me apart in this venture is not only adapting lyrics to the target language, respecting rhyme, rhythm, sound, meter, figurative language, etc., but also recording a demo for the artists. This allows them to mimic pronunciation, cadence, and other nuances, which can be especially beneficial when Spanish is not their native language. Being a vocalist enhances my ability to provide a comprehensive service as a translator of lyrics.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

All I’ve always wanted was to make music that helped me (and hopefully others) cope with different situations and rough patches in life, which is what I feel I am here for. I guess artists are born artists. It’s not something you really choose. It chooses YOU, for better or worse. So, I believe I will spend the rest of my life making songs that lift people up, inspire them, make them feel understood, or less lonely. Music heals, empowers, and unites us, and I always say that’s the closest thing to magic I’ll ever know.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As a child, I believed I had to be the best at everything: the best student, the best daughter, and so on. I grew up with so much self-imposed pressure that I didn’t even know who I truly was or what I really wanted.

I was a sad, solitary kid in school, with almost no friends, and bullying was something that really shaped me. I felt ugly and lonely, but I wanted to be someone in life; I wanted to excel. So when I graduated with honors from high school and started university in my country, which fortunately is free, or otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it, I decided I wanted to be the best version of myself. I was determined not to get bullied or left aside anymore. So, I dyed my hair blonde, lost weight, and dolled up in general. I thought I’d be happy and respected that way. I became a touring singer, and I thought that was what it meant to be the best, and I lived like that for several years.

But when my first daughter was born, I became really afraid of not being the best mom. Until I came to the realization that there isn’t such a thing as the perfect mom; being the best is an unrealistic, unsustainable, and damaging standard. So, I started letting go of all the elusive perfectionism I had always sought. I had to unlearn all that and accept my flaws, my imperfections, my humanity. I truly want my kids to know they don’t have to prove anything to anyone, and there’s no greater love than being accepted for who you are and loving others the way they are.

So now, with my songs, I seek to inspire people to love themselves more, empower them, and remind them they’re never alone.

Now, I finally know who I am: just me, with all my strengths and weaknesses, and that’s exactly who I want to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jimenaarroyo.com.ar
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamjimenaarroyo
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamjimenaarroyo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimenaarroyo/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/iamjimenaarroyo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JimenaArroyo
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamjimenaarroyo

Image Credits
Photos by Eugenia Talice