Joe Vasconcellos

Joe Vasconcellos is the most popular musician in Chile today. His successful tour this year - with concerts in Buenos Aires, Bogota and the Chilean provinces and capital - has once again proven the power of his urban, social and ecological songs. His album ''Vivo'' (Live) has gone gold and he is proud to have young children among his top fans.

''I tell short tales about the world I live in. It is the feeling of being a human who is fed up with many things that are occurring,'' said Vasconcellos in an exclusive dialogue with Tierramérica in Santiago.

1 You are considered an urban artist, does that mean you love the city?

-I consider myself an urban creature, accustomed to living in the city. But, in the winter at least, you have to leave Santiago (because of the air pollution). I am conscious of the fact that activities in cities can affect the surroundings.

2 Your songs often include the verb ''funar,'' a term Chilean youth use that means to lose credibility. Do you think Santiago has lost credibility?

-It is a city that is on its way to doing so. But not only Santiago, all of humanity. The earth is subtle in demonstrating how wounded it is: ecological disasters, the climate is showing itself. We are receiving the bill little by little.

3 Santiago's anti-pollution plan - is it a government lie?

-Those who pollute created it. I can imagine the work of the National Environment Commission: they perform environmental impact statements and then somebody comes and says, ''if we do this we are going to run into trouble with truckers or with the factory owner who took you on a trip to Cancún.'' We know what we need to do, but there are interests standing in the way.

4 What would you do to help Santiago?

-I would improve the quality of fuel and I would hand over the city to its inhabitants. People have to express themselves more and learn to share space with their fellow humans. But then there is a soccer game, for example, and violence erupts - people get scared and abandon those spaces.

5 One of your songs demands ''no more lies, more attitude.''

-I am talking about changing people's attitudes. If people are educated, they know that car-pooling with the neighbor pollutes less, but we tell ourselves, ''if I bought a car, I have the right'' and we don't care that a child in Pudahuel (one of Santiago's most polluted districts) can't breathe.

6 What rules do you set for yourself in the city?

I try not to be an accomplice. I walk, ride bicycle, take a bus or taxi. I separate my garbage by plastics, glass, metals, organics, even though they mix it all up later. I communicate to my son the love that I feel for nature.

* By Sandra Guijarro, a journalist and Tierramérica contributor.