26.4.10

THE ART of taking care of the greater ones

01.OMER
PARDILLO-CID:

BY ALFONSO CORONA & ISA TRAVERSO BURGER, **originally published by Distrikt Magazine 02/2006**

//BIOGRAPHY
Omer seems to have been born with a star over him. He arrived to New York from Cuba at the age of 10 and after adapting to a new culture and obtaining a Bachelors Degree in Communications, he set foot in RMM Records where he worked for celebrities such as Marc Anthony and Tito Puente. At the age of 16 he met the coolest woman on earth, Celia Cruz; he instantly became a fan of her talent, charm, and humane ways. One day, in 1998, he was approached by Celia and her husband Pedro Knight; they asked Omer to manage Celia’s career. Talk about a challenge! With everything to gain, or lose, and at such a young age, he accepted to be Celia’s manager and was determined to make her shine the same way she had been doing for decades. He was the one responsible for the Sony deal, an excellent move. Until the day she passed away, Omer was there with her. Now, he is the Founder and Vice-President of the Celia Cruz Foundation and he keeps very busy
managing the musical career of another Cuban sensation, Lucrecia.

://INNERVIEW
Where were you born?
Camaguey, Cuba and I live in Miami.

What part of your body feels good?
My head

What do you do?
Many things, principally I manage Lucrecia, a cuban artist who lives in Spain. I am also a consultant. I have a producer in LA who is working with Celia Cruz, and her image. I deal with everything related to Celia. In this moment I am working on making the Celia Cruz movie.

What are you doing tomorrow?
I have about 4 meetings. At night, every friday, I go to the bar of the Mandarin Oriental.

What would you like to be doing in 10 years?
Keep working and producing because I started very young in this business and if I have a free hour, I don’t know what to do; I get anxious. I need to be involved in my business and keep busy. And I think I will be working until 80 or 90 years of age, like my grandfather who worked until he died.

Tell me an anecdote that changed your life.
In Colombia, in Cali, years ago, a lady came to the hotel and she started telling Celia Cruz about her terminally ill son. She lived in an unsafe place and couldn’t remove the child from home because it was very delicate. She told Celia that it wasn’t convenient for her to go to that part of town to visit her son, that it was dangerous. Celia told her that it didn’t matter where, that she was going and that nothing wrong was going to happen to her; Celia knew she would be okay. That incident touched me because, we sometimes live up on a cloud, and it demonstrated to me that well-known people can be humanitarian. If Celia did it without thinking, to visit a terminally ill kid whose wish was to meet her before he died, anyone can do it. It changed me forever, because now I don’t think too much about decisions, I just do it.

What do you like to do?
I like to do stuff related to my field and I love to be with good friends. I enjoy the small family I have.

What do you dislike?
Having to lie, and sometimes it’s necessary to lie, even if it’s a “mentira piadosa”. I hate doing it.
What do you love?
Life and the beautiful people who surround me.

If you didn’t do what you do, what would you do?
I would be an architect.
If you had to change professions, how, in 3 or 4 steps, would you achieve so? I collect books on architecture but I would have to go to school again; it would be difficult because I am too active. I just started learning Italian and when I found myself sitting for a hour in a classroom, I had to leave. But it’s all in the head, if you want something really bad, you have to go for it. I love architecture, but I don’t know if I am capable now of starting from zero.
If you could mix 3 people to create a perfect or ideal person, who would you mix? My mother, my grandfather and Celia Cruz.
What moment in history has impacted you the most? When the Berlin wall fell. I never thought it would happen, I was there two months after and I was impressed.

What did you feel?
I thought it couldn’t be rushed down, and to watch the people cross over was incredible.
What do you do that you shouldn’t do? Drink a couple of champagne glasses here and there....or ten for that matter. (laughs)

Do you walk or fly?
I walk, I like to have my feet grounded. I walk everyday to feel the earth beneath my feet. Flying is to imagine things you can’t achieve.

Do you walk alone or with someone?
I always walk alone, but if I walk with company, it has to be excellent company.

Complete the following words:
Life is: The best
Power is: Sometimes necessary
Art: Most beautiful
Money: Unnecesary
Sex: Necessary
Love: Beautiful when it’s shared.

Give us a tip for someone who wants to obtain a career like yours.
There is nothing impossible. Even when you want to be a photographer and don’t have a camera, you can make it. First, you have to focus on getting the camera. In life there is nothing impossible. I think that if you are determined to do something, it can happen.



Do you see yourself doing the same thing the rest of your life?
I believe so. I can say that my job is addicting and when I hear people say that they will now become realtors, or do something else, I can’t relate. Impossible. If I turn around, I get to the same point. It’s a vice.

Do you think it’s a factor ?
I think that when you are immersed in this field, you can’t see yourself sitting 8 hours in an office; you keep the inertia of interacting with people and moving from here to there.
In what are you the best at?
In managing. I have always had visions, and they always are good feelings. If an artist lets himself be managed, it’s a good chemistry. I like to keep everyone happy and serve everyone.

What would you tell God if you saw him?
I would thank him because he has been very good to me. I would ask him to avoid anymore natural disasters but, I have to thank him everyday.

What anecdote has added to your belief?
Celia’s funerals caused an influence in me. I never thought that so many people could be invoked this way. Thousands of people of all ages walking towards the Tower of Liberty in Miami, playing homage to a respected person, really caused an impact in my life.

With what are you happy today?
My mother. Seeing her fills me with great energy. I get charged by talking to her.
If you could ask all people in the world to do something positive, what would you ask them to do? To talk more in order to reach harmony and understanding.

What did you listen to when you were 18?
Disco music. Whatever was happening in NY.

And now?
A lot of World music, Arab, and sounds that attract me. International mostly.

Are you visual or auditive?
Visual.

What question would you ask me?
This is the most difficult interview I’ve ever done, or the most intelligent one. Well, I guess, I would
ask you if you feel happy about what you’re doing. The people who do what they like are the most joyous ones. I am always curious and ask people about there happiness.

What is the difference you see between the people who do what they love and those who don’t?
When you don’t love what you do, the outcome cannot be all positive. I have a friend who is banker out of necessity, but he really loves baseball; he’s 27 now and he will always be a banker with a bat under the desk. He may want to give all that he’s got to the bank business, but he will never let go of his dream. I think you have to be in love with your career in order to fully succeed.