Interview by Sofia Campos
Photographs: Courtesy of the artist
From childhood healing to cinematic soundscapes, Juan Luqui‘s journey is a story of transformation through creativity. After an arm injury at six, what began as physical therapy became a lifelong devotion to music. The guitar became his voice—first in rock bands, then through the discipline of classical music, which led him to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Today, Juan is not only an artist, a composer, a musical collaborator of Gustavo Santaolalla, but also the founder of Art Mystery School, where he helps artists and creators reconnect with their authentic voice through meditation, nature, and self-awareness.
In this conversation with Simple People, he reflects on music as a healing force, the link between creativity and consciousness, and the courage it takes to become who you truly are.
SIMPLE PEOPLE: Can you share your musical journey? What brought you to music as a child and what kept you down that path?
JUAN LUQUI: It was a healing process for me. When I was six years old, I had an accident with my arm. I can’t stretch my arm to this day. After that, my father told me, “I think you need some kind of therapy,” and he gave me a guitar. The guitar came at a moment of a lot of pain for me, and it was something through which I could channel my emotions and healing process. Since then, it’s been the love of my life. I tried to do something else after school, like engineering, because I was kind of smart—well, not anymore. But music stayed with me and I couldn’t do anything else. I don’t know if you really choose music—I think it’s something meant for you, and sometimes it chooses you as well.
SP: I know you meditate and spend time in nature. How do you see art and creativity connected to those practices?
JL: I think art, meditation, awareness, and healing practices are completely connected. I studied at a very prestigious college of music. I know many artists from all different directions, and I think few take this connection seriously—between art and how it cultivates identity, how knowing yourself, being aware of who you are, and feeling good in your body is so important for creativity. They’re very connected. That’s what we do at the Art Mystery School. We give people tools to find who they are as a person, and that becomes who they are as an artist. For me, the journey was seemingly paradoxical. I was making music for films with Gustavo Santaolalla, my mentor for ten years—big productions, top films—,and on the other hand, I was attending healing retreats. I used to feel like my life was split, but, eventually, it clicked—both paths were informing each other. My music was informing my soul, and my soul work gave identity to my music. They’re completely intertwined.
Creativity helps release what your mind tries to repress. That’s part of its healing power.
SP: You mentioned working with Santaolalla, who’s an acclaimed composer and producer. Is there something you learned from that collaboration that shaped you personally and artistically?
JL: He’s my biggest influence, both musically and spiritually. He’s a very spiritual person. It takes a special kind of leader to say, “Hey, I’m going to meditate in silence with no phone,” and he was supportive of that on multiple occasions through the years, not just once. I would take ten days here and there, and he encouraged it. That spiritual connection is at the root of our relationship.
SP: On your school’s website you talk about leadership and nature—can you tell us more about that?
JL: After meditating for seven years, I started getting into rites of passage—nature retreats. It’s something our ancestors used to practice and we’ve forgotten. My first was a vision quest with Darren Silver—you go four days and four nights without food or protection, in the woods, and you find out who you are and come back. It’s not a direct influence like “the trees taught me how to live,” but spending time in nature, asking the right questions in a place where feedback is pure, you find tools about who you are and your vision. I did a four-day intensive with Darren, who runs the Great Earth School—I recommend it to everyone. It’s a school of vision informed by nature. You go to nature, return, and rediscover who you are, especially how it feels to be yourself when you detox completely from society. Nature teaches you how to live by removing the layers of what is not you.
SP: Why do you think creativity is essential for everyone’s well-being, not just for artists? Why does creativity connect us to who we really are?
JL: I think we are all creative. The moment you wake up and make coffee, you’re being creative. Creativity is for everyone—it’s why we’re here. We’re all creators. (…) Creativity isn’t limited to artists—it’s part of living. An artist just works within a specific form and intention. But we all create constantly: businesses, families, projects, relationships. It’s essential to remember that.
When you do what your heart and soul want to do, you become a better person instantly. You stop projecting. You inspire others to do the same.
SP: You mentioned earlier that music saved you. Can you share another example of when creativity became a tool for self-discovery—maybe for you or someone you know?
JL: I don’t know if creativity and art saved me, but they definitely helped me heal. I have friends who’ve gone through painful divorces or the death of loved ones, and they found refuge in creativity. It happens because it’s subconscious—art lets you express emotions you wouldn’t otherwise. There’s no place for them in the rational mind. Creativity helps release what your mind tries to repress. That’s part of its healing power.
SP: It’s like a source of energy that flows—you’re doing something with the feeling, something with what’s inside you.
JL: Exactly. And that’s why meditation and awareness are so important. To allow that subconscious process to work, you need to quiet the mind. If you practice meditation, you learn to observe and be yourself—and that same process happens through art. Science shows that when musicians improvise, the same brain circuits activate as in meditation. Improvisation is like meditation—artists are naturally meditating, even if they don’t realize it.
SP: For people who don’t see themselves as artists—is there a simple way to bring creativity into daily life?
JL: Yes. Everyone can bring creativity into their lives through intention. Everything comes down to intention. When you meditate or practice a ritual, you do it with awareness. If you bring that same awareness into everyday actions, everything becomes creative. It’s about stepping out of automatic mode—instead of just waking up and making coffee mechanically, you approach it with presence, curiosity, and intention. It’s about slowing down internally, not necessarily externally. You can move fast and still be connected. Intention is key to creativity.
SP: In your school, you help artists find their own voice. How do you guide that process?
JL: At Art Mystery School, we help artists and creative people—and by that, I mean anyone who creates, whether it’s art or a business. We help them find their voice through observation. Everything you do is input: how you eat, talk, love, relate to your sexuality, meditate—everything. We observe these patterns and analyze: these are my tendencies, my edges, my box of identity. Then we play with those edges. That self-awareness naturally translates into authentic art—because how you do one thing is how you do everything. Sometimes it’s about expanding areas you’ve never explored, like movement or sexuality, and finding yourself through them. That discovery flows into your art. It’s not immediate—it’s a process. You don’t “find yourself” overnight. It’s slow and magical, but it works. That’s how I grew as an artist—by integrating the disconnected parts of myself.
SP: That’s probably why stepping out of your comfort zone helps you break mental patterns—because you’re doing something new, not performing a role.
JL: Doing things you’ve never done is magical—you discover so much about yourself, even through risk. In our course Tuning into Source, we have weekly practices. One week, it’s “Do something that’s very scary for you—something you’ve always wanted to do but never did.” Go skydiving, take that dance class, have that hard conversation—face the fear. You’ll see it’s all in your mind. It’s rarely as big as it seems.
Ask yourself: How can I slow down? How can I feel good about myself? What people, places, or habits make me feel like me—and which ones don’t? Then have the courage to follow that truth.
SP: How do you see creativity contributing to collective well-being—to empathy, resilience, or a sense of togetherness?
JL: That’s beautiful. I think creativity contributes to collective well-being because it starts with ownership—taking responsibility for your own life. Much of the world’s pain comes from disconnection from what we really want to create. Healing becomes a personal responsibility—I have to be well for the collective to be well. When you do what your heart and soul want to do, you become a better person instantly. You stop projecting. You inspire others to do the same. We do Anonymous Artist Circles, a kind of group therapy. We share our creative struggles, failures, and wins, and realize we all face similar challenges. There’s freedom in that honesty—it builds belonging and healing through creativity.
SP: What inspired you to start a creative school? How did that idea come to you?
JL: I started the school not by choice but through a vision I had during a nature retreat. After a vision quest, I realized I needed to share the knowledge I had gained through ten years of meditation and initiations. I wanted to help my tribe—artists—many of whom are in pain or frustrated because their art isn’t fulfilling them. I studied at Berklee, graduated eleven years ago, and to this day, 90% of my classmates no longer make art. I wanted to help them heal that relationship. It’s not about fame or money—it’s about healing and rediscovering joy. It’s also been a process of grief for me—maybe I’m not the artist I imagined I’d be, but I’ve become something else: a guide, a teacher. I’ve learned to surrender to what wants to move through me, instead of chasing an image of success.
SP: These days it’s easy to get lost in who you think you should be, especially with social media. How do you approach that in your school?
JL: Yes—social media and the fast pace of life both affect us. Everyone’s rushing, comparing. Online, we only show the highlight reel—not the truth. In the school, we use it as a mirror: What emotions come up? Comparison, envy, anxiety? We observe, not judge. Awareness itself brings transformation. But if you don’t have a space of belonging where you can be yourself without judgment, you can’t heal it. Belonging is one of our school’s main visions. Humans need belonging even more than expression. If you don’t have a tribe where you feel safe, you’ll never express yourself fully. Once you find that safety, you can open up and start saying what you’re truly meant to say.
SP: Is there a message you’d like to share—something to give reassurance to people listening?
JL: I think that’s one of my roles—being a cheerleader for people who don’t have one in their lives. I believe everyone is a genius. I don’t think there are bad people, only broken people doing bad things. I believe in the kindness of the soul. My message would be: You already have what you’re looking for within you. The process is about slowing down and coming back to that. Ask yourself: How can I slow down? How can I feel good about myself? What people, places, or habits make me feel like me—and which ones don’t? Then have the courage to follow that truth. You already know what to do—we often pretend not to because it’s uncomfortable. Can you sit with that truth and follow it? Stop chasing something outside yourself. Pause, be present, and feel the body you already have.
