There Will Be a Latin Alternative Music Explosion - Not Maybe

I'm not one to air my views publicly. It's not my thing; but when I'm working on something and absolutely know it's going to happen and someone says it might happen, I have to speak up. I admire Desmond Child. I love some of his songs and even had an opportunity to meet with him when he was producing some tracks with Chynna Phillips back in the 90's at the old EMI Music Publishing studio on Sunset. (He's a nice guy, by the way.) I won't, for a second, forget how talented he is and the many accomplishments he has achieved, but when someone much more steeped in Latin music than I am - and I have only been working in the Latin Alt. world for about a year - says that Latin Alternative might explode (see link to article, below), I can't just let it go. Come on! Latin Alternative is a ticking time bomb - in the United States, anyway.

Great artists like Ximena Sariñana, Zoé, Carla Morrison and Hello Seahorse! are making big strides and all without the aid of a commercial radio format in the U.S.! As Christian Mejia, an Orange County, CA club promoter and head of Intoroq said recently, can you imagine what would happen to the Latin Alternative genre if Latin Alternative artists were played on commercial radio (a la Los Angeles Modern Rock station KROQ) next to Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Florence + The Machine, Rage Against The Machine and Tori Amos? Well, it would blow up. Why? Because there are thousands of young Latinos and Latinas in the United States who are bi-lingual and listen to cutting edge music both in Spanish and English. Ever go to a rock concert featuring current American or British acts and see Latinos? Of course you have! Do you think it's possible that some of them might be fluent in Spanish and have roots in Latin music? Of course it is! Lastly, I've seen the thirst for Latin Alternative music with my own eyes. When Rosario, Argentina's Austria played in Southern California a few months ago, Latinos came up to the band's merch booth with a look in their eyes that said, "Wow, these guys are great! Where are they from?" (By the way, some of those people actually said those words.) One lady at the Long Beach show confessed, "I don't even speak Spanish and I love this band," which gives some credence to the fact that Latin Alternative not only draws in a Spanish-speaking crowd, but can woo the non-Spanish speakers, as well.

So, Desmond...love your music, totally respect you and I'm sure you will have continued success for years to come, but please don't be afraid of predicting the future; I have, and the future is Latin Alternative. It is going to explode.

http://iphone.alborde.com/featured/41375-desmond-child-latin-grammy-nominations.html

How Does Austria Really Fit into the Latin Alternative Scene?

Just because someone dubs your music a certain genre doesn’t mean that you’re a part of the pack. When I first started hanging out with people in the Latin music scene such as Christian Mejia of Intoroq, I was referring to Austria as a “Rock en Español” group, but I soon found that the guys are really Latin Alternative. Once that was established, I set out to find artists that were similar to the guys so I didn’t have to constantly describe them as “Latin Coldplay” (which is still a legitimate description). The thing is, I have yet to find a group that really reminds me of Austria. There are some great artists out there that probably could share the same fans as Austria (and I believe some of them do), but I am finding that the artists that share the most common threads with Austria are female singer/songwriters – which is great! I find myself mentioning Ximena Sariñana and Carla Morrison as references, but so far I haven’t found a male rock band that carries strong similarities to the guys. I’m sure I’ll find one sooner or later, but in the meantime, if anyone out there has a good comparison, make me look bad and give me the answer.