BLASST 72: CHARLIE VELA TRACKLIST 1. The December Drive - “Portland” 2. Kikker Daddy Legacy - “El Corrido De Country Roland” 3. Grupo Mojado - “Piensa En Mi” 4. Jesika - “Party Is Over” 5. Twin Tribes - “Talisman” 6. Diana Tovar & Rudy Cerda - “Life Is A Mystery” 7. The Caveliers - “Seaweed”
INFO: Today's episode brings us a holiday treat! Charlie Vela has recorded and produced hundreds (if not thousands) of records by artists from the Rio Grande Valley and beyond over the past 20 years. His involvement in the Rio Grande Valley music scene began as a musician, most notably as a founding (and lasting) member of RGV emo/rock giants The December Drive, and most recently under the solo moniker, Calavera, with which Charlie composes shadowy electronic cumbia jams. In recent years, Charlie has also entered the realm of documentary filmmaking alongside his longtime friend and partner, Ronnie Garza, with the production of As I Walk Through The Valley, a vibrant film about the history of the RGV's music scene. Through traveling to screen the documentary in different parts of the country, Charlie and Ronnie came across the opportunity to produce a compilation featuring solely RGV bands, Wild Tongue. Recently, Charlie has opened up a new studio space in his hometown of Weslaco, Casa Panchita, where he continues to record and produce musicians.
Honestly, I haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg with Charlie's accomplishments here, so I recommend you check out our conversation where we talk about all of this and much, much more. Having known Charlie for almost 10 years, and somehow managing to keep up with his progress in that time, it brings me great pleasure to have him on the show.
Rate and review us, etc etc. Happy Holidays. Don't drive drunk. That's about it. My parents bought me a keurig and I don't know what to do with it. Buy/Download Wild Tongue Did you get gifts this year? Send us a photo: uupunk@gmail.com Instagram Twitter
BLASST 71 TRACKLIST: 1. Back to Back - "Flesh and Bone" 2. The Men - "Ailment" 3. Farai - "National Gangsters 4. The KVB - "Above Us" 5. Mothers - "Copper Mines" 6. Object Blue - "Even In You 7. Combined Minds - "More Knobs Than Notes 8. Johnny and the Hurricanes - "Crossfire" 9. Pedro Santos - "Flor de Lotus" 10. Erik Griswold - "Day Dream" 11. Longmont Potion Castle - "LPS 8 Theme" 12. Yamasuki Singers - "Yamasuki" 13. Deafear - "Whenever" 14. Sisters of Mercy - "Lucretia My Reflection" LISTEN HERE INFO: This episode was a little rushed, I fell out of my production rhythms this past week following the passing of my grandfather and his subsequent wake and funeral. I have, however, been spending more time with my family and actually enjoying bits of it, which I did not expect too much. Sometimes families aren't perfect, and it took a while for me to be okay with that, but more than ever I've affirmed myself in the realization that if I'm proud of who I am today, it has something to do with my family, whether their impact be positive or negative (both, to be honest) each impact has helped shape me today, and I am thankful for being here today, as opposed to not.
I'm getting off topic, but my point is that I haven't done a lot of listening and prepping for this week's episode as I should have (and it shows) but I'm happy with the things I did do in that time: cleaning up at home, seeing friends, doing things with friends, working on music, and so on. I have, however, been putting together a playlist of my favorite tracks from 2018 to play on New Year's Eve, which falls on a Monday >:}. The show will air live, and will be two hours long, counting down to midnight in Central Standard Time! How exciting is that? Better be somewhat exciting, tbh. I'm considering throwing a party and hosting the episode intermittently during the party. We'll see how that goes. My cat Dindi may even make an appearance.
And now, a correction. In today's episode, I forgot to mention that The Men's new compilation has a name: Hated (2008-2011) (out now on Sacred Bones) features music from the band's first four years as a band. The track I played ("Ailment") is originally off of their debut EP, We Are The Men. I like this band a lot, and have for about 6 years. I first saw them with Osmar and Joseph from Jungle Bodies one of the nights we had traveled up to Austin to play a show. They played with Destruction Unit at what was then Red 7. Destruction Unit blew our minds (literally to pieces) but the Men further pulverized them, more so than the confetti that littered the floor following D-Unit's set. It was a very inspiring night for me, and one I will not soon forget. I mean, hell, I'm still talking about it today.
For the listeners curious about the character/game I'm referencing at the end of the show: look no further.
Also, the military's packing up and going back where they came from, so that's good at least. Thanks for listening this week. Next week's episode (Christmas Eve) will feature an interview with my good friend, Charlie Vela! What a gift!
Keep your ears peeled for that one.
And now for brand-related information:
Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and leave a comment if you're so inclined. No pressure either way. I do this because I love it. If you share my enthusiasm, you are encouraged to share that with me.
LISTEN INFO It seems a lot of news outlets have moved past the military occupation of
the border for their daily news cycle. Even the Rio Grande Valley's
local stations have
moved onto more pressing news, like celebrating George H.W. Bush, one
of the many war criminals to have held the office of the president. I
don't blame
the media for moving on from the military occupation of the border;
it's much harder to sell a story about the troops if all they're doing
is getting fucked up at the
local Buffalo Wild Wings and laying waste to the surely swollen
patriotic arm of the Tinder community. At the same time, I'm
disappointed to learn that one station in particular, KGBT (Channel 4
News) in Harlingen (about 30 minutes from McAllen) is owned by Sinclair
Broadcast Group, the largest telecommunications conglomerate operating
in the United States, and also the culprit behind regular "must-run"
segments pushing conservative perspectives on topics of the day. Case in
point: this recent spot defending the use of tear gas on immigrant children.
This is especially harmful in cases of people who turn to their local
news to understand the world, and get fed this warped perspective
instead. Literally, the definition of fake news. But I digress. There are a couple of
things that are on my mind as of late. First of all, I've been feeling the
weight of the torrential downpour of content being thrown at me every
day. The interconnection of things has me exhausted. I was watching a
video earlier today on YouTube that collected clips of Nirvana's
appearances on MTV's 1992 Video Music Awards. More than just their
performances, the video also contained interviews and peripheral appearances on the
program by the band. I had never seen any of these clips before, but I
was familiar with their mischievous antics and rebellious gestures on
stage (perhaps even chaotic through the eyes of the network?) from their part
in the music documentary 1991: The Year That Punk Broke along with a
few bits of footage I've seen of the band through various outlets
growing up.
(1991: The Year Punk Broke)
Anyway,
I marveled at the disconnect of things. No
one had a cell phone. No one was lost in a texting or scrolling hole or
snapping shots
of the group's performances. Everyone (I assume, though I may be wrong)
is left to operate on everything that they know up to that point in
time. No one can Google something in the moment. No one's tastes and
tendencies are being monitored and predicted through the microphone of a
small device in their pocket which they have on their person at all
times. I mean sure, the networks could track ratings and demographics to
a
certain degree (perhaps they were simpler then?) but they still had no
clue how far their efforts would extend in the not-so-distant
future--the endless well of information, the veritable fountain of
youth sitting in a stream of metrics willingly divulged by the gullible
youth of
the world who are just trying to connect with one another and find
clues as to who the hell they are and how they should feel about things,
including--and most importantly--themselves. Little do they know the
reflection they
see in their respective black mirrors is a distortion, a
shadow self composed of corporate greed masked by whatever face
their metrics tell them they need to wear that day. No, at that point in
time, the wealth of information that made up a person's interests,
their personality, their lived experiences...that could still be a
secret. There was no pressure to put all of ourselves into the internet,
depositing every thought and impulse we have to our social media
accounts, and letting our mental wallet run dry, so to speak. Now,
I don't
mean to romanticize the sunset period of the pre-Internet era, but the
more
I think about the differences between the world at that time and in
it's present state, I can't help but be so confused and dismayed at how
things have progressed. The Internet once felt like the last refuge
available to people who wished to escape the world of corporate greed,
away from all of the consumerism of mainstream music (no matter it's
creative caliber). When it first arrived on the scene, it provided
arguably the greatest resource for communication the world has ever
known, and in a form that could be shaped and refined by it's users. A
blank canvas. It bred nothing but innovation for a long time, and
perhaps in that innovation, it reached a point of no return. Once it
began changing how countless industries worked, it was only a matter of
time before said industries would try to make the internet work to their
advantage. Now, the corporate world has immersed itself in every
window we open on our phones, computers, tablets, with every word we
speak into our Alexas and Siris revealed to come with a price tag. All
content is branded content, including our own. Whether or not we put
work into our respective 'brands' determines our viability as content
creators (a job that comes free with every smart phone and pays us
nothing) and when the primary modes of
communication between people are through content creation, the only way
we are able to
meet this very basic human need is by serving the role of cog in this
large perverse machine. As you can probably tell, there are a lot
of anxieties I have about the world and the way it has been operated. I think it's
doing more harm than good, and am personally feeling the effects of it.
As mentioned on the episode, I will be taking a social media sabbatical
for the foreseeable future. I don't know how long this period will last,
but I am going to actively try to sever the bond I have with my social
media accounts. One way I will be doing this is by pouring most of my
thoughts into these blog posts every week. If you regularly listen and
read these, I appreciate you so much. I will not be reliably reachable via
Facebook or Twitter, but I will still be active on Instagram, and of
course, I check my e-mail every day, so you can also reach me that way. I
will strive to live offline as much as possible, and should you wish to
do so as well, I encourage you to reach out if you need support. We all
do eventually. I'm reminded of DEVO's primordial art film, 'The Truth About De-Evolution".
Some of the language is dated for sure, but that's to be expected: it's
42 years old. The stuff they've been writing about is still very
relevant today. While it may have been easier for the public to ignore
in the 70s, thanks to the interconnectivity of today, we now know what's
going on, and are powerless to do anything about it if we continue to
play a part in said large perverse machine (LPM).
(The Truth About De-Evolution, 1976)
And now for brand-related information: Rate and
review us on Apple Podcasts, and leave a comment if you're so inclined.
No pressure either way. I do this because I love it. If you share my
enthusiasm, you are encouraged to share that with me. con respeto, Ferrerito Rocherito over and out. Insta: @u_punk (personal: @fuchitsucio) E-mail: uupunk@gmail.com
