By Oliver Best, Photography Chris Sataua

I imagine not many magazines have a sleeping DJ across the hall, but I guess Hecho is among the lucky few. When Evan Rhodes actually wakes up, usually sometime in the afternoon, you can also catch him producing new music and original mixes in the makeshift studio that was formerly the Hecho storage room. Coming from a 13 year DJ career that started in Detroit then moved west to San Francisco, Evan is now calling Managua home.

When asking Evan what influences living in Nicaragua have had on him musically, he is quick to reply, “For sure the marimba has had a huge impact on me, as well as latin percussion. When I’m producing music now I’m constantly thinking of the these sounds and how to incorporate it into my music.” Evan is currently working on a new band project entitled El Proyecto Sonido with local musicians Guillermo Noroy (Momotombo), Rodrigo Castro (Q69K) and newcomer Flor Marenco.

Evan plays House music when DJing, a genre that he describes as “electronic music with soul.” He feels here in Nicaragua there are still many different types of electronic music that haven’t fully been discovered and recommends beatport.com as a great online resource for purchasing house music, checking out other types of electronic music, and of course, for picking up some of his releases.

So far Evan is enjoying his stay in Managua, “I really like playing here, the people are great, the food is great…I just don’t really like my roommates…”

Thursday September 9th, the official Hecho 07 launch party pops off at Moods (9pm C$150). Monroy & Surmenage (featured in Hecho 03) get things started, with issue 07 cover artists La Cuneta Son Machín headlining the night, and no doubt doing what they do best: getting people up and dancing like freaking maniacs. Evan Rhodes, our very own Mariano Rivera, will be ‘en la mezcla’ once again to close things out, and even premiere a brand new La Cuneta remix he’s been working on.

Moods: Zona Viva Managua, Nicaragua

As their name implies, the group Espiral (Spiral) began with a broad idea that over time has wound itself into a tight-knit concept. At the end of 2008, musician and guitar player Francisco Cedeño started creating songs along with a vocalist but says he soon realized they needed a band “because two guys is kind of boring.” Once drummer Gabriel Sevilla and bass player Luis Munguía were added to the mix, things really started to spiral into control for the group.

“We did the writing process a little bit backwards from the traditional way bands do,” remembers Sevilla. “We started recording and pre-producing on the computer before we started playing. We wanted to lay down the general ideas and when we had something we found appealing, we’d start rehearsing.”

(Francisco Cedeño y Cheyo Brown)

Espiral spent 10 months or so pre-producing the songs before beginning to rehearse, but it soon became apparent that the singer they had was not going to work out.

“He had another band and couldn’t find the time to keep up with us,” says Sevilla, “but then we found these two creatures, these two beautiful little creatures to join our project and it’s been going great.”

The two beautiful creatures he refers to are vocalist Christiana Pedronni and rapper Cheyo Brown. Although they joined a project where many of the songs had already been started, both were encouraged to put their own stamp and experiences into the lyrics.

“The concepts were already there I just had to develop them, says Brown. “The joy for me was coming into the group and these guys giving me this set of songs but saying I want you to talk about [the same ideas] but I want it to be your words.”

The result has been a fusion sound unique on the Nicaraguan music scene. The chemistry and contrast between the vocalists is enhanced by the live instrumentation, especially the guitar work from Cedeño, whose solos often hold the songs together.

“Rock for me is boring right now,” Cedeño says. “I wanted to play something different, something new,” and with Espiral he and the band feel they have found that something.

Check out Espiral this Saturday, July 3rd, in their first official concert, accompanied by the bands Fusion and La Cegua.

Growing up in the small community of Tasbapauni on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast, musician Philip Montalbán gives credit to his grandmother, an actress, for introducing him to the arts at an early age, and her brother, a songwriter and composer who wrote many popular Maypole songs, for developing his interest in music when he was a child. By the age of 10, he had saved up enough money to buy his first guitar and began writing lyrics and playing music dealing with the things that surrounded him.

As he grew as a man and a musician those things that surrounded him and inspired him grew as well. In the second half of the 80’s he moved to Managua where he met musicians such as Carlos Mejia Godoy and Salvador Cardenal and eventually began his professional career as lead singer for the band, Soul Vibrations, before continuing on as a solo artist in the 90’s and releasing four albums, the most recent, 2008’s “Africa.”

On this breezy afternoon, in front of his home in Managua’s Linda Vista neighborhood, Montalbán shares some of his philosophy on spirituality, injustice and the role music plays in everything:

Spirituality/Searching
I was searching and I guess everybody’s searching to find really what is our mission, what’s the thing we’re supposed to do on earth, the thing we do best? Some people are teachers, some are doctors, some people can be house builders. The goal is of supporting society or maintaining society. I met my spiritual teacher, Swami Devanand, in the 70’s and he guides me and tells me I should share inspirational writing. That’s what put me on the spiritual path because spirituality is not religion, spirituality is a way of life, it’s how you treat yourself, how you treat others, what you are doing with your energy and what you do with your life. God is in everybody. God is in you, God is in me, in the tree. God is all over. People have to see that and when they see it they will realize they are part of this whole cosmos energy. We have to find a way to make the best use of our time and our journey. We want to see the best for humanity and the best for the planet, which is not easy. For me, I do that through my music.

Inferiority/Superiority
Black people do wrong things, white people do wrong things, everybody can do wrong things. My feeling is we need to go on a new path and the people understand if you’re wrong, you’re wrong, if you’re right you’re right and it has nothing to do with the painting on your skin. That’s why Selasi said, and have you heard Bob Marley sing this song ‘until the philosophy that all one race inferior and another superior is totally, finally discredited and abandoned.’ Because maybe you have more money or are living a more comfortable life, maybe you can travel you have big bank account but that doesn’t make you superior because eventually you eat like everybody. You can’t eat more, you might have the money but you can’t eat 10 pounds of food. You are still in the same form of humanity. You may be lucky, and that’s good, but if you can use that to help its better, however some people use it to try and oppress people and use a slavery mentality. People get attached to just wanting to do things for themselves and that leads to revolutions and eventually you have change.

Music/Change
To change mankind as a whole is not an easy thing, but if we as a society permit injustice we really have a problem. We need a grassroots movement in our society so that people can protest in a peaceful way, because we don’t need a revolution everyday. Everybody carries a piece of the responsibility. When one man suffer, wherever he suffer, we all suffer. If we see injustice it hurts us. But to really have a perfect society, the only way that can happen, Bob Marley used to say, is in Rastafari. What he means is when everybody is in the ‘I,’ when everybody is dealing from within and everybody is connected spiritually. That’s the only way. There’s no other way. Money can’t do it, politics can’t do it, nor military. So yeah man, music is going to go on trying to be a force, a living force. Right now we can sing love songs we can sing social songs whatever, but it’s a force, it’s a sound and we’re doing it to touch someone.

Dedicated to hard work and hip-hop, to his family and roots, Deuce Eclipse found what he loved to do at a young age and was fortunate to be surrounded by friends, family and a culture of support.

As a musician his versatility is undeniable. Flowing interchangeably between Spanish and English, you can catch him moving from straight up hip-hop, to experimental, to dancehall and even showing off his skills as a singer with his band Bang Data. With Deuce you always have the feeling that he has something to say, whether it be on record, YouTube, or talking with Hecho.

You were born in Boaco, Nicaragua, right? When did you move to the States and how did you end up in the Bay Area?

Well most people might think I was born in Nicaragua because of the way I revere that country or the way I act (laughs), but I am actually first-generation born in the United States. San Francisco, California is my place of birth, but inside my house was and always will be Nicaragua. My father and mother migrated from Nicaragua to San Francisco, where I was born. I always felt that just because I was born in the United States does not make me less of a Nicaragüense. All my family are Nicas, both my parents. They made me, therefore the blood in my veins is Nicaraguan sangre.

How did you discover your gift for music and what drew you to hip-hop?

I was raised with music as an everyday part of my life. My father was my first inspiration. He showed me the strings on a guitar and the keys on an organ. He was self-taught and doesn’t know how to read notes, which is the reason I was drawn to hip-hop. No one taught us how to do hip-hop, it was created by us for us, it came out of struggle as a voice for people who didn’t have one at the time. I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Something divine touched me on the head when I was 9 years old and told me that this is what I am here to do: Music.

What expectations, if any, do you place on yourself as the self-described ‘first rapper to rep Nicaragua’?

Well, I don’t know if I ever said that I was the first to rep Nicaragua, there are a lot of artists that are Nicas here in the Bay and in other parts of the world who are putting it down for our heritage. The only expectations that I hold on myself are the ones I put on myself. No one is harder on me than myself. I work very hard to earn my position on a stage and in life. When I do things I always have “us” on my mind, but at the same time, I am not asking anyone to follow me or to believe in everything that I say. I don’t do music for that. I do music to heal myself so I can try to do something good for the world. Music was a gift that God gave me, for me. If we don’t heal ourselves then what good are we to the world? I love going to Nicaragua because the people are real people, no fakeness, non-judgmental, at least the ones that I know. If my cousins and family are cool with me and love me, I feel good. I feel proud that they accept me as a true Nicaragüense, even though I wasn’t born there, and in turn they are proud of me because they know I think of them when I create my art.

How has your Nicaraguan heritage influenced you as an emcee and as a musician?

Nicaragua is a country of great history. It’s a country that has seen many struggles but continues to show its love for mankind. So whenever I grab a microphone I’m proud to represent it. My heritage showed me to have confidence, to have strength and rhythm, to speak my mind and never give up. All of those things transferred into the way I make music.

You seem very open musically when it comes to experimenting with different sounds and styles. What do you attribute that openness to?

Having an open mind. The reason I became such a good freestyler was because I didn’t want to stop rapping. I would run out of rhymes and be like “damn, I wanna keep going,” so I learned how to improvise. Sampling also opened my mind to creating whatever you want over music. You can sample Irish Celtic music and make a beat that you could sing or rap to. Maybe it sounded nothing like the indigenous music of Ireland, but you’re connecting to it by rapping it and putting a hard beat under it. For some reason when I was young I used to tell myself I wanna be able to rap or sing over anything. Till this day I will just turn on the radio and try to do something to whatever is on there. Sometimes it sounds incredible and sometimes it sounds whack! But hey, at least I tried and didn’t tell myself I couldn’t.

Describe what it was like for you to come back to Nicaragua and do a show in Boaco.

Well, the reason I went to Nicaragua was to do some free shows for my friends and family who live out there. Another big part, I went was because I wanted to do a show where my father was born and where my mother was born as a tribute to them and as a sign of gratitude to a country that has such a huge piece of my heart. My father was a well-known musician in Boaco and it was always a dream of mine to perform there to show him how much I love him. I also wanted to do a show in Malacatoya because my mother showed me to never forget where you came from. I wanted to show them that I love them and think of them everyday. So Boaco was for my Guerrero side of the family, and Malacatoya-Granada was for the Barahona side of the family.

You have an album coming out called “Indigenous Noise.” Explain what that term means to you?

“Indigenous Noise” is the name of my new album and a term that I use to describe my music in general. It’s also the name of the documentary that I am doing. It means my music is the sound of the earth and culture that existed here for centuries. The noise that we create is to be at one with the earth, the universe and ourselves; the original sound, the sound that is noise to our oppressors but music to our ears. When I say I’m indigenous or indio, I am giving homage to all the people who have roots that go back, way back, like the Native Americans of the United States, Nicoyas, Salvadorenos, Mexicanos, Latinos, we all are the native Americans of this side of the world all the way down to South America. We walked this side of the earth before the ships came and changed everything. This is what it means to me. To remind myself of the ones who died to get us here.

I saw a video of you performing all the way over in Hamburg, Germany with the group Zion I. What doors has music opened for you that might have otherwise been closed?

Well, Zumbi from Zion I is one of my oldest and dearest friends, it’s with them that I first truly saw the world. They are the reason I went back to Europe and got out to Japan and Malaysia. Music has opened the doors to the world for me. It has given me a worldview. My mother first planted the seed of travel when she got me a passport when I was a teenager. I will always thank her for that. She was like, “Here, we’re going to Nicaragua to show you where we are from.”

The doors that music has opened for me have been a blessing; it makes me want to see more. That’s why I do music. It’s the universal language. In Germany half the people don’t know what we are saying, but they are feeling it. It makes me proud when I step off of a plane in Japan that a Nicaraguan is about to put his foot down. It makes me humble and reminds me that the world is small and what we choose to do affects it in every part.

To check out Deuce go to www.deuceeclipse.com, www.myspace.com/deuceeclipse and www.youtube.com/eldos. For his new band Bang Data you can check out: www.bangdata.com or www.myspace.com/bangdata and pick up their new EP “Maldito Carnaval” on iTunes, Amazon and more.

La Cuneta Son Machín was one of the biggest surprises on the Nicaraguan music scene in 2009. With the group’s ear-catching fusion of traditional chinamera music with rock & roll and a relentless schedule of gigs, the Cuneta sound was everywhere last year.

As 2010 begins, I took some time to catch up with bass player, tattoo enthusiast and hater of shirts, Augusto Mejía, to ask him about the group’s evolution, their portrayal of chinamera culture and plans for the new year – which include hitting the studio, more shows outside of Managua and a possible collaboration with…“El Rey del Chinamo,” Gustavo Leyton!?

Jonathan Jackson: How has the band evolved since you began last year?

Augusto Mejía: The band has evolved very nicely. Our repertoire has grown and the concepts and ideas of what La Cuneta Son Machín started out to do has matured a great deal. We have a keyboard player now, a great addition to our band, it allows us to integrate new colors, rhythms, and sounds into our music.

We are very happy because we have been able to make a name for ourselves with younger listeners who usually listen to and enjoy the young Nicaraguan music. We have even noticed that in certain occasions we have been able to capture the attention of the national music scene, people who never would have been interested in listening to Nicaraguan music, to us that has been very encouraging news.

JJ: The band recently played with Perrozompopo in Costa Rica. What was the response like?

AM: The response at Jazz Café, San Pedro (San Jose, Costa Rica) was impressive. We didn’t go there with any expectations. We wanted to take advantage of the space that Perrozompopo was giving us in the middle of three concerts in that same location, and to our surprise they received us with very well, with a lot of admiration, respect, and joy. The critics and comments were very positive and we left a good image of the effort Nicaraguan musicians are making in our country to promote and maintain the young music scene.

JJ: How would you respond to a person who says that La Cuneta Son Machín is a mockery of “chinamera” culture?

AM: Just take the time to observe how the members of the band enjoy the music that we play, or to notice how positive we are about making chinamera music, how we try to take the music and bring it to places where it would never be heard. Just listen to the respectful way we speak about our work and the cultural roots on which we rely, and you can understand clearly that what we do could never be a “mockery,” but rather our intention is to provoke and encourage Nicaraguan channels of communication and the evolution of our folk roots, music and culture.

We are very proud of being influenced musically by all the popular trends that enrich the work of La Cuneta (the Nica rhythm, the chicheros, the rhythm of the bull, the mazurka, polka, bolero, Cuban rhythms, the chachachá, cumbia, etc.). That’s why the main idea behind La Cuneta has always been to create a celebration of our roots, and use the opportunity to produce a fusion between traditional culture and contemporary trends.

JJ: As a band, what are your goals and plans for this new year?

AM: The goal for La Cuneta this year is to continue providing entertainment in areas of Nicaragua, preferably outside of Managua. Usually Nicaraguan cultural movements are based in our capital, and that is something La Cuneta wants to work on, offering the youth and people of other cities the opportunity to enjoy our music, like that of other national bands.

We also want to perform concerts with special guests. The first one will be on January 30th, at Bar Fussion, with the singer/song writer Carlos Mejia Godoy. The idea is to create a generational and musical fusion to increase awareness about keeping alive the cultural and traditional ties between the younger and older generations.

We would also like to collaborate with artists such as Gustavo Leyton, Otto de la Rocha, Juan Solorzano, Katia Cardenal, Tuntun, Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy, Las Nenas, Mario Montenegro and more.

We are thinking of recording some of our songs in a professional studio soon and possibly making a music video to help us to get our name out even more. We are also working on the construction of our web page, as well as the production of t-shirts, stickers, and caps.

But most importantly, we want to continue working to spark an interest in the young people and keep the youth interested in our cultural, musical, and folk roots, from not only a Nicaraguan point of view but also a Central American and Latin-American one.

- HECHO

By Jonathan Jackson, Photography Christopher Sataua
(Originally published in March 2009)

Volcano Momotombo stands off in the horizon overlooking the shore of Lake Xolotlán in Managua, watching, and waiting. Geologists say it has not erupted since 1905. They are wrong. Those in the know will tell you that Momotombo continues to erupt, up to several times a month, spewing forth hot guitar licks, molten keyboard riffs, burning drum sticks and smoldering sampled hits.Led by Guillermo Norory, the self-proclaimed son of the volcano, the band Momotombo has come together to form a unique blend of sounds and ideas. Multiple genres, let alone one, cannot contain their sound. A Mexican journalist called their instrumental music ‘electro latin punchis jazz.’ I describe it as ‘electro-jazz-funk smoothed out on the latin-psych-rock tip with a pop feel, appeal.’ Anything you call it, it’s difficult to imagine that two people would hear it and describe it the same way. That is a testament to both the group’s creativity and the uniqueness of their style.

As a band, Momotombo has been active for close to 8 years. In 2005, the self-titled debut album ‘Momotombo’ was released, and more recently a 2-track EP dropped in’07. Over that time the lineup has fluctuated, but Norory and his production has remained constant. The current band includes a few of Managua’s hardest working musicians: Bikentios Chavez on drums, Augusto Mejía on bass, and Andres Sanchez on guitar.

Momotombo is a band based on collaboration, within itself and with other artists. Special guests are common at their live shows and have included Carlos Luis Mejía, Clara Grün and more recently Belén Cardenal. However musicians are not their only collaborators. The ‘Minister of the Image,’ Israel Lewites, creates the trippy videos that accompany many of Momotombo’s performances and correlate with the music as it is being played. In December Momotombo headlined a show at Bar Fussion where the artist Dirian spontaneously painted a mural behind the band as they played. Norory says that the music of Momotombo evokes colors and landscapes and for these reasons it is only natural that the band works with visuals, adding another dimension to their live shows.

In addition to continuing to tour, Momotombo has plans to release a new studio album in 2009. Norory also stays busy with his Momotombo Production Company. Founded three years ago to help the development of the art and musical expressions of Nicaragua, Momotombo Productions has recorded material for the likes of Perrozompopo, Milly Majuc, and the recent debut album from Belén Cardenal. With all of his endeavors, Guillermo Norory has ensured that the name Momotombo will continue to be associated with Nicaragua’s wonders, both natural and artistic.

Band practice, sound checks, any time it was the right time for messing around musically, the five musicians who make up La Cuneta Son Machín would bust out some musica chinamera Nicaragüense. Despite being a musical genre surrounded by perceptions of low class and tackiness, it is also the music that is heard in a majority of Nicaraguan festivals and street celebrations and it holds a special place in the heart of many. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that what began as a joke has become a phenomenon.

Armed with an admittedly small playlist of musica chinamera, reinterpreted and injected with a sense of humor and a heavy dose of rock and roll, a penchant for Rolter sandals and a charismatic lead singer named after a legume (who looks like the Nicaraguan lovechild of Mick Jagger and Frank Zappa), La Cuneta Son Machín has opened the music up to a whole new audience, taking their rightful place as the best (and only) “CUMBIA-ROCK-LATIN-CHINAMO-FUNK” band in the country.

How did the idea for La Cuneta Son Machín originate?
Augusto Mejia (bass): “Chinamera” music, is the old school, typical Nicaraguan music that you hear in national holiday parties, hipicas and all types of street celebrations. So usually at the end of any practice we had with other bands that we were part of, we would always finish by fucking around and playing (chinamo) songs like “La Cumbia Chinandegana” or “Entre Ritmos y Palmeras.” It was always a lot of fun for us, and then one day we were like ‘hey we can stop messing around and make this into a real project.’ So we did and we have tried to keep the spontaneity of the genre and mix it with contemporary styles like rock, funk, ska and pop.

Carlos Mejia (marimba): The idea is to take all these songs that for many people may be chinameras or “jinchas” (music of the poor), songs that are danced to in the traditional celebrations, but that get people happy and give them all types of emotions. So we take some of those songs and we bring them to another kind of audience, mixing them with different types of arrangements.

What does the name of the band mean to you?
Augusto: We based the name La Cuneta Son Machín on the idea that “la cuneta” (the curb, the side of the street) is a common area where a lot of cultural events take place, events that are essential Nicaraguan idiosyncrasies. For us, la cuneta symbolizes cultural expression and Nicaraguan urban folklore. “Son Machín” (Sound Machine) was added in a fun way to give an idea of the musical fusion that we put into the project.

Why do you guys all wear Rolter sandals?
Augusto: We wear Rolters for comfort, and because they are directly identified with the popular apparel and clothing of Nicaraguans.

Have you been surprised by the audience response to your performances?
Carlos “Frijol” Guillen (vocalist): (Laughs…a lot) Yeah, we thought that it was going to work but we never thought the response from the people would be so big so soon. We were even thinking about just practicing for a while until we had a whole set of songs and then start to promote them, but we never imagined that with only 3 or 4 songs the people would be so enthusiastic.

Augusto: We’re really fired up about the way the band has been received and hope to keep the project moving and evolving, always with the same intention of trying to bridge the gap between popular Nicaraguan culture and new cultural trends.

Are you worried that people might see La Cuneta as a gimmick band?
Frijol: Obviously there’s always that concern when you start a band like this but the idea is to evolve and look for new ways to make music. It’s just the beginning.

What do you think the future holds for La Cuneta?
Frijol: For real, I don’t know right now, we’re just having fun. We just want to bring that energy to the people. It’s really important to us to show the charisma of Nicaraguan idiosyncrasies on stage through the music we play.

“Where the hell are we?”

Piled in a truck we are following Milly Majuc’s tour van as it winds through the hillside streets of Matagalpa. It’s close to one o’clock in the morning and almost 5,000 people have just watched Milly play their first show in the city, along with Malos Habitos and Division Urbana.

As we follow closely, the Milly van keeps taking seemingly random turns and stops indecisively several times before continuing on. We swear they have us going around in circles.

Finally, the van pulls to the curb and we realize we have made it to our destination, the after party at Bar Artesana. As everyone climbs out of the cars, one of our passengers exclaims “Geeez, never follow Milly Majuc.” Carlos Caldera, the lead singer for the band, walks up to the guy, looks him straight in the face and deadpans, “You ALWAYS follow Milly Majuc,” before spinning around and walking into the bar.

We all laugh, but once we realize that we are the first group from the tour to actually find the place, we agree, following Milly Majuc is not a bad idea. And it is also something a lot of people in Nicaragua have been doing lately. Far and away one of the most popular groups in Managua, the band has come a long way from their early days of playing Pink Floyd, Bob Marley and Santana covers in small bars around their hometown of Masaya.

These days Milly is known for their shows full of raucous fans, jumping and dancing to songs they know word-for-word. Their 70’s vibe is still apparent, but the covers have been replaced by an original tripped-out orgy of classic rock, reggae and funk. Live, they have an energy about them that can’t currently be matched by any other band performing original music in Nicaragua, and they’ve managed to do all this without ever releasing an album.

You have to relax and give yourself up in body and soul when it’s time to play.” – Carlos Caldera

Away from the stages and lights, the five bandmates are some of the most tranquil people you could meet. They are true musicians who make up for their lack of formal musical training with a natural ability and passion to play.
But the laid back, carefree vibe of the band can be a gift and a curse. Sometimes they look a little too relaxed on stage and one of the things you sometimes find yourself wishing that they had a little more of, but are probably actually glad they don’t, is that “rockstar” mentality.

Lead singer Carlos Caldera lacks the visible enthusiasm of someone like Monroy or Perrozompopo, and Milly doesn’t have the stage presence of a band like Division Urbana; yet whatever the group may lack in presence, they more than make up for with music, and you can see it in how the crowd responds.

“If there is a good connection with the audience, you’ll feel that ecstasy that makes everything go right.” – Leslie Sanchez

In Matagalpa, where Milly had never played, the fans that had been slam dancing and nodding their heads to the other, more established acts, took everything down a level when Milly hit the stage. A sense of “who are these guys?” seemed to come over the crowd. The dancing came to a halt.
Milly kept on jamming the only way they know how, slowly working their Milly magic. First the heads started to nod, then a small group began dancing. A circle began to form in front of the stage. A few people started jumping, the circle got bigger and slowly it grew and grew as more joined in, unable to resist the groove. By the end of the set, the sea of thousands were jumping and shouting “Otra! Otra!”

“I was in every single practice, I wasn’t even a part of the band, but they let me play.” – Mario Ruiz

Playing music by ear has always come naturally for brothers Carlos and Emilio Caldera. At the age of 16, lead vocalist Carlos (27) got his first guitar and taught himself to play Santana’s “Oye Como Va.” As for his brother Emilio (26), simply touching a drum set as a boy made him happy and he learned to play by studying the drummer at mass and watching music videos.

One day, Carlos approached the priest of his high school, El Salesiano, in Masaya and asked him to let his band, which consisted of a friend with a bass and his brother on the drums, play at a school event. “Two days later, the Priest came back with a ‘tadpole’ and asked us to let him play with us… it was Leslie,” says Carlos with a laugh.

Leslie Sánchez (25) joined their band as a keyboard player. With an interest in music since he was a kid, Leslie received a tiny keyboard when he was 8 and started ‘composing’ his own songs right away.

The chemistry between Leslie and the Caldera brothers was evident from the beginning and it became even stronger when Leslie brought his own brother, Carlos Sánchez (29) into the group as a rhythm guitar player.

Like his younger brother, Carlos Sánchez’s first instrument was the keyboard, however he quickly found he preferred the guitar, gravitating toward an electric one his mother had received as a gift.

Bassist and vocalist Mario Ruiz (28) would join the band a couple years later when he met the others at the UNICA (Catholic University of Nicaragua) in his hometown of Managua. The band member with the most formal musical training, Mario got into music hanging out with an older cousin who was part of a group named Osiris. He soon began composing songs and attended music school for three years before going to college and joining the University band as a bass player (because, he explains, there were already 7 guitar players).

“I would be a lawyer if they had told me to study music.” – Carlos Caldera

Carlos Caldera never went music school, but he believes in the philosophy that everything you go through brings you to where you are supposed to be. To hear him tell it, his decision to attend Law School was the best thing he could have done for his music education and career. “If I hadn’t studied Law, even though I didn’t want to, we wouldn’t have all met and formed the band,” he says.

Mario, on the other hand, ended up in Law School practically out of spite. “A professor told me not to go to law school. He said I should do something else. I ended up studying Law because that got me angry, but he was truly right,” he says with a laugh.

Leslie also studied Law, with similar results. It led him to realize that it was through music that he was becoming the man he wanted to be. “I have to follow my dream, to do what I want and complete myself,” he says.

Since he was young, Carlos Sánchez always had a knack for fixing things, like his little brother’s broken remote control cars. “It’s all about logic, just like music,” he says. This skill led him to study System Engineering at the university. There he learned that logical thinking helps him understand music, saying, “In music there are things that you do once that you can do again, or there becomes a variable and you leave a silence. To structure something, you have to have a logical sequence.”

For Emilio, it was always logical that he would get into business. As a boy he was constantly coming up with his own small business ventures as a way to earn money. In college, he studied Business Administration, and he is the one member of Milly Majuc that has directly incorporated his schooling into the band. “I managed to merge my passion for music with business, I’ve had bars and now I have my own company that promotes events,” he says.

“You learn how to build success and the most important thing is to be persistent.” – Emilio Caldera

For close to ten years, Milly Majuc has been putting in work. With no album to their resume, they have nevertheless continued to grow their fame and become one of the premier bands in the country. Persistence has paid off for the group, along with relentless promotion through concerts. Rarely a week goes by without a Milly Majuc show in Managua, and the band has taken advantage of opportunities, such as the Matagalpa concert, to share their music with, and see other cities all around the country. It’s something they don’t take for granted. “This is the career that has given us a chance to really get to know Nicaragua,” says Emilio.

The Milly are throwbacks to a simpler time, a time when the only thing that mattered was that there was an opportunity and an audience. Musically and personally, they offer no gimmicks, no BS; they are natural talents, 100% Nicaragüense, who love music, love to play and have an undeniable knack to make you shake that ass. If that’s not something worth following, I don’t know what is.