.Caught in the musical spotlight of the moment, the band has made a name for itself on the indie scene, well make that two names, they started as BeatAmina, but have really come into their own these past months under the moniker DiaBizarro. What else could these four teenagers, who back in ’09 competed in a Battle of the Bands in front of a tough audience, where the prize was a pizza and coke, wish for? And while there are traces of Nica mainstream music (if there is even such a thing) as well as other common influences, such as Pink Floyd, in their jams and lyrics, DiaBizarro makes those influences their own in a way that is just refreshing.

Bruno, Daniel, Walter and Rony bring life to the bands harmonious songs “We’re about 70% music and 30% lyrics,” claims Daniel Dilger (Keyboards-Vocals); and from what I’ve heard I’d have to concur. DiaBizarro explores the genres of electronic, post-rock, chinamo and avant-garde more than hardcore tunes. It’s a true melting pot of good music for music lovers.
DiaBizzaro has been together for a year now, and while early on, as BeatAmina, they were known for performing covers of Arctic Monkeys, Muse and Pink Floyd songs, they have now involved themselves in the production and engineering of all of their songs.

The four members who have known each other ‘since forever’ say they rehearse about 5 hours everyday at Daniel’s place. Rehearsal consists of jamming, with brain storming and random interventions from them all. Apparently this group dynamic has paid off because they already have built quite a following.

MUSICAL INSIGHT: GETTING TO KNOW THE MEMBERES OF THE BAND…

While they each have similar tastes in music, what are a future engineer, aspiring doctor and two economists in the making doing jamming together? Maybe it’s these ‘go-getter’ attitudes that supply an ingredient missing in other bands that makes them unforgettable.

Bruno Cortina is a follower of progressive rock, 70’s rock, psychedelic rock, and thanks to his father who is also a musician, a little bit of Jazz. He says bands like Dream Theatre and The Beatles are some of his biggest influences. Meanwhile Daniel Dilger has played piano for almost ten years, since he was 7 years old, and learned to play Mozart, Chopin and Beethoven. He writes his own music, likes to improvise, and is the newest addition to the band. Walter Gomez, on drums, is more indie and enjoys the goodness of electronic music. And then there is Rony, who brings a serious dose of attitude to the bass.

Photos by Silvio Balladares / Heyton Urtecho

‘El Sendero’ is the group’s most versatile song, as far as genre goes, to date. It’s catchy, fun and heavy, with a guitar solo that can only be described as chilling. The lyrics talk about how you can find people in different emotional states, kind of like a bipolar disorder or an OCD thing, from sanity to madness and everything in between. It’s not a love song, more like a metaphor filled with sarcasm and irony.

It’s been almost three years since the band debuted at the Battle of the Bands and their feeling is that the local music scene has changed for the better. It’s not as hostile as it once was, “There’s diversity now” and it seems as though everybody’s trying to make it “in” and be part of the newest generation of young musicians. Making it in with DiaBizarro are other bands such as CulturaFolk and Pequeño Parlante, both up-and-coming bands in their own right, featured in this issue.
Ever since they realized that they could do ‘the band thing’, that it might work and that they were pretty damn good at it, they haven’t stopped evolving. And even though they’re about to enroll in different schools and pursue different careers, their goal is to leave proof of their existence. So far they are on the right track.

www.facebook.com/diabizarro

Photo: Luise Siu

For those of you who believe that good bands are only born in Managua, I´d like you to meet Cultura Folk. A group made up of 5 intrepid youngsters from Jinotepe who have an idea as fresh as the climate in that city.

Tell me guys, how was Cultura Folk born?
Jaime: Well, we began in 2005, but we kind of went our separate ways then decided to get back together in July of last year.
Ernesto: Jorge and I are the only ones left of the original band because Linda, our old vocalist, was no longer available. So Marja, who played keyboard and sang backup became the new vocalist.
A 14 year old vocalist ? How has that experience been ?
Marja: Its been… (she stays quiet)
You seem a little shy…
Marja: (giggles) Not really, I just always get nervous.
(Bystander): But with a microphone its another story…
On stage her presence is impressive and her voice, very deep for her age, generate comments from the crowd.
Why the name Cultura Folk ?
Ernesto: A couple of years ago I was reading a book and came upon a phrase that said that everything we are is defined and summed up in Cultura Folk.
What does this phrase mean to you ?
Jamie: I see it is identity, in this case the bands identity.
Your music is very varied, who influenced you and what would you describe your musical genre as ?
Jamie: each one of us has different influences but when it comes down to it we create something totally different than them. Each of us makes suggestions and we make adjustments and something new is created. We are a bit ska, funk and rock.

Photo: Luise Siu.

Tell me about your songs…
Marja: For now we have nine and we´re promoting our first single: Lola
Yes, its been playing a lot… and just who is Lola
Ernesto: Lola was inspired by “La Culebrita”, a mentally challenged girl who passed by the house. One day I thought about writing what it would have been like had she had different opportunities.
Until now what kind of exposure have you guys had? Your experience with other bands, have they welcomed you?
Ernesto: well, we´ve played with well established bands like Monroy y Surmenage, Milly Majuc, la Cegua. It´s given us a lot of exposure because their fans now even know our songs.
What has your experience been like out of Jinotepe ? Just recently you guys played in Managua at The Reef…
Jaime: Yea, we´ve also played at Fusion. And we´ve gotten to play in Diriamba, Masaya, Chinandega and Matagalpa.
Speaking of concerts Marja, how do you do it? In high school you have a lot of responsibilities and normally 14 year olds are at home by that time.
Marja: Well yea, I´ve had to make many sacrifices but thankfully my grades haven´t suffered.
I have to ask, when will you guys record your first album ?
We´re working on it, a couple of our friends have offered to sponsor the recording and we´re very thankful for that. We´re currently recording two more songs.
Anything you guys wanna add?
Jaime: We invite people to listen to more of our music and go to our shows

Donwload CULTURAFOLK’s “LOLA” & “Yendo Fuera” here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S17W9MAR and make sure to visit their official FaceBook page at: www.facebook.com/CULTURAFOLK

Download CULTURAFOLK’s “LOLA” & “Yendo Fuera” HERE:
and make sure to visit their official facebook page

Pequeño Parlante is a new band from Managua featuring vocalist Ana Gabriela Rodriguez and a host of talented musicians including Rodrigo Castro (drums), Lenin Ortiz and Josue Zuñiga (guitars) and Amahruc Arroliga (bass). Their new EP, ‘El Caso Inconcluso Del Doctor Parlante’, is availible for free on iTunes and is a very promising first effort from the group.

Download: Pequeño Parlante – ‘El Caso Inconcluso Del Doctor Parlante’

By Ioel Molina (translated by Arcadio Rocha), photography by Christopher Sataua

In the midst of promoting their first album, “Ama tu Sangre” (Love Your Blood), I had the pleasure of talking to the professors of the Nicaraguan rock band, La Mano de Vidrio, and seeing things through their eyes.

I say “professors” because the first thing I noticed is that is how the band members, Edgar Aguilar (lead singer and guitar), Andres Centeno (bass), Jorge Lanzas (drums) and Osman Delgado (violin), refer to each other. Upon asking why “professor,” Edgar answers that it’s a matter of trust. For him, the sincerity of each member is what drives the band. They learn from each other because they are unafraid to speak their mind.

Each member’s influences and musical preferences couldn’t be more different, passing from pop to classical and, of course, rock. However, when it’s time to play as a band, all these backgrounds and influences converge, with each person putting part of their musical DNA into the sound.

Jorge is the rocker. When he plays, even if it’s a mellow song, he can’t help but put the weight of a rock drummer into his percussion. He confesses that he taught himself to play on a borrowed set of drums. He has now owned his own set for the past four years and says that every time he plays them “its as if he is talking to her.”

In Andre?s you can see a marked funk influence. It may be difficult to answer how you can extract a sensation or feeling from an instrument, but the bassist from La Mano de Vidrio simply answers: “I just do. I use my heart, my fingers and bass’s four chords.”

Osman’s background is in classical and folk music. His story with the violin began when he was 7 years old taking classes at the National School for Music. Not withstanding, Osman insists that the most important school for him “has been the streets.”

Finally, there’s Edgar, who’s soft guitar rhythms contrast perfectly with his deep voice. He is also the composer and author for the music and lyrics of “Ama tu Sangre.”

Monica Correa, the band’s manager and disc’s producer, says that producing the disc was an unforgettable experience, that can only compare to giving birth to a child.

Ama tu Sangre is a thematic album. The songs lyrics are meant to transmit a message of extreme positivity. Edgar says it in his lyrics, “there is nothing negative, there are no complaints, there are only incentives.”

“The album’s message is to rescue those things that we are losing, like love and all that goes with it,” says Edgar. “Like tickling, butterflies, and the sweat and flushed cheeks that appear when you’re standing in front of the person you love.”

As the name indicates, La Mano de Vidrio (‘The Glass Hand’ in Spanish), has a commitment to transparency. For the band, “loving your blood” means caring for and preserving your values and not leaving them behind as you travel through life.

Download ‘Quiero Ser’ from the album Ama Tu Sangre

By Jonathan Jackson, Photography f2.8

In just over year, La Cuneta Son Machín have established themselves as one of the premier bands in the country. I had a chance to catch up with bass player Augusto Mejía, the band’s most outspoken member and talk with him about people’s perceptions of the group, what the band means to Nicaraguan music and the dreaded ‘c’ word…

You guys have been able to break through a lot of the walls that other bands never can. You’ve played all over the country and in all types of places, from Club Terraza to El Chaman, from Managua to Chinandega, on bills with the likes of Perrozompopo, Carlos Mejia Godoy, also Fuzion 4 and El Chayanne de Pochomil and you have been able to perform for all these different audiences with great success. Why do you think that is?

I believe one of the things that has happened with La Cuneta Son Machín (CSM) is that the band has come to fill a gap in the collective subconscious of the young Nicaraguan population. In poor countries, such as Nicaragua, the majority of young people rely on foreign influence to define their identity. CSM broke that notion apart, and people have come to realize that there is tremendous value in supporting traditional Nicaraguan culture and music. They’ve realized it can be fun and entertaining as well.

We also have to recognize that a big part of our success has to do with the enormous support our national media has shown us. They have allowed us to compete with all those things coming from outside Nicaragua.

You told me once that one of the most important things for you is to spark an interest in the youth and keep the young people interested in cultural, musical, and folk roots, from not only a Nicaraguan point of view but also a Central American and Latin-American one. How has that been working for you in the past year?

Well, we’ve come to realize that after going to our shows, a lot of young people start asking questions about national songwriters, trying to figure out who wrote one of the songs we played. It feels great! You hear them saying that they’ll go on the Internet to search for all this information on national composers and it makes you feel good. Some of them even start participating in things which they didn’t take part before, like national popular festivities.

I believe we are accomplishing our objectives little by little. And since everything in Nicaragua is so tough to do, we have had to reinvent ourselves constantly in order to maintain people’s interest in what we do. Nevertheless, in the end it’s also about having fun. That’s how the project got started; we were just having fun mixing popular music with a modern twist.

(Carlos Luis Mejía – marimba, César Rodríguez – keyboard, Carlos “Frijol” Guillen – vocals, Fabio Buitrago – drums, Omar Suazo – guitar, Augusto Mejía – bajo)

I’m aware that all the reactions, at least privately, have not been 100 percent positive, for example I’ve heard the band described as “fresas jugando hacer jinchos…” (very rough translation: preppies posing as “ghetto”) Can you talk about some of the negative reactions you have encountered, and how you all deal with that?

The interesting thing about these kinds of opinions is that they reflect the exact opposite of what we are trying to convey with our music. We are fighting against the notion that what we do is “jincho.” The only kind of person who would see our band project as some type of mockery of the lower class is someone who would consider traditional music inferior. For example, if I were to dress like a metal head, or like a punk, or even dress exactly the way TV tells me to dress, then it would be all right and there would be no criticisms. The fact is that if you copy something that everyone thinks is inferior, the only explanation they could come up with would be that you’d be making fun of it.

I grew up listening to popular music through my Dad (Carlos Mejía Godoy), my uncle, and all sorts of musicians I have known. Most of us in CSM weren’t part of the rock or pop scene when we started out. If we were really joking around and didn’t take this seriously, then we wouldn’t be putting so much time and effort into the band. But, the most important point is not whether we are joking around or not, it’s whether we are making a difference in young people’s perception of our cultural values, roots and traditions.

The truth is that in Nicaragua you constantly have to fight against these types of opinions because our nation’s collective self-esteem is so low… especially amongst the younger crowd, which seek their identity from foreign products, and instead of looking on the bright side of things, they end up searching for whatever’s wrong so that they don’t have to be a part of it. You constantly find people who sabotage your efforts instead of trying to help you out, because they have to convince themselves that nothing made in Nicaragua is ever going to be good. For them it’s easier to get their identity from “imported” culture. Luckily the people who say things like that are fewer than the ones who come to our shows.

One of the other big complaints from some of your critics is that you guys are a glorified cover band. But I know recently you have been creating original material with a similar theme and sound as the other songs you perform. Do you see yourselves as a cover band? Can you talk about some of your original songs, where does the inspiration come from and how has or will that change you as a band?

Ironically for us, the cover band business has changed in the past ten to fifteen years. Before it was considered OK to cover songs, but now people don’t like it. It got stigmatized, and it went from being good to being considered bad and unoriginal. The bright side is that national bands have been encouraged to write their own songs. The problem is that you can’t compare covering a marimba song from Masaya to covering Guns n’ Roses. Both require you to play something that already exists, but one allows you to dig out your traditions, whereas the other has already enjoyed massive commercial success. We focus on playing songs that are not heard on the radio anymore, songs that have been lost in time, most of which would never get any airplay if it weren’t for us. In a regular modern music radio station, you would never listen to Nicaraguan popular music. Never! And we are making it happen!

I believe the work that marimberos (marimba players) in Masaya have been doing for the past 100-150 years is of incredible importance. If I would go up to a marimbero and tell him “look, enough with the covers, play something original” popular music would disappear in a flash, because no one would be willing to take on the work that these marimberos have done for so many years. If you think about it, radio doesn’t play these songs, and if there was no one to interpret them live, then we would lose them forever. So one of our main objectives in the band is to somehow continue this tradition that began many years ago between local Masaya marimberos, and keep the popular music going. People who play traditional music on the streets do it for the love of the art. No one that decides to become a marimbero does so with the hopes of earning millions. Like all marimberos, they know their quality of life will remain fairly the same. They do it mainly because they love the music they interpret. We all feel inspired by that attitude and somehow we humbly consider ourselves to be a continuation of the popular musician’s work. Just think of all the music that would’ve been lost if these popular musicians didn’t play “covers.” So we think that we are in the same business as they are, we are trying to reproduce these songs in such a way to get them in the collective subconscious of the young Nicaraguans. The new songs we play are almost like a side project we work on in parallel, but it is not our main objective to write new songs.

Our success was not premeditated, because when we started the project it was simply because we wanted to play this type of music. We never imagined we would have such success. The inspiration was to mix the popular music concept with an urban focus, always trying to make it fun to listen to. At the same time though, we wanted it to carry a message that goes beyond having a good time, we wanted to create songs to make people conscious and proud of their roots as Nicaraguans.

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.