www.cafemagazine.com/music
This past week I was invited by Cafe Magazine to visit New York CIty and join their team to introduce and promote their newest section, Café Con Música, at the 11th annual Latin Alternative Music Conference(LAMC).
I boarded a plane traveling from San Diego to New York, unsure of what I would ultimately encounter. It was my first trip to New York City, and was also my first time attending the LAMC, so you could imagine, everything was just so new to me.
I arrived, and headed over to Manhattan, meeting up with a friend who is studying at Columbia University, where I would be staying for the remainder of my trip.
The conference began and from the start people in line waiting to register began sharing their carefully thought out “soundbytes” and before you knew it conference attendees began to exchange information, demos and ideas about collaborating.
Ironically, within the first five minutes of having registered, I met a young graphic designer, producer and DJ, Andres Obregozo, who came all the way from Toronto, Canada to experience the LAMC for the first time.
We talked over the Spain vs Germany world cup semifinal in the Roosevelt Hotel’s lobby, and he mentioned his long bus ride from Toronto to New York City. When he arrived he took the subway to the hotel to only receive an unpleasant surprise. The shocking news was that the front desk attendees couldn’t find his badge or any sort of registration confirmation.
Andres Dj. From Toronto to New York City.
After a few stressful minutes, that seemed like an eternity to Andres, LAMC staff were able to find his badge and hand him his bag of LAMC goodies. He was finally at ease and able to dig into his bag. Thats what we all came for anyway, right?
A few minutes later as I walked back to the main lobby and pass the registration booths and I bump into a fella who seemed to be very excited he finally received his LAMC badge. A character to say the least, Manuel Izquierdo of Puerto Rican band, Habitat, was ready for a week of latin alternative.
We met and spoke about coming to NYC. He told me about the island and the story of his band. They were excited of coming to the LAMC in New York City since they just released their album, Cenizas, and were here to promote and do some important networking. I knew this guy was trouble from the beginning, and had to ask him what he played in the band. No surprise, the Man was Habitat’s drummer. Go Figure.
As we chatt and exchanged info, I introduced him to Jenn, another Café team member and for the remainder of the conference, he would call her “La Jefa!” At this point we noticed that we were being photographed and Manuel turns to greet the photographer in his Boricua lingo: “Coño, como estas!”
Turns out the photographer, Karlo X. Ramos, also Boricua, actually knew the Habitat boys, and actually directed a few of their music videos. Karlo introduced himself, and let us know that he wasn’t a creepy guy taking pictures of young boys, but was actually the official LAMC photographer. Karlo is a really talented photographer, and extremely professional. Well at least he carries himself that way. I haven’t seen any of his pictures, but hey, he bought me a beer, so hire him!
www.karloxramos.com
Karlo is the man, straight from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, same city where Habitat is from. You most definitely need to hire Karlo for your next event. He specializes in all sorts of media. This is what he says about himself:
I’m a digital designer whose knowledge and expertise spans different media venues. I’m very interested in how media can be shaped with the use of great design, creativity and art in order to create a powerful message that moves the individual. Karlo is one those people that I was fortunate to meet at the LAMC and I can openly say that he is a Latin Media Guru. His videos are well done and he is a very cool dude.As I headed back to our press table to finish setting up, I came across a group of young guys who are speaking some mean Portuguese, and I’m just wondering where they coming from. Brazil?? What part? Don’t tell me, Rio? There they were, the guys from Opiniao Publica, straight from the streets of Rio de Janiero, Cariocas for sure!
I wanted to learn more about them, and their trip. It was their first time at the LAMC, and they were so hyped to be in New York City sharing the rock brasileiro with everyone. They taught me a few lines, and I spoke in my broken Portuguese, all in all, it was great chatting with them since they were so high energy, I could only imagine what their live show would be like. Opiniao Publica came to LAMC and were ready to play since day 1. They invited me, but I couldn’t make it to their show in Queens since it was going on during the show later that evening at the Mercury Lounge.
Opiniao Publica @ Lamc 2010
We’re really excited to have been able to meet and networking with folks during the LAMC. Now comes the fun part: making it happen. I’d love to bring a few bands over to the West Coast, whether it be Mucho Wednesdays at La Cita or Mucho San Diego or Desmadre Tijuana. Rumor has it that some bands already are making plans to come to the west side!
