Young and Aspiring Musicians Get Tips from the Pros at “Escuela de Rock”

Tuesday, 11 August 2009 15:19

Music workshop caps off with Historic Jam Session by top Latin alternative Rockeros

Los Angeles, CA --August 11, 2009-- Local musicians ranging from young grade schoolers to older, more seasoned amateurs and professionals alike, gathered at El Gallo Plaza in East Los Angeles for the opportunity of a lifetime: To learn directly from some of the top Latin alternative rock musicians at Al Borde’s newest music event, “Escuela de Rock”.

Designed to connect professional Latin alternative artists with would-be rock musicians and mentor them through workshops, personal interaction and a live performance, the event held on Saturday, August 1st featured a series of concurrent music workshops led by rock en Español “All Stars” Moises Baqueiro formerly with Los Abandoned on bass, Bugs Gonzalez of Jumbo on drums, Oscar Loera of Chencha Berrinches on guitar, and Cesar Villa of Fatima on vocals. The grand finale was an historic live jam session featuring the guest musicians who practiced for the first time together only hours before the show. The skills of the musicians moved the audience, especially the youngsters to jump out of their seats to dance, rock and play make-believe guitars to the intricate rhythms and sounds vibrating across the room. A surprise guest artist, Alex “Manzana” Gonzalez of Delta Wave, joined the Latin rock jam session for a mesmerizing guitar solo.

The initial interactive workshops were later followed by a panel discussion where Christian Mejia of Intoroq Records and Arturo Hernandez and Melinda Torres of A&M Entertainment joined the guest musicians. Taking into account the diversity of the crowd, the panel discussion touched on everything from personal experiences and “making it” in the cut-throat music business, to the reality of the challenges and hard work it takes to break into the competitive music industry.

“The most important piece of advice I can offer you is to finish school and go to college,” Bugs told the fascinated audience. “There’s lots of great bands and musicians out there, and the chance that you will make it are very small, so you need to make sure that you have something to fall back on, and something that complements your love of music,” said an enthusiastic Bugs who, like all the panelists, was overjoyed to be a part of an event that filled so many young musicians with hope.

Melinda Torres, co-founder and the “M” in A&M Entertainment, expanded on the business aspect: “The problem today is that bands are relying too much on the internet,” she said. “But If you are not out there promoting yourself, doing the face-to-face networking, no one is going to come to your show,” admitted the promoter, who has been active in the local scene for sixteen years, and has done promotions for such acts as Monte Negro, Son Locuaz, Sonsoles and Mezklah, among many others.

“This is where Al Borde likes to step in, to give up and coming talent and underground musicians in the Rock en Español scene a chance to play and interact with live audiences.  We do this with our Acoustic sessions and now with Escuela de Rock,” said Martha de la Torre, Al Borde’s CEO.

Al Borde’s “Escuela de Rock” was sponsored by Jarritos, Monster Energy Drink, and El Clasificado.  Al Borde’s next Latin alternative rock event will be their signature Acoustic Sessions concert, scheduled for Friday, September 25, also at El Gallo Plaza.

Al Borde (www.alborde.com) is a cutting edge source for Latin Alternative music and entertainment news. For more than ten years, Al Borde has maintained a commitment to high quality content reflecting the unique and creative lifestyles of the young Hispanic population. Al Borde is a unit of El Clasificado --the free online classifieds source for Latin rock musicians-- and is rapidly becoming a leading multiplatform company that connects the world's top brands with the fastest-growing demo in the U.S. through live events, web, digital media and mobile.

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Maria Elena Aguilar
		About the author:
		Manager of PR/Staff Writer. B.A., English Literature, UC Berkeley (2005). Maria Elena joined Al Borde in 2005, for what was supposed to be a one-year stint to “get her feet wet”... Her weaknesses are pretty boys with beards and everything J. Crew has to offer. When she’s not busy daydreaming, this neurotic super mom keeps busy raising her newborn daughter, Sofia.