Today we’d like to introduce you to Rocktor, Twist, El Regio, Loco, and Selene.
Rocktor, Twist, El Regio, Loco, and Selene, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Latino Latino Alternativo Houston started as a forum that intended to communicate events happening in the city only to close friends. There was a need for a central place where concerts were collected and announced. The project got started on May 19, 2014.
It just happened that after a couple of months Loco´s friends had told other friends of about this page on Facebook. What was originally intended as a small closed group of 15 people became 50 people. Then 100 people. Loco realized that there was a public thirsty for this kind of information.
The Latin alternative scene did not really have a voice. Loco continued gathering information about upcoming concerts and attending shows. Loco began then uploading pictures of these shows. Last thing he knows the page has 200 followers. The work became more serious and intense than previously intended.
Loco would usually go to shows with his friend Twist who was invited to join RLAH (2016). Twist added the video component to the magazine. Soon after, Rocktor joined (2016), and RLAH became a collective. This year (2018) we invited El Regio and Selene. We are five people who volunteer their time because we are passionate about music.
Now we are close to 3000 followers. It is a big following considering we have done no advertisement, and the niche for Houston Latin Alternative music is fairly small.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The collective has been an active participant in the development of the music culture in Houston in the past four years. Thanks to the work that we do, people find common ground through music: a way to belong in this big city. Being a minority is not always easy.
Being a minority within a minority makes things even harder. Latinx are usually boxed in certain kinds of music genres. That be salsa, tropical, or norteño. People who follow RLAH go beyond the traditional rhythms. Latinx are also metalheads, indie, reggae, jazz and everything in between. We have seen more festivals, more independent music, more recordings, and more people attending live shows.
We have the challenge of sometimes not having enough time because everyone in the collective have full-time jobs. We try to be up to date with what will happen in Houston and what is hot abroad when it comes to indie music. We do photography, journalism, and videography without being photographers, journalist or videographers. Our passion and professionalism speak for themselves and the public respect what we do.
Please tell us about Rock Latino Alternativo Houston.
RLAH it’s a collective. Currently, we have five members. The online magazine provides information about latinx alternative concerts that will occur, interviews artist that come to Houston, creates articles related to music, photographs, and videos shows that we attend, and builds bridges between public and artists.
We are proud to create a space where music can be manifested as an art form. Latinx contributes to the city of Houston. We Are not invisible. Major media outlets do not cover what Rock Latino Alternativo covers. We have found a way to centralize all the information. Three to four years ago, Houston was not a stopping point for many Alt Latinx artists.
They would skip Htwon and go from Austin to Dallas. You look at our calendar on the page, and many weekends there are several shows happening at the same time. We have been instrumental in making the noise about Houston’s live music.
Contact Info:
- Email: rocklatinoalternativohouston@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocklatinoalternativohouston/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rocklatinoalternativohouston/
Image Credit:
Mich Martinez @megustadormir, RLAH Logo by Diego Rodriguez
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