Don’t miss bands from near and far at the 2015 Quadstock, held at SFUAD May 2-3, 2015.
Leticia Gonzales’ Senior Show
posted by Nick Martinez
Leticia Gonzales hasn’t always known her niche. “The first thing I wanted to do was dance,” she said. “Then sing. Then I wanted to join a Mariachi group and wanted to play trumpet, but I couldn’t play trumpet. Then I wanted to play bass, but I couldn’t play bass. So it was guitar or violin, and guitar is fucking stupid.” Tonight at 7 p.m., Gonzales will be performing her senior show featuring nine musical selections from various nations ranging from America to Macedonia, Ireland to Guinea. She will showcase her talents on vocals, violin and three African drums (Dununba, Sangban and Kenkeni). But organizing the event, and performing in front of a crowd was the last thing she wanted to do. Gonzales grew up listening to American Folk music, and when she enrolled at University of New Mexico, music seemed to be the natural choice. But its program was too confined for her musical curiosity. Faith renewed when she transferred to SFUAD and discovered its Balkan and African drum ensembles. “The only way I can talk about why [I like Balkan and African music] is that I heard it and it spoke to me,” she said and that seems to be a running theme. Along with being a music major, Gonzales is also working toward a minor in writing, something she considers her true passion. “Writing would be the vessel,” she said. “ And inside of that is music, textiles, philosophy, language and everything else that makes me excited about living.” Caitlin Brothers, Gonzales’ friend and musical partner, sees her experience as a writer seeping into her senior show in the arrangement of music, and spoken word selections. “I feel like she’s organized the show almost how one would arrange a poem,” she said. “It feels like being a part of a nine point poem.” Brothers and Gonzales perform with each other often, including as part of their band Storming The Beaches With Logos In Hand. They also share the connection of both being women in a predominantly male department. “Having a conversation without being listened to, is bearable sometimes,” said Brothers. “Trying to play music with someone who isn’t listening to you—you can’t fucking do anything, We found each other as people who can listen to one another. She knows I’ll listen to her, and I know she’ll listen to me.” In part to Gonzales’ distaste for singing publicly, and the duo’s musical compatibility, Gonzales acknowledges that her show would be lost without Brothers’ contribution on percussions and vocals. “When I was considering African rhythms and singing the tunes that I’m singing, the only way that I thought that would come to fruition was if I imagined Caitlin doing them with me,” said Gonzales. She is self-deprecating, nervous about applying make-up for the camera, but it is clear with her attention to detail in writing, and dedication in learning new music, that Gonzales knows what she is doing. “I’m hoping that in presenting things in a methodic and tight woven way, there will be an hour where everybody in the same room is connecting in the same way, on a winter night,” she said. Along with Gonzales and Brothers, the show also features collaborative composition between Gonzales and Sam Armstrong Zickefoose, as well as Bailey Schaumburg reading a selection from Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities.” Gonzales requests that there be no cell phones or photography, and that you hold all applause until the end. Leticia Gonzales Senior Show O’Shaughnessy Performance Space 7 p.m. Free...
SFUAD DIY
posted by Luke Henley
There’s a fire going outside and people huddle together, laughing and otherwise going on excitedly about “have you heard this band? And this band?” There’s even a trampoline, one of those big ones. Inside, past the front door that never seems to be locked, a band sets up in a large warehouse space. The energy is buzzing, people are smiling and, best of all, there’s no cover at the door. This is all a very regular sight for Radical Abacus, a warehouse in one of Santa Fe’s more business-oriented areas that has become one of the city’s more prominent independent performance venues in the past few years. Contemporary Music Program major Angelo Harmsworth, who recently became one of Radical Abacus’ residents, has been increasing his involvement in booking shows for local musicians as well as touring acts from around the US. “Nicholas Chiarella [former SFUAD Studio Arts administrative assistant/contributing faculty] was responsible for the current incarnation of the space…,” Harmsworth said in an e-mail interview, “He made the space available to the local and larger DIY community for art shows, little happenings, and concerts.” Following that legacy, Harmsworth’s role is simply that of a host/curator; he and his housemates do not take money for hosting these shows. Donations are often requested to be given to touring bands, mostly for gas money, but other than that the focus is on music. This model differs greatly from that of a more traditional venue, such as a bar that features live music. This use of non-traditional performance spaces has become a more frequently seen phenomenon in Santa Fe as well as cities across the country as a larger DIY-based musical community grows. Why do some gravitate toward DIY over a bar or another more established business? Harmsworth...
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