How to Find Your Sound: Gabriel Gonzalez's Musical Evolution

00;00;05;19 - 00;00;26;01
Andy
Ladies and gentlemen, I have Gabrielle Gonzalez in the studio from Los Angeles. And, you know, I know I'm having Gabrielle Leto and, you know, the amazing vocalist, artist, you know, actor, and amazing human being. Just the biggest heart man here with me, in the A.v Lyric Lounge studio. Thank you for coming, bro.

00;00;26;01 - 00;00;29;03
Gabriel
It's a real pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for the invitation.

00;00;29;07 - 00;00;43;28
Andy
Yeah, brother. Yeah, well, this is a long time coming. You know, to be able to talk and then record it because we have such the amazing conversations and, Yeah, well, I wish we could, like, I wish I could record what comes out of your mouth. You know, I can't hear. I can't.

00;00;43;28 - 00;00;44;14
Gabriel
Hear you.

00;00;44;16 - 00;01;00;05
Andy
But, you know, I just, you know, you know, here we are out here and, you know, further down which county you came from. Los Angeles. And Los Angeles is where we connected, you know, and like, man, you've done so many amazing things. What I just want, if you don't mind, I. I want to jump right in.

00;01;00;06 - 00;01;24;13
Andy
I want to get, you know, the listener to know, you know who you are, as well as your past, because, I have a lot of my my students as well, you know, in, in our, my foundation, you know, who listen and watch and want to know, you know, about the struggles about, like, you know, believing in yourself, believing in your art, and, and what it's about.

00;01;24;13 - 00;01;47;10
Andy
Because, you know, we're in this because this is who we are. We're in entertainment. Because this is who we are. And it we just so happens that we can work with people that, you know, we could do business with, with our art. Right? But, you know, you started really young and like myself, you started really young in the, in the arts and, and and, you know, entertainment and acting and stuff.

00;01;47;12 - 00;01;51;06
Andy
Can you share a little bit about that? Can we start from the beginning and then just kind of build up from there?

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Gabriel
Sir, I, my father was, a singer. He loved. He loved to sing, you know, but he had terrible stage fright. Oh, wow. And, if I had to think of the word started, I lived in, over in, like, East L.A.. They had this place called El Mercato, and, it's still there today, and it was three floors at the time.

00;02;22;03 - 00;02;50;04
Gabriel
And I'm going to do my song. And they had on the third floor, they had like, mariachi. I'm Chicano, first generation Mexican-American. Yes. And, on that third floor, they had mariachis playing and they have what they call the chili aficionados, which means, amateur night. And, we would go in there and, and my father would compete and eventually, he got me involved in that.

00;02;50;06 - 00;03;15;10
Gabriel
And so that was kind of like my first, experience with, like, live performance. Now, my uncle was a promoter at the time for like, events and stuff, and he introduced me to a man called Arnulfo Delgado. They called him El Gordo Delgado, and he was a producer of film, and he did concerts. And now we're talking about the 70s.

00;03;15;12 - 00;03;40;24
Gabriel
So they took me to Mexico, and I, and I started doing film out there. And at that time, a lot of these, actors, and especially in those films in the 70s, were all singers. So we would all do film and everything by day, and then at night they'd hit the clubs, and they do like these big performances, and they would do these caravans that they called.

00;03;40;24 - 00;04;02;20
Gabriel
And it was kind of like the equivalent of vaudeville. It would have comedians, they would have all kinds of and they would go all the way down from, like, California, I mean, from, Los Angeles all the way up to Sacramento. And they'd hit every place in between Bakersfield, like places like that. And, I, I would sing at the Million Dollar Theater.

00;04;02;22 - 00;04;16;28
Gabriel
And by then I had, like 7 or 8 films that I worked on, and they were playing at the theaters, Los Angeles, the state, the, all the different ones that are down Broadway on.

00;04;17;05 - 00;04;17;25
Andy
Yeah.

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Gabriel
In, downtown Los Angeles.

00;04;20;05 - 00;04;20;15
Andy
Yeah.

00;04;20;15 - 00;04;45;12
Gabriel
And, right on Third Street, there's a theater called the Million Dollar Theater. It's still there today, and they would have that variety show, and the way it worked is like the performers would come on and they would do a concert, and then they. The movie would star, they clear the room, the movie's over. They bring in another one, and we do this, and I'm by then I'm like, I'm like 910.

00;04;45;20 - 00;04;46;17
Andy
Amazing.

00;04;46;19 - 00;05;11;29
Gabriel
And I did a, a record. And, I had some great writers on it. People was, the guy who wrote his column, first column for, obviously he's, And anyway, I got to work with all of the great, artists at the time. And then the adults got into a fight, and that was the end of that era.

00;05;11;29 - 00;05;34;02
Gabriel
The record never got released. It just it just ended, you know? And the next thing I know, I'm at Arena Street School in East L.A., and one of the kids is like, hey, I know you like, you know, from one of those movies. And that just and there was a teacher there, Helen Strangles. And she loved the musical theater.

00;05;34;05 - 00;05;58;07
Gabriel
So, she took me out of the classroom. She made me sing for her. And the next thing I know, I'm doing musicals. That was my first introduction to musicals. Asia came by, picked us up. Bob Moton has put me in my first. Took me to my first audition. I started booking commercials. So that was my introduction to commercials.

00;05;58;09 - 00;06;23;16
Gabriel
I got to do TV shows. But, you know, a lot of those, shows that I did, I played, little Chawla's. I played gangster number one. Gangster number two. I was like a lot of different, negative roles. It got to the point where, well, a lot of different. I shouldn't say negative. I should say a lot of those types of roles, you know?

00;06;23;18 - 00;06;34;05
Gabriel
And, I just thought this is not like what I wanted to do. And, I mean, I consider myself a performer, an actor, like a real actor, you.

00;06;34;05 - 00;06;37;06
Andy
Know, in this, this was like 70s.

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Gabriel
Now we're talking about the 80s. Yeah. So like in the 80s.

00;06;40;17 - 00;06;41;12
Andy
Like, so.

00;06;41;12 - 00;06;42;08
Gabriel
Beginning 80s.

00;06;42;08 - 00;06;50;29
Andy
At that, at that time, you know, television and Latino actors in, you know, in film there, those were kind of.

00;06;51;02 - 00;06;52;13
Gabriel
More of the roles that people.

00;06;52;15 - 00;06;53;25
Andy
That that Latinos were.

00;06;53;25 - 00;07;06;23
Gabriel
Getting. Well, the pickings were slim. You know, I mean, it's like I just give you an idea. Yeah, I did, and I'm going to date myself again. I did late night court. Yeah. Divorce court. Yeah a.

00;07;06;23 - 00;07;08;04
Andy
Judge. Yeah.

00;07;08;04 - 00;07;38;16
Gabriel
America's most wanted, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. With the exception of, like, commercial work and stuff, like, those were the roles that were available. Now, tell me later. We got, like, a.k.a. Pablo. Yeah, by Norman Lear produced that. My sisters were on that. And then things started changing. Sister act, you know, they used a lot of, people of color.

00;07;38;18 - 00;07;51;25
Gabriel
There was more roles. And eventually, we started producing our own shows, you know, and, now it's it's it's different. But in those days, I'm talking about the the black and white, eight by.

00;07;51;25 - 00;07;54;07
Andy
Ten, days. Yeah.

00;07;54;09 - 00;08;21;12
Gabriel
Those are the roles that that we had to do. And the last, film that I did was maybe La Loca. And, You see that? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I played Little Sleepy on that. Wow. And then after that, I got back into music. My, I started, I got introduced to, a wonderful band.

00;08;21;15 - 00;08;28;20
Gabriel
Do my sister get Sal? They just celebrated. Yeah. Let's celebrate, like, 30 years.

00;08;28;21 - 00;08;31;11
Andy
So your sister is part of that group?

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Gabriel
My sister? Yeah.

00;08;33;19 - 00;08;34;00
Andy
Right.

00;08;34;00 - 00;08;48;17
Gabriel
Yeah. Did you see. No, no, no. Get Sal Flores, who is, He was the bandleader, namesake of the band. Yeah. And, in those days, he started a band called Los Murcielago.

00;08;48;19 - 00;08;49;00
Andy
Okay.

00;08;49;07 - 00;08;58;02
Gabriel
Now, Los Murcielago was, like, traditional, mariachi music, like song, so gnarly. Sincere.

00;08;58;04 - 00;08;58;15
Andy
Yeah.

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Gabriel
And, you know what? I.

00;09;00;25 - 00;09;01;18
Andy
Yeah.

00;09;01;21 - 00;09;17;20
Gabriel
And, so, you know, it was like I sang, we started singing a bunch of Angelus and stuff, so. And then I started doing backgrounds for my sister. It gets on, and, my sister, ended up marrying inside.

00;09;17;20 - 00;09;19;08
Andy
Okay.

00;09;19;10 - 00;09;30;16
Gabriel
I was with them for on and off for, like, 25 years, something like that. And, it was a wonderful experience. I mean, toured with Ozomatli and Taj.

00;09;30;16 - 00;09;52;17
Andy
Mahal and that's how I, I picked up on on them and what an amazing group Casale is, you know, and they're so grassroots from Los Angeles, you know, everyone just like they you know, you couldn't say their name and Ozomatli, you know, separate their together. You know, it's like what like also was, was, you know, a big part of the, you know, the uprising of the youth.

00;09;52;17 - 00;10;21;25
Andy
And, you know, the vibes, you know, from Los Angeles, from East L.A. and, you know, great friends of ours. And what a time that was, you know, for me, moving from Northern California to Los Angeles, like, you know, I mean, you guys passed through Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Salinas, Austin, you know, so that's how you received all your energy and and to, you know, to, to to be here with you now, bro, you know, you were a part of all that movement here of the, you know, the the East Los Angeles movement from, you know, from, from acting as well to music.

00;10;21;28 - 00;10;36;21
Andy
I mean, that's super fire, man. It's it's it's it's it's amazing, you know, and to continue to do it now, you know, and so, so, you know, you're, you're with kid Sal and you're touring with also Miley and then then what all started happening.

00;10;36;24 - 00;10;47;00
Gabriel
So after that, like, it was great to be now we're talking about the 90s, that there was a big music renaissance with Macarena.

00;10;47;06 - 00;10;48;24
Andy
Yeah.

00;10;48;26 - 00;11;10;03
Gabriel
I mean, got to do got a taste of the tour life, living out of a bus and for a summer and, like, just, and then I, eventually I moved on. I love cats, Sal. I mean, like, that's my. That's my family. They had kids. The band started changing bands such as life and in that world, you know.

00;11;10;03 - 00;11;49;08
Gabriel
Yeah. And, I had to move on. And there was a time there where, on a personal note, my, I wanted to put to the side a certain genre, and I was in search of something different. I didn't know exactly what it was, but at the time, I had a, friends that played with us and, because in a band setting, or I should say in a group setting, you have different musicians coming through.

00;11;49;11 - 00;12;19;19
Gabriel
So in a band setting, you see the same people all the time. So in a group, sometimes one member can't be there because for whatever reason. And so another, musician comes in. One of those musicians was doing that jazz. And during the time that I had gone out on tour with, like, Italian stuff, we started, opening for, a lot of different people.

00;12;19;22 - 00;12;46;03
Gabriel
And one of those people in the Los Van Band and I got introduced to sun. I went sun moon to know. So from Soul Records, which is like mariachi music. I got introduced and and son had otro, which was guitar, you know, I got introduced to Sun moon to know and that was my. And I'd always heard the music, but when you see it live, it changes you, I feel like.

00;12;46;05 - 00;13;13;20
Gabriel
And it stirred something inside me. And we started a band called Bomba chanting Bomba chant. There was, salsa on that chant. There was so much to know. It was cha cha cha cha. Yeah. It was, a little bit of merengue. I got introduced to, like, all these different styles. I went from string instruments to trumpets and.

00;13;13;20 - 00;13;14;22
Andy
Trombones.

00;13;14;29 - 00;13;19;29
Gabriel
And sax and. Yes. And upright basses.

00;13;20;02 - 00;13;20;21
Andy
Yes.

00;13;20;24 - 00;13;47;12
Gabriel
Thimbles and congas and bongos. Campanas. Yeah. And wheedle. And so, I started, you know, as I was with, with bomba chant for a while and we played the summer Cafe in Pasadena. Not there anymore, but, and we did, and there was a very, big salsa scene in Los Angeles at that time talking about, like, the end of the 90s stuff.

00;13;47;18 - 00;13;48;05
Andy
Yes.

00;13;48;05 - 00;14;32;05
Gabriel
And then around to 2000, early 2000. They were doing a Congress at, salsa Congress. Albert Torres at the time, there was a promoter and, he did this thing where, like the horn section had musicians who played horn, got to study with, Johnny Polanco and, the percussionist got to study with Chino Nunez and, Joey the later on, and the singers got to practice with, Rey de la Paz, Willie Torres, people like that, you know.

00;14;32;08 - 00;14;32;28
Andy
Some of the greats.

00;14;32;28 - 00;14;40;24
Gabriel
From which are Spanish Harlem Orchestra. And in the end, we all got together and we got to showcase. And we all played together, you know?

00;14;40;24 - 00;14;41;16
Andy
Yeah.

00;14;41;18 - 00;15;01;20
Gabriel
And so I went, because I want to I wanted to get to know other musicians, you know. Yeah. And so when I went, I did just that. And that's where I met Johnny Polanco. And then Johnny Pollock was just in the, you know, I'm used to working with like, good musicians, but. And he threw 12 dates at me.

00;15;01;20 - 00;15;15;12
Gabriel
I'm like, okay, so that was a beginning. I worked with Johnny Polanco, trombone player, played dress. He had his own band, Johnny Polanco. It's a cohort that we started, and I played with him on and off for three years.

00;15;15;19 - 00;15;16;11
Andy
Love.

00;15;16;11 - 00;15;17;08
Gabriel
And that's where.

00;15;17;08 - 00;15;31;14
Andy
We that's what we met at that time. Okay, good. Good. That that that's. So I was trying to remember if we had met before, maybe during the Ozomatli cats all the time because, you know, also was touring with Santana and I know it sort of came around a couple times, but maybe we were around and like, saw each other.

00;15;31;14 - 00;15;38;00
Andy
But I know that, yeah, we officially met and sang together, you know, with Johnny and, you know, bless his spirit, bless his heart.

00;15;38;00 - 00;16;00;06
Gabriel
Mama, I know, I know, I met you. I for sure we bumped into each other a couple of times. I got to see you from from, like, a distance. I know you came in, and I remember. I remember when you came in and you sang Malaga. Yeah. And, What? By the way, you're awesome. And it's it's like, we met at Florida.

00;16;00;08 - 00;16;00;14
Andy
Yeah.

00;16;00;18 - 00;16;10;12
Gabriel
And then we met again. We're at, an event with, when I think with the Boogaloo assassins. Oh, great. Man, I saw that picture.

00;16;10;14 - 00;16;12;13
Andy
Oh, my gosh, great stuff.

00;16;12;13 - 00;16;12;23
Gabriel
Great.

00;16;12;23 - 00;16;33;14
Andy
Great memory. Yeah. And, you know, the, Florida that's still is still open and, and, you know, still rocking it. Right? Everyone, you know, goes there for some for some dancing, good food. And Armando over there is, you know, amazing, you know, family always. Every time you go in, they knock on the door, they treat you like family.

00;16;33;14 - 00;16;53;09
Andy
You know, it's, it's a restaurant, you know, down in Hollywood, on on vine and, and Hollywood, you know, and it's just it's it's just the vibes. I mean, you go in there and you see from the likes of, like, Luis Miguel, Jennifer Lopez and everyone just kicking in there like family, like, you know, and, Monday.

00;16;53;09 - 00;16;53;26
Gabriel
Nights.

00;16;54;03 - 00;16;57;27
Andy
Monday nights there. So you know, and they can still catch you there. No. Like like.

00;16;57;27 - 00;17;09;22
Gabriel
Right now. Yeah. We just played we try to play there at least like once a month to stay connected in there. Sure. We go there. There's a couple of places, but Florida. Definitely. Yeah.

00;17;09;26 - 00;17;20;29
Andy
Yeah. I love I love to hear you play and and you know, you mentioned the instruments and stuff. You made you play a mean Guido, bro, I love you. You know, and.

00;17;21;07 - 00;17;21;27
Gabriel
The teachers.

00;17;21;27 - 00;17;42;01
Andy
Adjoining joining, you know, Santana like and hanging out with like Carl beat us so and you know and Raul Rico and you know, like I really you know, I gravitated towards, you know, percussion instruments too. So like, you know, shakers. And Carlos likes his shakers shake in a certain way, you know, just powerful forward, you know, and stuff.

00;17;42;01 - 00;18;06;10
Andy
And so and then, you know, playing, just just picking stuff up, you can't help but pick stuff up, you know, like, I see my son, he goes and picks stuff up in my studio. And that's the way I was, you know, I know there probably I was probably bugging everybody, you know, at some point, you know, but but you when I see you perform with the Guido and lock in, you lock in the temple, you lock in and you direct, everybody watches you, and your energy's a central focal point.

00;18;06;10 - 00;18;32;17
Andy
Then you come in with your vocals and you sing your fire right in front of all of that energy in that pocket. And it's infectious. It comes in like it turns on the switch inside of me. And, and I have to just take one minute just to say that, you know, living in Los Angeles, I lived in, in, like, Studio City, and I just drive over the hill really quick, you know, to come over and just get a taste of it.

00;18;32;17 - 00;18;34;17
Andy
I needed to come in and get a taste of Johnny's.

00;18;34;17 - 00;18;34;28
Gabriel
Music.

00;18;35;01 - 00;18;53;13
Andy
On Monday nights, you know, and just sit down for a little bit and feel it and see what's up to everybody. Feel the love. And that was just the scene, you know, just to be a part of the music scene, you know, I would do that at La Valley, you know, with the cats over there with like Joliet area, you know, it's just like, you know, great great friend of mine, you know?

00;18;53;17 - 00;18;54;09
Gabriel
Yeah. Mine too.

00;18;54;09 - 00;19;17;07
Andy
You know what, Marco? Marco Mendoza, you know, and stuff. And just to just see everybody to say, hey, it was it was so cool. And, that was just a beautiful time in L.A.. That was for me. That was a beautiful time in my upbringing in L.A., but it gave me so much energy. And then I. I leave there and I go to the studio till, you know, till, like, God knows when, you know, like, you know, four in the morning I'd come out and I'd be like, wow.

00;19;17;07 - 00;19;35;06
Andy
But I it just, it would feed me, you know, that energy. And to watch you guys play it, was it meant to play with you guys. It's just always a blessing, you know. And and so, you know, continuing and I love this is just a blessing to have you here and hearing your story, you know, moving forward from that time.

00;19;35;12 - 00;19;47;16
Andy
And, you know, I'd love to hear how you, you know, came into searching for a sound and what that sound developed into, you know, maybe another band and then into what you're doing right now.

00;19;47;18 - 00;20;15;20
Gabriel
Well, coming out of a band situation, you know, it's like, finally feeling like or trying to find your tribe, you know? And in that quest, I started working with other bands. I became a hired gun, which meant that I kind of jumped around with different bands. Thank God for lazy people. Thank God for, people.

00;20;15;22 - 00;20;16;22
Andy
That didn't show up.

00;20;16;25 - 00;20;17;27
Gabriel
That didn't show.

00;20;18;00 - 00;20;18;28
Andy
That was consistent.

00;20;19;00 - 00;20;48;08
Gabriel
I got a lot of calls. Like, one of the things is like, the people that I understand about especially like salsa, like the sun shadows, they're, it's a community. You know, I found out that it's a community that consists of, like, dancers and, deejays and promoters. Yeah. And so Nero's. Yeah. And that's something that was really, really intimidating at first for me.

00;20;48;11 - 00;21;10;16
Gabriel
I am not a so narrow, but I am a singer, and I do, and I am a lover and and now forever student of the genre, you know, so I know when I picked up the needle that there are musical rules to follow, you know. And so having done that, I would and because I am a singer, I can't see myself as a singer.

00;21;10;18 - 00;21;37;18
Gabriel
And I say a good one, I just but I could sing, you know, and I kind of put myself in, and I learned people's songs, songs. And I learned them a certain way. And I got to work with just about every band in Los Angeles and around around the time when I started doing, salsa. All of those bands, were playing the same songs, you know, they were doing covers and they were doing the same songs.

00;21;37;18 - 00;21;56;18
Gabriel
And, eventually I got to know the promoters and the promoters. Some of the promoters liked the work that I did, you know, so they coming of the lead on the scene. So they'd be like, I really do like and I get, I started getting calls like, hey, are you available for such and such date? And I'm like, yeah, you know.

00;21;56;20 - 00;22;16;08
Gabriel
And so then they'd call the other band and then I'd get a call from the band leader, Air you available for a certain date. So I put two and two together and I realize, you know, okay. And then one day the, the one of the one of these promoters, I won't say who he is, but like he said, he says to me, hey, are you available?

00;22;16;08 - 00;22;45;27
Gabriel
Such and such date, pick a band, whatever. And on the flier he put Gary, Lito Eastwood against that. And I was like, okay, whatever. You know, I showed up at the gig and it was like there was some people there. Like I was like a little bit surprised. And, I remember a certain gal asked to take a picture with me and I was like, okay, you know?

00;22;45;27 - 00;23;11;25
Gabriel
And I did the, the thing. And afterwards I thought to myself, I'm driving home. There's always that drive home at 130, 2:00 in the morning exactly when these gigs are off. And there's no music playing. And I'm just kind of like sitting in my thoughts. And I thought having a little sort of guest. I want people to know the truth, you know, like, I want people to know I need to pick my own music.

00;23;11;25 - 00;23;14;20
Gabriel
Like people should know the truth.

00;23;14;22 - 00;23;17;25
Andy
Yeah. And then I thought.

00;23;17;27 - 00;23;26;11
Gabriel
How did Lito love out of that? And that's why I put na. I started about the name. Every little bit of that.

00;23;26;16 - 00;23;27;19
Andy
Yes.

00;23;27;21 - 00;24;01;14
Gabriel
And once I did that, I started picking my own music, and things just started coming together. I, by then I had worked with just about every band, and I knew in Los Angeles the musicianship level is like this. Sometimes the bass players like this, sometimes a certain instrument is like this. And what I did, I picked the musicianship and I was able to do that because, you know, you have friends.

00;24;01;14 - 00;24;33;28
Gabriel
And I mean, if you're really, truly friends, you're going to remain friends. But we are in show business, so let's talk business, you know, so I didn't that I didn't feel nothing. That's not the case now like now. But a lot of my work friends are people that I would trust with everything that I have. Yes, long story short, I picked out music and, it being having been in gets all they do.

00;24;34;00 - 00;24;37;10
Gabriel
Only original music I started writing.

00;24;37;12 - 00;24;39;07
Andy
Yes. You know, great songwriter, good guys.

00;24;39;07 - 00;24;59;13
Gabriel
I got a bunch of other musicians. Thank you. And we started doing shows and and I started, like, really nit picking at everything. And one of the things that I pride myself on is the fact that, you know, I surround myself with like minded people. You tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.

00;24;59;15 - 00;25;22;04
Gabriel
I might even tell you what you're playing, you know what I'm saying? And I'll even tell you like what kind of style of music you're playing just by looking at the instruments. Having learned what I did through my own personal experience. Only you know what I mean. I have no formal training, but I do have a lot of live music experience.

00;25;22;07 - 00;25;32;00
Gabriel
And having. I was, entrusted and curating a lot of shows, which allowed me to work with a lot of different types of bands.

00;25;32;00 - 00;25;42;16
Andy
Yes. Let's talk about some of those bands, because I know who you've worked with, and it's the the names are incredible. You know, some of the others that you've worked for and you know that you've supported.

00;25;42;18 - 00;26;12;25
Gabriel
I got to, I got to do backgrounds for a lot of different artists. I got to work with, Jerry Lee that, Thank you. Vasquez like those types. And, and, you me and you play for a lot of different folks. And I know you're good. One time, we were playing at this place called, a barato.

00;26;12;27 - 00;26;42;02
Gabriel
Yeah. And, two gentlemen walked in, and they were like, would you guys be able to do, like, salsa? Because, I mean, we play at vibrato and in the Prado, they mainly play like jazz. Yeah. You know, and, but we mix it up, you know, just to kind of side side note, when we did, when we first went into the Prado, they said, well, we don't do salsa.

00;26;42;04 - 00;26;48;16
Gabriel
And I said, well, lucky for me, I do Latin jazz is the same thing.

00;26;48;18 - 00;26;49;15
Andy
You know? Exactly.

00;26;49;16 - 00;27;12;25
Gabriel
And, once we were there, then we started playing our repertoire. But, like, we play, we there's a drum kit that's there at the battle. And so we get to do other genres besides the, the sound, I want to know. And, these two gentlemen, we're asking if we could do salsa. And I said, well, yeah, that's no problem.

00;27;12;25 - 00;27;37;19
Gabriel
We'll do salsa and we'll just take out the drums and and play them by. And he says, no, no, no, like leave the drums so Anderson can play them. And I thought, you know, John Anderson, they can play the drums. You're paying. We're playing. You know what I mean? And and he says, and is it cool if we have an extra set of cymbals, so Bruno can play?

00;27;37;21 - 00;28;11;23
Gabriel
And I thought, wait a minute, Silk Sonic, you know what I mean? Sure enough, we did a gig at the on the rooftop, for, a certain little band. And, we ended up, opening for, Silk Sonic, Anderson, Bruno Mars. Yeah. Wow. And then, so that was a wonderful experience. Yeah. Now, fast forward, like a month later, we're playing at, at this place called Verse on Lankershim.

00;28;11;24 - 00;28;12;20
Andy
Yes.

00;28;12;22 - 00;28;16;06
Gabriel
And, wonderful place. And it's owned by Mr..

00;28;16;06 - 00;28;17;24
Andy
Mathematically. Yes.

00;28;17;26 - 00;28;49;17
Gabriel
Incredible producer and a great person and love him very much. And verse is a, wonderful restaurant. It's kind of like the brothel, right. Like there's a couple of places that are that are like that, but this is the brothel and the verse. That's one of the final ones. And, anyway, so we're playing at, at verse, and I got the band going and stuff and he walks in, Bruno Mars walks in, it's his birthday.

00;28;49;22 - 00;29;08;13
Gabriel
So of course it turned into a huge jam session and stuff, and then afterwards, one of that, one of his people come up to us and they're like, hey, you guys want to come to, Vegas? Next thing you know, we're in Vegas doing New Year's Eve opening up for Bruno Mars, you know, and so some incredible sounds.

00;29;08;14 - 00;29;22;11
Andy
So incredible. Yeah. And I heard all about that and I heard it just it went amazing. And, you know, fun, fun, fun stuff. And, did you end up recording and doing the recordings with Bruno and and the guys.

00;29;22;11 - 00;29;47;14
Gabriel
Or, you know, we didn't know, like, it was more like, that encounter, it's crazy because, you know, it's finicky. I mean, I know that if something came down, who knows? Who knows? A lot of people didn't even know that he played them balance stuff. They didn't know he had a little Puerto Rican blood, running through.

00;29;47;14 - 00;29;49;07
Andy
Him. Yeah.

00;29;49;09 - 00;30;07;22
Gabriel
But, you never know. I mean, I'll tell you this much. We were, playing once again there at verse, and, we got a call from, a wonderful musician, another wonderful musician, Terris Martin.

00;30;07;23 - 00;30;08;16
Andy
Yes.

00;30;08;18 - 00;30;12;15
Gabriel
And this guy, he's a producer. He plays sax.

00;30;12;15 - 00;30;17;21
Andy
And he's produced songs like, like with the, you know, with, artists like.

00;30;17;24 - 00;30;24;11
Gabriel
Oh, my God, that didn't work. That everyone started written like, God, I can't even talk to Dre like.

00;30;24;19 - 00;30;25;06
Andy
He was one of his.

00;30;25;06 - 00;30;43;19
Gabriel
Counselors. Yeah, like he's worked with everyone. Now, mind you, this is an entirely different genre. Yeah. So now here we are. Fast forward to, like, what we're working on today, and we're working with Terrace Martin and Manny Marroquin, producing a new, a body of.

00;30;43;19 - 00;30;44;26
Andy
Work that's happening now.

00;30;44;26 - 00;31;10;05
Gabriel
This is happening like, right now. Yes. And it's almost like I want to say it's it's like a trend, you know, because, I don't know if a lot of if people know this, but, Snoop Dogg, as a Latin artist, who the author is that he's actually. It's on. He's on his label. Yeah. And this dude does mariachi, like, song and say, yeah.

00;31;10;05 - 00;31;27;01
Gabriel
And he sings at different places and stuff, and, Snoop Dogg is producing with them. Yeah. You know, he's also working with band and stuff. Kendrick Lamar, Kendrick Lamar started working with this guy who's also from the neighborhood doing mariachi music.

00;31;27;07 - 00;31;31;11
Andy
Yeah. Terrell Martin almost, you know.

00;31;31;14 - 00;31;56;11
Gabriel
Yeah. And, you know, it's like, well, working, I don't want to give away too much about, like, what it's about, but, it is fusion. And I feel like today, the band went from, like, his early origins of, like, someone to no salsa music. Yes. We don't do too much of any, although we do mix it up.

00;31;56;14 - 00;31;58;12
Gabriel
It is a lot of Latin jazz.

00;31;58;17 - 00;32;01;23
Andy
Yes.

00;32;01;26 - 00;32;30;24
Gabriel
Around the same time, I started working with another wonderful band there, a band like, it's the same guys Boogaloo assassins, the Blues. Now, Boogaloo assassins, as you know, is Latin soul. And it's a fairly new, genre. And when you look at the big picture as this salsa, like salsa, went from someone, you know, into salsa and the salsa that we know today originated, in the 70s.

00;32;30;24 - 00;32;56;18
Gabriel
The salsa that I do, it's in the 70s. I'm talking about Fania, actor Lavoe. Raffi Peron, you know, like stuff like that. Like in the 70s, the three Tito, you know, and, and then the the the kids of them, you know, their children in Chicago started in the 60s doing, before that, like, Tito Puente.

00;32;56;20 - 00;33;25;10
Gabriel
And then they started, Latin Soul, which is now known as Boogaloo. So now it's like you have this fusion going on, once again, and it's changing. That salsa came to the West Coast and it's starting getting its own flavor, much like, Colombia has their own salsa venezolano, has got their own take on this genre, and the West Coast has their own take on this.

00;33;25;13 - 00;34;00;21
Gabriel
And it's for me what it means for me. It's fusion of a lot of the. It's Bobby Caldwell, it's Marvin Gaye, it's, a Beatles, it's Stevie Wonder, but, you know, it's Mase combined with this new take on salsa, where we do a lot of these tunes that are going to be, fuzed with a lot of Latin jazz.

00;34;00;24 - 00;34;45;05
Gabriel
And if anything, those that instrumentation, the conga and we're following the footsteps of people that did it before us, for example, Carlos Santana, you know what I mean? Yes. Great influence on, on on this band. And this project. And now today, we're trying to work and we're getting a particular sound that comes through the keys and that funky, the wow was the cymbal with the kick drum, and you can't, you know, and it's nothing that hasn't been necessarily done, but it just hasn't been done, in my opinion.

00;34;45;07 - 00;35;02;12
Gabriel
This way. This way. Yeah. There is salsa fun. It's called timba, you know, but it's so complicated. And the way, the only way I can describe it is that when you listen to that genre of music, sometimes it goes over people's head, you know?

00;35;02;12 - 00;35;02;26
Andy
Yeah.

00;35;02;29 - 00;35;22;13
Gabriel
We're trying to create a certain type of music that is easily digestible by everyone. So when people ask me, how would you describe your music? It's eclectic. It's all inclusive salsa and it's fun with a lot of soul I mean yes.

00;35;22;13 - 00;35;43;02
Andy
Yes, yes, I feel that. I feel that because it's easily digestible by everyone, you know, everyone just receives it and it fills your soul and gets you move into like, what is this? You know, the ladies start, you know, shaking their shoulders and moving their hips. And what is this? And it's just it's infectious, you know, it's a fire that you, you know, that you like and you guys do so well.

00;35;43;07 - 00;35;48;14
Andy
And you just came out with, with the single recently. Right. What's the title of that?

00;35;48;16 - 00;35;53;24
Gabriel
It's called Double WTF, but it's what the funk.

00;35;53;25 - 00;35;54;12
Andy
What the fuck.

00;35;54;12 - 00;35;56;07
Gabriel
Yeah, yeah. It's call it the great.

00;35;56;07 - 00;36;14;22
Andy
Great. Yeah. And and I love that song. I love that song. And, now we have a, just recently another person that is like, you know, connected to us, you know, my good friend Randy Garza. Right. And, you know, he's a boy and, you know, working together, you know, new management company that he started, Michigan Talent Group.

00;36;14;22 - 00;36;32;15
Andy
And, you know, all of the great, you know, friends that surround us, you know, Randy and I, we go way back, you know, to the enterprise recording days where all of those. You were coming in and out of that studio, just like over with Mandy, Mary Keane and, you know, versus, excuse me, Larabee.

00;36;32;16 - 00;36;44;23
Andy
Yeah. You know, you know, all the artists coming in and out of the studios enterprise was down in Burbank, and it was one of those studios where everyone was coming in and out of, you know, and Randy was the manager there, and I was one of the artists there.

00;36;44;29 - 00;36;45;06
Gabriel
Was.

00;36;45;10 - 00;36;59;04
Andy
You know, so I'd lock it out for like, you know, three months, you know, and then go and then go back out and then come back and lock it up for another three months and stuff. So I got to know him well. And now he's here working with us both on many different, you know, incentives and projects and stuff.

00;36;59;04 - 00;37;01;11
Andy
So those shout out to Randy Garza.

00;37;01;11 - 00;37;03;18
Gabriel
Yes, my boy.

00;37;03;21 - 00;37;27;19
Andy
But so, you know, you have this new single now and interestingly enough, you know, we have a project that we're, you know, working on and we're, you know, we're cooking right now, right? That's right. So a collaboration, you know, between, you know, us, you and I, and, you know, our fellow musicians and stuff, is, is it's cooking.

00;37;27;19 - 00;37;48;14
Andy
It's happening right now. I want to let everybody know, please, you know, get ready to listen to this connection or this connection here of you and I, you know, is, something that I've been, you know, waiting for and, and I know there's just so much, to be shared by our connection here. Yours and mine and and together, it's going to be super fire.

00;37;48;14 - 00;37;55;09
Andy
And also, Annie, you know. Right. Also, Annie, your daughter, this. You know, she's, just.

00;37;55;10 - 00;37;55;24
Gabriel
Shout out to.

00;37;55;24 - 00;38;14;27
Andy
Her. Shout out to any. She's an amazing vocalist, amazing vocalist. And we met through George Lopez, you know, back at George's, you know, one of his, his parties for his television show. And, you know, I met Annie there and we said hello, and we set of talking about, you know, her, you know, singing and stuff. I was like, amazing.

00;38;14;27 - 00;38;34;22
Andy
I can't wait to hear, you know, your music and stuff and and stuff and, you know, and then now to find out that I didn't know she was your daughter. Right. And then to find that out, I'm like, well, of course, you know, it's in the blood. Right. And then to hear her sing and then to come in and collaborate together, we're like, why don't we do something, man?

00;38;34;22 - 00;38;53;03
Andy
Why don't we do something? And we've got something boiling now with us three. And, I'm just so very excited about this right now. She's in, you know, shooting a movie somewhere. I don't know if I could talk about it or stuff, but she's in Canada shooting a movie. You know, she just, released, you know, the Jenny movie.

00;38;53;03 - 00;39;17;20
Andy
The Jenny Rivera movie. She was. Yeah. On Vixx. Yeah. And, so these are some, some amazing things that people around us are doing. And, it's, you know, coming from the bloodline, it's almost, you know, destined to, to to fall in the same, the same vein, you know, you know, my, my all this is in video and works working all night and, all the time.

00;39;17;20 - 00;39;37;12
Andy
And then my, my youngest, is playing guitar and then, you know, my, my middle when Alessandra, as a dancer, she dances five days a week. So they just they love the arts so they doesn't, you know, doesn't fall far from the tree, you know? But but I want to let everybody know that we've got this project happening.

00;39;37;12 - 00;39;58;19
Andy
It's boiling up right now. And, and you'll definitely have an opportunity to hear everything about it here, you know, at the Lyric Lounge and stuff. And, you know, God willing, you know, we have some, some, some pretty cool collaborations, you know, with, with George Lopez as well, supporting the music and stuff. So I'm really excited about that.

00;39;58;21 - 00;40;24;12
Andy
But, you know, leading man, I mean, you're working with Terrace Martin. What an amazing project, you know, that is, and, and moving forward, what are some of the things that you would like to do that, you know, because you're you're a dreamer, you know, you can, you can. And I'm speaking to my students here now, you know, you can dream it and bring it into reality, you know?

00;40;24;12 - 00;40;35;10
Andy
So what are some of the things that I would like to do, you know, in the future? Where would you like to see, you know, some artwork, creations, things, you know.

00;40;35;12 - 00;41;07;06
Gabriel
Yeah. I mean, as an artist, I would love to put continue to put out, content to put out music. I have a lot of melodies in my head. Like, I want to get those all out. You're right. This is about action. Right now it's about getting into action. I would love to be able to do more film.

00;41;07;08 - 00;41;31;12
Gabriel
I would love to go back to my acting roots. I've done theater. I've done Broadway theater. I've actually, I did, In the Heights. I got the experience, touring. I don't necessarily want to tour again. Because it's hard, you know, but I would like at least not with theater, you know? But, I would like to tour with my band.

00;41;31;12 - 00;41;55;17
Gabriel
I would love to go out of the country, with with the band. I would love to put together a new band. I would love to work with you, buddy. You know, let's hit the road. I would really, I, I see a lot of things happening, like, You're right. Big things are coming. I want to write more stuff for you and Annie.

00;41;55;19 - 00;42;18;21
Gabriel
I think you guys sound really good together. I, I want to write, like I'm actually working. I'm going to have. I'm going to be working with LA. Santa Cecilia is another great project. I wrote a song for her. I'm, I'm writing a song for a Somali. A minus sign for Al Black. These are people that I have access to.

00;42;18;21 - 00;42;47;29
Gabriel
So, you know, so I just want to keep writing. I think what I want to do in the end is produce, maybe be part of a label or be, part of something like that to where I can stay creative and continue to do music. For me, music is an outlet. It is a sanctuary. It is something that I need to be able to let go of things.

00;42;47;29 - 00;43;23;25
Gabriel
You know? On a personal note, it's my medicine, you know, I, I needed to be able to to function, but, there are many forms of honest expression where you can't fake, you know, like laughter, like dancing. And like singing. And we, I consider myself a creative. So whatever it is, I know that it'll be my contribution.

00;43;23;25 - 00;43;52;06
Gabriel
So that long after I'm gone, when all things come to an end, that's what I'm going to leave behind. I don't, I'm not thinking about oh legacy or this and love that. I think for me it's more like, it's just like a release, you know, to be able to, to do this music and, and hopefully it comes across in the music and I don't, I like even what the funk that the one that we just released.

00;43;52;08 - 00;44;19;10
Gabriel
I'm not singing on it. You know. Syreeta Morgan, a wonderful artist who did backgrounds for, Chaka Khan and, and today she still seems, you know, I'm, a minister of music on Sundays for two different churches. And I get to organize events, and I do the United Black Episcopalians and I put together the band, and I do sound and stuff, and I do for me, that's.

00;44;19;12 - 00;44;28;21
Gabriel
I feel like I belong to something, you know, which is something that, you know, was really hard for me when I was a kid, you know.

00;44;28;24 - 00;44;53;01
Andy
That's what I want our children and our kids and our youth to hear is all of the different things you can be involved in. You know, in music, you know, not just being the artist. The influencer, you know, but to be involved in the arts, to offer yourself as a, as a, you know, in service to others, to, you know, get into the scene, you know what I mean?

00;44;53;04 - 00;45;16;27
Andy
Because, you know, now it's kind of it's it's much different then, you know, when we were younger, we have the knowledge of how to get into all different aspects of music, you know? Because that's all we had to do, you know, and to keep, to be able to be an artist, to be able to have different income sources to come in.

00;45;16;27 - 00;45;47;07
Andy
Because that's another difficult thing is, I know a lot of my friends are amazing singers and they they want to, you know, write songs, record records and shoot videos, you know, but they they're working, you know, at, at Fedex. And it takes a majority of their time. God knows that if I were working at Fedex, bro, I'd come over and I'd be like, you know, it'd be hard to to to come home from a long day from a 9 to 7 and then have the energy to want to go and and burn it in the studio all night, you know what I mean?

00;45;47;10 - 00;46;06;09
Gabriel
I don't want to sing the wrong message, though. Like, this is not if you're in this for the fame and stuff, then it's probably not going to work. You know what I mean? It's like, as a matter of fact, when I first started, well, I have kids too, you know, I have four kids and, you're right, the apple doesn't fall far, far from the tree.

00;46;06;09 - 00;46;37;04
Gabriel
Like, one of my kids is doing film and stuff. She's Kelly in and Method Man, she's the nanny. And, the other is, he's studying. He organizes events, he produces, and, he does well for himself. I got another one. Who's at UCLA in the theater film department. And then my baby is in New York studying at the AMD, which is, musical theater and stuff.

00;46;37;07 - 00;47;00;07
Gabriel
But for the longest time, like when I first started having kids, I did not want it. If you can do something else, do it. Yeah. Honestly, because it's hard. You know, this. You know, this is, a hobby for some. Now, if what you want. If you sure you want this? It's like, don't do it for the fame.

00;47;00;09 - 00;47;17;09
Gabriel
Make sure you're good at something. You know what I mean? Because I'll tell you one thing. When I was in when I was doing musical theater and I was on the on the road and stuff, like I mentioned earlier, I don't have formal training. I'm old school, like in, in that sense. Look, I got this to prove it.

00;47;17;12 - 00;47;43;00
Gabriel
But my point is this, everyone had a degree. Every single one. They were about it. They were hungry. Yes. I'm not saying it's impossible. You may be the exception, but this is a really hard. This is not for the faint of heart, you know, I don't work with hobbyists, you know, like, it's. It's hard. It's hard.

00;47;43;02 - 00;48;04;07
Gabriel
If you really, truly want it, then you're going to put the work into it. And what that entails is different for everyone, right? Like you're amazing, right? I know you, I know how hard you work. I don't know if your students know how hard you work. I know you know what this business is about. Like, this is not for the faint of heart.

00;48;04;07 - 00;48;10;10
Gabriel
You know what I'm saying? Like, this is a really hard business and it's work. And not anybody can do it.

00;48;10;10 - 00;48;33;09
Andy
I know, you know, you know, I think I think one of the things that that keep me going was I constantly think, I hear my dad, thank God he's still with us. My dad also is, you know, continues to sing. He's retired, but he continues to sing mariachi. Yeah. You know, I grew up in all of the, you know, the the.

00;48;33;12 - 00;48;34;15
Gabriel
Shout out to you that.

00;48;34;17 - 00;48;55;22
Andy
Shout out for, you know, have you had Vargas, you know, like the, the the hot the, the fairgrounds hall parties for the community, you know, the church, you know, events, you know, the church group going out to sing for all of the weddings and funerals and everything. I mean, that's what I was raised in, in music from that, you know, level.

00;48;55;22 - 00;49;23;19
Andy
But, you know, I have my dad's voice in my head of always keep it positive. Don't worry. Don't forget about it. You know, like, so there's just something else. If that didn't happen there, you know, the music's inside of you. The joy, the love is inside of you. If I can say anything is don't let some sort of put down because you put your your face out there, you know, and they said, oh, you never heard back or whatever.

00;49;23;19 - 00;49;43;13
Andy
Don't let them put you down. Don't let them take the joy from you because God knows that that's what people want to see is the joy. You know, when I see you get up on the microphone and I know when I get up on the microphone, it's like I say, thank you, God for this moment right now, because I can feel it and I'm going to share it with everybody.

00;49;43;13 - 00;49;57;24
Andy
Everyone's going to hear it, you know? And that's what comes out of your voice. And I think you were an amazing vocalist, by the way. You know. You know, and, it makes me want to sing, you know what I'm saying? So and that's where it's at. And that's what you need to surround yourself around those people that give you that energy.

00;49;57;27 - 00;50;29;18
Andy
So, you know, and I know, I mean, you play with the greatest musicians, you know, you know, like, you know, like Joey Dylan, but, you know, hits that conga ball. You're like, you feel alive, you know, you feel alive and, you know, you know, when I was younger, he was playing in my first band that I had at the Conga Room, you know, with Raul Rico and Carl Perra, so, you know, and Rene Camacho there in my first band, you know, and there, you know, he was just coming off of Marc Anthony and you're still playing with these.

00;50;29;23 - 00;50;31;06
Gabriel
Guys are still around.

00;50;31;08 - 00;50;53;26
Andy
Oh man. I mean but these guys can play, you know different rhythms in with every, you know, legging arm like crazy you know and sing you know and lead a band. You know it's you know you have fire in your band bro. You know. And you know I would like to say this, know that I would love to have and play some of you know what the funk.

00;50;53;29 - 00;50;55;26
Andy
You know, at the end of this.

00;50;55;28 - 00;50;56;05
Gabriel
Year.

00;50;56;07 - 00;51;09;29
Andy
You know, this show, we'd like to promote that and we'll talk about, a little bit about that. And also, where can everyone find you, like best place to Instagram, you know, website or where can everybody find you and follow you?

00;51;10;01 - 00;51;17;20
Gabriel
Well, we all we have all of that. You can if you want to check out the website. It's leather.band.com.

00;51;17;20 - 00;51;18;22
Andy
Okay.

00;51;18;24 - 00;51;46;26
Gabriel
You can also find us on Instagram, at the real La Verdad. You can find me at cantante 101 on Instagram. It's also on TikTok w little L. Other than a lot of the stuff that we release, you'll find under gravity, little Ella there that. Because once you release something, once you release something in a name, it has to stay that way.

00;51;46;29 - 00;51;52;16
Gabriel
So that's why, you'll find us if you Google gravity a little longer, that it'll.

00;51;52;16 - 00;51;53;10
Andy
All pop off.

00;51;53;10 - 00;52;05;28
Gabriel
Pop up? Yeah. Great. We have a bunch of, what to call it. Any all of the social, media and all of the, anywhere you listen to music, you can play this.

00;52;06;04 - 00;52;11;05
Andy
Yeah. Super easy. And so, I'm really excited about our collaboration.

00;52;11;05 - 00;52;13;10
Gabriel
Yes. Let's talk about that.

00;52;13;12 - 00;52;51;09
Andy
Or our music that we have. You know, coming up, we have a special treat in collaborating with Annie Gonzalez, your daughter and, you know, a song that you wrote that is outrageous. Like, to me, this is the fire that needs to be heard. You know, we also have, you know, one that we're working on right now that may be kind of the first one that we put out that maybe we could come back here and perform it live organically, you know, to just do a little bit of, of, put a little bit of organic, you know, performance behind the song.

00;52;51;11 - 00;53;16;08
Andy
I would love to release it with, with Randy Garza and on my Las Palabras records with Jorge, you know, and, you know, if you all don't know out there, you know, my last palabras records is, our partnership with George Lopez and his record company, and, you know, go check out all the stuff at my records on YouTube.

00;53;16;08 - 00;53;26;00
Andy
We got some great stuff on there. But you mentioned, you know, you want to get involved with the record company, man. You know, I'd love for you to get involved with us, you know, and have a have a proof.

00;53;26;02 - 00;53;27;05
Gabriel
How I.

00;53;27;07 - 00;53;48;01
Andy
Have a place because because we need this real music from, you know, and we have some we have some other artists that are phenomenal, in, in our, within our label, an artist named a bear from Mexico, phenomenal artist, brother, singer, songwriter, rapper. He's got to get in on one of our our things as well.

00;53;48;01 - 00;53;49;06
Gabriel
I would love to work with that.

00;53;49;06 - 00;54;18;13
Andy
Yeah. Super fire. And, you know, Peter Amato, Pete Amato from Miami, just an amazing producer and songwriter. Two super fired tracks and stuff. So we have some talent. You know, I know there's just so many artists that we've collaborated with, but, you know, this is a home and a place that, you know, where we unite, bring everybody together, give them a home to showcase them and put them on a pedestal and lift them up.

00;54;18;15 - 00;54;34;14
Andy
That's what we want to do. And we have some young artists coming from the Andy Vargas Foundation as well. Nice. One of our artists performed at, my show opened up. It's back in town, and she did amazing. Catherine.

00;54;34;22 - 00;54;35;10
Gabriel
Shout out to.

00;54;35;10 - 00;54;59;13
Andy
Her. Yeah. Hey, Catherine. Catherine got up and performed one of her songs that she wrote at our at our song camp, the Andy Vargas Foundation song Camp. And and it was just an amazing, captivating time. Like, everyone was just like, wow. You know, she's 15. And writing these beautiful songs, singing, playing it on by herself on the guitar and entertaining, you know, amazing.

00;54;59;15 - 00;55;19;08
Andy
We want to lift up, you know, those artists and, you know, put them on a pedestal and show them to the world. So definitely would, you know, my last palabras, you know, let's do some let's do some stuff there. But, you know, I'd love to play your song here again at the at the end.

00;55;19;08 - 00;55;21;19
Andy
That's okay. Then. I'd love to have you back.

00;55;21;22 - 00;55;23;06
Gabriel
I would love that.

00;55;23;08 - 00;55;50;16
Andy
You know, your soul, your spirit. It reminds me a lot of of my my my godfather, Eleazar Cortez. You know, he, came here to the United States with my dad, through the seminary, and, they were both, you know, he was a songwriter and played trumpet, and my dad was the singer and play guitar, and they, they they started the band here.

00;55;50;16 - 00;56;06;24
Andy
They, they, they sent music in to the O.T.. Do you remember the author? Yes, ma'am. And they performed there. Gloria Estefan was there, and they won second place. My my dad, you know, because it's it's the. That's a.

00;56;06;24 - 00;56;07;14
Gabriel
Big deal.

00;56;07;20 - 00;56;30;24
Andy
It's it was, you know, my, godfather was a songwriter. My dad was the performer. There's some music there, too, that I'd like to talk to you about in the future that I'd love to revisit. Because that connection, those two, they recorded and and wrote some amazing, amazing songs. The song that, that they that led them to second place at the hotel was called Sola Cancion.

00;56;30;26 - 00;56;59;03
Andy
Okay. Nunca Merida, you know, and, you know, it just reminds you remind me of him. And then I obviously remind myself of my dad. You know, the songwriter. Vocalist? You know, team, you know, and musician, you know, musical team, that I'd like to, you know, visit that that that that era, that era music, you know, with you a little bit.

00;56;59;03 - 00;57;23;19
Andy
I think there's there's something definitely, definitely there. And you've heard it here, everybody. But, what a blessed time it was to have you here. And thank you. And this in this room, you know, and to hear your story, because I am a fan, you know. You know, because, you know, I love to I love to sing, but I love to sit down and listen, and I love to watch, you know, and I love just to.

00;57;23;19 - 00;57;27;17
Andy
And you put on such a show, you and La Verdad put on such a show.

00;57;27;19 - 00;58;03;16
Gabriel
But if I may take this opportunity to, speak to your students. Yes. And just say that, as creatives, it is our responsibility to prepare properly. It is our responsibility to be able to think how the show plays out. You know, I would say, Don't forget to pray. Don't forget to meditate. When you meditate, you played out in your head, and then you present, you know, it is your, sacred space.

00;58;03;18 - 00;58;32;08
Gabriel
Make sure you treat it with the respect it deserves. Respectful to each other. But the space, and respect the material. You know what I'm saying? Someone took the time to write it. Learn it. You know, someone took the time to set up a stage for you and the microphones. We need to respect that. You know, if you're just starting out in this and you're being serious about it, be about it.

00;58;32;10 - 00;59;01;25
Gabriel
You know what I mean? Like, really take the time. Dreams are great. And when they come true, just make sure you know that it's not about the fame and the fortune and all that stuff you see on TikTok and whatever. It's about the art we create and the impact that we make on people is don't forget people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

00;59;01;27 - 00;59;13;05
Gabriel
And that's what this business is about. You know, it's about emotions and it's about honesty. And again, it's it's a sacred space, you know.

00;59;13;05 - 00;59;15;16
Andy
So yes. Well, thank you for coming.

00;59;15;16 - 00;59;18;00
Gabriel
And thank you for your good,

00;59;18;02 - 00;59;19;13
Andy
And smiles and.

00;59;19;16 - 00;59;20;12
Gabriel
Thank you for having your.

00;59;20;12 - 00;59;21;27
Andy
Pleasure. Listen to your story.

00;59;22;00 - 00;59;25;05
Gabriel
And I'm looking forward to it with you, my man. Yes. We're going to make some.

00;59;25;05 - 00;59;50;18
Andy
Getting me to me, too. Yeah. We're. You know, what we have to do is is in our mind. We must change. And how about enrich the conscious of of of the listener, you know, with with love, with joy, you know, and that peace and fill them with that sacred space so that they when they hear it, they could be captivating, they could be brought into our moment and we can fill them with love for that moment.

00;59;50;20 - 00;59;52;00
Andy
That's the let's do that.

00;59;52;02 - 00;59;53;04
Gabriel
Let's do it.

00;59;53;06 - 00;59;55;18
Andy
Again. Thank you all. We'll see you soon.