New portfolio – Authory

I rarely endorse products in general but I have to say that my life was just made easier thanks to Authory. I realize this already sounds like an ad or sponsored post but bear with me and you’ll understand (or you probably won’t if you’re not a journalist, writer, etc. but I’ll try!) it isn’t & why I’m endorsing Authory.

One of the bane of every journalist’s existence is building an online portfolio. It can be long, tedious, frustrating, and far too time-consuming. This, unfortunately, is necessary (the former, not the latter) and grows increasingly maddening and difficult the larger your body of work grows. The alternative is worse though. A journo can’t rely on the publication source to contain their work forever. I have more than once lost published work online when a website has suddently and without warning pulled the plug on its website (they have no incentive to provide their employees/contributors any data). The solution is to do it oneself but, again, that process can be long, tedious, and time-consuming.

What I love about Authory is that it offers a solution to these problems. The website uses automation to crawl through a website and pull every article with your byline onto its website. It also creates a backup of each article. In the long list of “Things That Should Have Been Invented Sooner But We’re Ecstatic It Exists Now,” this ranks within the Top 5!

This is a gift for every journalist/writer out there that I can’t keep to myself!

Take a peek at my work…nearly ALL my work: https://authory.com/IvanFernandez

If you feel so inclined to join, please do so using my invite link. You’ll get a month free: authory.com/IvanFernandez/invite?key=nP7cg

Clouds Hill Notes Acquires Catalog, Masters of Artist Omar Rodriguez-López’ Vast Musical Library

Clouds Hill Notes announced today the acquisition of the catalogs and masters of musician Omar Rodriguez-López’ vast musical library. The acquisition includes the catalog of works published under Rodriguez-López Productions, including dozens of solo albums. Clouds Hill Notes, in partnership with Wise Music Group, will also handle the catalog publishing of The Mars Volta.

It’s about the right time to announce the acquisition of the RLP catalog and The Mars Volta publishing now. After being Omar Rodríguez-López’s friend and business partner for such a long time, I am honoured and proud that he decided to also entrust me with this catalogue. Our HQ in Hamburg is now responsible to push this unique catalogue back into everyone’s minds.
Johann Scheerer, Music Producer, CEO/Founder of Clouds Hill Group

The acquisition comes months after Clouds Hill released a trio of albums ORL recorded with the label: The Clouds Hill Tapes I – III.

I hope this means that many of the albums/projects ORL worked on from 2004 – 2013 under various names (The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet, The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group, The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quartet, El Trio de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, etc.) will see the light of day once again via official streams and reprints of physical media. This man wants a copy of Mantra Hiroshima!!

Other groups that were part of the RLP imprint include De Facto (another project I hope gets republished asap!), the dub group before TMV, and Antemasque, the band that reunited ORL with long-time friend & collaborator Cedric Bixler Zavala following the dissolution of TMV. I also hope Zechs Marquise, the defunct group from El Paso that featured ORL’s siblings, is included in the catalog as well.

Clouds Hill Notes is the publishing arm of the Clouds Hill Group, a company that includes a record label, a recording studio, a film production company, and a boutique pedal company.

The first order of business following this announcement will be the release of TMV’s Tremulant EP on streaming platforms this Friday, Feb. 26th!

First Story of 2021: Latinx In Gaming

My first published piece for the year is up at Gamecrate: How Latinx In Gaming Is Uniting A Community.

EXCERPT:

“We try our best to steer things in a direction that we think is positive for the community, but we also really want stuff to come from the community itself,” says Tirado. “We had an open call and did our best to pick out content that would benefit most people or would highlight communities that would not necessarily get as much shine.”

For three days on Twitch, that community and LIG showcased its talents in a variety of ways. There was a roundtable conversation about Afro Latinidad in the games industry community, for example. A separate 3.5-hour stream highlighted the speedruns of Speedruns Mexico, one of many members of the Latinx speedrunning community. Another video featured League of Legends Lead Animator Jose “Sho” Hernandez as he walked viewers through the creation of the Luchador skin. Yet another video featured four IGN employees sharing personal stories on how they launched their careers in games media while visiting each other’s islands in Animal Crossing. There were even food segments featuring recipes on how to make arepas & baleadas with co-founder Gomez and another on Puerto Rican tembleques.

The approach was a fun and informative way that allowed for the full expression of the diversity of Latinidad within the games community.

Read the full story here: https://gamecrate.com/how-latinx-gaming-uniting-community/26486

Vaudeville, Folklorico, and Mexican Cinema

I have three stories published on KCET this week!

The first is about the Hola Mexico Film Festival. 2020 marks its 12th year and founder Samuel Douek had to make numerous changes to move the festival to an online format.

Read about it here: https://www.kcet.org/shows/southland-sessions/the-hola-mexico-film-festival-moves-online

Next is my conversation with Adriana Astorga-Gainey and Jesenia Gardea of the Pacifico Dance Company. The Los Angeles-based non-profit company takes a serious approach to folklorico dance that centers on training professional dancers.

Read it here: https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/pacifico-dance-company-sharing-the-love-of-traditional-mexican-dance-around-the-world

Finally, my favorite of the three: I delve into the history of Hispanic/Spanish-language vaudeville in Los Angeles.

Read all about it here: https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/broadsides-reveal-las-once-booming-hispanic-vaudeville-scene

Indie Venues In So Cal Struggle To Remain Open

The music industry has found itself in a unique predicament during the pandemic. The global shutdown forced festivals and artists worldwide to cancel all live performances for the foreseeable future. One solution to the global quarantine has been the use of distanced concerts at drive-ins and, more popularly, streaming concerts online with the help of radio stations and other media companies.

One sector of the live performance industry that has been overlooked is the plight of independent venues. In my latest story for KCET, and my first for their new initiative Southland Sessions, I write about the National Independent Venue Association, a non-profit working with independent venues in the US to help them get the assistance they need to remain open until the pandemic ends and millions of music lovers can regroup at their favorite venues to see their favorite artists.

LINK: Endangered Indie Music Venues Band Together to Seek a Lifeline

EXCERPT:

After 25 years of live music, The Satellite (also formerly known as Spaceland) in Silver Lake will remove its performance stage along with the infamous shimmering, sparkling, blue-and-silver curtain that served as a backdrop to thousands of nightly concerts as the owners transition the business into a restaurant for the COVID-19 era.

“We can no longer afford to wait for the day we will be allowed to have shows again,” reads a statement on the venue’s website. “If we do that, we will not have the money to continue and will be forced to close forever.”

The future of live music venues, especially independent ones, in SoCal and across the nation, looks bleak, and the present-day situation is already precarious. Venues have had no source of revenue since the announcement of the pandemic in early March and continue to struggle to survive. The statement by Satellite owner Jeff Wolfram is just one example of the extreme measures some owners are taking to keep their businesses alive in any way possible.

FC Barcelona Camp Nou tour 2019

I visited FC Barcelona‘s Camp Nou stadium last year on April 5th, which was the day before they defeated Atlético de Madrid with two late goals. It was exciting to have walked down the same tunnel many legendary players have walked through.

Here’s a short video of the tour including the walkthrough of the locker room area and the player tunnel ending with the entrance onto the field:

And a few photos:

fc barcelona camp nou tour 2019 008 — Lionel Messi’s 5 Balon d’Or on display at the stadium museum.

fc barcelona camp nou tour 2019 003 — The press area.

The full album of photos is available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/afroxander/albums/72157714330528121

Spring 2020 Music Roundup: The Sequel

It’s been exactly a month since the last Music Roundup and there’s been no lack of musical releases since then. We’re still (kinda) stuck indoors thanks to the ‘Rona but at least we can quarantine in style with some tunes. Below are some of my favorite tunes since the last music roundup.

And if you need a refresher, take a dip back into the previous music roundup here: https://afroxander.com/2020/04/06/spring-2020-music-roundup/

Chicano Batman – Invisible People

The LA quartet returns with another serving of psychedelic tropicalia on their new album, Invisible People. It’s a feel-good collection dripping in West Coast summer vibes. Excuse me while I go tan in my backyard next to the kiddie pool with this album in the background.

Groove Armada – “Get out on the dance floor”

Who remembers Groove Armada? I certainly do! The duo of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay are back after a decade-long hiatus (or whatever artists call lengthy breaks away from recording new albums these days) with a new single and soon-to-be new album as well.

Nakury & Barzo – “Para Mi Gente”

Barzo made an appearance in last month’s roundup with his collaboration with Un Rojo Reggae Band. This time, he drops a new video with fellow Costa Rican artist Nakury for a track that is equal parts hip-hop and salsa.

Olmeca – “The Message (El Mensaje)”

Olmeca has, in my opinion, a highly underrated rhyming style and flow that KOs me with each successive bar. That’s on full display on “The Message,” a song that shatters the far too repeated adage of “ni de aqui, ni de alla.”

Says Olmeca:

“The message is Latinx folks should claim they are from here and from there. As opposed to “not” from here “nor” there. We should see our growing up in two cultures as an asset and not a deficit. While many “keep it 100” we have the ability to “keep it 200”. This means, we don’t give half of who we are to fit into mainstream America. Rather, we walk with both enrich things around us. It is a privilege to be able to grow up with two, sometimes more, languages. It’s a privilege to understand two worlds and be bridges that can bring people together. This isn’t only true in Latinx culture, but many 1st generation people who’s homes carry the traditions of their native lands.”

sUb_modU – Pidgin Synths

sUb_modU is the artistic nom de guerre of tenor sax musician and electronic producer Romeo Sandri. His latest project includes two covers, or I’d say reimaginings, of Fela Kuti’s “Expensive Shit” and “Water Get No Enemy.”

‘The System Failed Him:’ For The Last Remaining Sibling Of The Zaragoza Family, Measure R Is A Matter Of Life And Death

Annette Zaragoza-Bilow didn’t have a role in crafting Measure R, but her support for the measure is deeply personal. If it passes, the measure will not only give the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission stronger oversight power, but will also restructure the infrastructure in how Los Angeles county incarcerates people and, more importantly, treats people with mental health issues.

She hopes that the ordinance will help people like her brother, Gerry Dean Zaragoza, before it’s too late.

“My brother tried to get help for many years before the incident,” she recalls in an interview with LA Taco.

Read more at LA Taco: https://www.lataco.com/zaragoza-measure-r/

Allstate Sueño Alianza National Showcase 2019

From Sept. 26th – Sept. 30th, 50 players out of a pool of 5,000 players took the opportunity to show their skills for a chance to sign a professional football contract. The Allstate Sueño Alianza National Showcase brought these young players to SilverLakes Sports Complex in Norco, CA where more than 30 scouts from Liga MX, Major League Soccer, United Soccer League, and La Liga surveyed and assessed their skills and talents.

Of these 50 players, separated by age groups in U-14, U-17, and U-20 squads, 18 will be selected by La Liga scouts to travel to Spain and compete against academy teams from Spanish clubs.

David Zavala of Grand Rapids, MI broke a record at Alianza De Futbol when he received 21 invitations from scouts at Liga MX, MLS and USL teams as well as both the Mexican and U.S. national teams.

More information can be found at Alianza De Futbol’s webpage: https://alianzadefutbol.com/en/home/

Below are a few photos from the final match of the final day of competitions. Here is the link to the full album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/afroxander/albums/72157711196212448

Biblioteca de Catalunya (photos)

I geeked out at the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Library of Catalonia) in Barcelona this past April. I even spent some time there to work on an academic paper. Academia eventually rules us all!

You can find the full album here along with larger/higher quality versions of the photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/afroxander/albums/72157710380479047