None of us come from a place of privilege.
It wasn’t an easy thing for our parents, especially when we were teenagers, to just give us money to go do music or support us. They didn’t have money like that either. So even though it’s me on stage, I wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for my mother’s sacrifice & support. We didn’t have much growing up, but she always gave me the freedom to do this.
You can get booked for a bomb-ass show, say it’s on Friday or a weekday: you’re getting off of work & there’s so much shit in your way. You show up late & the promoter, who probably doesn’t work a day job, perceives you as unprofessional. But the reality is, there’s so much food on my plate that I’m trying my best to eat it all up as fast as possible. You do that for long enough & inevitably you’re gonna choke.
So yeah, being a working-class musician is tough. We don’t break even on anything. We’re paying for things out of our pockets & we don’t complain about it.
From our July 2023 Issue Release Show @ The Smell DTLA. All photography by Cole Beldyn Larsen. colebeldyn.com
It’s hard for me to have respect for an artist who doesn’t come from that background because to them, music is a privilege. To me, music is a passion.
I want to be proud of coming from Latino backgrounds & being working class, because if we ever make it, & anything’s possible, all we’ll have to owe it to is ourselves & our moms. I think that’s all I could want from success.
Remember when I barely turned 18, bro? I barely started driving & I’d ask for $5 to put towards gas; every time they’d say no. They used to get me so pissed, dude… But now I’m grateful for things like that. They taught me how to fish & now I can feed myself.
Not one person in our band was fed from a golden spoon & that connects all of us. David’s a producer/audio engineer now. He worked for that, grinded through school for that, FAFSA’d for that.
How do you feel about being working class, man?
Are you proud?
…
I like the jacket.
It comes with a cool jacket.
-Diego Gonzales, David Cerezo.
https://fractureurl.bandcamp.com/
*Congrats to this community for raising ~$500 USD for CCA Environmental Justice, LA Animal Services, Dead Relatives, & the 3 bands that played our July Issue Release Show at The Smell on 7/8! Prints are available online now.
