SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome to another episode of Chados y Clásicos, a Bosque Strings podcast. I'm your host, Miguel Gutiérrez, and I'm here with my good friend and co-host, Joel Lozuna.

SPEAKER_00: 0:12

Hello, everyone, and thank you for tuning in. We've been pretty busy these past few months. We haven't had a chance to record, but we're back now. So our next guest is a violinist from McAllen, Texas. He's currently the head mariachi director for McAllen High School. In addition, he's also a member of the Grammy-nominated Mariachi Los Arreros del Valle. Please welcome Alex Arrino. Thank you, guys. Very happy to be here with you guys. Thank you, Miguel and Joel, for having me on board. A very, very exciting podcast, very exciting times for Mariachi Music, and I'm happy to be here with you guys.

SPEAKER_01: 0:44

Yeah, it's been quite a couple months, right, that we got busy, and I think we all got busy. It was just, you know, ever since the end of the year, it just... Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Thing after thing after thing. So, you know, I'm very thankful that we could sit down and finally do this. Joel and I had talked about you, and we actually wanted to do something before the Hollywood Bowl, like to feature key members of the group.

SPEAKER_02: 1:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:07

And, you know, it got busy, as we're saying, but I'm glad we're here. So, how you been, man?

SPEAKER_00: 1:12

I've been good, man. Been good just enjoying some time off. Some time off, definitely, like you say, busy times for everybody. And it's a good kind of busy, but at the same time, it's good to... to sit back and finally have some time on our hands to just kick back and relax. And just recently, you guys got back from Hollywood Bowl? Yes, sir. Yeah, we came back from the Hollywood Bowl just a couple of weeks ago. So that was a very unique experience for all of us, of course, with Los Arreros. I think it was our ninth or tenth time at the Hollywood Bowl. So it's hadn't been over in about five years. So it is definitely always a always a beautiful experience, man. It's like, it's always the first time. And then this year, this year was also a special occasion because you guys got to take your students, right? Yes, that's right as well. So the, the three, the three Arrieros directed groups from Rio Grande City High School under the direction of Marcos Arate and his team and Ed Couch, Elsa High School under the direction of Marcos Garcia and his team and McAllen High School under my direction and my team. It's, it's nine, nine of us from Arrieros working with those groups. So, you know, each, each, you know, Each school got to go out there and represent and share the stage with Los Arreros. So it is definitely the first time that anything like this happened. So it was a beautiful experience for the kids and for all of us as well.

SPEAKER_01: 2:25

I'm sure you've been telling this story for a while, but how did that come to be? Did you have this idea? Did they approach you?

SPEAKER_00: 2:32

Well, we got a call from Rodri Rodriguez, who is the creator and the executive producer and CEO of Rodri Entertainment. puts on the Hollywood Bowl. It's been 34 years already. And so her and her artistic director, Anthony Medrano, you know, always find a way to keep it fresh, you know. So over the years, they've had, you know, the likes of Sol de Mexico, Marietta Ibarra, Los Camperos, Cobre, American, you name it. And there's Marietta USA Education Foundation that she put together some years back. And so there's always different groups from the area that perform and get to be a part of the show in one way or another. Sometimes not up on stage, but sometimes opening up as people walk into the area at the Hollywood Bowl. She puts on workshops for those kids. She's very involved with the education aspect of Marietta music. And so when we get the call for Los Arreros to go out there and perform, she asks as well about any group here, educational groups, mariachi group in the area of students and uh and uh you know so we we kind of we kind of let her know well you know los arredos we were all you know involved with the school so it'd be it'd be pretty cool if if uh you know if if our students uh would be a part of that we'd love it and she goes well you know what that's a great idea because this is something that i don't think anything like this has ever been done before of this magnitude where we have a professional group here representing And then so many schools. I was going to ask. Three schools, yeah. That's

SPEAKER_01: 4:02

never been done there,

SPEAKER_00: 4:03

right? Yeah, no, no. First time. First time that they did something of this magnitude. She's had, you know, schools here and there performing, but not to this level where there's a connection to the professional side of mariachi, which is Los Arrieros, plus also the connection through the education, you know, route. So it was definitely something very special. So when she said that, you know, I was taken aback. I was... you know, really excited about it. And she said, talk to the guys, you know, talk to Marcos and Marcos and see what they think. And, you know, of course, they were really excited for their kids as well. And the rest is history, just took off. And, you know, one thing after another happened really fast. It was about a three-month period that we put it all together. So, you know, obviously a big undertaking, you know, they did make a generous, you know, donation to all of our programs and put the rest of it, you know, we had to put that together with our school. So, you know, kids were excited, parents were excited. So we made it happen and it was a, Fantastic time for everybody. And that explains why you guys were doing all these fundraising events throughout the year, right? Yeah, definitely, definitely. So, you know, personally, at our school, we have ongoing fundraisers throughout the year for different things, you know, that we might, you know, want to do outside of the ordinary, you know, stuff that the district covers, you know, for the kids. And we had planned, you know, going out to the Albuquerque conference in the summer or José Hernández won in the in Los Angeles, but this opportunity came about and, you know, something like this, performing at the Hollywood Bowl, you know, for students, you don't pass that up. I mean, that's amazing right there. So we kind of transferred what we had already started and then just made a big push for it in the last few months of the school year. And I think everybody was kind of in the same boat as well. It kind of worked itself out. So it was a fantastic experience. It's hard to describe it, but we're very blessed and very, you know, very humbled that this came about and, you know, all of us as arrieros directors could represent with their kids.

SPEAKER_01: 5:55

And, and to coordinate your, your own rehearsals, right, with, uh, Arrieros and then your own kids, like, man, I'm imagining that's taxing or took a lot of time.

SPEAKER_00: 6:05

Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's, uh, you know, it, it's, it's the busiest time of the year for us. I mean, it's always busy, you know, for, for Mariatti. Uh, it's like they say there, there's no, there's no season for Mariatti, you know, it's not like, oh, it's in the fall or it's in the spring. It's like year round and even summer sometimes for, for a lot of us. So, uh, it was, it was definitely. tough to put it together, you know, put the kids, you know, music together. Plus at the same time, Arrieros, because most of the time the Hollywood Bowl usually happens, Marietta, you say usually happens at the end of June, last week of June or the third week of June. And so there's always time to prepare, but this one happened the first weekend of June. So with all the busy schedules and everything going on, we still had, you know, find the time to rehearse for Arrieros. So it was a, it was an undertaking and, you know, pero ahí nos traían, you know, and dábamos este putting everything together to make sure that we went out there and represented. We were very excited, definitely. So we did what we got to do.

SPEAKER_01: 6:59

Yeah, well, you made it work.

SPEAKER_00: 7:01

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01: 7:02

So what are your projects right now?

SPEAKER_00: 7:05

With Los Arreros, we are on the verge of releasing our third CD, or our third album, shall I say, coming up soon in the next couple of months. So that's very exciting, a lot of really exciting music on there. from our group, you know, from our ranger, Marcos Zarate, and all the guys. So we're hoping to be able to put that out for you guys by the end of summer. And so this album, you guys have been working on it for quite a long time, right? Yeah, it's, you know, little by little here and there. Of course, the pandemic, you know, kind of got in the way. And so that put a halt to things. But we've continued on, you know, here and there, bits and pieces around everybody's busy schedules to, you know, to kind of, you know, kind of, you know, finalize what's going to be on there. So it's definitely an exciting project with, you know, on a professional basis with Los Arreros. What about the Mack High group? With our kids, we just celebrated our 35-year anniversary of the program. So, you know, I believe Joel was there at the concert in support. And, you know, we thank you guys for all the support throughout the year for not just for our program or our schools, but, you know, just everybody. We see all the support you guys do for for mariachis across the valley, across the Rio Grande Valley, as well as orchestras and all that. And it really makes a difference having y'all's support to continue with our program. 35 years of the program in McAllen, so it was a special moment. We brought back alumni, graduates from all over Texas, all over the country to come and perform. So we put that concert together at the end of May, right before we went off a week before the Hollywood Bowl. So that was, you know, a difficult undertaking in itself, putting back together, you know, all the graduates, putting that repertoire together within just a few days and plus all of the kids' repertoire as well. So yeah, those are some of the projects that we're doing with our students. Been putting together some recordings little by little as well, some stuff that we did through the pandemic and some stuff that we've added on here and there. The summer months, you know, sometimes that gives us a chance to do some of that. So we're working on a Completing a project, no deadline on that, just little by little, putting together, you know, recordings with the kids that we have. A lot of talent in our schools, you know, and, you know, you guys, well, you know, everybody saw that out at the Hollywood Bowl with all of our students, you know, from Rio Grande, from Metcalf, from McAllen, of course, all the other Valley schools and across the state of Texas. There's a lot of talent out there and a lot of times we have our kids performing. We, you know, we have students come and go and sometimes we don't, get a chance to document that all. I mean, we have videos, of course. We have, you know, live performances, but it's always special when you can put together, get together a group of kids and record them, you know, professionally as well to have a sort of historical, you know, documentation of that. So that's very special. I know there's a lot of groups that are doing that as well. So that's one of the projects we currently have. So definitely exciting. Not just that, but it also gives them that experience of recording. Oh, yeah. A lot of those experiences that most of us didn't get till we were, you know, a lot older. Way older, yeah. Way, way older. So you see some of these kids doing what they're doing now, you know, just home studios and, you know, in their living rooms and putting stuff together of really, really high quality. So to see our kids being able to do that, you know, we'll give them the experiences that we can and then they go out there and they pick up where they left off. So they're putting together some really, you know, really good stuff. Really, really nice stuff at such a young age, so. It's definitely a blessing to be able to do that and see them, you know, see them progress and develop, you know, through their musical careers. Right before

SPEAKER_01: 10:44

we started the recording, I was trying to find a bio on you or, you know, just to see what I could ask you about, you know, fact checking. Yeah. And I saw one of the school group and, you know, I read through it and I thought, you know, I know about the kids. Okay, that's there. But what about the mastermind? I want to know. more about the person behind this project. So I guess now we're going to lead to your upbringing, you know. I really don't know much about you. I just know who you are. I've always known who you are, but I don't know the origin. So why don't you tell us how you started in your own musical journey?

SPEAKER_00: 11:22

Yes, sir. Well, thank you. Thank you. My family come from, my mom's side of the family, they're very, you know, very musical. All my tíos, my tías, my primos, you know, musicians in the family. in the outskirts of the city of Camargo. It's on the other side of Rio Grande, that Star County area. So they're from Camargo, from the little rancherias around the area and all the ejidos out there. So they were musicians from day one, you know, grupos norteños, musica norteña, basically, not mariachi. I was the first in my family that got into mariachi, but musica norteña, Los Hermanos Morín from back in the 70s and 80s. So, you know, that's where, I guess, the musical side of the family comes from. On my dad's side, we did have a few, you know, aunts and uncles que cantaban también, you know, they sang and played, but not as much as on my mom's side. My mom was a singer throughout, not a professional singer, but, you know, singing throughout, you know, all of her childhood, along with my tías and my tíos. So that was my first connection to music of any type, música norteña. Started playing a musical instrument in orchestra, Macallan Orchestra at Escandón Elementary. Well, it used to be a middle school back in the day, a sixth grade orchestra program. And then at Brown Middle School, went on to Macallan High School and in the Macallan Orchestra programs. So that's where my experience with music started, playing the violin. As far as me playing anything, I didn't pick up anything until I was in the sixth grade. But that was my first experience with playing an instrument. Then mariachi music didn't come into the picture for me till I think about halfway through my sophomore year in high school. My mom loved mariachi music. You know, she loved, of course, you know, music of all types, but she was, you know, very big on music and mariachi. And since I was playing the violin, she was, you know, she was kind of hinting that I joined the mariachi. There was a mariachi that had just started off, started off, you know, of course, at Mack High in 1988. And she wanted me to be a part of it. And I didn't. and want to. No me gustaba. I was like, I don't know about that. I was going to say, did you choose it or were you put there? Yeah, I was put there basically, you know, so, and that's kind of like what a lot of our kids, you know, nowadays, you know, kind of go through at the schools. So, I saw, you know, some of my best friends, you know, playing there already. They had already grown to be a part of it and they would, you know, try to convince me as well, you know, from time to time and I was like, nah, I don't know about that. I was into orchestra music and, you know, heavy metal and you know, hard rock and all that stuff from, you know, growing up in the, in the eighties and nineties. And so I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it. And she had been at it for a good year, year and a half. And, uh, and, uh, there was a, what was it? There was a competition coming up in Kingsville at the time. I don't even know if it had a name, but it was a competition of some type. And so, uh, my friends were like, Hey, you know, we're going to go to a big competition coming up in a few weeks. And, uh, so it's a free trip over there. We get to, go out there and have a good time and we get to meet different people and get on a bus and go out there and just have a lot of fun and you should consider joining. I'm like, I don't know about that, man. I don't know about the music. I didn't know anything about the music really. I was just what I would see here and there. So I was really ignorant or clueless to what it was all about. So it took a little bit more convincing and I actually said, you know what, I'll go out to rehearsal and see what it's all about. So he gave us the music. Mr. Morales, Eliseo Morales, was a director at the time. And, you know, I remember it was El Cascabel, you know, that they were going to compete with that. That's when, you know, that was really popular, you know, back then. El Cascabel, La Malagueña, and Arranchera. Se me olvidó otra vez de Juan Gabriel. So that was the contest music at the time. And so, you know, I liked Cascabel, you know, and Malagueña. And Se me olvidó otra vez was a little slower. And at the time, I didn't, you know, like all kids, we don't understand why we're playing this music, but hey, we'll go with it. And so I liked the rehearsal. I liked the way everybody, you know, interacted with each other and the different things that went on, you know, the singing, which I had never really done before, and the coros and, you know, all the interaction with the crowd. And so I enjoyed it. And I went back to that next rehearsal and the next one. And pretty soon it was time to go out and compete. We went out to compete at Kingsville. And I remember we brought everything back. I don't even remember who was competing or what groups were out there. I just remember we were excited because we We brought back a trophy and all these, you know, accolades. And that was how it started. And after that, you know, I was hooked. And so, you know, here I am. I think that's a story that a lot of people have as well, you know, with their experience. I don't know your experiences with mariachi either, but that was mine right there, you know. I was kind of like pulled into it, kind of, you know, hey, you got to do it, you got to do it. I didn't want to. And then once I did, I loved it. And of course, my mom, my dad, my family, they were really excited for that. And my mom finally got to see us, see me up there performing and playing music that she actually, you know, related to or could understand. She'd go to the orchestra concerts, but she was like, ay, mijo, they all sound the same, all the songs. And so like, you know, I don't understand it. Ahí estoy, ahí te aplaudo, you know, but of course with mariachi music it was different because there was a connection there that she could relate to and understanding all the, you know, all the lyrics, all the words and So it was definitely a beautiful, you know, life-changing experience, I would say.

SPEAKER_01: 16:51

So tell us about your time at university.

SPEAKER_00: 16:55

University of Texas UTRGV, back when it was PANET. So yeah, I was part of that group out there when I first went to college with Dr. Guerra. It was in its, maybe not at the beginning of it, but it's still in its infancy. So that was a beautiful experience being a part of the Mariati, UTPA Mariati, before it had a name. So, you know, Dr. Guerra, you know, definitely a pioneer in mariachi education at the university level. And we had a lot of great experiences with him performing out there. I think we went to the very first Mariachi Vargas extravaganza. We went out there to compete that, I think it was 95 or 96. I don't recall exactly which year, but the very first one competed out there as a university mariachi and got to see Vargas for the first time. So, you know, I've never seen Vargas performing live. So that was definitely a beautiful experience. We got to go out to Canada as well. One of the very first trips out of the country for UTPA Mariachi. So we were out there in Canada for about a week and a half or two, performing as part of a university exchange initiative of some sort. So we were in Ottawa. We were in Ottawa, Canada, a couple of other places. I'm not sure what those cities were, but Quebec, we were out there as well. So it was definitely a beautiful experience to be a part of that group and continue growing past the things that we did in high school. So it was a chance to meet a lot of other people that were just as excited or passionate about mariachi music as we were. So it was definitely a beautiful experience.

SPEAKER_01: 18:30

Is this around the same time that you joined Arrieros?

SPEAKER_00: 18:34

Arrieros came a little bit after that. So Arrieros, we started it back in... 1997, I believe, 96, 97. So it was a few years after, after joining the UTRDV or the UTPA group right there. And Los Arreros kind of was a different, a different, you know, scenario when it first, when it first started as well. A good friend of mine, Homer Gutierrez, and I had been in San Antonio for about a year, you know, gigging, performing with some groups out there. We came back to the Valley and started Los Arreros and it started off as a little group of six or seven guys, a talon, you know, just a, learning rep, which was the other, the other side of course, you know, through the school, uh, we play the songs that you play in, you know, your normal, you know, high school repertoire at the university, your normal university repertoire. But, uh, uh, when, uh, when we were out there, uh, in, in, uh, in San Antonio performing, you know, it was a, it was a big, uh, you know, a big difference to what we were used to because it was, it was with groups that were out there, you know, gigging for, you know, for, for, for, you know, for, for, for songs, you know, at a restaurant at different places, you know, for, whatever the client wanted. And we didn't have too many experiences, you know, here in the Valley. There was a group called Nueva Generación before Arrieros that eventually kind of, that's what turned into Arrieros. And so we had some experience there, but not at the level that we got our experiences out there, you know, out of the Valley. So I know when we came down here to the Valley and started Arrieros, we kind of wanted to do, you know, go that route with learning a lot of repertoire, learning a lot of songs that... that, you know, that we didn't currently, you know, have under our belt and little by little added onto it. You know, we were out there at the different, you know, restaurants, you know, working through college and learning more rep and building the group. And so that's how Los Sargeros came to be. But it was a few years after the UTRGV or the UTPA group. Wow,

SPEAKER_01: 20:29

I had no

SPEAKER_00: 20:30

idea. Yes, sir. It took a while, but it was six or seven of us, eight of us, and then it eventually grew out to the A group of 10 or 12, yeah, as a lot of young blood graduated from the high school groups, you know, out from Rome and from different areas. Nico came around and Danny and all those guys. It just kind of came together and changed the trajectory of what Los Arreros was. You know, of course, changing with the times to build a group up to a performance or a show group, you know, but at the same time trying to maintain as much of the... of, of, of the repertoire, you know, when, when you're out there in, you know, in the gig world, in the gigging world. Not too long ago, um, I had, uh, Jumer Jaime Lopez. Oh yeah. Yeah. Dr. Lopez now. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He came out of the shop and, uh, his kids signed up for, for violin. Nice. He mentioned to me how he was one of the pioneers for Ariel Osteman. Yes, sir. He was our first vihuela player. There we go. And, you know, he was also, You also play with UTRG, right? Yes, sir. He was there with UTRG at the time. I think he was out there in Canada as well. And, of course, Mr. Loera, Frank Loera, was on too. And that was when he first started with the group. And I think we could go on and on with the different, because there are so many different things to talk about. But, yeah, those are great experiences that we'll never forget. You know, Dr. and Frank have done a fantastic job there at UTRG. And it's, been so cool to see it, you know, evolve, you know, through, through the, through the years from when it first started, when we were a part of it until you guys were there as well, uh, you know, totally different experiences that we didn't have at the time, you know, but, uh, with the symphonies and the, the operas and all the other stuff that you guys could do, but that you guys got to do, but it was definitely, uh, definitely the beginning of, of, you know, getting it to where it is now.

SPEAKER_01: 22:22

I feel like every, like you said, every iteration of the group has, you know, contributed their own, like, you know, Stepping Stone or their own nick on that stick of where it's at now. So I agree with what you're saying. I just want to backtrack a little bit because I completely forgot to ask. So when you go into university, did you know that music was it for you? Like,

SPEAKER_00: 22:48

is this what I'm going to do? No, I did not. Actually, when I first went to the university, I wasn't sure what I was doing. I had it in the back of my mind that that's what I wanted to do. But, you know, of course, you know, life gets in the way, you know, things happen and one thing leads to another and, you know, your course is changed or altered, you know, and a lot of times some people say, hey, you know, well, you know, I wish it didn't go that way because, you know, this or that. But a lot of times things happen, you know, and they happen for a reason and they just bring, you know, more, I guess, more richness to your life and to what you're going to eventually end up doing. So when I went into UTRGV, that's, That's what I wanted to do. Or in the back of my mind, that's one of the things I wanted to do, but I wasn't exactly sure. So I did about a year there. And that's when I went into San Antonio, went out to San Antonio for about a year, came back, started Arrieros, continued with the university, but I was on and off, you know, kind of, I'd go, you know, I'd stop going and started working, you know, met my wife or, you know, got married and had kids. And so, you know, one thing leads to another and so you got to work a full-time job you're not always able to go back to school and do what you want to do so what what started off is not really knowing and then okay you know i'm going to be a music major this is what i want to do all of a sudden went back to you know well i'm going to be away from college for a while because i i'm not able to to hold on a full-time job and support a family and go to school too and so that kind of took a different route and uh didn't go back to school till till years later i would say maybe about uh seven, eight years after I graduated from high school. And that's when, when, uh, my, my son was already about six or seven years old, uh, my oldest son. And, uh, and, you know, I wanted to finish that degree, but I was no longer going to be able to be a music degree. So I'm not sure if you guys knew that, but, uh, uh, you know, of course that's a full-time thing. You gotta, you know, be, be there the entire day, you know, it's a full-time commitment. And unfortunately you can't do that if you have a, a, you know, full-time job. So, uh, so I started going to, you know, night classes. There was not a lot of online stuff, you know, way back then. So it was a lot of night classes, weekend classes and that kind of thing. And, uh, little by little I finished up. So my degree was actually, it was a, uh, a double major in, uh, in English and Spanish, uh, literature. So that was, that was my degree to, to, to, uh, to be able to, to teach literature, Spanish or English or whatnot. And so, uh, although I had some, some music hours, I didn't have enough for, uh, you know, for a minor or for a major in it. Uh, but, uh, Eventually, that's what I ended up doing. I had been teaching in the Roma school system before I graduated from college as a full-time consultant, you know, and working under Mr. Yamil Yunus back in the day when the program was in its infancy. And so I got to experience a lot of cool stuff out there, you know, learning a lot of stuff from Mr. Yunus at the time. And definitely, you know, there's experiences that stay with you, you know, forever as well. So long story short... When I went back to school and finished and came out with that degree, I had been doing music for so long. I had been doing, you know, teaching mariachi and teaching, you know, those newer generations of kids that were coming up, you know, sharing the passion that I had for mariachi music with them. And I didn't really see myself doing anything else. So what I went ahead and did is I did the certification, alternative certification for music and challenged the test for music and was able to, you know... thankfully, uh, you know, pass that, uh, that, that, uh, I forget what they called it at the time, the exit exam or whatever it was called then. And, uh, so I became certified for music as well. And so I, I took a job in McAllen that was, uh, that was available back in 2008. And, uh, that's how I started, uh, you know, in McAllen as well to try to revive the program that had been there, you know, since 88, but then had basically gone on a silent for about 10 years. So, uh, that, that was, uh, my, uh, you know, my undertaking right there to bring that program back up and doing music now. Although that whole course of action for me on how I came around to doing it was not, it wasn't pretty to say the least. Why

SPEAKER_01: 26:58

don't you tell us a little bit about that? What difficulties did you face having to bring it back?

SPEAKER_00: 27:05

Darren McAllen, working in the Roma ISD Mariati program for eight years, seven and a half, almost eight years, really, I guess I could say spoiled me, if I can use that word. You know, because of course, Mr. Yamil Yun is there. I'm not sure if he was the first one, but I know for sure he was one of the first ones that set up Mariachi, you know, just the same way that an orchestra, a band or a choir would be set up to where it was a full-time class. All the kids had to be members of the class, not just after school. It was a completely separate program. So, you know, Mariachi started their own violins. The mariachi started their trumpets, of course, you know, with qualified, you know, people, with certified people and people that knew what they were doing to get those kids going. And so he was, if not the first one, probably one of the first ones, for sure the first one here in the valley that started that way. That trend. That trend, yeah. And so, you know, he directed his kids, he directed the group, typically like a band, an orchestra, a choir, and he had three assistants there with him. specialists in each instrument to help do what they needed to do. And of course, the program was very successful for so many years and to this day as well. They've got a really great model going on over there. So when I come over to McAllen, of course, I came out of the McAllen school system. I came out of the orchestra program there and the mariachi program. And it was basically after school. So when I came in here and tried to revive it, because there was really nothing. There was an all-district group. that the Mariette director at the time was trying to do all on her own for all three schools. So it definitely was a huge challenge. My first year was part of that district group, you know, assisting, trying to put it together. Of course, there was kids from all the different schools and it wasn't quite working out. So our fine arts director at the time decided to go ahead and put a director in each school in place, which was with myself there and Mr. Juan Castillo at Rowe High School and Ms. Priscilla Sosa at Memorial. It was going to be able to happen Uh, and so that, that was the beginning of having one director at each school, uh, which is to say, uh, wasn't, uh, the easiest job in the world still, because we still got to make it work with just, you know, having kids after school, you know, they were in orchestra, they were in band, they were in choir, but, uh, they did not get to learn those instruments in the sixth grade, you know, like the other schools. So it was a, it was a big challenge getting them to do that. You know, of course at the time it was just myself. So I had to quickly, you know, uh, learn how to, you know, how to, fend for myself a bit on the other instruments as well so that I could help them out and I could teach them. And, you know, little by little, we were able to put something together that wasn't there before. Initially, it was, you know, with my old high school director there. But it had been so long that they hadn't had something at that school. So it was definitely tough to get kids excited about it first because, you know, of course, the only thing that they knew about mariachi there for so long was, you know, that it wasn't a very complete group. It wasn't, you know, doing very well. So, of course, kids don't, they're not attracted to something that's not, you know, not doing too well. You know, everybody wants to be a part of something good, something that sounds good and looks good. And so that was the biggest challenge, you know, the conception of mariachi at that time, you know, from not just from the students, but also from, you know, directors there at that time, you know, the only experience that they had with it was something that wasn't really what mariachi should be. So changing that culture little by little, changing their minds with the way it's supposed to sound was the toughest thing. You know, but it took a good, you know, three or four years to get a decent sounding group there that was sounding decent enough. And, you know, changing that mindset from other students and from the student body and, you know, other directors from the other divisions and their students to where, hey, you know what, we want to be a part of it. And I want to play, I play the violin already. I want to join and see what it's all about. And You know, I play the trumpet. I want to join and see what it's about. Hey, you know, I'd like to sing too. And, you know, well, you know, I don't play the trumpet, but I play the trombone or the tuba and I want to learn how to play the guitar or the guitar. And so that's how it kind of started out. And, you know, little by little, we're able to put something together that was sounding a little bit more, you know, more respectable. And, you know, we were able to bring on board some assistance, you know, some trumpet specialists and other instruments as well that just contributed to, to really bringing up that culture. So back then, it was just an after-school activity? Just an after-school activity, yes, for the first three, four years, five years. You didn't have any, like, an official mariachi class? No official mariachi class, yeah. So it was tough because, you know, kids weren't, they didn't get a grade for it, so sometimes kids would show up, sometimes they wouldn't. What about now? Yeah, now it's a fully endorsed class due to where we have a full-time mariachi class during the day, so kids have to be a part of that. Of course, there's exceptions. Sometimes there's kids that are at the early college or at one of the other schools that are not able to be part of the class. But for the most part, they all are. And so then I know that this year I noticed that you guys had a middle school program going on. Yes, we had a pilot program for Armonia. So that's one of the things that we're still trying to advocate for in our district. And little by little, I think we're getting there in McAllen. to where we have a middle school program to kind of level the playing field with all the other schools that, you know, being a part of that Roma program for eight years, I got to see what the benefits of that were and what the advantages of that were, you know, for sure, that the kids can get three years of mariachi experience, you know, instead of waiting till they get to the high school to start learning those instruments. Although we've had a lot of success, you know, being able to compete with all those groups out there, you know, my respects for all of those groups because they do a fantastic job. It's not something that you can always do as consistently because you don't have that ongoing farm system of kids coming up. So that eighth grade armonia program is the beginning of what we're trying to do in McAllen. So to establish, yes, correct. And we're going to have it again this coming year, an eighth grade armonia program. And hopefully for the year after, the 24, 25 school year, we're hoping to have everything in place to really start off in the sixth grade and start training our kids. with all the details and all the nuances and all the, you know, things that go on with mariachi music. Because they're singing, they're playing, they're performing. It's a completely, completely, you know, different animal than what they're used to doing. So we hope that we can offer them those opportunities and give them those experiences early on as well, like the other districts around us. And I think everybody's moving towards that. So it's good to see that happening in Edinburgh as well and all the other districts. Definitely a great time for us and definitely a blessing that we have the support of all the parents and all the kids and our school district as well. It's not easy to make changes all the time and it's not easy to get things in place. It takes a while and sometimes our patience is something that we got to keep working on and being patient to see the final product. It's a process. I've been there going on my 17th year in McAllen already. It's been a while, but we're getting to where we need to be little by little.

SPEAKER_01: 34:23

It's

SPEAKER_00: 34:23

good to see that.

SPEAKER_01: 34:24

Of those 17 years, when did you realize, okay, this is going to take off? Because you told us about the ground building, the heavy lifting, but when did you realize, okay, it's done. Now it's going to go this way.

SPEAKER_00: 34:38

So I think when I kind of got a sense that things were going to go pretty well was about 2012, maybe about 10, 11 years ago. When we started seeing the growth and the support of the students around there wanting to be a part of it, and really with the addition of additional staff members, because it's really tough to do it with one person. You try your best, and you can only do so much. But when you have a trumpet specialist or an armonia specialist, there's double or triple the work that you can do. So that's when a good friend of mine, David Moreno at the time, was hired on as a part-time consultant. He wasn't there full-time, but that's when he started working with our trumpet section. And that guy was a beast. I mean, that guy's a beast on trumpet and a phenomenal instructor, phenomenal performer. He did mariachi, he did jazz, he did salsa, he did everything. And so that guy right there just turned around our trumpet section. And so as soon as he started developing those trumpets, We started getting trumpet players that wanted to be a part of it, too. So we started attracting, you know, more and more talent. And, you know, we were blessed to have a good, strong line of trumpets that have come out of McAllen High School under his direction at that time. And then, of course, after that, we had Mr. Victor Figueroa, who was also a big part of the program, and Mr. Nettie Fuentes now, who was a student there that graduated in 2017. So to continue that going was definitely a blessing. So that's... that's probably when I found out, okay, you know, it's not just me. I think we're going to be able to make this happen because, you know, many times you want to throw in the towel because it's not going the way you want it to go and you can only do so much. So I think after the first five years or so, that's when I, you know, thought, you know what, I think this is going to work out. It's worth, you know, the effort and staying here just to try to get it back to its glory days or better. You know, definitely that was the time when I realized it was something Something that we could look at.

SPEAKER_01: 36:40

Now, since you're still at the high school level, how is it that you recruit people? How do you convince them? Yeah, that's a tough part. Not to reveal a secret, maybe you don't want to, but I'm curious to see how you do it because kids are older at this point.

SPEAKER_00: 36:57

Yeah, one of the things that helped us out at the beginning was to go out and perform at the elementaries. Of course, we didn't have a middle school program, so we couldn't say, hey, sign up for mariachi for sixth grade. So there's always a gap there. So we did make sure that we went out and performed for Cinco de Mayo, for Christmas, for different, you know, the Seis de Septiembre, you know, different events that kids, you know, celebrate at the elementary level. And so them seeing us out there performing, you know, for them and always trying to keep it fun. You know, we're in Christmas time, we're going to do some fun stuff, you know, some Christmas music and holiday music and stuff like that. And to get them excited about it, I think that's what started helping us because we did have kids later on that would come to us as freshmen. And, oh, well, you guys played at my elementary school when I was little. And I remembered. And so I remembered you guys, you know, saying, hey, pick the violin if you want to. You want to join the orchestra. I want to join Mariachi. Pick the trumpet. And so I did. And so here I am. So I know that that definitely, you know, helped out. We perform at the middle schools as well every now and then whenever we're available to. to keep those kids excited, you know, about it. Hey, you know, you're in band choir orchestra right now, but you can be a part of Mariachi when you get to high school. So that helped us with the recruiting, you know, for sure. And of course, social media, social media nowadays in the last, you know, five, six years, seven years or so. I think social media has a big impact on recruiting for us at the least, you know, because we don't have them in the sixth grade. We don't have them at that young age. I think it's always good for kids to see what's going on out there. So we have a strong social media presence with our program. And I think our district in general is very big on that. I think all districts in general now are really big on that kind of stuff. So it's good to see that. And we've got a strong group of parents and kids that are in charge of running those social media pages along with directors and principals. really promoting the group. There's a concert, you know, they put it out there. There's a picture here, there's a video there. And so, uh, you know, kids are online a lot and they see that and, you know, they, uh, they want to be a part of it. So really that's, that's kind of what's helped us, uh, you know, uh, continue that recruitment. But again, it's, it's not easy because we'll have our years where we're going to be set for two, three, four years. And then all of a sudden we don't, we don't have anyone. And that's, uh, that's one of the things that we, that's a challenge. Yeah. Yeah. We, uh, We were set, you know, some years ago and, you know, right after the COVID pandemic, we had to start all over again with very few amount of kids. And we had the majority of them graduate and we have to start all again, you know, from scratch, brand new harmonia section, you know, brand new violins. And this year too, right? You're going to have how many graduating this year? Well, this past year, this current year, we had two varsity kids graduated. So, you know, we're coming back this year with most of the kids, but that doesn't happen very often. After this coming year, you know, it's another 12, 13, you know, graduating. And so that's what happened last year, you know, from 2021 to 2022. We had like 10 or 11 kids graduated. 2022 to 2023, we had another eight or nine. So if we look at our group right now, there's two kids that were left from the 2021 group. And that was only two years ago. There's only two kids that are left. So it's a big turnaround. That's definitely the biggest challenge for us. And one of the reasons that we're, you know, really, really advocating for having those middle school programs eventually here in our district so that we can you know, maintain that level, you know, year in and year out for the kids. To be able to compete and to be able to do what we ultimately want to do with the kids, which is building them up to where they can go out there when they go to college and they can function, you know, as part of a university group like Aslan at UTRGV or at UT Austin or, you know, Texas State or UTSA or whatever other colleges are out there. And so that they're also able to learn to be able to go out there and, and fend for themselves, you know, in the real world. There's a lot of kids coming out and performing with groups already. So the competition, of course, you know, it's Texas. Everybody's about the competition, and there's a lot of talent out there. So, you know, you're going to win some. You're going to lose some. You're going to be down. You're going to be up. And, you know, we're all going to do our best to prepare our kids. But at the end of the day, it's the most important thing, I think, to me or to a lot of us. You know, I know my compañeros en los arreglos as well. You know, we kind of all think the same. our kids are going to end up playing with each other in college. You know, you're going to have kids from Rio Grande and from Edcouch and Roma and Edinburgh and McAllen and La Jolla and all these other schools and, you know, out of town as well, performing with each other and being, you know, really, really good friends. And, you know, what was once a competition is now a common goal for all of them. So I think those kids are seeing that already. And some of them are out there gigging while they're in high school with each other as well. And, you know, making good money, making 50, 60, 70 bucks an hour. You know, I know some of the kids that are out in Central Texas, my daughter being one of them out in the Austin area, they make 80, 90 bucks an hour gigging. And so, you know, they need to learn that repertoire. They need to be able to have a good amount of experience under their hands. And so I think the younger we start them, you know, in the middle school level, the more you keep them and you teach them the, you know, the repertoire, the cajon, you know, what people, you know, are asking for, what people want to hear. Not just the competition stuff, which is very cool, of course, you know, but not just that flashy stuff that goes on at contests, but also all the other, you know, beautiful, you know, boleros, rancheras, huapangos, you know, polcas, chotices, you know, you name it. I mean, baladas, there's so many different music that they need to be exposed to. And the earlier we can do that, you know, the better. So that's one of our goals, you know, with our students here, you know, definitely to be able to get them, you know, prepared for when they go out. And tell us more about your kid. My personal kid? Yeah. Well, that's, you know, that's also something that I guess probably the most special thing that could happen to any of us as directors is to have their kids as part of their, you know, their program there in their schools. In my case, I got to see that with my old boss when I was working in Roma with Mr. Yamil Yunus, where he had his kids in the program and I never understood, you know, how, how much of a special thing that was to see him, you know, direct his own kids and, and, uh, have his kids as part of the program. I was always really proud of him, really proud of him. And, you know, at that time, you know, I was, I was younger. I would, I would see that and, oh, that's pretty cool. But I never really understood that until, until, you know, my son, Alex, uh, was part of my group and as a freshman and how he grew to love the music and, and to, uh, to, uh, to, to, to want to completely engulf him himself in, uh, and everything that goes on from the singing to the playing to the performance aspect of it and wanting to learn more and more and more. To see him be a part of that program there was really, really special. We spent a lot of time at work, all of us, and I got to spend more time with him when I was working there and when he was in school there than I did before because I was always busy at work. And so for him to go up to the program and get all the experiences of performing across across the state, across the country, and, you know, all those workshops, all those fantastic workshops with all the greats, you know, Sol de Mexico, Vargas, Campero, Sol, you know, Marieti Cobre, Nuevo Tecalitlán. It was beautiful to be able to see that. So, you know, Alex is out there, you know, representing, was a member of UTRGV also, Texas State, and then UTRGV, graduated from there, and a member of Los Arrieros, and now a member of Marieti Los Camperos, so definitely very, you know, very proud to see our our students, or in this case, my son out there, you know, uh, performing with, uh, with those groups, uh, definitely very special. And then your daughter ran out. My daughter's going to start her third year at UT Austin, also a part of that group. And she, she had some great experiences with, uh, with a UT Austin Maria T out in, uh, Guadalajara, got to meet Pedro Ray and perform for him. And, uh, uh, was out there for, for, for a conference, uh, with, uh, with her director, with, uh, Monica Fogelquist out there. And, uh, the experiences that she brought to, to those kids and, When I would speak with her about this and going back to what Miguel was mentioning, it kind of had the same parallels that, you know, the same thing that was happening with me at McAllen High School, trying to revive a program, trying to bring that up. She was in the same situation there. And I think she did a great job in those three or four years that she was there, just to completely turn the program over and then do something really special for the program and for the kids and for the university. So it was good to see her performing out there, you know, with them as well. Also part of our school program at Mack High, you know, got to do a lot of great things, have a lot of great experiences with our program as a vocalist and a violinist. And then, of course, my son, Andrew, my youngest, who's going to be a senior this coming year, also has had a great time, you know, being a part of the orchestra program, of course, and the mariachi program as well. And he was one of those two that his brother, you know, Alex, kind of loved the music right from the beginning. So did Ashley. He wasn't quite too convinced at first, you know, either. So he wasn't quite all about the whole, you know, the playing. Yeah, he was like, OK, I'll play. But he wasn't too convinced about the whole singing thing. And, you know, quickly he found out that it was a part of it and he learned to love it and want to do it better and better. And, you know, he's had some great experiences as part of the program there as well. And looking forward to to be on high school. Not sure what he's going to do 100 percent, but he's definitely in a in a better place because of the experiences that he's had with with Mariette, for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 46:38

That's your true legacy, if you ask

SPEAKER_00: 46:40

me. Well, thank you, sir. Thank you. Yeah, definitely. They say that that's, you know, that's what it is. You know, all the stuff that we do, you know, sometimes it's forgotten, you know, the good, you know, the day in and day out, you know, the bad stuff that happens to all of us. Really, it's out there, but the legacy that we leave behind are our kids, you know, our families. And, you know, I think that's what it's about. And I feel really you know, really excited to see them, you know, continuing with what I learned to love because it wasn't part of what I wanted to do or what I even, you know, thought I would be doing. So for them to see, for us to see them, you know, continue to grow and do this, you know, it's very exciting to be able to see that. And, you know, of course, to see the support of all the schools here in the Valley and in the state do the same thing for those kids. It's a beautiful thing. You know, we have kids performing with Holden Mexico that were part of, you know, groups here in the valley at Calchelsa, I believe, and groups that are part of our, you know, our school here in McAllen and Edinburgh and Roma and La Jolla and all those schools out there performing with those groups, with those big groups, you know, in one capacity or other. It really says a lot about what, you know, what we've been able to do here with the mariachi education aspect. So it's definitely a lot to be proud of, I think, and, you know, not just what we've done here personally, but what everybody's done, because it's a, it's a, it's, it's not just a, you know, it's all about me or it's, it's all about us. You know, I think it's, it's a bigger than, than all of us, bigger than, than that. And I think as a mariachi community, I think we're realizing that, you know, more and more that we got to stay together and we got to support each other. We got to root for each other. And, you know, when something good happens to somebody, Hey man, you know, congratulations. And, and that's awesome. And, and, and feel genuinely happy for what they're doing. with the music because it's all benefiting us. And, you know, when we do something, you know, great for our kids, you know, we feel good when other people support us and, you know, the next guy and the next guy and the next guy, because really that's what's going to build our community. If you look at the orchestra world and the band world and the choir world, for the most part, they're very supportive of each other. You know, they've got their backs. And I think in the Marietta community, I think we're starting to see that a little bit more. You know, I know it's always, there's always a conflict of interest. You know, there's always, hey, you know, I want to, I want to have the upper edge for this or for that, but that's just the way everything goes. But deep down, I think we're seeing that a little bit more. That's something that definitely makes me very happy to be able to see.

SPEAKER_01: 49:20

And this entire trajectory of your career told us, what would you say has been the most challenging thing to get past?

SPEAKER_00: 49:31

As far as professionally or personally? Personally,

SPEAKER_01: 49:34

professionally, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 49:36

Well, definitely one of the biggest things for what we do is the balancing out, I guess, of time with what we do at work and with our family life. So, you know, a lot of times being, you know, being educators, working with students, with what we do with Mariachi Music, they're always busy performing, competing, you know, learning, workshops in the summer, you know, there's always something going on. And then with Los Arreros as a professional group as well, there's always something going on with us as well. You know, the weekend, you know, gigs, the occasional concerts here and there, you know, conferences that we're a part of sometimes. And then family life, just balancing it all out. That's a hard part, I think. And, you know, so sometimes the hardest part is, you know, missing out on different things, you know, family events when the kids are little, you know, when there's a big family event and, you know, I'm not, I can't be at it because I've got this going on with either with arrieros or with school. So that has definitely been the biggest challenge. You know, sometimes we look back and we say, hey, I wish I would have been there for this or I would have been there for that. And so definitely along the lines of a challenge, you know, that's definitely it. You know, but as you get a little older, I think we kind of put things a little more in perspective and find a way to better balance things out. Hey, you know, there's something going on. You know what? I'm not going to miss this event for my, for my kid. You know, we're going to miss a gig or we're going to miss this or we're going to miss that, but I'm going to try to be there for them a little bit more. And I think as, as, as I got a little older, I was able to do a little bit more of that. And, uh, that's definitely a word of advice that, that I, that I'll give to, to my younger colleagues, you know, uh, try not to miss something that that's going on with your family or your kid. You know, if you have to miss a gig, you have to miss an event here, you know, try to find a way. Cause it's, it's tough, you know, you don't get that time back. So, uh, definitely that has been the biggest challenge. But then on the other side of it, in my case, at least, I guess I've found a way to kind of make up for that to where, because my kids came in through my program at school, I got to spend a lot of time with them when they were in school. So I, you know, although I missed some events here and there, you know, for them when they were little, I got to be a part of some other stuff that I wouldn't normally have been able to be a part of, you know, seeing them perform, seeing them, you know, go through. the experiences that they go through with mariachi because they were there with me in my school. I think that was the most beautiful thing. So, I mean, I can't say that I regret, you know, not being there or whatnot because I think it all, you know, works itself out in the end. What piece of advice do you have for somebody who wants to pursue becoming a mariachi educator? Definitely, you know, you got to love it 100%. You got to have a passion for it 100%. if you don't have passion for what you're doing, you really shouldn't be doing it at all. So I think we have to... That's what we preach over at the store. Oh, yeah, of course. And you see that. And I was going to bring that in right there because you guys are very passionate about what you do there. And you can see it in the work that you put into Bosky's, into the business, not only the business aspect of it, but also developing the kids because you guys do private lessons too, music lessons. I know there's a few kids that we have that... that are going to you guys for the private lessons, for their instrumental needs and for their supplies and all that. And it's good to see that because you guys put in so much passion and you guys are going to be successful. And I think the success comes as a result of the hard work and the passion. It's a win-win. Yeah, it is definitely a win-win. So I definitely would like to say that to anyone. I know we've had conversations with some younger colleagues and, you know, you're going to do this and You're going to give it all you've got and you're going to be borderline obsessed with what you're doing. And sometimes it's going to be hard to turn off the switch, but it's all part of the beauty of it, I think. Because if we're not doing it with passion, you know, it's not going to be a good thing.

SPEAKER_01: 53:36

Well, Alex, thanks for being here. I think that pretty much wraps up our episode for today. I definitely learned more about you. So thanks for sharing.

SPEAKER_00: 53:45

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01: 53:46

And Joel, do we have any upcoming events for the summer? We do have a coastal band

SPEAKER_00: 53:52

mariachi festival. I think it's the second year that they're doing this. I believe it's, let's see.

SPEAKER_01: 53:58

Over at Robstown, no? Robstown,

SPEAKER_00: 54:00

yeah. Starting tomorrow, Monday, January 26th to the 29th. I think Mr. John Bella is setting that up, right? Is Miguel Guzman teaching at that one again this year?

SPEAKER_01: 54:09

He has Miguel Guzman and he's bringing in Rafael Falomar. That's right.

SPEAKER_00: 54:14

That's right. Wow. No, that's definitely.

SPEAKER_01: 54:16

Big name.

SPEAKER_00: 54:17

Definitely a big event. Yeah. And I think that's going to take off over the years. I think we're going to need to look into it for... And then we also have the Mariachi Extravaganza Summer Vocal Camp happening in San Antonio. Yeah, that's good to see that coming back after three years after the pandemic. So definitely a great experience for the kids to be out there.

SPEAKER_01: 54:40

That's good stuff to look forward to. So once again, thanks for being here and thanks for listening. Thank you guys. Pleasure being here with you guys and keep doing

SPEAKER_00: 54:48

what you guys are doing. It's awesome. Thank you, Alex. Sir, thank you.