THEY CAN'T BREAK US ALL TOGETHER
THEY CAN’T BREAK US ALL TOGETHER
By August Clover
Growing up in San Jose, it’s hard to ignore the culture. Why would you even want to? From street fairs, celebrating El dia de los Reyes Magos, to seeing the dragons dancing for Chinese new year. The most common celebration here is the music.The first time I remember picking up an instrument was going to The Pulga on Berryessa. Passing by the Mariachi playing at the main stage, with the smell of chicken getting cooked by the food stand a couple feet away. My Grandfather was visiting from Mexico and that's where I wanted to take him. He had a lot of mariachi groups in Nayarit, he always inspired me to play music when I was younger. Watching him play was what I considered as my first concert. From then on I knew music was what I wanted to endure. I started at Gardner Academy, with Jose Ballin, a well-known music teacher. I played mariachi music for 10 years, learning trumpet when I was 9, Guitarron when I was 12, Guitar and Vihuela when I was 13 in that order. The way I learned wasn’t through music theory, I learned through watching and listening, it all made sense when I could feel the music, not when I would read it.
“The way I learned wasn’t through music theory, I learned through watching and listening, it all made sense when I could feel the music, not when I would read it. ”
A year and a half ago I realized how much I had to say, feeling unseen, not knowing how to express my emotions without looking down upon. In latino community emotions are an enemy. They stop you from reaching your goals, at least that is how I was raised. It's hard to be upset at our mamas and papas, I mean for a few hours maybe you can, but how do you expect comfort and apologies from those who didn't receive that. I came out as bisexual to my family, although the feelings were all over the place, I was surprised by the acceptance in my family, but there were tough times to get there. That's where my song “Sunflower”got inspired from. I have so many friends that came out to their parents, and they weren’t as fortunate to get understood, so I wrote “Sunflower”, so they know they’re heard, that there are a lot of people that are going through the same thing. I started getting reached out by people. People who were hurting and felt that lump in their throat go away after hearing that song. I realized this is what I need to do, I need to be a voice for those that can’t express that feeling, for those who feel alone, for those who deserve to know they are loved.
“I have so many friends that came out to their parents, and they weren’t as fortunate to get understood, so I wrote “Sunflower”, so they know they’re heard, that there are a lot of people that are going through the same thing.”