Here’s an interview Drew did a couple months ago with Delirium Fanzine from Santa Clara, Cuba. Enjoy!
Entrevista a Rock Solidario
D: Que es Rock Solidario y a cual es la idea esencial del proyecto?
D: What is Solidarity Rock and what are the essential ideas involved in the project?
The best answer I can give you is that Solidarity Rock is a project that brings people together to make music and strengthen creative communities. We’ve done the first 5 rock tours through Cuba, and a big part of that is meeting people, sharing a moment and taking away new ideas and new expressions. We’ve been very lucky to always meet amazing people in Cuba, and we’ve been able to help the people who are like us, but live in another country and have another culture. Solidarity Rock proves that although there are differences between us, we have a common culture, and we have a space to grow together. It’s what we do that unites us, when the world sees only division.
In each of the cities across Canada that have been a part of Solidarity Rock, we’ve seen the creative communities grow and benefit at the same time as our Cuban friends. It’s been really important to us to be able to be a part of and access this kind of two-way exchange. We’ve learned so much and it’s important that we understand that solidarity rock is not about what we can give, but what we can share.
D: Como y cuando surge específicamente la idea de venir a nuestro país?
D: Exactly how and when did you get the idea to come to our country?
Solidarity Rock started in 2008, after I had the chance to come to Cuba for the first ever rock tour through the country. In December 2007, I was with the Canadian indie rock band 7and7is as we toured Cuba. It was an amazing experience, and the ability to do something new and see a country in a way no one else ever had was really special.
The 7and7is tour was really kind of crazy. It all came together at the last minute and almost didn’t happen. Sean Foster, the singer of 7and7is had a friend named Luis Ulloa, a trovador from Sancti Spiritus. Luis was living in Canada and worked with Sean’s father, who was also a music lover. Sean came to Cuba and played some songs with Luis, and someone invited him to come back to Cuba with the rest of his band. That’s where the entire project started.
When we were there, we realized that due to reasons outside of their control, musicians, and especially rock musicians, had no access to the basic tools to make their music. Being able to find anything from amplifiers and PA equipment, to smaller things like strings and picks was a challenge. Our city (Edmonton) has a great punk rock music scene, full of creative and generous people. We asked for bands to play a show called “Solidarity Rock” to try to get a couple small things to our friends in Cuba. We sent a package to Sancti Spiritus, and kept on holding solidarity Rock shows. Eventually, I realized we could do another tour and improve on the work we had started, so in January 2010, we came back with SLATES and have been working ever since.
D: Que pretenden lograr con el proyecto?
D: What are your goals with the project?
First, we tried to meet the basic needs that stopped people from being able to play the music they wanted. We brought some instruments down with us when SLATES toured. These pieces stayed in Sancti Spiritus, and helped to create the environment where people could play music, spend time with their friends and grow in their own paths. I think to a certain extent we have done that.
We are focusing on documenting the music that our Cuban friends make and recording it to preserve and share it with the world. We hope to be able to continue the idea of an equal exchange with the people we meet in Cuba and around the world. We’ve got some plans for more tours and more opportunity to share our lives with our friends in Cuba, and I think it’s a very positive thing for everyone involved. We want to say that we’re all punks, rockers, freaquis or whatever you want to call us. And we’re all, at least on some level, the same. We want to show the world that in a country they don’t associate with punk rock, there are punks because it’s a natural development of the artforms and music.
D: En este tiempo que han estado visitando nuestro país, se han integrado diversas bandas para colaborar con el proyecto. Como es la selección a presentarse en cuba?
D: You’ve worked with a lot of different bands in Cuba, how do you choose who to work with?
From the start, our project has been about friendship and working together to build something for everyone. We work with the bands that we know, and that we’re friends with. Since our partner William is from Sancti Spiritus, we started there. We got to know several of the bands playing there and have been able to help them with the little things we can.
I’m always super impressed by the quality of the music that we hear. Bands like Arrabio, Adictox, Akupuntura and Cancerbero are really not lacking in anything but equipment. There’s a spirit that comes with punk rock specifically, and I think that the bands in Cuba have that spirit as much as anyone anywhere. I have played the recordings for people here and in other countries, and they get really excited, because they didn’t know that this existed or that it was possible in a country like Cuba. All we ever see are faded images of the Buena Vista Social Club, maracas and salsa dancing. I feel like Cuban bands are reinventing rock n roll. Maybe it’s hard to see right now, but I think that in the next few years, we will see the rise of Cuban punk rock as something very serious and well regarded.
D: Donde se han estado presentando en nuestro pais?
D: Where have you done shows in Cuba?
To date, we’ve done shows in Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Jatibonico, Moron, Havana, Matanzas and Varadero.
D: Como ha sido la acogida del público y de las otras agrupaciones con quienes han intercambiado?
D: How has your experience been with the Cuban people and groups that host you?
We’ve never had a bad experience. Sometimes, things are really different than we’re used to. Generally, I’m the only one on our Canadian crew that speaks Spanish, and if the musicians who are touring have been to Cuba, it’s been as tourists in places like Havana and Varadero. So, it’s always a new thing for everyone involved. I find that the people we meet, weather they’re 14 or 80 years old are always friendly and willing to share some time and a conversation, even if the two people don’t speak the same language. When we play shows in a place like Jatibonico, you can feel that it’s special because it doesn’t happen very often. I find that with this project, we’re all sharing the moment and everyone understands that it’s a unique experience and something valuable.
D: crees que se cumplan los objetivos que me mencionabas anteriormente?
D: Do you feel that you are achieving the goals you mentioned earlier?
Absolutely. I know the bands we play with have progressed a lot in the past four years. We’ve got musicians, artists and supporters across Western Canada, in the US and in Cuba. We’ve been able to use our project as a way to show the world that division between cultures can be overcome, that people are the same everywhere and that music and art are always important to the development of healthy and happy people. I know that when we first spoke of the idea of doing a tour in Cuba, I had no idea what it would bring, and now there is something where there was nothing before. So, in all ways, I think we have achieved our goals and our ideas have been validated.
D: Que ha significado este proyecto para todos los que han estado involucrados en el?
D: What has this project meant for everyone involved with it?
Well, obviously, that question will get a different answer, depending on who you ask. For me, it has been a course of action which has made me look back on my youth in a totally different way. People should understand that for us, 15 years ago, having a mohawk (which I never did) or dying your hair blue, or piercing your face and wearing a punk rock shirt was hard to do. Our parents, our teachers and the people around us didn’t ever look at that and just think it was cool. It separated us and made us different. Suddenly, our culture in North America has progressed to the point that these things are no longer dangerous, and sometimes, they’re the popular thing to do. For me to work closely with my friends in Cuba provides me more than anything with an opportunity to mentor other people who are experiencing something which is perhaps similar. It gives me the opportunity to calmly look back at the things we did and the things that other people did before us, and offer guidance to the way it worked for us. Things like how to set up shows, how to create things you’re proud of, how to build a community, how to care for our friends… I think these are the real lessons that we are learning fresh for ourselves and at the same time, teaching those that want to learn.
D: Mencionanos que logros han tenido y comentanos sobre los retos que han tenido que enfrentar?
D: Talk about some of the achievements you’ve had and some of the challenges you’ve faced.
Well, from our side in Canada, we’ve managed to unite a lot of people around the idea that what we do is international. What we do here would matter anywhere, because the basic humanitarian elements of punk rock community are constant. We’re putting together a string of shows over the next couple of months in places I haven’t ever been. So, it’s great that our ideas can get somewhere to be united with people who believe similarly.
At the start, people didn’t understand the possibilities of what we want to do. I think that has been the biggest challenge, to give people the opportunity to see themselves in this sort of loosely defined community. But, we’ve done amazing things. We’ve managed to get support for our tours from our city’s art council and we’ve managed to bring this crazy story into a lot of people’s minds. We’ve given a lot of musicians the ability to see their work in a totally different context and I think that has made them true believers.
We’ve won a couple of small awards, but the most amazing thing happened last January when the AHS in Sancti Spiritus gave us their 25th anniversary medal for the work we had done to bring people together in support of artistic living. That was an amazing experience, because I felt like, for sure, we had communicated our vision with someone who was taking notice. I never, ever thought I would be the recipient of such an award, it’s defiantly a point of pride for me and everyone else involved in Solidarity Rock. We’ve been able to use art to change the way people perceive the world. For me, according to my personal philosophy, this is the first step to building a more just world for everyone in a humanistic way.
D: Tienes alguna anécdota que contarnos?
D: Do you have any funny stories you want to tell us?
There’s a fried Chicken restaurant in Vancouver which is really famous as being the best fried chicken in that city. Joe Staggliano, the drummer in Hangloose had a t shirt from there, and there’s a big chicken on it. He thought it was funny to give the chicken shirt to Pollo, the singer of Adictox. We were in Matanzas, and Joe said something to him and called him Pollo. There was a group of about 5 or 6 girl that looked at him, looked at the chicken on the shirt and started laughing. I don’t know why, but I thought it was hilarious.
D: Que otros destinos tienen como planes futuros?
D: Where else do you plan to bring Solidarity Rock
I don’t even know. I’ve been doing this Solidarity Rock project for quite a while, and now feel like it’s the right time to try to get some new ideas and voices into the project. I would like to be able to work on more documentary films in the next couple of years, and have a couple of great projects shaping up. I think that the Solidarity Rock project could have a great future, and could bring a lot of joy to a lot of people. I’d like to see Solidarity Rock work in eastern Europe, and maybe somewhere else in Latin America. No matter where I or Solidarity Rock goes, the times I’ve spent in Cuba will always be amazing.
D: Por ultimo algo que quisieras añadir?
D: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
When I close my eyes, all I see are images and memories from my time in Cuba. For me, each and every night I have spent at El Mejunje in Santa Clara has been amazing. I don’t know why, but that place has a very special feeling, like there’s always something extremely important happening. I think that each of the shows we’ve done at Mejunje have been special in their own right, and I can’t even really begin to describe what the shows with SLATES, Kids on Fire, Hangloose and the Vicious Cycles have been. But El Mejunje is it’s own story, and if I tried to tell it, I would do a poor job, so if you know the place, and if you were there, you probably understand. It’s always amazing to be part of a night that could never be recreated and share that with my friends.
D: Gracias por tu tiempo en nuestras páginas, sean siempre bienvenidos.
D: Thanks for taking the time to do the interview, you’re always welcome on our page!
Yeah, thanks for asking! I love zines, and am really happy that there are some quality zines being made in Cuba. I can’t wait to get back to Santa Clara! See you next time!
Drew McIntosh
Darryl Reilly, our friend, long time Solidarity Rock supporter and guitar player in Winnipeg’s Guerrillas of Soul put some words down about last weekend’s shaker at the Times Change(d). Check this out.
I asked our friends and partners in Vancouver and Winnipeg to write up some show reports from their latest Solidarity Rock events in those fine western Canadian cities!
