Named after the camaraderie-filled “high five,” up-and-coming band Chócala brings friendship to the forefront through a mix of Latin rhythms and powerhouse pop-rock.
"Part of — I’ll call it the "magic" of this band — is really the connection we have with one another and how much fun we have doing what we’re doing."– Liza Ortiz, lead singer of Chócala
Interview Highlights:
On defining their sound, and the sound of Alt Latinx:
Liza Ortiz (lead singer): It’s funny, my brother got into a conversation with a random person when he was promoting a show and the best thing they came up with was, “Music for curious people.” But I think we’ve always had trouble trying to define our sound because I think that’s what made this project — we didn’t want to have any kind of limitations. Still writing, we’d have influences, but there’s not a single sound or genre we’re trying to stay within or do. There’s not a lot of consistency, necessarily, other than the exploratory sound.
On diversity in Charlotte music:
Davey Blackburn (drummer): Outside of (one) band, I’ve never heard of any other Spanish-speaking band that played like rock ‘n’ roll. Now, there’s more than a handful of bands that are Spanish-speaking and multicultural, and their sound is a reflection of that.
So, I mean, [from] just from seeing one or two bands to where there’s more than a handful of bands — it’s definitely grown. It’s just an example of us becoming a more global city, and I hope that we have helped that.
On how they fit into Charlotte music:
Ortiz: I think where we fit in is bringing a unique perspective of music that isn’t what people automatically associate with the Spanish language. I think, when we’re building our shows, that’s something we play off.
On how they hope the Charlotte music scene evolves:
Blackburn: I hope that it becomes more of a place where bigger things happen and more frequent things happen. This [city] can be more of a stopping point for a lot of things because a lot of bands skip over Charlotte to get to those other places. That’s another thing that I’ve noticed that’s been changing, too.
Ortiz: Music is changing so much, period. But it’s liberated a bunch of bands to create all these new sounds, so there’s — across the board I think — new sounds coming up. Especially similar to what we’re doing. Maybe not in Charlotte, but it’s definitely happening in the United States and other countries. Part of this project has been asking some of those bands that we enjoy to just consider Charlotte, and start making that bridge to, like Davie said, make this a place to stop.
Music featured in this #WFAEAmplifier chat:
CHÓCALA – “Reina De Mi”
Mestre Esquilo - "Arma Do Nago"
CHÓCALA – “Ojos Bobolos”
CHÓCALA – “Sombras”
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