the INTERVIEW with MANGLAR Rock and Reggae Band.

by Harry Padilla Chinchilla

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

When I enter YOLO, Joxan is crooning a rock 'n' roll song. Daniel is focused, always thinking about time, an inkless pen drawing a line in the wind that his bandmates follow. To the left is Kenneth, his fingers yearning for the strings, sending music through the speaker, making super-inspired sounds shine.

Manglar Rock and Reggae Band, established this year, is dedicated to playing these genres. They are three friends from the neighborhood with day jobs and secret identities on performance nights.

At YOLO, patron saint of the arts, there's often live music. People dine in the back accompanied by reggae, songs popular among young people in Latin America because it's about sharing music, as Kenneth says, provoking an emotion and bringing back a memory. Their repertoire in English is varied, with rock 'n' roll and reggae at its core.

On how they took their first steps in music:

Joxan:

I started in school participating in various cultural activities and the Student Arts Festival. I also sang in a choir. At 18, I started playing with a band. I'm in a folklore group, Marimbiando and its dance crew. Also, I am in another tropical music project, Son Dúo

Kenneth:

My dad inspired me a lot; he was a super rocker, he listened to legendary bands: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, the Beatles, Black Sabbath, and my grandfather played in the Trío Los Zúñiga. My dad bought a guitar in case the next generation was inclined, an instrument in the house. The thing was, I started learning by playing Nirvana riffs when I was in school. There was a kind of euphoria about that. Playing guitar is forever. We formed a rock-metal band. The band was called Sibú. Despite the musical genre, we found a lot of support in Quepos and played in different bars.

Daniel:

I started in the school band with the snare drum. Later in the high school band. I was part of the Cartago Municipal Choir, I like to sing, even if it doesn't seem like it [Daniel frowns when he is focused]. I continued studying drums with a Carlos Sanders for a while in Cartago. I met some cool guys with music and video material, looking for a drummer. and we played for four years in San José in different venues, until work and school due as apart. And I came to Quepos, so I distanced myself from music for a bit. I started practicing minor percussion to adapt a bit to the beach band format where the drums are loud, or were very large. Later, I met Joxan helping out in Selina's dance classes, and I collaborated on percussion a couple of times, and soon we started playing.

K: One day we started playing, and Joxan liked how we sounded. He played at the Plinio. We became friends and played for the first time at La Colina. Later, Daniel joined us.

J: As Chino [Kenneth] says, I've always been open to sharing music with everyone. Music transports. Music is for healing, for filling the soul.

D: By virtue of being in the back, on the drums, I'm sometimes a little isolated from the audience, so to speak, but I feel it's beautiful when the audience joins in, starts dancing, and starts singing along. When people laugh and have a good time. A wonderful ambience is created

K: The other day we were talking about how someone always starts dancing. One time we were playing at Yolo, and a group of people who were passing by came into the restaurant and started dancing. One of the girls was dancing on the stage, in the band's space, very close to one of the guitars.

There were giggles among the guys when they told me the anecdote. No drawing was painted, but I sensed that lambada was danced.

K: We play music to share. People get excited and dance, and I understand that the music is reaching the audience.

I ask them about their most memorable performance, and they remember a time when they were very in harmony.

J: ...like the three of us came eager to play. We were all into it.

D: ...that time there were few people, and you take liberties; the concentration on the music was different.

K: ...like we felt more comfortable playing together.

J: ...I think it was today's performance...