Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: Stereotypes are a bitch. I mean, aside from the really bad ones, you have cultural stereotypes about everything, including music. Would do you think is the stereotype for the music you play, and how far are you away from it?

AT: For starters, tourists visit Latin-American countries and come back with souvenir/toy instruments such as maracas and bongos. They really believe that they’re legitimate instruments and bring them to some concerts/venues and try to play along with the band. Really bad idea! We also don’t perform with a basket full of fruits on our heads. Sometimes the lack of knowledge and/or the lack of respect for other cultures is astonishing and sad at the same time. After performing for 45 years, I can honestly say that I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it all.

The amount of years practicing, honing skills, purchasing authentic instruments and learning a culture’s music roots and rhythms doesn’t happen in a souvenir shop’s checkout line. Fourteen albums, thousands of hours of practice, tours as far away as China, too many to count performances and sharing the stage with the best in the business is as far away as you can be and we are proud that we’ve all those benchmarks and continue to do what we love best.

RRX: In the musical world, there are many supporting players. Recording engineers, sound techs, cover art designers. Who are three people that support the craft that you would like to shine a spotlight on?

AT: I’ve always shared the spotlight and continue to do so. I believe (in my case) that everyone in my band is extremely important in order to maintain the sound that is pertinent to us. Our unique fingerprint and that we are not “someone’ else. With this said, our recording engineer & sound engineer, Robert Schraver has been extremely supportive, lending his expertise, criticism, and all around support to the band and thus helping us maintain “our sound.”

My stepdaughter, Dr. Cadence Trapini has phenomenal drawing talents and has been an awesome addition as our cover art designer. It’s truly amazing how she converts our audio into a beautiful visual piece of art.

RRX: Playing out is tricky because you never know what’s going to happen when you get there. Sometimes everything goes wrong. What was your worst show like?

AT: The worse show happened this past December and out of all places, in NYC! We were told to show up at 6am for a 10am show. We showed up at 6am and no one knew (including the security guard) about our performance. Union stage hands show up and refuse to do anything until 8am and so we are in limbo. The spokesperson for the union stage hands tells me at least seven times that a band like ours takes them four hours to set up and that it’s crazy that these union stage hands have to do it in a rush. Of note, I set the band up in 45 minutes if we have to do sound. I then believed him because there were ten men and one female and only one of them was actually working. The others were chatting and drinking coffee. Of course, then it was a fifteen minute speech about staying behind the curtain line just in the event that the light rack happen to somehow dislodge itself and fall on me and the frontline. Ah, safety first!

Then I was asked about the programming by the backstage crew. I brought the promoter into the conversation. Alas, we are all on the same page! Nope. Halfway into the third song, the promoter tells me to stop, the backstage crew tells me to keep playing and the sound engineer changed all the levels after we sound checked. The promoter wanted me to say something over the mic to the audience and I couldn’t understand her because the theatre was packed and everyone was speaking and the promoter was twenty feet in front of me, on the floor while I was up on the stage.

RRX: Tell me about your most recent song, album, or video (you pick.) Tell me a story about what went into making it. Not a process, but a cool story that took place within the process.

AT: I grew up in the Bronx and was exposed to all types of cultures and music. Although most of my listening was Spanish sung music, I did gravitate to the band Chicago. I really liked their horn arrangements and all around vibe. Here I am, five decades later and I happen to turn on the radio (which I don’t listen to).I was traveling in between buildings for my job and it was a light rainy day. To my surprise, “Saturday In The Park” was playing. It brought back fond memories of my childhood but then all of a sudden I noticed the intermittent wipers were in synch with the song! Wait a minute, I said to myself. The wipers are in chacha mode. Voila! Yes! I will make “Saturday In The Park” into a chacha arrangement! I did a bit of research on the internet and realized that no one has ever done it. I am extremely grateful that it has been well received and that it’s a dancer’s delight.

RRX: Let’s talk about your next project, your next few. Just not the ones you’re working on now. The ones you have your eyes on for the future. What’s coming to us?

AT: We pride ourselves on documentation whether it’s through articles, pictures and recordings. Just like having a baby, we too see ourselves changing in different ways and that includes our musical chops and the way we’ve morphed. As we approach our 45^th Anniversary, (yes, I started the band in high school and the band has never broken up), I can honestly say that we are honored to be considered one of the people’s favorites, well respected amongst others in the craft and an authentic representation of our culture. There are many projects on hand including a biography, new promo video, continuation of new original recordings (to date, I’ve written 206 songs) and I hope to team up with a local symphony to join them in performing a selection of my original songs!

RRX: How does practice go? Is the road practice enough, or do you have a practice shack? If so, how does it look? What’s on the walls? What cool sh*t is in there?

AT: For the past 44 plus years, we’ve rehearsed on Wednesdays. We start at the end of September and end in mid-May. We are very busy in the spring and summer and therefore do not need to rehearse. We have our own recording studio which doubles as a rehearsal space. One of the things that we have that other bands do not, is an open-door policy. We allow other musicians/fans/promoters/journalists to come over and check out how we as a family, team up and try to “perfect” an original song. Obviously, in doesn’t happen at one rehearsal. Sometimes it can take up to eight rehearsals to make it “gel.”

On the walls are all of our recordings, some articles about us, favorite pics and a few of our awards. The studio contains all of the percussion instruments, amps, keyboard and recording equipment. Also, a turntable and a lot of vinyl records to listen to after a hard rehearsal to unwind.

And now for running joke; The reason why my band has lasted so long is because I feed them before every rehearsal authentic Puerto Rican cuisine!

More from Liam Sweeny…