(machines buzzing) (footsteps clattering) - I am from the great State of Wisconsin.

I grew up in a half Black, half Mexican household, music was always around.

It wasn't until middle school when Dustin Thalman actually came to school with his own guitar, and I realized that kids can have guitars and play guitar.

So I was fortunate to have older adults and musicians that kind of looked out for me, and kind of let me experiment on my weirdness.

(upbeat music) (chimes ringing) Siempre me recuerdas cuando eras feliz My musical style has been a long journey to get to where we're at now.

Started off by singing classical music in choir, and gospel music in choir in church briefly as a kid.

And then the music that my folks listened to from, you know, corridos and, you know, soul and folk music.

And I got into like, alternative rock way back in the 90s.

And when it all kind of came together is when I started putting all that together.

♪ Vi-da-di-da-da, di-da ♪ ♪ Vi-da-di-da-da, di-da ♪ - When I started discovering, you know, the sounds of shoegaze and the sounds of Latin alternative music, folks that were mixing cumbias with rock and roll and electronic music.

And I didn't have to bifurcate who I was as a human being like, oh, this is, I'm Latino, or I'm Black.

I'm both, and I can be fully both at the same time.

And it's actually a lot more interesting and cooler.

♪ I know you've got your guard up ♪ ♪ But if you really trust me ♪ ♪ You know there's no reason to lie ♪ I would say we do a kind of shoegazy Latin groove thing.

We are really at our hearts, kind of retro-futurist, where we try to head to the future, but guided by the past.

That's whether we're playing around with electronics and samplers, or we're just going old-school acoustic instruments.

You know, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Peruvian, Afro-New Orleanian inspired, you know, we're there, we're touching upon it.

What I love about the Milwaukee music scene is its diversity.

It's a place where you can experiment, make mistakes, grow as an artist, and its accessibility.

You know, there's tons of venues where at all levels you can perform and really just hone your craft and do some weird stuff.

♪ But these emotions won't let me in ♪ (chimes ringing) ♪ I know you got your guard up♪ ♪ But if you really trust me ♪ ♪ You know there's no reason to lie ♪ I want them to feel love.

I want them to feel that they are a part of something bigger.

I want them to feel the intimate moments of their lives.

I want them to sometimes feel sad.

I want them to sometimes feel that it's okay that the ugly emotions come out.

I want them to understand that, you know, we're all in this together, we got one life.

While we're here, we should enjoy each other, just all around, you know, togetherness.

That's what I wanna do, I wanna bring people together.

♪ Oh-la, oh-la, oh-la, oh-la-la ♪ ♪ Oh-la, oh-la, oh-la, oh-la-la ♪ (chimes ringing)