Preparing for JB

I was gonna put this at the end of the blog as a "by the way", but when I uploaded the pic, it wouldn't move to the bottom of the blog, so I'm starting with it. So, a couple of weeks ago, I was searching around for different pics of our guys, and I found this pic of Sergey (2nd trumpet/flugelhorn) playing with Gogol Bordello! (That's him, smoking and playing, haha). Awesome.

Anyway, back to the normal post. Since we're all quiet, you might think that nothing much is going on as we're preparing for JB, but you be wrong... That's exactly why I'm not writing.

First of all, let me say that Jessie Kawata is an amazing designer and the amount of stupid things that have been going on with the poster are annoying the hell out of me, as with her. As you can see at the top of this page, the poster is done, but someone keeps whining about something or stopping the process for some reason or another and we're just trying to get them printed already... Plus, we wanted to paste them around the city, but apparently that costs a lot more than we were prepared for, and since it's wintertime, we figure that maybe people won't be walking outside so much anyway...? We've decided to put our money into more targetted promotional media.

Secondly, we're trying to find an opening act. Who knew it would take this long... We have to make the exact right decision for us, and also make sure that the people we invite feel like it's a good fit for them too. And for some reason, it's been difficult for Ilya and I to come to a perfect decision and find the right act. And, it's cutting it close...

Jimmy and Ilya have finally agreed on a setlist, which is quite exciting, and it also enables us to start preparing the right songs, rather than just prepare in general. In that, it's hard for me because I'm away from the band, so I have to be disciplined enough to rehearse my voice in general, practice those songs and exactly the feeling I want for them (I came up with some new ideas and variations in some of our old stuff), to practice the Cuban guiro which is a new instrument for me and I'm very conscious that I have to find the right groove, practice the Puerto Rican guiro which our amazing friends from Tres Panderos sent me, figure out the new coro arrangements with Ilya (because now Andrey is singing with us), practice my movements onstage, actually plan with Lesya how some songs will look visually, especially practice the JB songs so he'll be pleased with them, and most of all, practice my rhythm while singing - which is a daily feat for me. And that's just me. Can you imagine what Ilya has to do as a bandleader?

Two other people we have to find that are crucial - one is video crew, since we're planning to record the whole concert live. Our good friend Adrian Garcia gave us a good tip, and otherwise, I've got some backup crew from Poland that could eventually come. And, the last thing is to find the right MC........ and so far we're more behind with that than with the opening band. Because that's the trick. We can easily find "any" MC and "any" band, but it's about finding the *right* ones.

And of course, we always welcome more money. I just watched Julie & Julia today as I was making promotional stuff for the concert, and she got people to send her stuff by the sole act of writing a blog. Well, in case anyone has any spare money that they have no idea how to spend, you are welcome to send it our way. I assure you, it won't go to waste. ;) hehe

Dislocados is out of work for one week while Caribbean Club takes a break from live music for the first weekend of 2010, so there's more time for practicing and a bit less time for earning a living.

So, here I am, practicing and practicing. In fact, 24hr/day connected Ilya isn't even ever online anymore because he's practicing all the time. We're going into lockdown mode here.

Meanwhile, EVERYONE is telling us they want to go to this concert, but they all want to wait to buy their tickets, which is making me really nervous. And, we did what I thought you should do - make the tickets more expensive at the door than beforehand, and make the salsa school dance teachers push the tickets on their students, but still ppl are being lazy. That's weird, right? What can I do? Any ideas? I could use some audience participation here like on Julie & Julia... :P ;)

Ok that's it for me now. I have to record my voice and send some stuff to Lesya that I made up that we'll be doing at the concert. I'm out, see you in a bit.~

We just made a new poster for our CDrelease/Jimmy Bosch concert!

Header Banner Made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!

Finding Dislocados info in random places

I just came across this newspaper today. Check out page 9!

It's a Ukrainian-American newspaper by the looks of it, and it wrote about our CD release! Too bad I just found it now, because it was published on August 9th, but this is awesome!

Somehow from the text, it seems like I may have talked to these guys, but I don't really remember... Either way, I must say this is the first time that any text has gotten all the info about us and our release 100% right. You would think that's easy, but it's not. Every publication, review, promotion, etc has made at least one mistake so far, even if the whole thing is almost copy/pasted, so props to these guys for getting it right!

Special thanks to Matthew Dubas and Yarema Belej for the shout-out and enthusiastic writing. We're so happy that the Ukrainian diaspora is supporting us. Now, if only we could work on the Ukrainians... ;)

Great review

Big thanks goes out to Azucar y Candela for doing this great review of our album! Check it out here.

In other news, we're just working really hard for this Jimmy Bosch concert... so much stuff to prepare... But it's going to be worth it. I can't believe we've got like 15 people working full or part time on this and we still have new stuff to do every day... but it's kind of fun. And it will definitely be worth it.

Official ads and announcements go out in December. Keep your ears and eyes open...

In yet more news, my wooden guiro stick - my favorite one, the white one doesn't have enough friction for me - is finally starting to split... :( Also, I didn't realize how hard it is to find a Puerto Rican guiro anywhere outside of Puerto Rico. I can't even find it online to order (or at least a place that will ship to Poland). Boo.

Can I blog about this?

So it's November 9, 2009, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of democracy sweeping through Central and Eastern Europe.

As the first original salsa band to come out of the former Soviet Union, we're proud to remember this day, even though quite a few band members (myself not included) were under 5 years old at the time.

At the same time, we're dealing with some frustration. And, unfortunately, I'm even scared to blog about this, which is a shame that I'm scared to exercise some free speech while we say we've come so far. So, before I go on, let me just say that I, Karolina Patocki, am taking this on myself, and am not expressing the views of any other band member in particular.

Presidential elections are coming up in Ukraine, and right when the campaign opened, a mass hysteria started about swine flu in the country. It is true that there are many people sick, but first of all, it is from all flus and respiratory illnesses, and as far as I understand, the statistics this year are not dissimilar to any other year.

Dislocados is organizing the biggest event of our lifetime as a band, and one of the biggest multicultural concerts to this date in Ukraine, intending to open the country up to embrace other cultures and people of different backgrounds working together to enjoy their common passion, regardless of their background.

And yet now there's a talk about a state of emergency in the country, possibly cancelling the upcoming elections for the foreseeable future.

And we are frustrated. We're working for a better Ukraine, for a better unity of international culture in these 20 years of freedom...

Well, we refuse to give in. The show must go on. We're going on with the concert on the planned date of January 23rd. We believe that it will happen and it will be a success, and we ask all Ukrainians to join us.

And as we close with the words of our Plena Pa' Tontos, now you understand why we sing:

A mi me cansa la politica

La economia, la religion

Quiero cantar en armonia

Porque la plena (y nuestra salsa dura) celebra mi pasion.

I'm tired of politics

Of economics, of religion

I want to sing in harmony

Because the plena (and our salsa dura) celebrates my passion.

Dislocados with JIMMY BOSCH!!! Jan 23, 2010

Well, we've been quiet for a while because we've been organizing our launch in Kiev (set for Jan 23, 2010), but we haven't been able to talk about it yet, but... we're super excited.

First, Andy Harlow writes the liner notes for our CD. And now, Jimmy Bosch is agreeing to come play with us at our CD release party in Kiev!!!

We're going bananas with excitement. I think JB is one of the only musicians that actually every single member in the band likes. (For other artists, we have varying opinions, which of course keeps things interesting.) He's the real symbol of salsa dura these days, and we're so happy to partner with him to promote international hard salsa!

Everyone is going mad. For me and Ilya this is the best of the best at this point for us. Now our task is to make a KILLER event.

But even I saw Sergey (2nd trumpet & flugelhorn) in our Lvov concert about a week ago, and he couldn't stop giggling like a schoolgirl. I hope Jimmy gives him a big wet kiss when he sees him, haha, that'll be it for him, he'll be set for life.

It's really important for me and Ilya that we use this event to broaden our audience in Ukraine. This is so that Ukrainians can really start respecting what they have in their country as much as outsiders do. We are

really trying to open up Ukraine culturally, and so we don't want only the regular dancers to come, although we LOVE it when they do. We of course want to take advantage of the exhibition of real live salsa dura to show the Ukrainian dancers that it's the best music to dance to (their repertoire is still a bit limited, although growing every day).

We also want to take the opportunity to show Ukrainian musicians that salsa offers a lot of satisfaction technically, artistically, musically... and to encourage opening cultural horizons in music.

As well, we really want international representatives to show up to support us, because we know the Americans, French, Germans, Canadians, et al, have all at some point expressed interest in investing in Ukraine not only financially but culturally. But, this is their chance to participate in a historic cultural event.

This is a huge deal. There has never been an event like this in Kiev. That's why we have to make it good now.

In other news, our beloved bandleader, Ilya Yeresko, just recently went to Yalta where he arranged the music for a certain portion of a new huge film that's being recorded there. I think they're doing it in Russian, it's called "Алые Паруса" ("Scarlet Sails"), but we're super proud that people are starting to recognize his talents. He recorded the track with our old friend Susana, who has recently gained fame as Jamala, the new Ukrainian pop sensation.

Let's hope "film composer" will add itself more and more to his resume. Congrats, Ilya!

I also mentioned we went to Lvov together. I can't believe I forgot to post news about that. It was super fun - our first time in Western Ukraine, a

nd the audience was great! We had a few technical issues (ahem) but in the end, the crowd kept their energy, and we're super happy they did. We had a great time, and I'm especially lucky because I

was able to come down for that (as I'm now living in Poland for a while).

Ok, I think that's all the news for now. Like I said, this is just when it starts for me an

d Ilya in terms of organization, and the whole band in terms of preparation, but we're really hoping we can create a valuable event to enrich Ukraine's musical landscape even further.

DISLOCADOS LYRICS - PLENA PA' TONTOS

And, here's track three, in Spanish, English, and Russian. I wrote this inspired by the fact that Ilya hates to talk about politics because political games have exhausted him so much in his country.

Enjoy.

------

PLENA PA’ TONTOS

A mí me cansa la política

La economía, la religión

Quiero cantar tonterías

Sobre gatos que bailan la plena y tocan tambor.

1. Había una papa

Que conocí cuando era bebé

Hablábamos de muchas cosas

Mientras tomábamos café.

Y de esa papa amable

Yo nunca me cansé

Hasta que un día me dio hambre

Y en vez de papa, tuve puré. (Lesya)

2. Yo vivo en la tierra de los dulces

Mi casa está hecha con galleta

Hay montañas de azúcar enormes

Y una cascada de caramelo secreta.

Para cenar, solo se comen tortas

Y ni tu abuela tiene mejor receta

Y aunque este mundo de verdad no exista,

A mí no me importa, ¡yo soy el poeta! (Karo)

3. Ayer conocí un conejo

Vestido con traje azul

Le dije que algo tan raro

No vi ni en mis años de juventud.

Contestó el conejo curioso

Orgulloso del traje azul

“Como ucraniano que toca la plena,

¡El único raro aquí, eres tú!” (Ilya)

A mí me cansa la política

La economía, la religión

Quiero cantar en armonía

Porque la plena celebra mi pasión.

1. Otro día, conocí una serpiente

Parece que era un delincuente

Me vació la cerveza

Por encima de la cabeza

Y me jura que fue un accidente (Lesya)

2. Me enseñaron, ayer, una planta

Que baila, que toca, y que canta

Pero siempre lo ensaya

Y así nunca se calla

Y la gente ya no la aguanta (Karo)

3. Yo creo que no me equivoco

Que los latinos se unen poco a poco

Boricuas y cubanos

Dándose las manos

¡Arriba el Truco y Zaperoko! (Ilya)

Ustedes tienen que sentirse inspirados,

No se preocupen, ¡ya llegaron disLOCAdos!

1. Que toque mi gente, el ritmo nos va a salvar, en lo que creo es en la musica, y la plena voy a cantar (Karo)

2. Y la plena vamo’ a bailar, y la plena vamo’ a gozar, los elefantes y los gatos, que sí, que van a participar (Ilya)

3. Sobreviviente, en este continente, disLOCAdos se van por su camino a contracorriente (Lesya)

1. Mi perro y mi gato viven en armonía

Hay que aprenderlo muy pronto

Así que, ¿por qué nos peleamos, sin vivir con alegría?

Esta es la plena pa’ tontos

2. Aprendamos algo de nuestros amigos, los animales

Hay que aprenderlo muy pronto

Parecemos infantes, ¡hay que cambiarnos los pañales!

Esta es la plena pa’ tontos

3. Por eso cantamos de algo que no nos importa

Hay que aprenderlo muy pronto

¡Disfrutemos! Que la vida es muy corta.

Esta es la plena pa’ tontos

----------

THE SILLY PLENA (PLENA FOR SILLY PEOPLE)

I’m tired of politics

Economics, religion

I want to sing stupid things

Of cats that dance plena and play the drum.

1. There was a potato

That I met when I was a baby

We talked about many things

While we would have coffee.

And I never got tired

Of that friendly potato

Until one day I got hungry

And instead of a potato, I had mashed potatoes. (Lesya)

2. I live in the land of sweets

My house is made of cookies

There are huge sugar mountains

And a secret caramel waterfall.

For dinner, you only eat cake

And even your grandmother doesn’t have a better recipe

And although this world doesn’t really exist,

I don’t care, I’m the poet! (Karo)

3. Yesterday I met a rabbit

Dressed in a blue suit

I told him that I haven’t seen

Anything so strange in all my youth.

The curious rabbit answered,

Proud of his blue suit,

“As a Ukrainian that plays plena,

The only weird one here is you!” (Ilya)

I’m tired of politics

Economics, religion

I want to sing in harmony

Because plena celebrates my passion.

1. The other day, I met a snake

It seems like he was a delinquent

He emptied his beer

On top of my head

And he swears to me that it was an accident (Lesya)

2. Yesterday, they showed me a plant

That dances, plays (an instrument), and sings

But it’s always rehearsing

And it never shuts up

And nobody can handle it anymore. (Karo)

3. I believe I’m not wrong

That latin people are uniting, little by little

Puerto Ricans and Cubans

Shaking each others hands

Cheers to Truco y Zaperoko! (Ilya)

You have to feel inspired,

Don’t worry, disLOCAdos are here!

1. I want my people to play, the rhythm will save us, I believe in music, and I’m gonna sing my plena (Karo)

2. And we will dance plena, and we will enjoy the plena, the elephants and the cats, oh yes, will participate (Ilya)

3. Surviving, on this continent, disLOCAdos are on their own path, against the current (Lesya)

1. My dog and my cat live in harmony

You must learn very soon

So, why are we fighting, rather than living in happiness?

This is the silly plena

2. Let’s learn something from our friends, the animals

You must learn very soon

We’re like children, you should change our diapers!

This is the silly plena

3. That’s why we’re singing about something that doesn’t matter

You must learn very soon

We should have fun, because life is too short.

This is the silly plena

--------

ПЛЕНА ДЛЯ ГЛУПЫХ Эй!

Наконец, плена пришла в Украину! С Дислокадос! Для глупых и для сумасшедших!

Мне надоела политика, Экономика, религия!

Хочу петь о глупостях

Про котов, которые танцуют плену и играют на барабане!

1. Жила-была картошка,

С которой я познакомилась в детстве

Мы говорили про разные вещи,

Когда пили кофе

И от этой любезной картошки

Я никогда не уставала,

Пока однажды не проголодалась

И не сделала из картошки пюре

2. Я живу в стране сладостей

Мой дом сделан из галеты,

Есть огромные горы сахара

Потайные водопады из карамели

На ужин (там) едят торты

И даже у твоей бабушки нет рецепта лучше

Но, хотя эта страна на самом деле не существует,

Мне всё равно – я поэт!

3. Вчера познакомился с кроликом,

Одетым в синий костюм.

Я ему сказал, что такого странного дела

Я не встречал даже в дни моей молодости

Ответил мне заинтригованный кролик,

Одетый в синий костюм:

«Будучи украинцем, играющим плену,

Единственное странное дело тут – это ты, только ты»

Мне надоела политика, Экономика, религия!

Хочу петь в гармонии

Потому что в плене торжествуют мои чувства!

1. Я недавно познакомилась со змеёй,

Мне показалось, что она преступница.

Она вылила пиво

Мне на голову

И поклялась, что это была случайность.

2. Мне вчера показали растение,

Которое танцует, играет и поёт.

Но она постоянно занимается

И поэтому никогда не перестаёт шуметь,

И люди её терпеть не могут

3. Я думаю, что не ошибаюсь:

Латиносы (люди из Лат.Америки) понемногу объединяются:

Пуэрториканцы с кубинцами,

Подавая друг другу руку.

Эй, Труко и Сапероко!! (группа, которая нам очень нравится и в которой играет половина кубинцев, половина пуэрториканцев – хотя в треке всё равно последней строчки не слышно)

Вы должны себя чувствовать вдохновлёнными,

Не беспокойтесь, уже пришли Дислокадос!

1. Пусть мои люди играть, нас спасёт ритм, во что я верю, так это в музыку, и буду петь плену!

2. Будем танцевать плену, радоваться с пленой, слоны и коты, которые да!, которые будут в этом участвовать!

3. Выживая (в хорошем смысле) на этом континенте, Дислокадос идут по своей дороге против течения

1. Моя собака и мой кот живут в гармонии

Надо понять поскорее

Ну, и зачем мы дерёмся, вместо того, чтобы жить с радостью

Это плена для глупых

2. Поучимся кое-чему у наших друзей – животных

Надо понять поскорее

Мы похожи на младенцев – надо менять пелёнки

Это плена для глупых

3. Поэтому поём о чём-то не важном

Надо понять поскорее

Давайте радоваться! Жизнь весьма коротка!

Это плена для глупых

Плена, которую мы знаем, может быть и из Сан Антона, но ещё её поют в Украине!

Dislocados Interview - Question One

So, we did a little sit-down with me, Ilya, Lesya, and Andrei to talk about our album. This is more for people who want to know more about the album, the band, or just the process of how these kinds of things come about.

I split it up into a few questions, and since youtube doesn't let you publish more than 10 minutes at a time, the questions themselves are split into various parts.

Above, you have Question 1, part 1, and below you have parts 2 and 3 of the same question, which is "how did we decide to record a salsa album & write original music?"

New Promo Video for the band

I should have been cleaning my house. Instead, I made this:

DISLOCADOS LYRICS - CANCION DE LOS MUERTOS

Hey, I decided to post lyrics to our songs, like a good friend of ours suggested might be nice for the listeners. Maybe we'll hear some of you guys singing along next time... we'll even invite you on stage, hehe. :)

I'll do these one at a time.

(Underneath is the translation for those who are wondering)

CANCION DE LOS MUERTOS

Me decían siempre que soy joven

Que tengo mucho tiempo para disfrutar de la vida

Pero ahora me asusta esta enfermedad

Yo se que viví en un mundo de privilegio

Por eso no pregunto "¿por qué a mí?"

Tampoco hice nada malo

O, al menos, lo hice sin intención

Yo le pediría otra oportunidad,

pero no sé qué hice para que esto me pasara

Ahora me dicen que tome precauciones

Pero lo que yo quiero es vivir más

Déjeme vivir, para qué me voy a limitar

Sin saber cuánto tiempo me queda

No quiero que nadie más juegue con mi vida

Con ella quiero jugar solo yo

Me decían siempre que soy joven

Ahora Usted me lo hace dudar

Hay cosas que quiero

Que siempre quería

Yo pensaba que me faltaba paciencia

No me diga que nunca iba a ser más que un sueño

¿Por qué nos contaron historias de abuelas viejas

Si nunca me iban a salir canas?

Por eso no quiero que nadie me diga como pasar mis días

Tampoco quiero pasarlos con alguien que no sea sincero

Voy a hacer todo lo que quiera

Y sentir todo lo que pueda

En cada momento que lata mi corazón

No quiero que nadie más juegue con mi vida

Con ella quiero jugar solo yo

1. Solo más tiempo quiero, porque no queda mucho más

2. Y ya no quiero soñar, quiero vivir todo en la realidad

Porque me quedan más días de llanto y de risa

Porque siento la rumba en el ritmo de mi corazón

Porque al despertarme por la mañana, sigo creyendo en el atardecer

Porque quiero que llegue el día que el pueblo cante mi cancion

Canten conmigo

Sigan el ritmo

Vivan la vida

A su manera, hagan lo que quieran

1. Con mi libertad

Voy a seguir viviendo

Y nunca dejo de respirar y cantar

Que no sé hacer nada más

2. Pero nadie me quitará mi canción

Yo sobreviviré por mis letras que repetirán

Por mi voz que recordarán

Y nos uniremos tras la muerte

Que el aliento de la vida existe por el ritmo de nuestro pueblo

Que bailen, hoy cantan los muertos

1. La vida y la muerte

2. Ritmo cadencioso que obliga a bailar a los muertos

3. Que no, no, no voy a morir

4. A traves de mi musica voy a sobrevivir

5. Oye muerto, oye vivo, goza la salsa que yo cultivo

6. La rumba buena que supera la muerte

-------

SONG OF THE DEAD

They always told me that I’m young

That I have a lot of time to enjoy life

But now this illness scares me

I know that I lived a privileged life

That’s why I don’t ask “why me?”

But I also didn’t do anything bad, either

Or, at least, I did it without intention

I would ask you for another chance,

But I don’t know what I did for this to happen

Now they tell me to be careful

But I want to live more

Let me live, why would I limit myself

Without knowing how much time I have left

I don’t want anybody else to play with my life

Only I want to play with it

They always told me that I’m young

Now You make me doubt it

There are things that I want

That I always wanted

I thought I had to be more patient

Don’t tell me they were all just dreams

¿Why did they tell us stories of old grandmothers

If I was never going to grow gray hair?

For this reason, I don’t want anybody to tell me how to spend my days

I also don’t want to spend them with anybody that’s not honest

I’m going to do anything I want

And to feel everything I can

In every moment that my heart beats

I don’t want anybody else to play with my life

Only I want to play with it

I just want more time, because I don't have much left

And I don't want to dream anymore, I want to live everything in reality

Because I have more days left of tears and laughter

Because I feel the rumba in the rhythm of my heart

Because when I wake up in the morning, I still believe in the sunset

Because I want the day to come when the people sing my song.....

Sing with me

Follow the rhythm

Live life

Your way, do whatever you want

With my freedom

I will continue living

And I will never stop breathing and singing

Cuz I don't know how to do anything else

But nobody will take away my song

I will survive by my lyrics that they will repeat

By my voice that they will remember

And we will reunite beyond death

Because life’s breath exists through the rhythm of our people

Dance, today the dead people sing

Life and death

Lilting rhythm that makes dead people dance

No, I won't die

I will survive through my music

Listen dead one, live one, enjoy the salsa I cultivate

The good rumba that overcomes death