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JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: So about a year ago, I was at the NPR vending machine, getting my afternoon sugar fix.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
That's NPR's Jasmine Garsd in 2010.
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GARSD: I met this Mexican guy, and we started to talk about music.
FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: And I met a young Argentinian woman.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Felix Contreras.
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CONTRERAS: And the music we were talking about was rock en espanol, Latin alternative, all these bands that we don't hear on the air.
GARSD: And we were, like, wouldn't it be awesome if we did a show about this?
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RASCOE: And they did, and ended up talking about a lot more than just their favorite songs. This summer, NPR Music's Alt.Latino celebrates 15 years as both a podcast and, more recently, a radio show that many of you have probably heard on your local member station. And we have Felix and Jasmine, as well as current Alt.Latino co-host Anamaria Sayre, here with us to celebrate. Congratulations on your anniversary.
GARSD: Hey.
CONTRERAS: Hey.
ANAMARIA SAYRE, BYLINE: Thank you (laughter).
CONTRERAS: Thank you.
RASCOE: So Felix and Jasmine, what were you both doing at NPR back in 2010?
GARSD: I was an assistant for our news division, and, you know, around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I would get the afternoon slump, and I'd go down to the vending machine, and Felix sat strategically next to the vending machine.
(LAUGHTER)
GARSD: He was, like, the gatekeeper.
CONTRERAS: In my defense, I was working for the Arts desk, and the Arts desk at that time was situated right next to the vending machines. So I wasn't exactly holding court.
RASCOE: (Laughter) But 2010 was early podcasting days. What was the idea behind doing this type of podcast?
CONTRERAS: I did a report back then, and it was about Latinos over-indexing on mobile products. So we decided to take the program to the potential audience, rather than the audience coming to the program, so we created a podcast.
GARSD: And I don't even think we knew it as a podcast. We were just doing a fun show.
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CONTRERAS: We're talking about great songs about soccer, and so far, all of the songs we picked are about the love of soccer. But next, we have the Irish band The Hitchers with a song about the dreaded girlfriend who hates soccer.
GARSD: Wait, it's not just girlfriends, Felix. I had a boyfriend who had zero interest in soccer.
CONTRERAS: And how did that turn out?
GARSD: Let's just say it ended very badly.
CONTRERAS: OK, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought it up.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STRACHAN")
THE HITCHERS: (Singing) She waited for the match to start to start a fight up with me.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: What were the trends and themes and sounds of 2010 when you were creating Alt.Latino?
GARSD: Well, I think, to me, what was really interesting is there had long been, like, this movement of rock en espanol, of, like, Spanish-language rock, but it had been a pretty white Latino male space. Like, it had a lot of the trappings of, like, you know, rock music. And I think what was happening is that you started getting these really interesting and cool Latino artists who were suddenly, like, mixing genres and creating spaces for queer Latinos and, you know, for women in music and really, like, breaking boundaries.
CONTRERAS: And many countries were also leaning into their shared African heritage 'cause they were Afro-Colombian, Afro-Venezuelan, Afro-Brazilian. This whole thing was a full-on embrace of Afro-Latinidad.
RASCOE: Can we hear an example of what you're talking about?
CONTRERAS: Sure. One of the first bands to catch my attention was a Colombian band I saw at South by Southwest in 2009, just before we launched. Bomba Estereo's album was called "Blow Up." And when I think of the early days, I think of the song "Fuego."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG "FUEGO")
BOMBA ESTEREO: (Singing in Spanish).
CONTRERAS: Still so good, man.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FUEGO")
BOMBA ESTEREO: (Singing in Spanish).
RASCOE: So let's bring Ana back in. What were you doing back when Alt.Latino launched?
SAYRE: So I think I was going to middle school.
(LAUGHTER)
SAYRE: But, you know, I think it was around college when I actually first discovered the show, and it was this really wonderful breath of cultural fresh air. Is that fair to say? I think it's...
RASCOE: Yeah.
SAYRE: ...You know, you're 18, 19 years old, and you're looking for that opportunity to connect with home, connect with your culture in ways that you hadn't realized that you needed to do.
RASCOE: Jasmine, you now cover immigration for NPR. Did anything you covered on the podcast steer you into your beat right now?
GARSD: Yeah. Honestly, the thing that's so beautiful about Alt.Latino is we talk about so much more than music, right? We talk about literature and art and identity. Like, we talked a lot about, like, the complexity of being a Latino in America and a Latin American. And it's interesting. I think we're living in this moment now where that has really become part of the conversation, and we've been talking about that for, like, 15 years.
RASCOE: Yeah. And Ana, you came along when Alt.Latino was also programming Latin music for the Tiny Desk concerts, so now that's another part of the Alt.Latino legacy. Are there any significant or breakout moments from the Tiny Desks that come to your mind?
SAYRE: There have been so many beautiful Latin music, Latin American moments at the Tiny Desk, and I think it's really important to state and acknowledge that without what Felix and Jasmine did for so many years, there wouldn't have been the space...
GARSD: Oh.
SAYRE: ...On a global platform. Truly. It's real - right? - because, like, obviously, we brought Bad Bunny and we brought a lot of these bigger names, but we also brought Ca7riel y Paco Amoroso, who's an Argentine duo, who do something more alternative. They do something more innovative. And there would not have been a space for them if not for Alt.Latino.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DUMBAI")
CA7RIEL & PACO AMOROSO: (Singing in Spanish).
RASCOE: I have a quick lightning-round question for each of you. Pick your personal favorite moment hosting Alt.Latino. Ana?
SAYRE: When Fe (ph) and I interviewed Santana, it is that interview that I actually think I go back to the most because he said something to the effect of, like, when you expand your plane of gratitude, the universe starts to grant you blessings in abundance, or something to that effect.
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CARLOS SANTANA: The more you say gratitude, deep appreciation and thankfulness, the more universe reads you and floods you with 100 times more what you got.
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SAYRE: It was like two years later...
(LAUGHTER)
SAYRE: ...That I was like, oh, my God, he's a genius. This is now my life philosophy (laughter).
GARSD: That's amazing (laughter).
RASCOE: And Felix?
CONTRERAS: My moment is 2018 when I interviewed Rita Moreno for the second time.
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RITA MORENO: This is Alt.Latino, and I'm Rita Moreno.
CONTRERAS: And I thanked her for representing us, and I started crying. My voice broke.
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MORENO: Oh.
CONTRERAS: I want to take this opportunity while sitting across from you to thank you for all of your work, your sacrifices, the way you've stood up for us, the way you celebrate our collective Latino cultures in your life and your work.
MORENO: Oh, you're going to make me cry.
CONTRERAS: (Laughter).
MORENO: I appreciate the love. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEWHERE")
MORENO: (Singing) There's a place for us.
CONTRERAS: That's one of the glories of the show is to be able to put these artists into perspective that we see them, not as they're perceived from outside. So that was my moment.
GARSD: I can't believe I missed seeing you cry. I could have teased you for the rest of your life.
(LAUGHTER)
SAYRE: Jasmine, it's literally every other day.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Jasmine?
GARSD: We did a show about cumbia.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CUMBIA EN LA PLAYA")
GRUPO KUAL: (Singing in Spanish).
GARSD: I grew up loving cumbia and, like, listening to it all the time, but there was also always, like, a stigma around it. It's not highbrow music. By doing that, like, around 2010, I think it was really, like, an acknowledgment of we are here to talk about real music and appreciate music. And this is real to us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CUMBIA EN LA PLAYA")
GRUPO KUAL: (Singing in Spanish).
CONTRERAS: You know, Jas (ph), real quick. That is our most downloaded show...
GARSD: Really?
CONTRERAS: ...In the history - yeah, in the history of the show. Yeah.
GARSD: People are still, like, wait, cumbia, the backbone of Latin America.
CONTRERAS: Yeah. Yeah.
GARSD: Oh, yes, yes.
RASCOE: Jasmine Garsd, Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre, thanks so much for sharing your memories of the first 15 years of Alt.Latino.
CONTRERAS: (Laughter) Thank you.
GARSD: Thank you.
SAYRE: Thanks.
RASCOE: Alt.Latino is available wherever you get your podcasts. Check your local NPR member station to see if they carry the radio show where you live.
(SOUNDBITE OF GRUPO KUAL SONG, "CUMBIA EN LA PLAYA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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