volume 1 issue 3

L.A.'S BEST TACOS CARLOS BOCANEGRA ENRIQUE BUNBURY

P-RODSkating with

BECKY GMusic's Hottest Rising Star

THELATINISSUE

The Bookof Life

Guillermodel ToroProduces

AUGUST 2014

24

62

BECKY G PHOTOGRAPHED BY CATHERINE ASANOV FILM12 TELEVISION: "THE BRIDGE"14 GUILLERMO DEL TORO PRODUCES

THE BOOK OF LIFE16 COMEDY: PABLO FRANCISCO 18 A HISTORY OF LATIN FILMS

MUSIC20 LE BUTCHERETTES22 CAMILA 24 BECKY G 32 DIANA FUENTES34 ENRIQUE BUNBURY38 J'MARTIN

CULTURE40 BEAUTY: LAURA SANCHEZ42 FASHION: MODERNISMO: THE MOVEMENT

CONTINUES 46 FOOD: BEST TACOS IN LOS ANGELES50 FOOD: A FRESH TAKE ON TACO SALAD52 FOOD: CHEF RAY GARCIA

OF FIG RESTAURANT54 FOOD: HIDDEN GEM 101: CASABLANCA58 PSYCHIC MEDIUM MARIA LUISA60 INTERIOR DESIGNER FERNANDO GONZALEZ

SPORTS62 STREET SKATEBOARDER PAUL RODRIGUEZ 64 CARLOS BOCANEGRA OF CHIVAS USA

EDITORIAL6 Letter From the Publisher 8 Letter From the Editor 66 Staff Picks

4 | | LOL-LA.COM | AUGUST•2014

CONTENTS

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PublisherLetter FROM THE

If Not Your Homeland, L.A. Is the Place To Be

Los Angeles is considered by many to be the second-most important market in the United States. For me, however,it’s the biggest because this city is the mecca of all things: lifestyle, sports, entertainment and culture, amongother things. I migrated to this beautiful place in late 1993 from my native Guatemala, a country in the north of Central

America. For the first eight years of my fortunate life, I grew up in Guate (as we call it). I don’t believe therecould have been a better location other than Los Angeles (NorthHollywood, to be precise) for me to have moved to as a kid,being Latino and not speaking one darn word of English.I have to admit it was tough at first, but the support of my

family was, at that time, beyond crucial. I learned how to speak,read and write English within one year, give or take a few days.I moved on from Toluca Lake Elementary School and into Wal-ter Reed Junior High School before hitting North HollywoodHigh School. I spent four years at UC Riverside and anotherfour more at the University of La Verne during my post-grad-uate work. Even at that time, I remained connected with ourcity's arts, entertainmentand everything in be-tween.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been heavily influenced by our local enter-tainment (concerts, movies, theatrical pieces, etc.); sports (Dodgers, Lakers,Clippers, Galaxy, USC and UCLA football, Kings, etc.), lifestyle (wherewe live, what we do, how and where we eat, etc.); and culture (Los Angeles’growth, history, etc.). It’s been fascinating to witness how everything’s grad-ually developed into what it is today: the Lakers’ struggles, the Clippers'unexpected winning ways, UCLA overtaking USC in football, the Dodgers’new ownership, the departure of David Beckham from the Galaxy and the

Kings being back on topof the NHL.But Los Angeles has-

n’t been all about sports;it’s also a prominent en-tity for music, movies,theatre and food – all par-ticularly within the Latincommunity. This is whyit is with great honor thatwe here at Living Out Loud LA present to you our August digitalmagazine – a special Latin issue where we highlight someprominent music artists, entrepreneurs and sports figures, amongothers, from the L.A. scene.Living in Los Angeles has allowed me not only to meet and

socialize with my country-mates, but also with many othersfrom different ethnic backgrounds: Caucasians, Asian-Americans and blacks, other Central Americans, SouthAmericans, Spaniards and, of course, my fellow Mexicans. That there, is Los Angeles; it’s beyond multicultural.

Marvin [email protected]


My Second Family

If you live in Los Angeles, it’s near to impossible that you aren’t touched in someway by Latin culture. Whether you’re addicted to a weekly Zumba class, you nevermiss Hollywood Forever's annual Dia de Los Muertos festival, have shaken yourhips and sung along at the top of your lungs to a Shakira song or simply look forwardto indulging in a mid-afternoon pupusa from the Salvadorean lady at the cart downthe street, chances are you’ve in some way been affected in one form or another.

In this, our inaugural special issue, the pages to follow are focused entirely onLatin culture. From those who entertain us, such as filmmaker Guillermo del Toro,comedian Pablo Francisco and musicians like Camila, Enrique Bunbury and ourcover subject, Becky G, to those who inspire us, athletes Paul “P-Rod” Rodriguezand Carlos Bocanegra, and local entrepreneurs: beauty guru Laura Sanchez, meta-physical medium/seer Maria Luisa and interior designer Fernando Gonzalez.

Gonzalez makes a powerful statement about his Mexican heritage when hespeaks of his specialized field, creating beautiful dining rooms for Angelenos. Hesays, “Food is way of showing [family, friends] you love them.” Family, faith andfood are integral parts of many, if not all, Latin cultures.

Ask someone what food they most associate with Los Angeles, and they willmost likely reply: tacos! One of our food writers, Erica Carter, scours the city farand wide to list her favorite taco establishments. She also visits Chef Ray Garcia ofFIG Restaurant for his monthly pork-centric feast. We also visit Casablanca in Veniceand put a fresh spin on your average taco salad.

Let’s not forget the aesthetic influence of Latin culture. Our style maven LupitaWoo puts together a veritable feast for the eyes in a Modernismo-themed fashionspread. It is guaranteed to have any clotheshorse craving a piece or two. I am in to-tally smitten with the striped dress in the pictorial!

Personally, I’ve been blessed to be exposed to a lot of Mexican-American culturethrough my best friend and her family over the past 27 years. I've seen the phrase‘food as love’ brought to life at so many of their holiday celebrations and gatherings(Oh, how I miss the fruits of their tamale-party labors.). It still amazes me how hermom never misses 6:30 a.m. mass every weekday. But this family’s faith is not onlyin God, but in one another. I’ve witnessed a fierce commitment to family exhibitedby her immigrant grandparents, hardworking parents, aunts and uncles and the close-knit bond between her siblings and cousins.

I am so incredibly lucky to be able to call the Nevarezes my second family, andthey remind me to spend each day Living Out Loud.

Yuri [email protected]

PublisherMarvin [email protected]

Editor-in-ChiefYuri Shimoda

[email protected]

Art DirectorOliver Nowlin

[email protected]

Photo EditorRafael [email protected]

Chief Operating Officer - Executive VPEdison Millan

[email protected]

Staff Reporters Ramon Aviles, Dougal Brownlie, Brenda Cam-beros, Humberto Capiro, Erica Carter, Erkan Cer-tain, Dillon Cooper, Dash Finley, Chris Gabourel,Elisa Hernandez, Sabina Ibarra, Jocelyn James,Nichole Jones, Ariel Kashanchi, Jaclyn Joan Kull-

berg, Pablo Lopez, Patrick Meissner, MarkMikhail, Daizy Neri, Ariel Paredes, Gabriel Preci-ado, Lizette Ramirez, Francisco Reyes, AidenSimko, Evan Solano, David Tobin, Lupita Woo,

Paul Zahn

Staff PhotographersRamon Aviles, Dougal Brownlie, Andrew Carrillo,Jose Garibay, Jocelyn James, Pablo Lopez, OliverNowlin, Gabriel Preciado, Ruben Rojas, David

Tobin, Taylor Wong

Advertising Inquiries [email protected]

LIVING OUT LOUD5252 Cartwright Ave., Suite 3North Hollywood, CA 91601

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© Copyright 2014 Living Out Loud LA. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

/livingoutloudmagazine @_lolmag

AUGUST 2014 — VOLUME 1 — ISSUE 3

EditorLetter FROM THE

Michelle and Marguerite Nevarez


@_lolmag

Burnt,But Not Broken “THE BRIDGE”By Mark Mikhail

FX’s border drama, “The Bridge,” is about a lot of differ-ent things. First and foremost, it’s a police proceduralcentered on events related to the United States-Mexico

border and how both agencies deal with their respective crimes.That’s the premise of the show in general, but it would be muchmore accurate to say that the show is about Sonya Cross (DianeKruger), an American officer who suffers from Asperger’s Syn-drome, and Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir), a Mexican officerwhose adulterous lifestyle bleeds into his work and affectseveryone around him. One level deeper, the show subtly dealswith heavy-handed politics like immigration, drug trade, sextrafficking, police corruption, etc. – extremely subtly.When you look at that list, it seems like a lot for one show

to tackle, and in truth, the creators struggled to tell the storythey wanted to in its premiere episodes. Though it had an arse-nal of relevant subject matter to explore, it mostly placed allthat juicy conflict on the back burner to focus on the proceduralaspect of the show. The first season’s biggest problem was thatit didn’t really know what it was or what it wanted to be. Like I mentioned, it has several different relevant avenues

to explore but instead focused largely on how Sonya dealt withher Asperger’s as an adult detective and Marco guiding her wayas a friend. Additionally, we follow Steven Linder (Thomas M.Wright), a coyote from Texas who falls in love with one of thegirls he transports. Despite a great performance from Wright,his story is so completely independent from the main plot thatit’s difficult to understand why they included him at all. Whenyou combine all these elements, it results in a show like everyother generic procedural without something to say and a gim-mick to uphold. Structurally, it’s a mess. The first two-thirds of the season

are spent chasing after a serial killer who seems to have a po-litical agenda, only to reveal that all the murders were driven

by a fateful affair between Marco and his old partner’s wife.The last three episodes are spent chronicling the aftermath,which doesn’t seem all that interesting or something theycouldn’t take care of in one episode. It’s a shame, too, becauseit showed great promise when it acted as if it had somethingimportant to say about sharing a border with our Mexicanneighbors. After all, border politics have never been more rel-evant or provocative than they are now, which is how I’m surethe show was initially pitched to FX.So having said all this, where does Season 2 stand? First,

it’s important to note that one of the show’s two originalshowrunners, Meredith Stiehm, has left to pursue other proj-ects, leaving Elwood Reid with sole creator responsibilities. Inrecent interviews, Elwood has stated his desire for darker, grit-tier material as well as a more serialized arc across the season.Rather than having largely static characters dealing with a loosemystery each episode, the show is going to more directly coverthe development of their characters. Though the changes soundsweeping, it’s hard to really feel a difference in the second sea-son premiere. It’s clear from how fast things are moving thatthe characters will be undergoing drastic changes over the nextfew months, which I think can only help the show in its execu-tion … but execution can only save so much. The bottom line is that you need a good story to tell before

you have anything to execute. If “The Bridge” realizes its ownassets in having a platform to speak on our mercurial borderpolicies and the culture surrounding it, they will most likelyfind that the material is edgy enough without the added grit,and perhaps their characters can flourish around that subjectmatter rather than out of thin air. So far, the second season is amarked improvement from the first strictly in terms of form.As for the actual content, only time will tell.

“The Bridge” airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.

Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir (Kurt Iswarienko/FX)

TELEVISION

12| | LOL-LA.COM | AUGUST•2014

A Whole New RealmGuillermo del Toro Takes a Chance on Young

Filmmaker with The Book of Life By Brenda Camberos

With the upcoming animated adventure TheBook of Life, master filmmaker Guillermo delToro gives new filmmaker Jorge Gutierrez the

opportunity of a lifetime and takes audiences into yet an-other realm. Del Toro is a famed Mexican storyteller who has

taken moviegoers deep into other worlds of fantasy andmake believe with films like Pan’s Labyrinth and Hell-boy. A classic workaholic, del Toro always has more thanenough on his plate. But what happens when an aspiringfilmmaker knocks on his door and asks for his help? ForGutierrez, the adventure of a lifetime has just begun. “Having him as a producer on this movie has been, as

you can imagine, a dream come true. Every young direc-

tor dreams of having Guillermo del Toro as their guidingvoice,” says former art student Gutierrez almost incred-ulously. “What other director goes out of his way to helpother young directors? He's like the Mother Teresa offilm!” “And, I make you look thin!” del Toro jumps in. The acclaimed screenwriter, director, novelist and

producer is funny, honest and, you will soon find, a com-mitted professor as well. Once he agreed to take his fel-low compatriot under his wing, the pair dove into thekitchen and began to cook. “We both think a lot about food,” says del Toro of his

apprentice, before going on to describe their new film asa traditional Mexican mole. “If you are going to create a

Twentieth Century Fox and Reel FX

FILM


AUGUST•2014 | LOL-LA.COM | |15

dish, if film is a world of flavors, theworst thing that can happen is for itto uniform itself into a single flavor.So it was with that desire that we em-barked on creating a delicious molesauce. One that would not shy awayfrom the chocolate, that would notshy away from the chili, that wouldnot shy away from the peanuts.” The veteran filmmaker continues

his mole analogy when ex-plaining that The Book of Lifeis doused with references tothe Mexican tradition of Diade los Muertos (the Day of theDead) in a comedic way butwith a clear message: Be fear-less and be yourself. “We wouldn’t go in think-

ing maybe people won't knowthat the chocolate goes withthe chicken or worry thatmaybe it would be too foreignfor some,” he describes. “Be-cause if you do, then you endup with ketchup, ketchupwith chicken, and that's notwhat we set out to do.” Both del Toro and Gutier-

rez joke about being large-sized men, and the chemistrybetween them is electric.Once he has spoken, del Torosits quietly while Gutierreztalks, and every now and thenjumps in with a joke or two tokeep the mood light and fun.Just don't bring up the World Cup,because since both men are Mexican-blooded, they will sigh with disgust. “I lost it, I lost faith, I stopped

everything World Cup after the Mex-ico game,” says del Toro with apained heart. “Let’s just talk aboutthe movie.” So we begin to talk about the

film, and the excitement in Gutier-rez’s voice is heart warming, likewatching a fan meet the World Cupwinners or, in this case, la selecciónMexicana (the Mexican nationalteam). “This is my first movie, so I am

excited! Here we go again with thefood metaphors,” Gutierrez chuckles.“I wanted to show every dish, Iwanted to fill a table and say, ‘Here’s18 desserts!’ Guillermo stopped meand said, ‘Jorge, you’re going to killpeople, just make one amazingdessert.’ He taught me how to sim-plify and get my ideas across in aclearer way.”

Just like his mentor, Gutierrez isa fountain of creative ideas and beau-tiful concepts that are all inspired byhis life and his Mexican heritage. “The Book of Life, in a weird way,

is a very personal film. I keep sayingthere's a cookbook with our family’srecipes [stories], and they’re all inthis movie, every single one,” hetells. “From my grandparents to myparents to what I’m going to be pass-ing on to my son, these stories basedon real things that happened to myfamily.” The animated film – which fea-

tures the voices of Christina Apple-

gate, Channing Tatum, Diego Luna,Ice Cube, Plácido Domingo, Kate delCastillo and Zoe Saldana, amongothers – is dripping with symbolismand iconography of Latin America,specifically Mexico and Day of theDead. It is a movie textured with action,

music and comedy that invites every-one to write their own stories and be-come their own legends. “We love Day of the Dead;

my wife and I even got marriedon Day of the Dead,” confessesthe first-time director. “The mostimportant thing about this eventis that it is extremely colorful anda joyous celebration of life. It’s acelebration of all of those thatcame before us. Our movie usesthis tradition as a canvas onwhich we paint our story.” The story begins in a museum

where a mysterious tour guidetakes a group of rowdy kids intoa magical room where she intro-duces them to the world of theBook of Life. It tells the tale ofManolo (Luna), a conflicted heroand dreamer who sets off on anadventure-filled quest through amythical and wondrous world inorder to rescue his true love andsave his village.

The Book of Life is going tobe in 3D and include music fromRadiohead, Edward Sharpe and

the Magnetic Zeros, Café Tacuba,Mumford & Sons, Kinky, Rod Stew-art and Biz Markie. And, for thosewho were wondering, del Toro doesmake a cameo! Now that you have snuck into the

kitchen to get a taste before dinner isready, you must wait patiently untilthe chicken is completely cooked be-fore you can dive into the mole thatis The Book of Life in theaters thisHalloween.

The Book of Life releases in theatersOct. 31. For more information, visitbookoflifemovie.com.

The Book of Life's director Jorge Gutierrezwith producer Guillermo del Toro

(Twentieth Century Fox)

Every young directordreams of having Guillermodel Toro as their guidingvoice.

“ “

FILM

Internationally celebrated comedian Pablo Francisco hasbeen entertaining audiences since he was a high schoolstudent. With 20 years of comedic success under his

belt, Francisco’s star just keeps rising. Francisco has threeComedy Central specials out, and he’s currently workingon an hourlong special for Jennifer Lopez’s new Latino-centric station, NUVOtv. Known for his use of impressions and sound effects on

stage, watching Francisco perform has the multifaceted feelof a movie. He brings every character in his jokes to lifeseamlessly and keeps his audience engrossed in the worldhe has created.For example, Francisco has a joke about the absurdity

of celebrity DJs. In it, he plays the DJ, his fans, an an-nouncer and he provides the sound effects of the music allwhile toggling back and forth as himself. Francisco has elevated his comedy with his multiple di-

mensions. He was innately drawn to doing impressions andgot an early start. “I started off doing it as a kid, using toys as characters,

and then using it to get what I needed in comedy,” he shares.Francisco grew up in a home where his parents would

regularly watch Johnny Carson host “The Tonight Show.”Inspired by the craft and wanting to improve upon the thecomedy he would watch every night, Francisco started offparticipating in his school’s talent shows and eventually per-formed at amateur nights at local comedy clubs.By the age of 21, Francisco was a professional comedian

earning a living doing what he loved. He expanded his ca-reer in 1996 when he joined “MADtv” as a featured player

through 1997. His first Comedy Central special aired in2000 as part of the “Comedy Central Presents” series. Hissubsequent specials “Bit and Pieces,” “Ouch!” and “TheyPut it Out There” went on to cement his status as a comedysuperstar. Every comic has a joke-writing system that’s unique to

their sensibilities and persona. The process can range fromhours of painstakingly scanning the news and various blogsfor inspiration or simply having an idea borne out ofnowhere. Francisco’s jokes are typically concepts that gethim thinking a little bit, which he then fleshes out into jokes. When asked if he uses any recording devices or special

tools to capture his ideas when inspiration strikes, he replies,“All you need is a few napkins in your back pocket and apen.” Francisco uses his home as an open-mic environment to

form his jokes. He practices his jokes in his living room be-fore moving on to his kitchen and shower as a last stop be-fore taking them to audiences. With social media as powerful as it is these days, most

comedians use it as a tool to stay relevant with constanttweets, Vine videos and Instagram entries. Having achievedsuccess prior to the rise of social media, Francisco uses aminimalist approach, tweeting only twice a week and savinghis jokes for his shows and videos. When prodded about his reticence, his explanation is

perfectly in line with his clever persona. “You don’t want to get to a movie theater before it

opens. You want to get there just when it starts,” he re-sponds.Francisco is a true comedian in his simplistic approach. “In doing standup comedy I get to joke around and get

paid for it. It’s beautiful.”

Pablo Francisco performs Aug. 7, 8, 9 and 10 at the BreaImprov. For more information, visit pablofrancisco.com.

One Clever Rascal: Comedian

PABLO FRANCISCOBy Ariel Kashanchi

Tomas Whitehouse

COMEDY


When I was a little girl, I watched La Bamba,the story of 17-year-old rock ’n’ roll singerRitchie Valens who passed away in a plane

crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. I washooked and mesmerized. I had such a crush on Lou Di-amond Phillips, and thought we would marry one day.How disappointed I became when I realized he was prac-tically the same age as my father.The point to my little story is that I wanted to know

more about the director Luis Valdez, the actors EsaiMorales and Phillips, the music and all the elements thathad to do with the film. This was one of the early moviesthat ignited my passion for film. La Bamba didn’t just dothis for me but for many others as well. There are so many movies that have impacted how

we grew up, view ourselves and where we wanted tospend our hard-earned money to escape for a few hours.Many of the highest grossing films have been written anddirected by Latino directors. Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermodel Toro, Robert Rodriguez are some to name just a few.

Y Tu Mamá También, which put actor Gaél GarciaBernal on the map, was a coming-of-age story that in-volved best friends on a very different type of road trip.Gravity, which recently won seven Oscars out of 10nominations this past year, has changed how we look atcinema. These are just two of the films Cuarón has made. Del Toro is no stranger to creating action, drama and

fear for filmgoers. Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and now,"The Strain," currently airing on FX are some of the crit-ically acclaimed work he has put out. The list goes on and on for Latino directors like Pedro

Almodóvar, Alejandro González Iñárritu and WalterSalles. They aren’t the only ones shaping what we seewith their powerful films like Babel, Sin City, Machete,Volver, The Motorcycle Diaries and Desperado, which

starred a young Antonio Banderas. Latino actors are also molding how we see the world

around us. No longer relegated to Spanish-speakingfilms, they are branching and breaking out to become in-ternational superstars. We all remember Jennifer Lopezfrom a little film called Selena. Finally actors are being represented in all of their glo-

rious shades, too. Throughout history many actors had tobe fair skinned with long, straight, flowing hair to be cast.Now in the 21st century, all Latinos are being repre-sented. In actors like Laz Alonso (Fast & Furious,Avatar), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek, Colombiana) and GinaTorres (“Suits,” “Hannibal”), every little kid can look ata screen and see a representation of themselves staringright back.Everyone loves Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”),

Salma Hayek (Frida) and Dania Ramirez (“DeviousMaids”), but we can’t forget the men, too. Jimmy Smits(“Dexter,” “Sons of Anarchy”) has been turning headsfor years. Michael Peña might be one of the hardestworking actors in Hollywood who was first known forhis comedy but since End of Watch, he’s being cast in se-rious dramas like the upcoming Fox series “Gracepoint.”Ramon Rodriguez is currently starring in “Gang Re-lated,” also on Fox, which has a multicultural cast thatshould make some other networks try and catch up.The face of film is changing, which is exciting. The

evolution of Latino directors, writers and actors who areno longer stuck in a stereotypical box doing typecastfilms and roles continues. Still keeping the culture intact and sharing that with

the world, they also have opportunities to tell every typeof story imaginable. Isn’t that what film is all about?

—By Ariel Paredes

A Different Bit of History

LATINOS IN FILM

Esai Morales and Lou Diamond Phillips in La Bamba Zoe Saldana in Star Trek Into Darkness Michael Peña in End of Watch

FILM


MUSIC

Cry Is for the Flies, the second studio effort fromgarage-punk band Le Butcherettes releases nextmonth, and the group’s frontwoman, Teresa

Suárez (aka Teri Gender Bender), says the album’s titleis very literal.“The title is actually really literal. The album was

recorded two years ago, and a series of terrible thingsstarted happening. People I was close with passed awayaround me, my dog had a heart attack, my mother had tomove drastically because of a particularly bizarre situa-tion she was dealing with in Guadalajara,” begins Suárez.She goes on to say that it was a personal incident that

triggered this album and its title. “Then, when I was driving with stuff from El Paso to

L.A., the car broke down and I didn't have a cell phone.I was stranded inthe middle of thehighway, and whenI went to get backinside [the car], itwas full of flies,”she tells. “I juststarted crying myeyes out, and someof the flies wouldget in my mouth.Eventually, afterwaiting, the enginestared again. I real-ized at that moment, ‘hey, I’m alone,’ and that’s when[the album title] hit me.” Le Butcherettes was founded in Guadalajara, Mexico

in 2007 with Suárez, who was 17 and still in school atthe time, as the lead vocalist and guitarist, and Auryn Jo-lene as the drummer. Their punk and garage rock feel hascaused several in the industry to compare Le Butcherettesto other artists. Suárez, for one, is often compared toBjörk because of her onstage personality and artisticways.Suárez was born in Denver but moved to Mexico at

the age of 13. Now, she’s in her mid-20s and recalls herbeginnings with the band, when she used her lyrics andmic as a weapon to fight back against sexual harassmentfrom the older men she encountered when she wasyoung.

“At first, that was my dream, when I started perform-ing with the band in Guadalajara,” confesses Suárez.“The main purpose was to sing about women’s rights.We didn’t want to keep singing about that over and overagain, there are different aspects, so the second albumwas more about my grieving buddies.“Of course, in some lyrics, I still mention what I did

in the first album, but in a more personal, introspectiveway,” she adds. “It changes with every album, but theessence is still there. I feel like every song is a differentvoice.”Over the years, what has propelled Suárez to do what

she does is an array of things, including her love of“moving music,” theater and literature. Other musicartists have also inspired her.

“The DeadKennedys movedme with theirmusic, and alsothe Clash,” shesays. “They wereartists that werenever afraid tokeep changingtheir sound. An-other great onewas Patti Smith.My mom wouldhum Lola Beltrán

to me before I went to sleep, and also Violeta Parra.Again, not punk rock per say, but it’s the message thatmakes it punk. It’s something that speaks against a cer-tain injustice.”This month, Le Butcherettes begin a U.S. tour before

reaching Australia, Japan and other nations. Their musicis going to blow people’s minds.“It’s important for people who make music to talk

about whatever they want,” Suárez laughs. “At the endof the day, it’s just music. If it helps someone out, that’sgreat. I know music’s helped me out; it’s moved me andcompelled me to write.”Cry Is for the Flies will be available Sept. 16. Le

Butcherettes perform Aug. 10 at the Observatory andAug. 13 at the Roxy. For more information, visitlebutcherettes.net.

It’s important forpeople who make musicto talk about whateverthey want.

—Teresa Suárez

Take Her Literally: Teresa Suárez of

LE BUTCHERETTESBy Marvin Vasquez

““”


Esteban Calderon

21

After a two-year absence from thestage, Camila makes their returnmore evolved and stronger than

ever after the departure of Samo, one of theband’s original members. Remaining mem-bers Mario Domm and Pablo Hurtado havejust released a new album, Elypse, and aregearing up to promote it on tour throughoutEurope and the Americas. The album wasreleased in June via Sony Music Latin, andit’s the first project since Samo’s departure.

Domm and Hurtado describe Elypse asa mix of Latin pop, rock, orchestral, choraland electronica. It’s comprised of 12 tracksthat include “Decidiste Dejarme,” which isalready climbing the charts. The songs arecomposed by Domm and Hurtado, with col-laborations from Lauren Evans, MónicaVélez and Vicente Garcia.

Domm speaks about the process of mak-ing this album and the long process to im-plement the needed changes to make itwork: “This album is the culmination of twoyears of very hard work, which was a greatchallenge all on its own. We needed to makeit better than our previous albums. We

worked on 700 melodies that materializedinto 40 songs, from which we took the best12. It was two years of hard work from twopeople who love what they do.”

Hurtado discusses the album’s contentand the manner in which they felt it wasnecessary to evolve to make this newarrangement successful.

“There was a definite change from workwe've done in the past. This new arrange-ment made us look in different directions tofind other musical alternatives, and we ex-perimented. For the first time, we featurearrangements with the London SymphonyOrchestra and by Roque Baños, which givesome of the songs a very cinematographicfeel. Other songs have heavy electronicsounds, which is also something new forus,” he says. “Our biggest challenge was tofind a balance between our old stuff, so asto not lose our identity as Camila, and thenew elements we've integrated as part of ourevolution.”

When the topic of Samo’s departurecomes up, Domm shares how that separa-tion came to be from his point of view, andhow exaggerated it was made out to be.

“So many things were said about it, andmany people quite literally put words in ourmouths. Honestly, we just simply distancedourselves a bit. Our band member decidedto release a solo album, and Pablo and I ap-plauded him. Who are we to stop anyonefrom pursuing their dreams? We can’t havejealousy amongst ourselves,” Domm says.

“Two months after that, we sat down tocompose, and here we are. Pablo and I de-cided to distance ourselves from the subjectitself, without commenting on the matter.The only thing we would do about it was tojust move on and focus on the music, proofof which is this new album we just made.”

It was clear by the end of the interviewthat there is no chance that Samo will everreturn as a member of Camila. The duo ispart of the lineup of the new Uforia MusicFestival happening at Los Angeles’ Exposi-tion Park Aug. 16. They embark on tour inSeptember to travel all over Latin America,Spain, Puerto Rico, Miami and New York.They are also going to promote the albumin new markets, such as Italy, the Nether-lands and France. Elypse debuted at No. 1in 18 countries and is by far the most suc-cessful release by the band to date.

—By Ramon Aviles

Elypse is currently available. Camila per-form Aug. 16 at the Uforia Music Festivalat Exposition Park. For more information,visit camila.tv. Edison Millan contributed tothis story.

CAMILATHE EVOLUTION OF

Pablo Hurtado and MarioDomm of Camila

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24

Catherine Asanov

BECKY G

25

BECKY GEarning Her Stripes

The Safest Bet in an Uncertain World

By Francisco Reyes

You don’t need to be in the entertainment industryto know that the entertainment industry is a ficklebusiness. History has provided us with plenty of

examples of promising, young stars who have come andgone into and out of the pop-culture lexicon and have be-come trivia answers from a bygone era. But when you’re Becky G and you’ve had your sights

stubbornly set on a career in music from an age when mostof your peers were struggling to memorize the multiplica-tion table, venturing into the entertainment industry be-comes more of a shrewd hedged bet instead of the randomcrapshoot it looks like from afar. The rise of Becky G came at a time when YouTube and

the viral nature of the Internet could make virtually anyonea celebrity overnight, so it’s understandable if it seems likeher rise in the industry benefitted from a few handshakesbetween powerful record company executives and otherfortuitous circumstances. While the latter may have sometruth to it (considering virtually anyone who’s anyone hashad fortune smile upon them a time or two), Becky G’s riseis far from a prefabricated backroom scheme. It’s a tough sell to say that the 17-year-old Inglewood

native has paid her dues in the business – even she admitsshe hasn’t. But her trajectory began well before she rose tofame with her series of remixes that included “Becky fromthe Block,” a remix of Jennifer Lopez’s “Jenny from the

Block,” that included a cameo by Lopez in the video. Becky G’s flair for entertaining began at an early age. “I come from a really, really big Mexican family,” says

Becky G, whose birth name is Rebecca Marie Gomez. “When there was so many babies running around, the

only way for me to get someone’s attention was to [sing]and dance for people, entertain people and be extra loud.That’s what I loved to do growing up … Now that I’m older,it’s clearly helped me out, growing up that way [chuckles].”The fact that her music fuses hip hop into the mix, along

with her urban-inspired fashion sense, makes it so that thenarrative about her upbringing is that she comes from thewrong side of the tracks. But she feels her surroundings aremore eclectic than dangerous, something that’s evidencedin her music. “I grew up in Inglewood,” she says. “It’s funny because

a lot of people ask me, ‘Oh, you grew up in Inglewood?Was it rough? Was it bad?’ It’s absolutely nothing like that,you know. I’m sure a few blocks down, it get s little crazy.But where I grew up, I was allowed to ride my bike andwalk to school and back.”Before Inglewood, however, the Gomez family did what

many Latino families in the Greater Los Angeles area doand purchased a home in the Inland Empire (about an houreast of Los Angeles). But like most families around the2008 economy crash, Becky G and her family felt the wrath

of the recession and soon lost their home. “I think where we struggled a little more

[as a family] was growing up and having fi-nancial struggles, like a lot of other families,”she says. “It was tough financially for ourfamily to stay afloat at the time, with theeconomy crashing, and we lost our home.” This is how the Gomez family ended up in

Inglewood at Becky G’s grandmother’shouse. There’s this old debunked myth that says

the Chinese use the same symbol for “crisis”and “opportunity.” While the origin of thatmyth is unknown, it’s easy to see how an op-timist would view things through that scope.Although it’s safe to assume that a 9-year-oldBecky G wasn’t an expert on the intricaciesof the Chinese language, she managed to seeher family’s struggles through that same lens,well before a career as a singer seemed viable. On her website, iambeckyg.com, under a

section that includes her bio and importantquotes, there is a quote that encompasses herambition and foresight: “At age 9, though herparents did not have much money, Becky con-vinced them to let her start going on auditionsfor commercials, thinking she could con-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 >>>

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Stay focused, ... continueto learn things and alwaysbe aware of everything.And, have fun. Don’t forgetthe reason you got into it inthe first place.

“ “27

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tribute to the family’s income after her parents lost theirhome and moved everyone into Becky’s grandparents’converted garage.”“It was not easy,” she shares, “but if it weren’t for [our

family’s financial struggles], I wouldn’t be as ambitious,and I wouldn’t appreciate the things that I have as much.So I don’t look back on it like it was a bad thing. If any-thing, I’m thankful that it happened because it only madeus stronger as people and as a family.”Becky G now gets to do what most girls her age could

only dream of doing. She constantly travels, gets to ex-press her sense of fashion and share it with her more than753,000 Instagram followers and nearly four million ofher devoted followers on Facebook. She feels that trav-eling, in particular, is something that has broadened herperspective and worldview in a variety of ways.“Traveling makes me a lot more aware of every-

thing,” she says. “I absolutely love food, and now withtraveling, I’m like, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know this ex-isted!’ I’m trying new things and new ways of transporta-tion. When I went to New York City for the very firsttime, I didn’t know what a subway was. I had seen themin movies, but it wasn’t possible for me to ever ride one.Trying things like that and working at different recordingstudios has shown me the world is really a big place.”Like her musical sound, her fashion and style are gen-

uinely hers, which is something she takes pride in. She says, “I’m a rapper and a singer, which is like

urban pop music. My fashion style reflects that, too, be-cause my music is me as a person and how I dress myselfis me as a person. My personality is kind of tomboyish,but I’m also very feminine. My style is still very girly,but it has this rock, tomboyish feel to it that has urban el-ements.”Becky G says

she is takingeverything instride, and eventhough her lifehas changed sig-nificantly in thepast few years,she doesn’t feel much different than she did before herfame. She still likes being home, watching romanticmovies and eating home cooking when she has the time.The only aspect of her career that has been surreal so farcame last summer, when she became an officialspokesperson for CoverGirl.

“It’s crazy still when people say, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re aCoverGirl,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, I am!’ I don’t thinkit’s ever going to settle in. It’ so surreal,” she admits. “Itdidn’t hit me that I was officially a CoverGirl until we

did the last line. I’m looking into the camera with wateryeyes [thinking], ‘Oh, my goodness. I’m an easy, breezy,beautiful CoverGirl!’”She released her EP, titled Play It Again, last summer

as well, and since then, she has released singles alongsidePitbull, will.i.am and 3Ball MTY. Her first Top 20 hit inthe United States came with a song she did on her ownthis year, called “Shower.” The single reached No. 18 on

the Billboard U.S.Mainstream Top 40and peaked at No. 1on the U.S. Heatseek-ers chart. “‘Shower’ is a

song based on thefeeling of having that

special someone, and they’re literally just making every-thing just better,” she describes. “Everything. Whetherit’s cleaning up the house or driving about the city.” The track was inspired by someone who was very

special to her, so it just came about naturally at a studiosession one day. Becky G’s ambitions and goals for the future are what

keep her grounded. She’s gotten the chance to work withLopez, who she says is her idol, but would also love the


Gils W

eber

I come from a really big Mexican family...the only way for me to get attention was to[sing] and dance for people and be extra loud.That’s what I loved to do growing up.

“

<<< CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26


“

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opportunity to collaborate with other artists she ad-mires, such as Bruno Mars, Katy Perry and Shakira.Acting in movies, she says, is also something she seesherself doing in the near future. “Obviously I’m really thankful for everything that

I’ve gotten to do and the people that I’ve gotten to workwith,” she says, “but I still feel like I’m barely scratch-ing the surface of what I want to accomplish in my ca-reer. I’m still ‘earning my stripes,’ as they say, andworking toward things. I feel like that moment of‘Wow, people are actually starting to recognize who Iam’ was when I did the ‘Becky from the Block’ musicvideo. That’s when I was like, ‘Wow, OK, this is cool.’Becky G is a firm believer in hard work and dedica-

tion, something that has put her where she is today andwill be responsible for wherever her career may takeher. She knows that there are many girls out there look-ing to make it into the business, just like she was a fewyears ago, and has some advice for them.“My advice would be to stay focused,” she says.

“Stay focused, and never [stop growing]. Music is al-ways changing and evolving, it’s important for you asan artist to change, evolve and grow with it. So, con-tinue to learn things and always be aware of everything.And, have fun. Don’t forget the reason you got into itin the first place.”It’s important to notice her advice didn’t include any

special secret or loophole to success. It’s even a littlebit cliché, but that’s because there isn’t any secret wayinto the business – she really does feel much of her suc-cess came down to her unrelenting perseverance andfocus. In July 2012, when she was 15, Kanye West gave

Becky G props for her remix of his “Otis” collaborationwith Jay-Z. Former “American Idol” judge and currentjudge on the “X-Factor,” Simon Cowell echoed West’spraise, calling her a “future star.” Since then, her careerhas been on an upward trend, and the number of peoplewho have sung her praises continues to grow. Yes, the entertainment industry is a fickle business

that can turn on even the brightest of stars virtuallyovernight. Trends change, music evolves and not every-one can stay on the train for the entire ride. But when you’re Becky G and have two of the

harshest critics in music gushing about your future,along with the focus and dedication to your craft thathas already proven to be successful, arguing againstthem is a very tough sell.

Becky G's latest single, “Shower,” is currently avail-able. For more information, visit iambeckyg.com.


RCA


Diana Fuentes, one of the most promising young singer-songwriters outof Cuba, has left her homeland to pursue an international career withher upcoming album, Planeta Planetario, and its single, “Será Sol.”

Fuentes began studying ballet when she was 3 years old at the Ballet Na-cional de Cuba and continued her performing arts education in piano and choralstudies at the Conservatory of Music Alejandro Garcia Caturla and the NationalArt School.

“I studied music and graduated in Cuba but didn’t begin to do it profes-sionally until 2001 with Grupo Síntesis, who are very famous and highly re-garded in my country,” she informs. “That’s really where my passion forsinging emerged.”

Fuentes also speaks about how her family is not a musical one, but theysupported her fully when they realized this was her true calling.

“No one at home ever had an affinity for music. My mother’s in medicineand my father’s an engineer, but nevertheless they always supported me. I madea film five years ago, and they had a chance to see my passion for acting andhave offered me all their support in that as well.”

Her first album, titled Amargo Pero Dulce, was released in 2009. Producedby Descemer Bueno, the album featured works by Carlos Varela, as well assongs of Fuentes’ own composition. She considers this project the start of hermusical career.

“I did all that in Cuba. I’ve lived in Puerto Rico for the last three years,and what I’ve aimed to do is give my work continuity. It’s always hard in thebeginning, but I was lucky to have a family of musicians who have helped meto connect with people outside of Cuba,” she says.

An admirer of artists from 1950s and ’60s, in addition to blues and jazz,Fuentes considers herself a pop artist. Yet, with her latest work, she takes a turntowards more alternative and fusion-fueled material. Planeta Planetario is la-beled as an eclectic album comprised of alternative pop, hip-hop, afro-cubanbeats, ballads, electronica and Jamaican dance.

“Planeta Planetario’s name came about because I believe each of us hastheir own unique universe. I include myself in that, and I believe in that uni-verse. We keep what makes us happy. In my case, it’s music, and that’s part ofmy universe,” she says. “The first single is titled ‘Sera Sol,’ and it exploresfaith, a positive outlook and the change that is inherent in our lives.”

Being so young and with two albums under her belt, Fuentes has definedherself through her own unique style of composing. She discusses what shelikes to share through her work.

“I love songs about love and heartbreak. I’m very tragic,” she laughs.“While I don’t go the suicidal route, I believe that those subjects are what movelife in this world, and I write extensively about them. All of those experiencesinfluence life and in one way or another; my life experiences come to light.This album is full of those.”

The album, which will be available here in the United States Aug. 19, isproduced by Eduardo Cabra (Visitante of Calle 13), and the majority of thesongs are composed by Fuentes herself.

Fuentes currently lives in Puerto Rico but begins an extensive tour for thefirst time in countries such as Venezuela. Although there are not any confirmedL.A. dates at this time, I'm sure we will see her in concert very soon in the Cityof Angels.

Planeta Planetario will be available Aug. 19. For more information, visit di-anafuentes.com.

Edison Millan contributed to this story.

Across the UniverseCuban Singer-Songwriter Diana FuentesBy Ramon Aviles

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32

Across the Universe

AUGUST•2014 | LOL-LA.COM | |35

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Many have known Enrique Bunbury from hisprolific singing days with Spanish rock bandHéroes del Silencio, which formed in the mid-

1980s. Since the late mid-1990s, Bunbury has embarkedon a solo career. The group, however, joined forces againin 2007 for a 10-show world tour, which included a con-cert here in Los Angeles. Is there another reunion in the making? “It’s been thought of, but I’ll keep the rest to myself,”

says Bunbury coyly.Bunbury has released several

albums, featuring the well-regarded Licenciado Canti-nas (2011) and last year’sPalosanto. He’s now in the midst of

preparing for an 11-city U.S.tour, which includes a Sept. 5show at the Greek Theatre.“This tour is very special for

us,” says Bunbury, dressed in asophisticated rock ensemble, apair of Ray-Ban aviator shadeshanging from his T-shirt, over-sized earrings in each ear and ahead of wavy hair.

“We’re coming here again [after] many years, withthe same show we took to Spain and other Latin-Ameri-can countries. It’s an ambitious live show. We’re veryproud of it, and that’s why it’s noteworthy that this is arather potent show we are bringing here to Los Angeles;we highly recommend it. Everyone’s going to have a goodtime.”Bunbury adds, “For us, it’s becoming a special tour.

We are enjoying it like no other.”But how has the public reacted to Bunbury’s new ma-

terial when he performs live? “It’s been incredible,” he says. “Audiences have re-

sponded very well to all the songs, and I’m very gratefulfor that.”The 45-year-old cites that some of the best perform-

ances were at home in his native Spain, and he hopes thathis U.S. shows are of the same caliber.“We’re playing one song of Héroes [del Silencio] on

this tour,” says Bunbury. “But, in a way, we are openingPandora’s box with the classic repertoire, and I don’t dis-

miss continuing to perform more songs from my first pro-fession musically.“Over the years I’ve delivered a solo career, but I think

it’s time to reconcile both phases and convey to the publicthat both phases are part of the same person in writing andcomposing songs.”It’s been noted that oftentimes it’s rather complex to

classify Bunbury’s music. He could easily be in the elec-tro-rock segment, but then also inthe obvious genres of rock enEspañol, Latin rock, Euro indieand even post-punk.

That’s one of the mostprominent reasons why he’s sobeloved and musically suc-cessful; he doesn’t stick toone particular music scene.He either evolves on hisown or adapts to change,which in itself is com-pletely remarkable.

“In the 30 years or soof my career, I’ve been

releasing different types of albumswith Héroes del Silencio and solo,” he says. “Albums

about anarchy or the Mediterranean, or the Latin side, andthen of course other albums I’ve done [with my band] LosSantos Inocentes in which I’ve investigated the roots ofrock and that of Latin America, which have been the baseof my evolution as a musician. I’ve also done more spir-itual and human stuff, such as in the last album.”Take for instance the track “Los Inmortales” from

Palosanto. Given how musically masterful Bunbury is,compartmentalizing this tune is no easy task. It’s mellow,rich in rocky beats, but it also appears to carry a nostalgic,dark side that leads to a spiritual and human connection.“I’ve felt, to some degree, like I was somewhat of a

robot at one point,” says Bunbury. “But I’ve been ahuman for the majority of my life.”

—By Marvin Vasquez

Enrique Bunbury performs Sept. 5 at the Greek Theatre.For more information, visit enriquebunbury.com.

ENRIQUE BUNBURYDon’t Try to Put Him in a Box: Spanish Rocker

Jose Girl

After a forced retirement, singerJ’Martin marks his return tothe music world with his new

bachata-style single, titled “Ni Una Lá-grima Más,” off his forthcoming album,Mi Tiempo, due this September. Born to Dominican parents in

Queens, NY, J’Martin began his musicalmusings at an early age. He grew up in thebustling NY music scene, as well as in abusiness environment nurtured by his par-ents. It’s no surprise then that he pursuedboth disciplines at first, but over time, J’-Martin opted to fully dedicate himself tomusic. However, sometimes decisions are made

and only time dictates if they were indeed theright ones. While J’Martin was still enjoyingsuccess in his career, he claims he had to makethe most difficult decision of his life and leavethe music industry – a choice to reinsert himselfin his father’s business. “After many years of dedicating myself to

music, I had to take a forced retirement to dedi-cate myself to my family’s business. I noticed myfather was struggling, and there was an opportu-nity for me to get involved,” J’Martin shares. “Italso seemed like the right time to stop all the late-night workand make a change in my life. Since I had also been involvedin business since I was little, it seemed like a good option.”

Even with his sights set on the family business, it was verydifficult for him to leave the music behind, his work and thepublic’s affection. He didn’t imagine that four years later, hewould be making a return to the stage. This time in the bachatagenre, leaving behind the merengue sound that brought himso much success at the start. “In 2010, we decided to return in the bachata genre, even

though it was still a bit unknown to us. I love the sound, andit's what my country exports the most,” he says, before adding,“When I did merengue, I would sing romantic songs as well.”J’Martin also speaks about how his reasons were not motivatedby bachata’s success. “I honestly didn’t know how high the level of acceptance

was for bachata. I just love it, and it wasn’t until recently whenthe genre re-emerged that I truly saw how vast its reach is,”he describes. “Also it’s not that there aren’t enough bachataartists. Here in New York, there are many, they just aren’t well-known.” For many artists, a retirement proves definitive, and even

thinking about a comeback seems impossible. This is duemostly to the public forgetting about them as time passes by.

According to J’Martin,the opposite applies to him.

“My comeback has been easier than I thought it wouldbe,” he admits. “Back in the day, all I did was take orders fromthose above. Now, I’m a lot more involved in the decisions,and we all are growing together, both myself and my man-agers.” At this time, he’s promoting “Ni Una Lágrima Más”in four versions: bachata, regional Mexican, merengue-mamboand dance. This is just one of the 13 songs that make up hisupcoming project due out in September. “I had the pleasure to choose from 3,350 unedited songs

by composers from all over the world,” he says. “The albumwas produced by Pavel De Jesus and four other very talentedproducers.” It’s interesting to note that while four versions of the same

song is unique enough, it’s even more unique that a Dominicanartist with tropical music in his blood is attempting a song inthe regional Mexican genre. “I feel very comfortable with merengue and bachata. I re-

alize that the regional Mexican genre is usually exclusive, butI feel Mexicans should feel flattered that a Dominican is doingit,” he says.

—By Ramon Aviles

Mi Tiempo will be available in September. For more informa-tion, visit jmartinmundial.com. Edison Millan contributed tothis story.

Call It a ComebackIT'S J'MARTIN'S TIME


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Latin America’s YouTube superstar,Laura Sanchez has made her markand is ready to take the United

States by storm. From Coca-Cola commer-cials to working with well-known Latin-American department store Falabella,Sanchez is determined to make her nameknown in this highly competitive NorthAmerican beauty market. Sitting down with the ever-so charis-

matic Sanchez at her manager's trendy Hol-lywood Hills home to find out what it’s liketo be a YouTube beauty guru, I immedi-ately felt at ease with her.When asked how big of a celebrity she

is in Latin America, she timidly responds,“I’m like Michelle Phan in Latin America.I’m not going to say Mexico because theyhave Yuya, but we had a meet and greet [inMexico], and they knew me. A lot of peo-ple were following me, and they loved myvideos. I hate to say, ‘how famous are you?’It’s just a lot of people know me and likewhat I do; they support me.” Of course we all know of many differ-

ent YouTube beauty gurus, but Sanchez isdifferent. She looks like a rock star, withstilettos, bright green nails and pink locks,but the most interesting thing about her isthat she’s really just your girl next door. Sanchez started posting pictures and

how-to mini tutorials on Facebook, andpeople quickly took to her because of heroriginality, looks-wise. Starting her all-Spanish YouTube channel in her nativeColombia, she wanted to bring moreawareness and artistry to her craft. She states early on in our meeting that

makeup artistry wasn’t considered to beartistic in South America. “In Colombia, it’s pretty hard to show

how a makeup artist can be like a realartist,” she shares. “A makeup artist or ahairstylist is the same person, like the maidthat can bring you coffee and clean the ta-bles. … I did my best to change that imagein Colombia, and I feel like I did it.” Here in the United States makeup

artists are huge, especially on social media.A makeup artist is now considered a minicelebrity with tons and tons of followers,

YouTube subscribers and blog junkies.When asked what is next for Sanchez

now that she’s been in the United States fora few months, she quickly answers, “Iwould love to have a DVD where I canteach people how to do their makeup basedon their skin tone and hair color. I wouldlike to write for a magazine. I will startbuilding my English channel.” She is currently a beauty contributor for

The Huffington Post’s Spanish edition,Voces, and Sanchez is making strides tobring her bilingual fans a bit more of an in-sider look into her life by going all aroundthe L.A. area and exploring different attrac-tions like the Grove and Venice Beach inher vlogs that she posts on her channel. Asking her the ultimate American ques-

tion: What do you want to be when yougrow up, she quickly says, “I would loveto have my own emporium, a brand – amakeup brand, a clothes brand. I wouldlike to make stuff that is not common in a

brand, like green lipstick. I would like todo stuff like that because I believe every-one has an image of what is beauty. I feellike there is beauty in different people. Youhave to find your own beauty, and you haveto love who you are. I think you can findbeauty in everything.” As Sanchez makes her way into the

English-speaking beauty world onYouTube and beyond, she has definitely

captured me by her humbleness and herdrive to be the best at what she does. I canconfidently say that Laura Sanchez is oneof the best beauty gurus out there. From herhumble beginnings in Colombia to herjourney to infiltrate the American beautymarket, she has proven that uniqueness andartistry is something to be celebrated. Watch out, America, there is a new girl

in town. —By Lupita Woo

Subscribe to Laura Sanchez’s YouTubechannel at youtube.com/lauramakeup25.

True ColorsMakeup Star Laura Sanchez

I feel like there is beauty in different peo-ple. You have to find your own beauty, and youhave to love who you are.“ “

Rafael Orellana/Living Out Loud LA

BEAUTY


Modernismo was a Spanish literary movement in the late19th century with authors like Ruben Dario at its center.While the movement ended by the 1920s, its influencecontinued well into the 20th century in both poetry andprose. The movement continues with us, all the Latinosliving in Los Angeles, through writing and art.

—Lupita Woo

MODERNISMO

KIM

ONO,

TUB

E TO

P, S

HORT

S, H

EELS

, NEC

KLAC

E SO

L'S

BOUT

IQUE

BRA

CELE

T CH

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RING

FOR

EVER

21

The Movement Continues

FASHION

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DRESS, NECKLACE SOL'S BOUTIQUERING ASH&WILLOW

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JUMPSUIT, NECKLACE, HEELS SOL'S BOUTIQUE RINGASH&WILLOW BRACELET CHAIN RING FOREVER 21

44

CREDITS - MODEL: LESLIE ESCOBARPHOTOGRAPHER: JOSE GARIBAYCREATIVE DIRECTOR/STYLIST:LUPITA WOO HAIR/MAKEUP: MARINA MESTAZASH&WILLOW (ASHANDWILLOW.COM) SOL'S BOUTIQUE (4516 EAGLE ROCKBLVD., LOS ANGELES 90041 (323)257-8690

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IT’S MADNESS!There are no two ways about it, when you dine in Los Angeles you’re going to come across a lot of Mexican

food. With so much to choose from in the cuisine – enchiladas in red or green sauce, burritos, tortas and theever-popular tacos – I don’t think I could ever get sick of eating Mexican.

Tacos in general evolved into a trendy phenomenon when acclaimed Chef Roy Choi introduced his Koreanbackground into flavors captured in a hand-sized corn tortilla with the launch of the Kogi BBQ Taco Truck. Thatbirthed a huge market into the world of exploring what other fun ingredients could be placed in a tortilla, foldedand then eaten. The onslaught also brought to light the original mom-and-pop shops that have been around for years, and thank-

fully so, since these places deserve all the recognition they can get for making exceptional tacos. That said, here’syour guide to the best tacos in Los Angeles!

COLONIA TACO LOUNGE13030 E. Valley Blvd., La Puente 91746 (626) 363-4691 This taco and cocktail bar offers homemade tortillas and all the ingredients you can think of. Chef Ricardo Diazand his sister, Stephanie Aguirre (La Taquiza Fish Taco), come from the family that brought us some of the bestceviche ever at El Siete Mares (well, at least on the more eastern side of town), and they teamed with her husband,Chef Patrick Aguirre, formerly of Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, to open Colonia last year. Crispy shrimp tacos,carnitas braised with a little pumpkin, an avocado taco – the list happily goes on and on.


Los Angeles’ Best TacosBy Erica Carter

An array of tacos at Colonia Taco Lounge (Rafael Orellana/Living Out Loud LA)

FOOD



EL CHATO TACO TRUCKLast seen at 4477 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles 90019 facebook.com/elchatotacotruckThis truck is awesome. Setting up either at a gas station on La Brea and Venice or at Olympic and La Brea, thelines can get long late at night, but their al pastor is totally worth the wait.

EL CORALOENSE6600 Florence Ave., Bell Gardens 90201 (562) 776-8800I came across this spot while at a food truck festival last month. They were serving some surprisingly fresh ceviche,but I heard they’re also known for their tacos. A visit to Bell Gardens was rewarded with crispy and deliciouspotato and shrimp tacos, along with out-of-this-world ceviches of all different flavors.

GUISADOS2100 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles 90033 (323) 264-7201 guisados.coHands down my favorite taco spot in the city, simply because they have chorizo tacos. I know it sounds like asimple thing, but those are hard to find. It’s really all about braised meat here, though (guidsados translates to‘stews’ in Spanish). Pair the (mostly) gluten-free selection with an agua fresco, and it’s a perfect Sunday afternoon.It’s no surprise that this is Ricardo Diaz’s originaltaqueria; there’s also a second location in Echo Parkand another soon to be opened in Downtown.

MARISCOS JALISCO3040 E. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles 90023 (323)528-6701Mariscos Jaliscos is one of the places you wouldswear has been around a lot longer than it has. Theseare straightforward, old-school shrimp tacos servedjust like they’re supposed to be: with a nice hunk ofavocado on top.

MONDO TACO2200 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica 90404 (310)310-8922 mondotaco.comI wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into with thisbrightly colored little Santa Monica shop. The namemade me think I was about to eat a monstrous taco and have to be rolled out of the restaurant. I took one look atthe menu and was delightfully surprised. Not only were the tacos ambitious in a satisfyingly great way (like theTokyo Shrimp with tempura shrimp, avocado and a spicy mayo and the Angry Chicken with hot sauce and bluecheese), but they also serve beer – a perfect pairing!

TACOS EL COMPITA 4477 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles 90019 (323) 935-0490The Mid-City area is where you can find this traditional taco spot with $1.25 tacos containing the standard meats,including an al pastor that will knock your socks off. It’s so wonderfully spicy. But you have been warned: cashonly.

TACOS POR FAVOR 1406 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica 90404 (310) 392-5768 tacosporfavor.netThis is a Westside staple. Crispy and soft tacos, rejoice. I highly recommend the potato tacos, served soft or hard,with lettuce, guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo.

Selections from Mondo Taco

FOOD


When it comes to Mexican food, the possibilities areendless. From traditional tacos to enchiladas, sa-vory gorditas and wet burritos, Mexican food is

bold and delicious, with flavors that linger on your tongue andin your mind long after you have cleaned your plate. Even theside dishes and condiments are good. They’re so good in fact,you can make an entire meal out of chips and salsa, guacamole,refried beans and Mexican rice.Over time, Mexican food in the United States began to

evolve – especially in places like California, New Mexico andTexas. Experimentation with spices like cumin and garlic pow-der gave way to new Mexican-inspired dishes like avocadoeggrolls, and taquitos were born. In the 20th century, the glo-rious southwestern fusion birthed fajitas and one of my fa-

vorites: taco salad. Taco salad is the perfect union betweentasty tacos and all of the salad veggies I just can’t get enoughof. Cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions and olives, meet sea-soned beef, creamy cheese, beans and crunchy tortillas.Taco salad is so easily customizable, too. Honestly, you can

use just about whatever you’ve got in the fridge, season it upand toss it into a delicious salad. No ground beef? No problem,just substitute chicken; breast, legs or thighs will do. Don’thave a pack of tortilla shell bowls in your pantry? Totally fine.Hulk smash a few tortilla chips over the top, and you’ve gotthe same effect. No tomatoes? Maybe your kids will like itmore. Or better yet, follow my Twist of Lime Taco Saladrecipe below. It just might become your new go-to on TacoTuesday.

poormet.com

Taco Salad

Directions: In a deep skillet over medium heat, combine the beef and dicedonion. Once the beef begins browning and onions start to become translu-cent, add in your garlic and half of the packet of fajitas seasoning. Continuecooking until the meat has fully browned and the garlic and onions haveturned soft. Remove from heat and let cool. Heat beans over medium andseason with the remaining fajitas seasoning. Once cooked through, removefrom heat and let cool. Meanwhile, shred the lettuce. Begin adding vegeta-bles to a salad bowl, layering in the lettuce, green onions, tomatoes and cu-cumbers. Cut the lime in half and squeeze its juice over the vegetables – becareful to catch the seeds. Layer in beef mixture, black beans and quesofresco. Give the salad a quick toss. Next, coat the salad in Catalina dressingand remaining lime juice. This will give the salad a smoother texture as wellas add a bit of a tangy bite. Lastly, crush a few Doritos in your hand andsprinkle over the top of the salad. Your perfect Twist of Lime Taco Salad isready to serve!

TWIST OF LIME TACO SALADIngredients1 lb Ground beef1/4 Yellow onion, diced1 clove Garlic, pressed1 can Black beans1/2 cup Queso fresco1 stem Green onion, choppedGrape tomatoes, quartered1/4 of a Cucumber, peeled and sliced6-8 large leaves of Green lettuce, washed and pat dry1 lime1 packet of Fajitas seasoningCatalina dressingSalsa Verde Doritos

A Fresh Take on

By Nichole Jones

FOOD


10314 Alondra Blvd., Bellflower CA 90706 (562) 866-3306

TacoNazo.com

Fresh off his win at the GrandCochon competition, Chef RayGarcia brought home “the

bacon” with a vengeance at thedebut of his Swine & Dine dinnerseries at FIG Restaurant in SantaMonica. Garcia teamed withCook’s Ranch of Julian, Calif. forthe nose-to-tail dining experiencethat highlighted their heritage pigs. Eight dishes of varying degrees

of the “other white meat” were pre-sented in some rather genius pair-ings. To start: a trio of Chicharrones,

Cabeza Adobada and Coctel delPuerco. The Coctel featured theloin and pickled skin paired withcharred tomato and avocado. The second course featured tra-

ditional Chilaquiles with a littlehead and belly of the pig thrown in forgood measure. The layers of the tor-tilla chips and pork topped withcheese, chile and lime melded justright with a glass of amber ale beer. It’s true, there was a lot of pork

going on, but Garcia’s approachblended all of the ingredients so well,you didn’t notice how much pork youwere eating. Frankly, I couldn’t getenough of the swine, and the samecould be said of many others aroundme.The most inventive infusion of

pork that I saw was the Pork PoundCake paired with stone fruit and myfavorite summer staple when I’m inthe mood for dessert: Avocado Ice

Cream. Avocado ice cream is one ofthose dishes that you have to taste foryourself to describe, as was the pound

cake it was so mas-terfully paired with.Sweet and savorywas just how themeal ended. Chef Garcia hailsfrom Northeast LosAngeles and at-tended the CaliforniaSchool of CulinaryArts. While his first passion was notin the culinary world, he found him-self drawn to food, mostly due to hiscollege roommate. “My roommate was Japanese and

a sushi chef. In his culture, they takefood very seriously. So there was al-ways a wide range of meals that he

would bring home after spending timewith his family,” shares Garcia.

That experience led him to ac-tively pursue his culinary career.Soon after graduation, trainingwith esteemed chefs like ThomasKeller (The French Laundry), theideas of what he would eventualbring to FIG were born.Garcia draws the inspiration for

his menus from the abundance ofseasonal ingredients found at thelocal Santa Monica Farmers’ Mar-ket. It’s a culinary playground withso many vendors offering beautifulseasonal ingredients. You can visitthe Farmers’ Market to take homesome of the same ingredients thatChef Garcia uses for the Swine &

Dine series.In the month -ly tasting se-ries, Garciapairs with aCa l i fo rn ia -based farm tofeature theirfreshest pro-duce and pro-t e i n s ,specifically

their heritage breed pigs. Next up, on Aug. 14 is Linda Vista

Ranch. Sept. 4, guests have Devil’sGulch to contend with. Be sure tocheck out these next two pairings!

For more information, call (310) 319-3111 or visit figsantamonica.com.

The "King of Porc"Chef Ray Garcia of FIG Restaurant

By Erica Carter

David Tobin/Living Out Loud LA

FOOD


In a city steeped in film culture andas a melting pot of diverse her-itages, there are many places that

sometimes combine into an explosionof all the best things about Los Ange-les. Nestled on Lincoln Boulevard inVenice Beach, is a Mexican restaurantthat boasts not only delicious food anda fine selection of tequila, but takesyou into the world of the filmCasablanca.Named after the classic movie

starring Humphrey Bogart, this estab-lishment uses the setting of the filmwith a fine collection of memorabiliato fulfill the needs of any hungrycinephile craving Latin American cui-sine. The tortillas are made in houseand served as a pre-appetizer withtheir green salsa that has a delicioustang and chunks of avocado andcheese. They also offer the warm tor-tillas with some butter.On certain days they have a live

musical performer who plays stan-dards, like “Can’t Take My Eyes OffYou” with a bit of Latin flair, and even

some notable classics in Spanish suchas “Bésame Mucho.” The cantina (bar) section has quite

an impressive collection of tequilaand offers drinks inspired by themovie and signature cocktails, liketheir Cadillac rimmed with salt andspices for an extra kick. Around thebar is a collection of posters and prints

for the film Casablanca and even astatue of Bogart that can join you fora drink or two. The booths and tables are also

sprinkled with a selection of moviecels and film-nerd items to feast youreyes on as you wait for your food.There are even wonderful murals thatdepict classic scenes from Rick’s Cafewith cameos from the owner and hisfamily enjoying the sort of feasts youwait for. The dinner selection is extensive

and includes delectable Mexican faresuch as fajitas, steaks, seafood andchicken – even chicken marinated inDos Equis beer. On the weekend, theyoffer a brunch that's great for the fam-ily with endless mimosas, champagneor sangria. And, let’s not forget someflan for dessert.

—By Sabina Ibarra

Casablanca Restaurant is located at 220Lincoln Blvd., Venice 90291.For more information, call (310) 392-5751or visit casablancarestaurant.net.

Casablanca RestaurantL.A. Hidden Gems 101

FOOD


THE AWARD-WINNING COOKBOOK THAT UNLOCKS THE SECRETS OF THE CUISINE OF MEXICO’S YUCATÁN PENINSULA

Sabores Yucatecos: C

ulinary Tour of the ucatán

There have been many popularTV shows and films aboutpsychics, mediums, clairvoy-

ants and people with similar gifts. Ontelevision there were the fictional“The Ghost Whisperer” and“Medium,” as well as other programshosted by real life “seers” (someonewho predicts things that will happenin the future), such as John Edward in“Crossing Over” and James VanPraagh (who co-executive produced“The Ghost Whisperer”) in a shortlived show of his own, “Beyond withJames Van Praagh.”Maria Luisa Mispireta is one of

the most important “seers” from LatinAmerica who moved from her nativePeru to Los Angeles when she was 15years old. In her professional practiceshe has an array of clients, from localresidents to celebrities and law en-forcement.At a very young age, Maria Luisa

says she felt the presence of forcesthat would communicate with herabout events in the future.“When I was 7 years old, I fore-

told a large earthquake that hit Peru in1970,” she recalls. “I began to screamto my mother to get my recently bornsister out of her crib, which was nextto a very large window, and she did.Within seconds, the earthquake hitand the window collapsed over thearea where the crib was located.”In the fictional television show

“Medium,” the lead character AllisonDuBois (played by Patricia Arquette)is not the only person in her familythat has “the gift.” Her daughtersAriel and Bridgette have visions ordreams of their own. In a similar case,Maria Luisa shares that both her chil-dren and her father have these super-natural gifts.“When I was very small, around 3

years old, I began to speak to the mir-

ror and with ‘angels.’ At around 7years old was when I began to tell myparents about my visions,” she says.“My family tried to hide my gifts,even though my father had similarones. In those days it was not so un-derstood and popular. Now, both myson and daughter are aware that theyhave inherited these ‘gifts’ but havenot accepted it and don’t care to de-velop it.”There are many titles/labels for

people with the same abilities thatMaria Luisa possesses. They arecalled psychics, fortune tellers, medi-ums or other names, so I asked MariaLuisa how she defines herself.“I am a metaphysical medium that

can communicate with those in theother realms and a seer who can seethings that others can’t see,” shereplies.With such a diversity of clients in

her practice I wonder what a typicalsession is like – how long it lasts andwhat are some of the most-askedquestions.“When a person comes to see me,

a set time does not exist because Iwork in a different way,” she de-scribes. “First I have to touch them orvisualize them, and if the person is notpresent I need a name and birthdate.Next I ask them what brings them tome, and as they are explaining the

reasons of their visit I start gettinginto their aura to see what the prob-lems are. So the sessions last as longas the questions they come to ask aretold to me.”In the not so recent past, people

who possessed gifts similar to thoseof Maria Luisa were accused ofwitchcraft and/or having pacts withthe negative forces in the universe.But as more seers, clairvoyants andmediums come out of the closet so tospeak and into the mainstream, thesemyths are being shattered. Much like a “canary in a coal

mine” used to detect small amounts ofdangerous gases (such as methane orcarbon monoxide) leaking into themines, these very sensitive human be-ings are warning the world of catas-trophes, wars and natural disasters.On a personal level, they help therich, the famous and the ordinary per-son deal with problems, as well askeeping them in contact to loved oneswho have passed into the spiritualrealms. These special people arebridges to worlds and energies mostof us never see or feel, so they are thegift to mankind.

Fo r mo re i n f o rma t i o n , v i s i t misticaml.com.

--By Humberto Capiro

Marvin Vasquez/Living Out Loud LA

MARIA LUISA

ALL IN THE FAMILYSeer and Metaphysical Medium

CULTURE


--By Humberto Capiro

Marvin Vasquez/Living Out Loud LA

From rearranging his mom’s living room to re-estab-lishing the way we look at dining rooms, FernandoGonzalez has taken his love for architecture and de-

sign to a whole new level. “[I was always] looking at interiors and figuring out

what that meant for me and the sense of space that I wasin. I remember growing up and looking at magazines aboutinteriors and architecture at around age 12 or 13; all of thatled me to appreciate interiors on a different level,” saysthe Los Angeles-based interior designer. Starting at a young age, Gonzalez focused all his ex-

tracurricular activities in high school to strictly creative-based classes. Growing up wanting to be an architect, hewas obsessed with Legos as a kid. Once he graduated highschool, he was determined to be an architect but eventuallyveered from his path and found his true calling in interiordesign. The dining room is a focus area that Gonzalez has taken

his business, Flipping Design, to. Most of us don’t use aformal dining room to eat meals, and if we do it’s for a cel-ebration or a holiday. When asked what the dining room meant to him and

why it was such a huge focus for his design studio, hestates that “Guests may come and go, but you might never

really have a moment to really get to know someone. I feelthat cooking someone food is on a different level. Food isa way of showing them that you love them in a differentway.” All of this connects to his childhood and his reminis-

cences of having lavish meals with his family on the week-ends or holidays and just having that time to sit and be withthem all. Interior design has become a huge conglomerate of

professionals, DIY shows on television and even compet-itive reality TV programs. It is now one of the biggest andmost competitive careers. So, how does one become thebest at what they do? “The biggest challenge for me was setting myself apart

from other interior designers. Interior design is such a greattrade, which involves a lot of skill, visual and artistic.Being in a city like Los Angeles, there is a big market forinterior design, and that’s something I had to think about,”answers Gonzalez. As an entrepreneur stepping back into interior design

from a brief break after the economy crashed a few yearsago, he had a very sophisticated thought process before hisreturn: 1) what is going to set him apart from other design-ers, 2) how can he do it successfully and 3) how will hedo it in a unique way that no one out there is doing. “What I realized was that, through the years, I acquired

a skill for refinishing,” he tells. Gonzalez knew that second that his knack for refinish-

ing, repurposing and/or refurbishing furniture was the wayhe was going to set himself apart from all the other interiordesigners.“That’s when I knew I was going to name my business

Flipping Design. That’s when I said that this could besomething that can push me over the edge and somethingthat I could be happy doing the rest of my life.”

For more information, visit flippingdesign.com.

FERNANDOGONZALEZ

Photo Credit: Rafael Orellana/Living Out Loud LA

Flipping Perspectives with Interior Designer

—By Lupita Woo

CULTURE


While all of the other athletes at Street LeagueSkateboarding’s L.A. tour stop were on theirboards getting their practice runs in trying to

get familiar with the course (some of them barely arriv-ing to the session), Paul Rodriguez was relaxing. Notbecause the four-time X Games gold medalist didn’tneed to practice or because the 29-year-old L.A. nativewith 18 first-place finishes didn’t feel pressure. Instead,it was because he stepped onto the course early. He wasthere before most of the other skaters showed up andbefore the distraction of the media and the friends ar-rived on the scene. You see, this Angeleno has a pas-sion.“One hundred-percent dedication, no fallback plan,

no other option – do or die, that’s it,” Rodriguez says,and that’s the mentality that has guided him onto thebiggest stages in skateboarding.To his fans, he’s P-Rod. He walks out of the Nike

SB locker room from beneath the stands of USC's GalenCenter holding an iced coffee and wearing a white NikeSB T-shirt (drenched in sweat) and his unlaced, beat upP-Rod 8s that look like they’ve been worn since hestarted skating 17 years ago. Rodriguez didn’t startskating at 12-years-old in hopes of becoming theG.O.A.T. (greatest of all time), he did it simply becauseit was “cool.” “I started skating because there were kids at school

– I went to a new school that year – a group of skaters,and they would skate after school. I thought it was thecoolest thing, and I would just watch them after schoolfor hours” he recalls.P-Rod had no board and knew nothing about skating

except for the things he saw at school, but on Christmasof 1986, his life would change forever. Instead of askingfor toys or a video game that year like most kids his age,he wanted a skateboard. “I started skateboarding around Christmastime 1986.

I got my first board because I asked my family membersto hook me up with some money, and everybodychipped in 10 bucks here, 10 bucks there. I went andbought me a board with that money,” he shares as hedrinks his iced coffee.As he continues to look up at the ceiling reminiscing

on the “how he got his first board” question – or maybeit was the coffee that tasted so good – he says, “It was

a Powell Blank board,” then nods his head and brusheshis hair with his fingers.Lucky for him, he stepped on the board at the right

time. He didn’t begin to push too early, which mighthave made him lose the love for the plank of wood, butat just the right moment when he was able to look up tosome of the skating legends of the time. “That was the era of Ronnie Krieger at his peak.

[Eric] Koston was killing it, even way back then. An-drew Reynolds was just coming into his own. Guy Mar-iano and Tom Penny had killed the game,” he mentionsbefore adding, “It was just a real cool era; it was on thebrink of getting big how it is now.”Like everyone with a dream, P-Rod also had a hero

that he looked up to. He didn’t only have one, though,he had three. “Koston, Andrew Reynolds and Tom Penny were my

trifecta,” he says. “That’s who I molded myself tryingto be like.” Right then, one of those three (Koston) arrived at the

Galen Center to hang out with the other skaters – in-cluding one who has become a good friend, P-Rod.Although Rodriguez is now known worldwide, both

for his shoe line and his skating, as we continue to talkit becomes obvious that this professional athlete still hashis feet on the ground. He doesn’t deny a fan a pictureor get mad when we are interrupted during our conver-sation. “You know what’s funny is that it never hits you be-

cause you always feel the same as you always did.When I was little, and I used to look at Eric Koston like“THAT’S KOSTON!” but Koston has always beenKoston, so he just feels like himself, he doesn’t knowthat feeling. So, I don’t feel like I’ve ever made it.” Astalented as he is, P-Rod adds, “I feel like I’m still tryingto make it, still striving for more, still trying toprogress.” Early on, Rodriguez would skate at an Albertsons

loading dock, the elementary schools he attended andlived near and a Vons ledge. “Those were all the places that I was able to get to

on foot,” he laughs, “until we started driving a few yearslater.” He never dreamed of skating in the SLS, mainly be-

cause it didn’t exist yet.

Man on the StreetSkateboarder Paul Rodriguez

62| AUGUST•2014

63

“This is beyond what I even thought I could ever be as akid. I didn’t know I was going to be able to be on Nike, have[a line of] eight shoes, all these crazy sponsors, be skatingin arenas and be as well received as I have been,” he admits.“I didn’t know, I just wanted to get free stuff!”Now he’s a well-traveled athlete who has flown around

the world to film countless videos and participate in the mostprestigious events. Yet there’s nothing like that L.A. sunshinefor P-Rod. When asked if anything compares to Los Angeles,he proudly replies: “No, not for me, in my heart or my opin-ion. I’m born and raised here, so this is my home, this is whatI know. I’ll always come back here.” “The weather all year round, it’s summer; you get to skate

amazing spots and new constructions are always poppingup,” he continues. “The food, I know my way around and my family is all here, so this is home.”Even though P-Rod, in a sense, owns the key

to any skatepark he wishes to shred, he still has hisfavorite spots in Los Angeles. One of them is the West L.A. Courthouse that has recently been reopened and allows skateboarders to step foot on the grounds. Ano-ther is El Camino High School out in the Valley. Thelast one is a spot that he describes as “the greenledges” out “in the 'hood by a baseball field.” This Angeleno found a passion and followed it. From the young age of 12 he hopped on a skate-board and knew there was no turning back, just a kid in a skate shop with a dream of becoming pro. “One hundred-percent dedication, no fall back

plan, no other option – do or die, that’s it. That’s the type of commitment it takes for your dream tocome true.”

For more information, visit prod84.com.

—By Pablo Lopez

Pablo Lopez/Living Out Loud LA

SPORTS

Rookie of the Year, Project-40, the United States Men’s National Teamand two World Cups – these are just some of the things that describeCarlos Bocanegra’s professional career thus far.

Bocanegra followed his brother’s footsteps and went to the Universityof California, Los Angeles in 1997. After playing a couple of seasons for theBruins, Nike started a program called Project-40. “In college, [Nike] askedme to come out a little bit early for Project-40,” the California native remem-bers. “I didn’t really think of playing soccer as a career as a young kid.”

Project-40 had some big U.S. names come through its ranks, includingTim Howard, Kyle Beckerman, DaMarcus Beasley, Edson Buddle, MichaelBradley and more that have represented their country on the big stage.Through 1998-2000, the Project-40 team was sent to the A-League in theUnited Soccer Leagues, which includes both professional and amateur divi-sions and is affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. In 2000, Bo-canegra was drafted to the Chicago Fire.

“I got drafted into a really good Chicago Fire team with good players,”he recalls. “I ended up in a good situation, and it was a big boost for my ca-reer.”

Bocanegra achieved instant success in Major League Soccer, taking homethe Rookie of the Year Award and being a big part of his Fire team makingit to the MLS Championship game. Bocanegra would go on to win Defenderof the Year back-to-back in 2002 and 2003. Then 2004 was the year that Eu-rope would call Bocanegra, with Fulham acquiring his services on a freetransfer.

“I didn’t know much about the European soccer scene, but Fulham wasfollowing my career with the national team and they were able to get me ona free transfer,” he tells.

Bocanegra spent four years at Fulham, appearing in 116 games and scor-ing eight goals for the Cottagers.In 2008-2011 Bocanegra landed in Francewhere he played for Rennes and Saint Étienne. He then went to Scotland toplay for Rangers, one of the most recognized clubs in Europe.

“I really enjoyed playing at Rangers in Scotland,” he says. “They are amassive club in the country and have a really cool culture.”

The Rangers were liquidated in 2012 and had all their contracts boughtout. Bocanegra remained on the team to make a few more appearances beforeheading out to Racing Santander of the second division in Spain. After spend-ing a year abroad and coming back to Rangers, Bocanegra decided to leaveand return to the MLS.

“The MLS has great facilities, new stadiums. The travel is nice, and theplayers are friendly wherever you go,” Bocanegra describes. “It’s been a re-ally good experience being here in the MLS, and it’s grown a lot since I left.The talent has gotten a lot better, you see the players getting bought and goingto Europe.”

Chivas USA signed Bocanegra on July 1 of last year. Since then, Bo-canegra has appeared in over 30 games for the Los Angeles-based club.

“Sunshine every day,” Bocanegra says on why he’s glad to be back inSouthern California. “It’s nice coming here to StubHub every day with thepalm trees. I’m enjoying life here back home.”

During his international career, Bocanegra represented the United States110 times, scoring 14 times. Bocanegra earned his first cap at the senior levelon Dec. 9, 2001 in a game against South Korea. Bocanegra would eventuallycaptain the side; he started with the armband for the first time on June 2,2007 against China.

“It is an honor to go out there and captain your country, it’s something Icherished a lot,” he says. “It’s a pretty amazing experience when you sit downand think about it.”

Although he is no longer a part of the men’s national team, Bocanegracontinues to be a popular figure among American soccer players in the MLS.

“You always have to stay positive in your career. You get ups-and-downs,but you just have to trust yourself.”

Along with being a defender for Chivas USA, Bocanegra is active in Cb3Sports Performance, a program he founded in 2011. Cb3 helps athletes in hishometown area of the Inland Empire hone their skills using the same coreprinciples that have guided him over the years.

For more information, visit cb3sportsperformance.com.

CARLOS BOCANEGRA

Chivas USA Communications Department

Former National Team CaptainFinds His Way HomeBy Dillon Cooper

SPORTS


STAFFPICKS

What is your favorite Latin restaurant in Los Angeles,and what is your usual dish to order there?

My favorite spot is El FloriditaCuban Restaurant in Hollywood.My usual dish is the Ropa Vieja.—Paul Z.

Just give me a taco, andI'll be happy! —Jaclyn K.

The Gardens of Taxco inWest Hollywood make re-ally great nachos. Theguac is awesome, too. —Mark M.

My favorite restaurant is calledCasablanca. They make hand-made tortillas with salsa verdethat's made from scratch asyour appetizer. My favorite dishhas to be their wet burrito. —Gabriel P.

One of my favorites is LaCantina. It's walking dis-tance from USC and of-fers discounts forstudents. I order their'Tampiqueza' plate,which is carne asada,beans, rice, salad and acheese enchilada. Deli-cious! — Elisa H.

El Carmen. They haveover 400 tequilas; mybuddy and I havetasted over 40 of

them. We call it 'theAgave Road.' Oh, andtheir food is excellent!

—David T.

My favorite is Chichén ItzáRestaurant located at MercadoLa Paloma in Los Angeles. Myplate: Papadzules and Panu-chos. —Ramon A.

La Oaxaquena – No. 8: three tacos (always asada) with rice, beansand veggies on the side. —Patrick M.

I wish they had moreCaribbean (Dominican andPuerto Rican) spots herefor my tostones etc., how-ever, L.A. is not the placefor that. So the spot Ichoose here is Loteria Grillat the Farmers Market orthe one in Hollywood. Theyhave a killer Pozole soupthat rocks. It's hearty, fill-ing and delicious. —Ariel P.

Favorite Latin restaurant in L.A. isManuel's Original El Tepeyac Cafe. Ialways get the huge burrito and shareit with my family. Manny was the bestat what he did. —Lupita W.

Poquito Mas is my favorite, and my usual is theClassic Burrito with steak. — Pablo L.

La Caridad Restaurant in Echo Park – Cuban cuisine at its finest. My favorite dish is the carne conpapas (meant with potatoes in sauce). —Humberto C.

Manuel’s Original El Tepeyac Cafe has tobe my favorite place to get a homemadeLatin dish, and it has been serving hungryAngelenos since 1955. Hook me up withan original pork, Manuel's Special Burrito,fit to feed four, and we have ourselves aparty. —Chris G.

El Cholo in Santa Monica is among the oldestMexican restaurants in Los Angeles, datingback to 1926 when silent film luminaries

chowed down on tamales at its gnarled woodtables. The food is quite good, but it's really theclassic aesthetic and rich sense of L.A. historythat set this establishment apart. —Dash F.

Palmilla Cocina y Tequila in Hermosa Beach – best Mexi-can food and margaritas by the beach. You can't beat theirshort rib nachos or their killer staff. —Taylor W.

Gloria's Cafe on Venice in Palms. It's notEast L.A., but the Sopa de Siete Maresand Pupusas are amazing. —Erica C.

La Barca is my favorite Mexi-can food spot. Love theirMachaca and spikedchocomilk! —Sabina I.


volume 1 issue 3

Documents

phillippi story

los angeles50 food

custom chr atch

taco salad52 food

ucla football

north hollywoodhigh

los angeles northhollywood

culture los angelesgrowth