NPR Music - Alt.Latino: Our favorite Latin bands from the Tiny Desk Contest

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

Alt.Latino host Felix Contreras was a Tiny Desk Contest judge this year, and on this episode, he brings six of his favorite entries to the show. Artists and songs featured:• Esotérica Tropica, "Despierta"• Mario Diaz, Bachi and Los Salvajes, "Ropa de Colores"• alegrías, "Daygo"• Charly Siaba, "Lejos de Aquí"• Los Pleneros de la Cresta, "Rayo del Sol"• Taisha Estrada, "El Abstracto"CreditsAudio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Simon Rentner. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hold on. I got to unplug my refrigerator because it's too loud. Sorry. Last time I did that, I forgot to plug it back in and my ice cream melted. Okay. I'm stupid. Okay. From NPR music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Let the Chis May begin. Felix, this week, we listened to hundreds of bands for the time of contest this year. Yes, we did.

I was a judge this year And I got to take it very quickly I have avoided it I don't know if I want to Because I want to give everyone to prize I just very you Can I have to be honest with everyone here Felix because no one else from work can hear this

I was supposed to like do the first round Of like going through the submissions And I kind of just like forgot So I got out of doing it Oh, my God. We've been doing this for 11 years, the Tiny Desk Contest, where you submit a video and try to win to get your own very tiny desk concert. This is our 11th year of doing the contest.

This year, there were over 7,500 videos that were sent in. Whoa. Yeah, and we have a team of people that would have included, Anna. That hypothetically included me. That go through like these first rounds and stuff so that by the time, I think there was a team of seven judges. It was an odd number, so there weren't any ties. We get to, like, this final round,

and then we have to go through maybe 40 or 50. It's open to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This country is full of incredibly talented musicians of all stripes, all genres, all styles. It's amazing. It's so heartwarming to see so many creatives out there. I ended up enjoying it, but then, again, wanted to give everybody the best.

So what we've done is we've narrowed down to just about 200 videos, 197 videos of bands and artists that self-identified as Latin music. We're going to play all 200 for you today. I wouldn't mind it honestly. Before we could start here, we'll let you all know that you can see all of the videos we're going to talk about today on our website at npr.org slash alt-latino. Almost 200 Latino artists submitted. We picked our favorite three each six total plus a bonus

because, you know, we always like to break the rules right after we make them. I'm going to kick it off today. With Los Pleneros de la Cresta, this is them singing Rayao del Sol. Okay, so I'm kicking us off with this, Felix, because I want to show the impressive and sometimes surprising breadth of not only the artistry but actually like the levels of exposure of these artists so Los Planoes de la Cresta you might recognize them because they quite literally just played on Bad Bunny's most recent album they're from

Puerto Rico they play traditional Plena music I actually talked about them on a previous episode when the album came out because they were this really beautiful representation of traditional Plena on Benito's album this was a beautiful entry they didn't make it to the end but they made made it to round two, incredible band would recommend checking out the rest of their stuff. With the pleneros de la Cresta. Singing Rayo del Sol. Okay.

I'm going to move on. The first of my picks, I look for states where we don't usually hear Latin music. See, you like to make rules. And then watch, you're going to break it. Break them. You know, there were a lot from Florida, New York, California, Puerto Rico. There were a lot of these places. Then I saw Utah, I saw Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, like all of these different states and different places.

There was a band from Richmond, Virginia, that did heavy metal bachata. Okay? So it was really good, but I didn't bring them. But I went for the folks that are making Latin music. The first one is from Washington State out in Pacific Northwest. They're based there, but the two lead performers are from Spain. This is a song called Ropa de Colores by the vocalist. Mario Diaz, the musician-bases producer who calls himself Bachi, and their band Los Salvajes.

I couldn't get a beat on exactly where they're from, but wherever they are, the people who get to see them are really in for a treat. The band is called Mario Diaz, Bachi, and Los Salrages. The track is called Ropa de Colores. Okay, Anna, you're next. Okay, so I think you're going to love this one. I'm sure you already saw it and loved it. Esoterica Tropical from Oakland's. This is their song, Desperta.

This is a good and the foego me giara A lo, a good, to a horizon of the loose, I hear the and the fire

to me and it will thank so Thank you, thanks, thank you, respite, I'm,

I'm, all, I'm, all, This song just like is one of those soul cleansing beautiful homages to life through the music. It's like this anthem of gratitude to the natural world. They have these beautiful bomba-inspired drums and chorus from Puerto Rico in California.

I swear I've been in these exact hills near my sister's house. I think they're really, really gifted. Pical, Desperta. Question real quick, Anna, when we were going through this stuff, because it's something that I thought about. We get lots of established bands. And then also some bands that are new on the international scene,

but they all got to start from somewhere, right? And the Tiny Desk Contest, through that effort, we get to share the experience of record executives trying to work their way through so many talented musicians. So when you were going through all of these submissions, how did you choose? It's not all that different from what we do in our other half of our many jobs and PR here where we actually produce tiny desks, right? Like I think you have to apply those same sensibilities of what you look for when you want to bring a band to the desk like per usual.

So artists who have a unique sound, a unique voice, who are saying something meaningful, who are saying something distinct, who communicate something really well in the art and their sound and their voice. And I saw some of that. I think with that last band I just played, for example, there's so much. that she carries in that voice and that she, the tradition that she's carrying to in the music. So something like that, I don't know, why do you pick them? For a lot of the same reasons that the bands that we picked today,

because these are established musicians, at least in their local communities. But the other thing I found myself as I was going through this, even as a judge, I was seeing bands of musicians, they're just not ready yet. The fun part was looking for the potential, right? It's like they're almost there. They're not quite ready for the tiny desks, but, In a year or two, a few more gigs, they're going to be ready. They're going to be ready for the broader scene, whether it's a tiny desk or a record contract.

It was fun to look at musicians who had that potential. I don't look for potential, Felix. I look for excellent. Oh, my God. Just a reminder to everyone listening right now of any of these bands, you can go find them on our page, NPR.org, slash alt-Latino. All the bands will be there. won't be disappointed because we weren't disappointed. Or you might be.

That is true. You won't be on this next one. There's a guy named Charlie Siaba. He's Cuban-American. He's in Houston. He had a song called Lejos de Aki. This guy is a single guitar and a voice, and the voice is incredible. It caught me like the first time I heard it.

And then when we watched it again for this show, it just brought it back to me again. And I think you're really going to enjoy this one, Anna. Again, this is Charlie Siaba. The track is called Lejos de Aki. And Anna, I'm going to send to the link because it really is. This guy's amazing. Lejos de aquí. That you did a bit of a week.

That day of that day, yeah, time. I, in that I saw you I'm here, oh, when I was bossed a song, it was that I did. And is that your risa, I drew in my ventana, me hadrable in a mirada, legoes,

and lo, and that your risa, That was In my Ventana me hadrapo in a mirada Lejos here I deskt

That was Charlie Siaba One of my favorites From the many, many bands that submitted for the Tiny Desk contest this year That track was called Lejos Deakin Want to remind you

that you are listening to Alt Latino We're going through some of our favorites of the bands that submitted for this year's Tiny Desk contest. We're going to take a break and then come back for some more music.

Hello, Tiny Desk. We're back from break. I'm back with, wow, already my final pick. Well, this is my final pick before my encore pick. So Aligrias from San Diego, a really cute band from over there in California, a special place in my heart. This is their song called Daigo.

This song is about love. It's about that special feeling that you have for somebody. And this song is called Daigo by Aligria. So Felix, sometimes when I do this, I literally feel like I'm on the voice. Like I'm listening, listening, listening, and I'm like, when am I going to press the button? And for me, it was the second, I was like, okay, I kind of like this band's vibe, they've got something going on, whatever, they got the cool bass, no se que. And then this lead vocalist comes in with her cello, and that's when I was like, boom, hit the button, this is it, what she carries, what the band has the energy. I love, I would hang out with these dudes.

I love their vibe. I love the song. Really sweet, solid. for me. This is one of the bands that reflected a lot of joy, a lot of fun. These guys were having a blast on that stage. Some of the bands, they were so serious. They were really putting their message across.

You know, and there were different themes, different lyrics, different stuff, you know, the facial expressions, the ones where they just could not help themselves. They're having so much fun. Oh, they were having fun for sure, Felix. Aligrias from San Diego, their song called Daigo. Okay, Anna, you know, we're always talking about

the Berkeley School of Music in Boston. That's like a magnet for people from all over the world, really to come and learn and become these really great musicians. So many musicians from Latin America go through Berkeley. And I found one,

a guy from Lima, Peru. He's a tenor saxophonist. His name is Diego Herrera. Killer Afro-Peruvian Latin jazz thing. It was really good. The band had Andean Charango, the small little guitar, and also this great Afro-Peruvian cahom player. This is his track, Achaia. That was Diego Herrera and the track Acia from his video submitted to the Tiny Desk Contest. Great Latin jazz, and you know, I always got to bring the jazz, right? Right? I don't need to confirm that.

I think that people already know. Okay, so here's the deal. Almost always our taste coincide. The perfect Felix on a Ben diagram experience, and it's always the beautiful female vocalist. This is the least surprising. No surprise at all. A young woman who's originally from Puerto Rico,

who is in the DMV, the district, Maryland, Virginia. from Washington, D.C., her name is Taisa Estrada. I've actually seen her perform a couple of times here in D.C. I had never heard of her Felix. I had never seen her perform, and I'm actually was stunned. I mean, that voice, I haven't heard something like this in a minute. It's really, really beautiful what she's doing. The track is called El Abstracto.

This is vocalist Taisha Estrava from here in Washington, D.C. vocalist Taisha Estrava The track is called El Abstracto All right, Anna, that's 11 years' worth of Tannida's contests. Done, easy. All in one episode. I also want to remind you that

the winner of this year's contest, which we should have mentioned at the top, but the winner of this contest was from the Bay Area this year, her name is Ruby Ibarra, and she has this great Filipino Tagalog R&B thing going on

her video is just posted And she's going to be out The Ocean We out grew where we moved Going a view like I read till I'm white That's the bluest Blue like the moon Like their eyes and the bruises

Howl at the moon Watch a blue And she's going to be out on tour We're going to Los Angeles, Petaluma in the Bay Area Portland, Chicago, Nashville, Austin, Denver, Philadelphia, New York, and finally here in D.C.

Each show is going to have a local band opening up. So it's just great new music all the way around, great music discovery. The Tiny Desk Contest, again, thanks to the folks who organized it. Congratulations to Ruby Yavara, the winner. And that about does it, I think, Felix, for this week's show. A huge thank you, as always, to Grace Chung, who keeps us on track. Simon Retner for editing our audio.

Executive producer is Soraya Mohamed. And Keith Jenkins is the hepa and chief of NPR music. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Thank you so much for listening.